From the ABH:
Link to story.Bicyclist struck while riding on dark road
A Commerce man is in fair but critical condition Wednesday at Athens Regional Medical Center after he was struck by a pickup while riding his bike Tuesday on Georgia Highway 98, according to the Georgia State Patrol's Athens post.
Troopers were called to the scene of the wreck about 5:45 p.m. and found Daniel Hill, 25, of Commerce had been rear-ended by a Ford F-350 pickup traveling behind him on the dark highway near Thurston Williams Road, state patrol operators said.
Hill had been riding his bicycle with no lights or reflectors, troopers said. Neither the driver or Hill was cited, according to the patrol.
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4 comments:
Please pardon my ignorance, but do some bikes not come already equipped with reflectors, or did he take them off for some reason? Also, this is the second cyclist reported in ABH in as many months that has been hit riding in the dark with no lights. I see a lot of people riding without lights on my normal commute, as well. I understand some people may think lights are dorky or unnecessary, but there are others that don't have lights because they can't afford them. Is there some sort of program in Athens that gives away lights to those who are in need of them? If not, maybe it could be part of a bicycle safety course, and whoever attends gets a free blinkie.
I've noticed that too. We're looking into finding a manufacturer or agency that will provide us with low or no-cost light sets that we can give away soon.
I am the bicyclist's sister and I know for a fact that my brother DID have lights AND reflectors - both were knocked off when he was hit. He even had a reflector on his helmet. This was purely an accident. My brother has been riding for several years now and is very careful. The driver honestly didn't see him and I know he feels badly for my brother's condition - he has a broken bone in his back which he had operated on last week, he also has a broken pelvis and a broken arm. He will make a FULL recovery but it will take some time and more surgery. I definitely agree about making lights and reflectors available to those that don't have them. My brother had just bought this bike and it came equipped with them. I'm not sure if ALL new bikes have them or not but his did.
The only reason that the bike did not have any reflectors was because the truck hit him so hard that the reflectors were knocked off. No he did not take them off.
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