Advocacy or just unreal...
 

I just saw a news story about a 10 year old who was killed in a crosswalk by a semi-truck...

The news station however took this to an insane conclusion... and then went on to mention BICYCLE HELMET LAWS for youth... as if a helmet would have done a thing for someone being struck by a big damn TRUCK.

https://www.wftv.com/video?videoId=9...deoVersion=1.0
Of course they found a Doc who said... "Well it was a head injury... so maybe, if he had been wearing a helmet..."

Nice Doc. Blame the victim.
Hey, maybe if the damn truck didn't hit him... he would DEFINITELY be alive.

Don't know what is responsible for this recent run of Advocacy Awareness on your part @genec, but ... just saying. Your recent sidewalk/sidepath adoption. Well in most areas that puts you in cross-walks more often than a more ... vehicular cyclist would be. Bad. Crosswalks are no joke. 6000 peds killed vs 818 cyclists killed is not simply about the relative percentages of each! Right turn on Red ... gotta watch your 9:00 like the potential pothole filling that you are. A 10 year old just does not have that kind of paranoia built up. Yet. You aren't any older (well, not much) than I am and I am far from ready to take to the sidepaths to get away from the mouthbreathers. That just brings on its own set of limitations. Racing to beat a stale green light the other day I hit 24mph in downtown traffic. That kind of speed on any MUP is flat out irresponsible and I am not ready to give up the benefits of that kind of exertion to my cardio-pulmonary system. YMMV.

Doesn't seem likely a helmet would have mattered there, but I don't think this rises to the level of insanity.

No word about the mysterious truck, or whether any its precious deliveries were delayed that afternoon. Might have been perishable items, so that would explain why he didn't stop. Must have been an anguishing decision to have to make (render first aid or risk wilted lettuce) but the clean getaway was a nice bonus. :(

The deputy in the news story says that the child was walking the bicycle in the crosswalk and the truck driver went around the corner and the trailer struck the child in the back of the head. They said the light were the child was in the crosswalk is less than 1/2 mile from the school. They need crossing guards to help out.

So the child was walking, literally a pedestrian in the crosswalk, when he was struck by the truck.

Talking about helmet laws only obscures the very real problems that allowed this to happen, and stands as an obstacle to any solution.

Here in NC we have a legal requirement for kids under 16 to wear a helmet when on a bike. The majority of kids I see riding on the MUPs have such poorly fitted helmets that I can't imagine that there is any improvement in head protection.

There is no limit to the imagination of some people who extol the safety benefits of wearing and/or mandating the wearing of bicycle helmets, no matter how, when, where, or by whom they are used.

Well cross posting... by the way when quoting those stats, do keep in mind that we are ALL pedestrians at some time or another, but few of us are actual cyclists...

Everything you mention having to keep an eye on... you also have to watch while riding in the middle of the street... PLUS you have to watch your backside and near side.

As far as my "newfound" posting... look up my history... I have been posting here for some 15 years... A&S is not new to me at all. Neither is fighting dogma.

But obviously, according to the morning news... it was the helmet that was the most important thing... NOT "DRIVING SAFELY." And that is what I picked up on... blaming the victim... last I heard, the truck driver was still on the loose.

Yes, indeed, THANK YOU. That is exactly my point. +1000 Bingo, kudos!

:D

The straight faced news anchor talking about helmets is disgusting to me. were is the outrage over the driver in a rush not using due care.

a similar case a couple years ago involved two 11 year old girls. one dead and the other crippled and the district attorney near LA would not bring charges against the driver.

Sat beside an older gentleman on my 2nd to most recent train trip who was wearing a skate-style or multi-sport helmet the entire time. At first I assumed he'd only worn it on as an alternative to carrying it (but didn't see the folding bike I expected to) - turned out he was just wearing it, the entire trip.

I kept wanting to ask, but didn't.

Maybe he lost someone in one of the derailments or accidents that has occurred on that system in recent years.

This story sort of reminded me of a similar one in February of 2018 when a Toronto school kid, Duncan Xu, was run over by a driver who jumped a curb while cutting through the neighbourhood in order to avoid the traffic light at a busy intersection near by. Lots of cars who don't belong there cut through the neighbourhood to avoid that traffic light.

So what does the city do in response to the fatality? They closed the pedestrian walkway that Duncan Xu used. They did nothing to stop non-resident cars from cutting through the neighbourhood.

Bad drivers take priority over pedestrians.

Sometimes people with seizure disorders wear helmets just in case.

Glad I listened to that little voice suggesting it was maybe better that I not ask

within the past year, I think, in our area, a middle school girl was struck walking in a cross walk to school, close to school. struck by a school bus/van. she survived. they had added all kinds of flashing signage due to other accidents at that spot. yeah human crossing guards would help. the schools in my town have them

I've never known a school system that didn't have a volunteer network of crossing guards but their perimeter is usually less than 1/4 mile. Much less than 1/4 mile. And upper limit for their protection would be 6th grade.

Oddly, in my youth... in the '60s, I was a crossing guard, as a 5th and 6th grader. Interesting that now we seem to need adults to do this. BTW I know that isn't always the case... my local school in San Diego had kids that held stop signs on poles and blew a whistle and lowered the poles (like long lances) out toward the road for crossing access. So I guess adults are not required "everywhere."

I remember those. They wore white hard hats and reflector vests.

I guess their parents complained that it was too dangerous a job for kids, which is precisely the point of that job-that drivers are dangerous.

In Philadelphia the student crossing guards were called "safeties"
In my youth in the 50's I was a school safety for my elementary school at the 3 way intersection of Oak lane Ave, Broad Street (Rt 611) and Old York Road. Sometimes a policeman was also stationed at this intersection to assist children crossing this intersection. I think I did it in 5th and 6th grade. We wore a diagonal white (non reflective belt). I don't recall anybody being transported by motor vehicle to my elementary school.

A benefit was that every year the Phillies would sponsor school safety day and all the school safeties were bused to a complimentary day game at Connie Mack Stadium.

Yup the white diagonal "sash" with a waist belt... all in one, that had a shiny badge on it. There were kids that were transported to school by car, but most of us walked, or rode a bike. I rode a bike. I don't recall any sort of vest or helmet. I do know that we had to maintain our grades and also were permitted to get to class late and leave early... to do our "duty."

Kinda like this...

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6d38019e51.jpg

As a truck driver I must point out that if the driver was already in his turn when the boy walked out, which Is highly likely seeing how the boy was struck by the trailer, the driver never even felt the hit and most likeley did not see it. He probabley does not even know he did it. Be careful around trucks. So many blind spots and when a truck is in a hard turn, the only mirror he can see the back of the trailer with is a small round mirror.

Had a truck driver take off the front of my wife's car this very way. Truck was in the inside lane getting ready to turn right, wife was in the outside lane also getting ready to turn right when the truck turned right in front of her. Front part of the semi missed her but the trailer wheels did the damage. Trucking company's insurance paid for our repairs.

Quite right. But as I think you know, in any media story about a boating accident, there will be a sentence that states whether or not the victim(s) were wearing life jackets. Doesn't matter if it was a rowboat run over by a Rodney Dangerfield wannabe running amok at 30 knots, the reader is left with the idea that if only for a lifejacket everyone would be fine. Same thing with bikes and helmets.