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Bicyclist tries to make left turn in front of car, gets hit
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Road rules
I guess he'll learn to obey the rules of the road from now on.
There are no left turns at University Road. If he was heading east on Comm Ave and trying to make a left there, he's lucky it was a BMW and not a T train that took him out. There's no excuse for him doing what he did.
Yikes!
I was on the B train inbound yesterday morning and did not witness this incident, but the train was stopped as the driver got off presumably to help the bicyclist. It wasn't until the train started moving again and I saw the bicyclist covered in blood that I knew why we stopped.
When I was going to grad school a few years back and rode my bike home to Somerville I passed through this intersection each time. It's pretty hellacious since cars are speeding towards the Storrow Drive access ramp (where bikes aren't allowed) from both lanes cutting of bicyclists who want to turn left to get to the bridge. Unfortunately, there aren't any bike friendly alternatives to passing through this intersection.
Yeah
Coming from Carlton across Comm Ave to get to the BU Bridge is pretty rough, even for cars. The article says that the biker was heading east on Comm Ave however, and made a left in front of a car with a green light. There are no legal left turns at that intersection (even though quite a few drivers even hang that left and occasionally get an air horn in their ear for their stupidity).
Agreed, just wanted to point
Agreed, just wanted to point out that it's a pretty icky place to bike/drive even when you're doing things legally.
And now I know that what I thought was just the access ramp to Storrow Drive is really called University Road.
Not just the access to Storrow Drive
There is a good reason for a bicyclist to use this road, because it also leads to a private street or driveway that runs alongside the back of the BU academic buildings, between the buildings and Storrow Drive.
Not the best place to make that turn
Next time, a better idea is to make a right turn at the previous light and go around the jughandle loop to University Road.
Alternatives
* Make that right at the Bridge itself and loop around to University Road.
* Go further down Comm Ave to where a U-turn is legal across the T tracks.
* Get off the bike on the curb at the University Road light and walk it across the crosswalk with the traffic signal.
Also, in the article it says there are no bike lanes there. That's incorrect. The bike lane starts just past the light at the BU Bridge and runs all the way to Kenmore. This guy wasn't in the bike lane. He was trying to make an illegal left where it's clearly marked not to do so. He didn't even get all the way to the lefthand curb or lane to do so. He tried to cut from somewhere on the right (possibly even down the middle of the two lanes of traffic) and across the front of the left lane of vehicles (presumably trying to beat the signal changing to green).
I'd also be curious to know if he was even wearing a helmet since the article mentions a head injury and Othermts noted a lot of blood.
riiiiiiight
I'd also be curious to know if he was even wearing a helmet since the article mentions a head injury and Othermts noted a lot of blood.
Right, because 1 pound pieces of foam offer complete facial, head, and neck impact and laceration protection.
I wear one because it beats "nothing", but I have no delusions about it offering me any kind of serious protection from much of anything.
Also, in the article it says there are no bike lanes there. That's incorrect. The bike lane starts just past the light at the BU Bridge and runs all the way to Kenmore.
So, the article is wrong for saying "there's no bike lane AT that intersection", but yet you say "the lane starts just PAST the light"? Bike lanes that disappear don't do bikers any good.
Calm down
First, I said "I'd be curious to know". I don't know if he was wearing a helmet and caught his face on the hood ornament on the way down or not wearing a helmet and scraped his scalp off. I want to know. It is of interest as to whether this would have been quite so bad of an injury. Regardless of what you think you know about helmets, that styrofoam is a lot stronger than you think and the overhang will allow it to hit before the rest of your face. Most head impacts are between the rider and the pavement. That's a factor of gravity and not the collision itself. Helmets are rated to keep you from scrambling your brains from a height of 6-10 feet. The last data I heard said that they've protected from serious brain damage in over 80% of the cases studied. I'll take those odds any time. I'd like to know if this guy had a helmet or not.
Second, "past the light at BU Bridge" is where the first intersection directly AT the bridge is located. There is a light on Comm Ave AT the bridge itself for people coming off the bridge and crossing over into Brookline on the Essex/Mountfort split. The bike lane starts just east of that intersection on the I90 overpass piece of Comm Ave. However, the light where this accident occurred is the intersection of University Road and Commonwealth Ave (also includes the Carlton St I90 overpass coming in from the south). Here, the bike lane already exists on Comm Ave through that entire intersection because it started back at the BU Bridge intersection, a few hundred feet to the west of where the accident occurred. Ergo, the bike lane is AT that intersection starting just PAST the previous light at BU Bridge.
Got it?
The Real Problem
When this area was designed, the priority was put on moving cars through as fast as possible. The attitude toward improving pedestrian flow through the area - let alone accomodating cycling - was basically "who cares - we aren't getting paid to do that".
There may have been some additional thought put into it this go around, but not enough to overcome the fundamental design flaw of putting a high-speed, too-many-lanes traffic sewer through an area with very intensive pedestrian activity and then throwing in confusing nonsense to complicate it.
Lanes removed
Quite a few of the lanes have been removed on the I90 overpass segment and everything has been realigned to make lane assignments more clear (it has been pretty much a free-for-all in the past dozen years).
I know what you're saying and it's certainly not an optimal "citified" street corner, but it is by far better than it used to be in that regard now.
Helmets can shield your face
I had a nasty mishap where the combination of a helmet and a good pair of sunglasses meant that all I got on my face was a "road bindi" - round patch of roadrash on my forehead right above my nose bridge.
This was because the helmet projected beyond my forehead and held my face away from the pavement.
seriously injured...
adding he did not appear to be seriously injuried..
No, that's not what it said!
The victim, who was still conscious, but suffered a head wound, was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, Burke said.
I wish people would realize how seriously bicyclists get injured in collisions either caused by, or with, cars. You don't see internal injuries, broken bones, sprains, etc. Don't trivialize it!
I've got a peeve with whoever wrote that article:
The area is considered to be dangerous for bicyclists because of the heavy traffic and lack of bike lanes
There are a lot of reasons why that intersection is dangerous, and few of them have to do with bike lanes.
1)The geniuses that designed the intersection didn't anticipate bike traffic not being willing to go 6 blocks out of their way to make a left turn onto Carlton, or a left turn to get onto the bridge. They also didn't anticipate pedestrian traffic desiring to cross any way except parallel to Comm Ave.
2)Green line operators like to run the lights, and cabbies as usual
3)The intersection size is enormous, so it takes a long time to clear it if you're on a bike. It's also very wide- I think at one point, 4-5 lanes wide.
4)Lanes and lines are ambiguous and poorly marked coming North on Carlton onto Comm Ave.
I've occasionally made a left going west on Comm Ave onto Carlton, but I do so only *extremely* carefully.
Contrast this with the also-complex intersection at Porter Square, where there's both bike lanes AND a little loop off to the side, clearly marked, to align yourself with the crosswalk.
Then again, not everything Cambridge does is brilliant. Witness the wonders of useless city governance: one block long bike lanes, preceeded by STRAIGHT bike lanes to the RIGHT side of a RIGHT TURN ONLY LANE!
Yes, head wound
I need to slow down and read more carefully. The person who wasn't injured was the friend he was riding with.
Do what?
1)The geniuses that designed the intersection didn't anticipate bike traffic not being willing to go 6 blocks out of their way to make a left turn onto Carlton, or a left turn to get onto the bridge. They also didn't anticipate pedestrian traffic desiring to cross any way except parallel to Comm Ave.
At any point that a biker would like to make a left there, they are more than welcome to stop on the curb, dismount their bike, and walk it across the intersection. Hell, I'll give them the fact that they don't even need to dismount. Just stop on the curb at the intersection, line up with the direction you want to go, and wait for the light to change. Either one of these things would have prevented this collision. You are also incorrect in that there are painted crosswalks at both BU Bridge AND University Road for crossing Comm Ave perpendicularly.
2)Green line operators like to run the lights, and cabbies as usual
Traveling in our fair city is dangerous. Good thing your head is capable of swiveling and you have eyes.
3)The intersection size is enormous, so it takes a long time to clear it if you're on a bike. It's also very wide- I think at one point, 4-5 lanes wide.
This is true. Good thing the cross traffic has plenty of time to make it across. As long as you are not trying to run the yellow at these lights, you have more than enough time to clear these intersections. The greens are pretty lengthy.
4)Lanes and lines are ambiguous and poorly marked coming North on Carlton onto Comm Ave.
Carlton's approach has been completely redone (the right merge island is gone now). The lanes were repainted and turn indications are also painted within the lanes to indicate what the options are. The entire intersection on both sides of Comm Ave have been repainted as part of putting in the bike lane and the bike lane does the crossover at the University Road light to avoid any right turn problems with cars pulling onto BU Bridge from westbound Comm Ave. What pisses me off the most there is how many bikers I've seen who ignore the lane and ride up the ramp with cars and then stop in the lane while they jockey with pedestrians using the newly repainted crosswalk to go to the pedestrian island to continue going west on Comm Ave rather than follow their lane and wait on the other side of the island at the light. It makes it a lot more difficult to turn right onto the Bridge (now narrowed down to 1 car wide) and provides even more incentive for pedestrians to ignore the lights (where part of the light cycle allows cars to clear the lane by getting a green right arrow onto BU Bridge) thus helping keep the University Road intersection clear.
I've occasionally made a left going west on Comm Ave onto Carlton, but I do so only *extremely* carefully.
Do you mean Essex/Mountfort? A west on Comm Ave onto Carlton would be going the wrong way up Carlton unless you're talking about the jughandle that brings you back to the BU Bridge (however, at that point you'd just make the right onto the bridge from outbound Comm Ave rather than that risky left). Either way, making illegal turns at that whole mess is a stupid idea. There are crosswalks and plenty of options that flow with traffic and aren't going to get you broadsided by someone not expecting anything to be coming from across their front.
The lanes there are well
The lanes there are well done. The bike lane has an exclusive turning area, and also space to continue straight.
"I wish people would realize
They didn't trivialize it. They took him to the hospital.
I agree. And I hate that intersection as a pedestrian and a driver. At least the new entrance area to the bridge (heading west on Comm Ave.) has made things flow a tiny bit better.
There are many places that cars have to go out of the way to make a left turn, but cyclists and pedestrians don't have to, so let's call it even.
Follow laws (traffic and physics)
Bottom line, one must obey the laws.
This is not to trivialize the mishap, but to state that cyclists and motorists must obey traffic laws - whether arcane or not.
From all indications, it appears as if the cyclist made an illegal turn into/across oncoming traffic.
While riding his bike - a cyclist is considered a vehicle and must obey the vehicle traffic laws. Even if that means waiting for a green arrow or using the jug-handle roads to make the correct turns.
Similarly, a cyclist walking his/her bike is considered a pedestrian and must follow those laws, such as only crossing in crosswalks and when permitted to do so.
Too many times, I've witnessed motor vehicles and bikes challenge each other. Traffic laws aside, the laws of physics always win.
Common sense and courtesy go a long way, as does following the traffic laws.
So does avoiding accidents if possible. That is, be alert (as a motorist or cyclist) and don't be stupid.
Saw a biker get hit by a car last Sunday
The cyclist was coming up from the Rt 99 underpass infront of the Schraft's factory and needed to cross two lanes of merging traffic. He half-assedly stuck out his right arm to indicate that he was crossing, but didn't actually LOOK to see if traffic had seen him and that it was safe to do so. He nearly made it across the two lanes but one driver didn't see him and hadn't slowed down enough. The car hit the cyclist's rear wheel and he tumbled off the bike. He hopped up after the fact and seemed to be okay, but whose to say. He was wearing a helmet.
Frankly, I don't understand why anyone would take a bike down that underpass.