On Monday, April 27th, Cary Bernick died in a crash with a car while riding his bike at NE 106th and Weidler in Portland. Police responded to the crash and their statements and other details have been covered by BikePortland.org and OregonLive.com.
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is saddened by the news and feels for the people close to Mr. Bernick. After 2008, a year in which no people died while bicycling in the city of Portland, Bernick’s death is a harsh reminder of how much work we still have to do to make bicycling safe and accessible in every community.
While the police have made preliminary statements about the cause of this crash, their information will become more detailed and certain as they proceed with a full investigation over the coming weeks.
After such a tragic occurrence, the BTA’s focus will be on what we can learn and can share with our partner organizations, public agencies and members to advocate for the engineering, education and enforcement solutions that can make fatal crashes less an less common with every passing year.
For those people who are scared by this news, that is an appropriate response. The best thing we can all do today, this week, and next is to be careful when we bike and drive, and to take the time and the patience to look for one another on the roads. And remember, the more people bicycling, the safer bicycling becomes for everyone.
After pedaling to work, this morning, behind a man continually riding through red lights, both of us on the way to work at Intel I discovered as I pulled up to the bike racks here, I suggest a slight change in your axiom:”…the more people bicycling safely, the safer bicycling becomes for everyone.”
I.E., there are a lot of drivers, transit riders, and pedestrians, with a negative view of bicycle riders because of unempathic, discourteous, rude, dangerous, illegal, or otherwise irresponsible behaviours by bicyclists such as mentioned in my last comment. Having people angry at bicyclists, in general, certainly will lower their empathy for us and will have a direct correlation on our safety.
on that same note…I am in favor of refraining from the use of words that end in “ist”. Although as cyclists, we identify ourselves as a group with the term, and use the term proudly for our chosen mode of transportation and/or recreation. Referring to generic groups of “motorists” and “cyclists” often immediately polarizes the discussion and becomes the same old “us vs. them” saber rattling that goes nowhere. At the same time, the general public cannot distinguish between experience resopnsible cyclists and ienexperienced or irresponsible cyclists….were all the same under the one term.
I drive and also bike..and most of the people I know who ride bikes also drive as well. I find it far more productive to refer to “people who drive” or “people who bike” and the discussion is about real people who can be more aware and responsible for their actions on the road. “Road users” is another non-polarized term. the problem isn’t with motorists and the problem isn’t with cyclists. The problem is with road users who either don’t care, or are unaware of the impact they are having on other people, often with serious consequences.