- Don't drink & drive
- Watch for pedestrians & cyclists
- Drive at speeds that allow you to react (in time) to keep those pedestrians & cyclists out from under your vehicle
Amazingly, neither of these two most recent deaths occurred in Encinitas. The first one happened in a sharrows lane in Solana Beach, and the second one happened in San Diego next to UCSD. I didn't know either victim personally, but these haunt me because I continue to ride in this path of death dominated by speeding, distracted drivers. One part of the Solana Beach story that hit me super hard is that the victim was riding with my fellow SDBC ride leader Rod Stubbs. When Rod shared his story about dragging his friend's limp body out from under the pickup before the driver sped away was heart-wrenching. Then, when he later said he was quitting cycling—his life passion—after seeing his friend get murdered, I was blown away again. He's not afraid of dying, but as his wife pointed out, she'd be the one left trying to support his family if he died. Fortunately my wife will never experience poverty whether I live or die, but I sure would like to hang around for a while anyway. And I sure don't want to quit cycling. There are way too many POWERFUL, positive aspects to it.
Will he be held accountable? Not with a good lawyer. And the last I heard about the hit-and-run driver who killed Rod's friend was that "no charges have been filed." WTF? California isn't the worst state in the union when it comes to laws governing traffic safety and the killing of pedestrians or cyclists by drivers. But seriously, WTF? It's no secret that if you want to murder someone and get away with it, all you need to do is get behind the wheel then go find them on the road or a nearby sidewalk. Just look at the history of fatal cyclist and pedestrian "accidents" and the final sentencing (or lack thereof). Something needs to change, and I'm not just talking about leadership in the City of Encinitas.
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