Last night, two motorcyclists were hit from behind as they waited at a stop light along old Route 66 in Tulsa. The driver of a Chevrolet Tahoe ran into them and sped off, pursued by another motorcyclist and a security guard who witnessed the crash. The motorist was eventually stopped by a road barrier, and the two pursuers held him until police arrived. It is believed he was driving under the influence.
On a related note, Tulsa was downgraded in a study of traffic crashes, falling from 82nd to 107th in a ranking of the safest cities for driving. The report is compiled annually by Allstate.
While anecdotes are not data, I must say that running redlights is almost epidemic in this area.
A co-worker complained about other motorists (and presumably cyclists) who travel at less than the speed of other traffic. "They make it hazardous for everyone else", he said, "so they should just get out of the way or find some other way to get to work."
Governments spend enormous amounts of tax dollars in an attempt to get motorists to drive slower. Lower speed are equated with survivability in crashes, reduced wear and tear on cars, and increased fuel economy. But to hear motorists themselves tell it, they're entitled to go as fast as they want, whenever they want. After all, the chances of being caught for speeding are relatively small.
Which brings us back to the hit and run incident described at the beginning. Our hit and run suspect left the scene, and probably would have gotten away except for those two men who followed him. Leaving the crash is a serious offense, but in the real world, not the one shown in television crime scene investigations, he could have escaped the consequences of the damage he inflicted on people and property.
For cyclists, there's little need to provide a warning of the sense of entitlement many motorists have, nor is there a need to warn about hit and run incidents. They're depressingly common. Cyclists encounter harassment, have objects thrown at them, and see the perpetrators speed off with middle fingers held high. And if we contact the police, they might fill out a report. That makes it all better.
Comments