Bike vs. Car/Motorcycle

[venture]

Two crashes today between car/motorcycle and bicyclists.

Bicycle riders hospitalized after separate crashes » New and Developing » The Norman Transcript

Accident 1:

• Norman police Capt. Tom Easley said as the motorcycle was making a right turn at the intersection just before 2 p.m. Thursday, the woman was crossing the street on her bicycle when she ran into the motorcycle.
• Motorcycle driver was arrested for driving with a suspended/cancelled license.

Accident 2:

• Rosas was crossing the street on her bicycle when a Dodge Challenger traveling west on Lindsey Street, turned right to go northbound on Classen Boulevard and struck her. The driver of the car was identified as Sean Waggoner, 30, of Norman.

• Witnesses on the scene told police that Rosas had a clear to cross signal and the driver of the Challenger had his turning signal on. However, when Waggoner turned, instead of staying in the closest right hand lane, he took a wide turn and switched lanes, Easley said.

Accident 1 appears to just be people not paying attention. Accident 2 was mixed. 1) If you are on a bike, get off of it when using a crosswalk. She won't be protected by pedestrian laws because she was riding it across. 2) When you are making a turn, you are to turn into the nearest lane...not drive across multiple lanes.

I've seen bicycle traffic definitely increase in this area of East Norman so we definitely need to start evaluating adding bike lanes to accommodate the increased usage. Of course it is still going to take people not being idiots when driving/riding.

[Mel]

"When you are making a turn, you are to turn into the nearest lane...not drive across multiple lanes." That has to be the most ignored law on the streets. It really gets my goat.