93 replies to this topic

[Globie]

I'm not a forensic pathologist, nor do I play one on TV, but Pete's injuries sound like the result of a crash more than a beating. It's also possible to take a hit from a car to the person and not the bike, leaving the bike relatively unscathed. A hit-and-run is no less loathesome than a "knockout king" assault, but it's something that can happen in any neighborhood at any time.
And it may not even be a hit-and-run. I broke ribs and suffered scrapes and bumps in a crash caused by a fault in the pavement. When good Samaritans stopped to help, they all assumed a car had hit me.
Best wishes to Pete for a speedy recovery.

Edited by Globie, 27 March 2012 - 12:57 PM.

[cleeland]

I thought exactly the same thing--that the injuries sounds more consistent with a worst-case fall from the bike rather than a beating.  Either way, I hope he recovers.  Probably ought to start a separate thread to track his progress.

[kgvc7]

Please remember this is a no discussion thread.  We should start a new thread to talk about anything of interest.  Thanks.

[DirtRoadRunner]

~6:55 AM Tuesday, April 10th on Arsenal near Sublette:

I was riding west on Arsenal (with strobing red rear and white front lights) when a maroon late 90's Toyota Corolla passed me with approximately 6" of clear space between my handlebars and the car.  The driver turned south on Sublette and proceeded to pull into the South City YMCA to drop off a passenger.  As I was also heading to the YMCA, I rode up next to his window, which he rolled down.  I told him he passed me very closely and asked for more space.  I was greeted by an angry, indignant motorist who would not believe me that bikes did not have to yield to cars on the roadway, and told me I had not read the "rulebook" (I'm very familiar with the laws in MO....).  The man was probably 60, considerably overweight, of marginal mental capacity, and started yelling the second I politely asked him to give me more room.  I suggested that he should wait until it is safe to pass, and that I had every right to the road, but it fell on deaf ears.

I printed out a copy of the Missouri bicycle laws to hand this yahoo if I encounter him again (likely because I ride that stretch of road nearly every morning), but I doubt that will do much good.  I tried my best and was successful in keeping the situation from escalating beyond him yelling at me, and kept my cool throughout the event.

Watch out if you ride in this area.  This guy is very angry and it would not surprise me if he intentionally hits a cyclist.

[tankrider]

When: 18 April 2012
Where: Arsenal
Description: Andrew Lang got hit by a car while were riding in a group on his way home from TNW. Everyone did have lights on and were going straight down Arsenal when a car made a left hand turn and ran straight into him. An ambulance brought him to Barnes and he has a broken left ankle, left patella, and left hand. He will be having surgery on his patella either later this week or beginning of next week. He was most concerned when he crashed about his bike, which will be needing some work.  He's hoping to be back biking within 8 weeks- doctor said that might be able to happen

This was relayed to us by Aimee Warnke today.

Wishing for a speedy and full recovery.  Be safe out there.

[cards2468]

tankrider, on 18 April 2012 - 09:36 AM, said:

When: 18 April 2012
Where: Arsenal
Description: Andrew Lang got hit by a car while were riding in a group on his way home from TNW. Everyone did have lights on and were going straight down Arsenal when a car made a left hand turn and ran straight into him. An ambulance brought him to Barnes and he has a broken left ankle, left patella, and left hand. He will be having surgery on his patella either later this week or beginning of next week. He was most concerned when he crashed about his bike, which will be needing some work.  He's hoping to be back biking within 8 weeks- doctor said that might be able to happen

This was relayed to us by Aimee Warnke today.

Wishing for a speedy and full recovery.  Be safe out there.

Hey, this is Steven from the SLU team, I was about to post the incident in here, but saw you beat me to it, but I'll add on anyway. (I was riding with Andrew and Aimee when this occurred)

After TNW at Carondalet Park, we headed back so we could get pizza from Riley's on Arsenal. We were heading east bound on Arsenal along side Tower Grove Park near the intersection where there's no stop sign for either direction (drivers heading west that want to turn south must assure there's no cross traffic prior to turning left). Unfortunately the individual in the car didn't notice the 5 bike head lights heading east and chose to turn left at the most inopportune time. Andrew was leading the group, and the car did stop in the turn lane, seeming to indicate he was waiting for us to pass. Instead he went ahead and made his turn leaving Andrew with no time to react. He grabbed his brakes and swerved right hoping the driver would notice him in time to stop. The driver did not and struck him. Fortunately it was a car and not a truck, so Andrew was high enough to flip across the hood. The individual driving was quite defensive and didn't understand that bikes can ride on the road. Neighbors around the intersection were very helpful by bringing pillows, securing the intersection and going off on the driver (when police showed up, they instantly started walking to the shouting match until we waved them down to come assist Andrew). In all, we're very thankful the crash wasn't worse than what it easily could have been. Andrew will be having surgery on his knee this week since the fracture looks like a spider web and will require pins.

Edited by cards2468, 18 April 2012 - 09:28 PM.

[JerryW]

Saturday, May. 12, 2012

Belleville News-Democrat
http://www.bnd.com/2...in-granite.html

Bicyclist's death
William Beltz, 64, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was riding his bike with his wife about 4 p.m. Saturday on a bike trail at Illinois 111 when he was hit by a vehicle.
Beltz's wife safely crossed the intersection but Beltz was struck.
A witness stated the motorist had a green light at the time of the collision.
The Beltzes were visiting the area.
The preliminary cause of death is blunt force trauma to the chest, pending further tests.
----
I'm guessing it happened where the Schoolhouse Trail crosses Hwy 111 not too far from Horseshoe Lake. Many of us cross this busy intersection frequently. It does have a pedestrian light.

Edited by JerryW, 12 May 2012 - 07:05 PM.

[JerryW]

The Post Dispatch had more coverage:

Bicyclist struck, fatally injured in Madison County

A 64-year-old Colorado man was fatally injured Saturday morning when his bicycle was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Illinois Route 111 and the Schoolhouse Trail, which parallels Horseshoe Lake Road near Granite City.

Illinois State Police said William T. Beltz of Colorado Springs, Colo., was riding behind his wife and the two were eastbound on the trail, crossing Route 111, at 10:29 a.m.

Police said Beltz was hit by a vehicle that was southbound on Route 111 and crossing the intersection with a green light.

Beltz was taken to Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, where he was later pronounced dead.

The vehicle's driver, an 84-year-old St. Louis man, said he saw the first bicycle but not the second one. Police said no charges were expected, as the driver had the right of way.

http://www.stltoday....1a4bcf6878.html

[JerryW]

Update: A person commenting on the Belleville News Democrat web site states: "Was riding that very same bike trail on Tuesday. At that time the pedestrian signal was not working at that intersection. Felt like it was broken inside. I wonder if that played a part in the bicyclist's death? "

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2...l#storylink=cpy

[John_Kuthe...]

• Date: 6/14/12
  
• Location:Arsenal and Kingshighway
  
• Factual description of incident: Reported to me on Facebook. A cyclist was down and apparently injured, as my reporter said the cyclist was carried off on a stretcher and their bicycle was " real twisted"
  
• Names of involved parties (if known): unknown
  
• Physical Damages: Bicycle was " real twisted"
  
• Injuries: Cyclist was carried away on stretcher, extent of injuries unknown.

[SpetsnazCyclist]

• Date: 6/25/12
  
• Location: Carmen and Dougherty Ferry Estates
  
• Factual description of Incident: I was traveling southeast down Carmen around or above the speed limit (30-35mph), when car pulls into Dougherty Ferry Estates, and turns around to travel in same direction as myself. The driver pulls out into the center of the intersection as I descend and stops, blocking both lanes of travel. I then lock up the brakes roughly 100m out. Car remains stationary, I attempt to steer off of road. I impact the car above the front passenger side wheel, fly over hood, and roll on ground.
  
• Names of involved parties: me, and owner of car (do not want to disclose)
  
• Physical damage: iPhone case slightly beat up, microphone does not work on iPhone, scraped up shoes
  
• Injuries: Bruise on leg, small patch of skin on palm received road rash

All in all, this could have ended up much worse. There was no damage to my bike, helmet, sunglasses, or kit. A good samaritan drove me home, I was quite jittery and in no state to ride the last bit back home. Contact information received from driver. Have not called back to discuss damages to phone and shoes yet

[pylondesigner]

• 7/12/12 - Approximately 10:00 a.m.
  
• Location - Westbound Clayton at 109 (across from Lafayette high school)
  
• Factual description of incident - drive in Maroon/Dark Red Ford Flex (last 3 numbers of license plates reported) overtook Cyclist, and abruptly stopped and got out of the vehicle.  Proceeded to tell cyclist that he had no business on the road, (much colorful language), and threatened to call the police,  Cyclist replied that would be okay. Driver replied that he didn't have time for it. Then approached cyclist and hit him in the upper body. and left the scene. cyclist did not retaliate.  Cyclist called police and waited for police to arrive.  Information was given.
  
• Names of involved parties - Tyler Roberts
  
• Physical Damages - None
  
• Injuries - None

Additional information that could also be helpful:

• Police report number - In process
  
• Legal actions taken or underway - Under consideration

Policeman was a cyclist as well, and said it would be pretty easy to track the car down.  More information will be supplied when available.  Be aware of said driver and car while in West co.

Edited by pylondesigner, 12 July 2012 - 11:06 AM.

[jazzmanbikes]

First time being struck by a car... I got lucky, and thankfully I'm alright.

I commute to work most days, and it is a 30 mile round trip. I regularaly mix up my route to and from work to keep things fresh and fun. This particular night, I decided to take Lindbergh Blvd home. Even though there are Share the Road signs, I typically avoid this road when there is any traffic. I work until midnight, so traffic is usually nonexistent no matter what route I take home at this hour. I was riding to the far right of the lane, going North bound on Lindbergh approaching Ladue Rd. Then, very unexpectedly, there was a hard smack to the left/back side of my rib cage. It happened in a flash, and luckily I managed to keep my bike up right. Then I saw a large, white, Chevy SUV in front of me. They wern't stopping, nor were they speeding away. I started to assume they weren't going to stop to make sure I was alright, so I accelerated towards them yelling "Hey! You just hit me!!!"
The driver then stopped his vehicle. I saw the window was down, and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "How in the F*** did you hit me!?" He said that he didn't see my lights, and asked me if I was alright. I said I thought so, and moved towards the back of his vehicle to take a picture of his license plate as quickly as I could, in case he drove off. The driver got out of his vehicle and came to make sure I was ok. He appologized sincerly, and told me that he honestly didn't see my lights. I looked at his passenger side mirror, and noticed it was folded backwards. Thankfully it was the kind that does fold in, because I know that lessened the impact. He offered to exchange insurance information, and kept asking to make sure I was alright. Thankfully I was. I declinded his insurance and to call the police. We had a brief discussion about paying attention and keeping an eye out for other modes of transportation, telling him that bikes are more popular than ever and only gaining popularity. The driver drove off, and I finished my commute home. I had one head light mounted to my handlebars, and a tail light mounted to my seat post. I now realize that this must not be enough. I saw once, a joke in one of my Velo News magzines, about a guy who wrapped himself in christmas lights. Starting to find it less funny, and more genius! I'll be adding atleast one more light to the back of my helmet for starters.

Safe riding everyone!

[dmcd]

This morning on Strecker about 1/3 of a mile from Kehrs Mill, traveling towards Kehrs Mill (about 9:15 this morning) I was nearly hit by a truck from Full Service Roofing. I'm pretty sure it was intentional since the couple of cars before the truck and the 4 after it all had plenty of time to move over a couple of feet so as to not buzz the living daylights out of me. It was close enough that I could feel the oversize mirror just pass my arm. I was on the white line as I usually am, or at least as far right as possible to be safe depending on what debris is on the road. I ride there 3-4 times a week so it's not like I'm not familiar with the road.
So anybody that is looking for a new roof...i urge you to not use this company.
http://www.fullserviceroofing.com/ is there website. I reached out to them letting them know about the actions of their driver/employee. I'll see what happens. Probably nothing, but if just a couple less people use their service I'll feel better about it.

Thanks for reading. Just angry more than anything that some drivers continue to be so careless towards cyclists.

Edited by dmcd, 08 October 2012 - 11:38 AM.

[Philip Gavitt]

From Trailnet October 19, 2012:

Yesterday at 5:20pm, our Rides Manager Steve Schmidt was hit by a taxi cab van and seriously injured at 8th and Washington while biking home from work. The police report has not been released. He is in stable condition.