Young Bicyclist Killed in Hesperia Crash

[XLFD]

Young bicyclist killed in crash

LDN Staff -

Monday, April 26, 2010

A 12-year-old Hesperia girl was killed Sunday when she rode into the path of oncoming traffic on S. Bonn Street (M-20) in Hesperia, according to a press release from the Oceana County Sheriff's Office.

Brittney Olson was southbound on Bonn Street and failed to stop at the signed intersection of South Street, according to the report. Olson rode into the path of oncoming traffic and was struck by a vehicle driven by Kathleen Lollis, 48, of Hesperia, which was travelling eastbound on South Street. Pro Med ambulance personnel attempted to treat Olsen, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident remains under investigation but, according to the release, "appears to be a tragic accident."

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Definitely a tragedy, and my sincere condolences go out to the Olson family and all who knew Brittany.  Before I jump to the conclusion that she was the cause of this accident, as per the article and the initial police conclusion, I would like to understand a few more things about this accident.

 

I have seen and read many police reports and news articles with obvious bias against bikers (motor or not), where the blame was more appropo for the motorist involved.  Likewise, the paper says nothing of witnesses, so was Lollis the only surviving witness on the scene?  Contrarily, since Brittany was only twelve, she may have not properly yielded the right-of-way as a grown up bicyclist would.  Children usually do not have that experience yet to determine when to go.

 

Here's my analysis w/o the total facts of the case, and I hope I can get more facts later.  Hesperia is a little ways away from me, but I include a satellite image at the end to illustrate my line of thinking.  Brittany headed south on Bon, and was struck by an eastbound car on W South St. 

 

South Street looks to be four lanes wide, and her bike had already crossed two of those lanes at least before it got struck by the eastward moving car.   I don't know what the speed limit is on South St. at that point, it could be as low as 25 mph since it is within the city or up to 55 mph.  Assuming the lanes are 9 ft wide, with a 2 ft shoulder, her bike would have been over 20 ft into the intersecting roadway before it was hit.

 

A twelve year old would likely have enough sense to slow down and look both ways before yielding and crossing the roadway, but may not have the ability to determine whether she has enough time to get across safely.  This comes with practice, and she may have been used to crossing two-lane residential streets, not elevated-speed four-lane roads.

 

Visibility seems to be good for eastbound traffic there, a motorist should be able to see someone to the north before they enter the intersection.  Let's assume an attentive motorist could see at least 10 ft. up Bon St.  If we assume Brittany slowed down, it would take her three seconds or more to get across the 30 ft gap made by the two lanes and this 10 ft distance.

 

The questions should be asked:  Was the driver paying attention?  Were they driving beyond the speed limit?  Did they exercise due caution when they saw that the cyclist had entered the roadway, legally or not?  Those all could be more contributary to the cause of this accident than the poor judgment in yielding of a young girl.

 

I ride both a bicycle and drive a car, and I drive a lot differently when I see a young person as a pedestrian or bicyclist near the roadway.  Why can't the police and news outlets just once point out in their reports and articles the need of motorists to drive safely, instead of laying all the blame squarely on the inexperienced user of the roads? 

 

 

 

[XLFD]

Here is a picture that ran in the Muskegon Chronicle of the site of the accident

The marks on the pavement is where the motorist came to a stop. It looks to me as if the motorist was traveling in the farthest lane over. So it looks as if the girl had traveled across more than three lanes after she had began crossing the street. That adds another second of evasive reaction by the motorist. I still have problems with this.

Yes, the girl didn't yield properly-- but I really think (with the material given) there should be a question about whether the driver was distracted, driving above the speed limit, or failed to drive with due caution in the presence of children in the roadway.

A field trip to Hesperia is in order for the future.

[XLFD]

From the Oceana Herald, I read the following:

Scott Kroepel, who lives at 210 W. South St., said the accident occurred in front of his house. Olson was riding with a group of children, including one of her sisters, when it happened, Kroepel said.

This fact-- riding with a group of other children-- wasn't mentioned in the other newspapers' accounts. No news account I have yet seen has said anything about the need to exercise caution when driving where children are in or near the road.

Feel bad for the driver if you will, but why is her probable culpability for this accident being completely overlooked by all accounts?

[XLFD]

Here's the view a good block away from the accident scene. The red car on the cross street is the place where Brittany and a group of other young bicyclists crossed the street. The car that struck Brittany apparently was on the far right lane, a little over 30 ft from where the streets intersect. Likewise, an observant driver can see at least 80 ft. up North Bon Str. (about 4.5 seconds of travel at 12 mph via bicycle). The speed limit for a car going east at this point is 50 mph, a sign for this is a couple of blocks back.

[XLFD]

Here's closer to Bon Str. The group of kids almost assuredly, came to a stop or near-stop before entering the road, as the view to the west (up from our perspective) is blocked by trees and bushes, and teens/pre-teens would not survive long without slowing and checking the traffic situation to the west on this busy road. After stopping or slowing, and presumably checking both ways, the group crossed the street.

Apparently, since there was only one fatality, Brittany was either one who accelerated too slowly or too quickly. I presume she likely was the former from the accounts. Some likely scenarios are that her chain slipped off or got caught between gears, she was caught in a high gear, or some other mechanical failure happened. This stuff happens when you are trying to get back up to speed on a bicycle.

Due to the great visibility offered to the motorist travelling east, they should have seen this all develop-- the group of young riders crossing the road in front of them-- and proceeded cautiously forward. This life could have been saved if they had.

[XLFD]

As the motorist was a teacher, I can imagine her life will never be the same after hitting young Brittany. But the actual teaching moment for this incident is that if a little precaution is utilized, fatal accidents can be avoided.

Normal practice in motorist-BMP (Bicyclist/Motorcyclist/Pedestrian) accidents is for the police and press to overlook the motorists culpability/guilt and assign blame to the BMP. These prima facie assumptions would be better if they reversed those biases.