Fatal PA Bicycle Accident: Elderly Driver Claims She Never Saw the Bicyclist….

9 thoughts on “Fatal PA Bicycle Accident: Elderly Driver Claims She Never Saw the Bicyclist….”

1. That is really a shame. I know in the past I wasn’t very careful about this either; I just never realized how dangerous it is for the cyclist. My current roommate bikes to work, he has told me all kinds of stories about crazy drivers. One of which even hit him! On top of this, my brother was struck by a car while riding his bike to work in California. Luckily he is a lawyer as well!

   Needless to say, I pay pretty close attention now.

   I think perhaps more education during the initial driving test/class would be beneficial for some(at least here in south florida). For example, they have a drug class you must attend prior to applying for your license to drive. It might help to require an additional class, for example: pedestrian safety

   The driving test here is a joke anyway though and I’m sure there would still be plenty of injuries even with such a class.

2. I past by just minutes before on that same road on my bike, then later passed by afterwords in my car going to make a visit, very tragic. I feel for the Family of Tom and for Mrs. Patterson both who I know as neighboring acquaintances. The Lesson here for all is just don’t look for cars check the entire area you are driving. And as a bicyclist, bike defensively, trust that know one can see you, Toms outfit was bright yellow and she confessed to not even seeing him. Also, the speed he was doing was probably no more the 25mph, and with her turning combined I would say at most 30, yet it was enough to take his life. So, folks be careful, look for us bikers out there. We are a life that wants to get back home to our families safely as Tom no doubt was hoping. RIP TOM and God’s grace the the families!

3. For your information, the reason she did not see the cyclist was the sun was to bright in her eyes. There were several witnesses that can say the sun was very bright at that time.

   Don’t get me wrong, my heart goes out to the family. I do believe that as a cyclist you also have some responsibility of your surrondings. Would you cross the road without looking both ways before you crossed?

   Seeing that there is more and more bike – car accidents, maybe the cyclists need to take a class to be aware of the dangers of the roads.

   Don’t just look a this one sided. A life was taken and that family must be going through hell right now, on the other hand the family that hit him has to live with this for the rest of their life. They are both good families and very caring. You make it sound like she said: Oh, there is a cyclist, I think I will hit him. Accidents happen, and that is what this was an accident.

4. Kelly:

   I have no doubt that the driver feels horribly about ending this poor bicyclist’s life and my heart truly goes out to her (as well as the cyclists family). I do NOT look at this one sided nor at any time did I imply that she intentionally hit this cyclist. What I do know as an avid cyclist for more than 30 years and as an attorney who has handled way too many bicycle accident cases, is that many motorists simply do not keep a vigilant lookout for bicycles and even motorcycles. And if this driver claims that the sun was in her eyes, she had a legal obligation to slow down or even pull over if she didn’t feel her vision was good enough that she could safely operate her car.

   This is a sad, sad story for all involved and my only mission is to educate the public that they need to be on the lookout for ALL vehicles and people sharing the road– bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, etc.– not just cars and trucks.

   Thanks, Jim
   ___________________________________
   James B. Reed
   NY & PA Injury & Malpractice Attorney
   Ziff Law Firm
   303 William Street
   Elmira, NY 14902
   (607)733-8866
   mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com
   http://www. zifflaw.com

5. Jim,

   As an avid cyclist myself, and one who puts many miles in behind the wheels, I completely concur with you about the responsibility of drivers as well.

   Not to say that many cyclist also don’t need to be educated about their rights and responsibilities on the road, but I am always amazed at how cavalier people are about driving the car.

   This morning heading in to work the sun was bright and in the face of traffic I was following, and as I passed people who were weaving, or moving strangely, I was surprised at the number of people without sunglasses on, without the visor screen down, and who were sheilding their eyes with a hand (and one woman was even trying to drink her coffee at the same time.

   This is the time of year cyclists need to be even more concerned about what is going on around them. It looks funny, but as I cycle alone a lot, I have gotten used to having a mirror attached to my bike handle. I want to know what is going on behind me, and in front. This is something that drivers should be doing as well, but as all cyclists know this is not the case.

   Let us hope that no further tragedies occur this fall.

   David P.

6. Jim,
   Just wondering if you say the article in the Leader about the girls that were hit by a motorist in Corning? It was the same day as this accident. They are blaming the girls on the bike because they were hit in a crosswalk and not following the rules of the road.

   What confuses me, is in the article there was never a comment about the driver taking any responsibility. In this case it was like it was the girls fault because they were in the crosswalk rather than following the flow of traffic.

   If a car comes to a crosswalk should they not be slowing for pedestrians anyway? Could the driver not see these girls? And it never said a thing about the sun being in the drivers eyes.

   I get your point, but at first it just seemed to me that you were attacking the driver of the car. I didn’t know if this was a ploy to get thing stirred up into a law suit, which I think is professionally inappropriate on your part.

   Kelly

7. Kelly:

   I haven’t seen the Leader story you mentioned but I can tell you that the reason for my post was NOT to stir up things for a lawsuit (let’s face it, with the death of a cyclist, things were already plenty stirred up) but to continue to spread the message that it is critical that motorists be on the lookout for ALL users of the roadways!

   I ride my bike virtually every day and I take every precaution possible, but it frightens me to think that motorists who hit bikes and motorcycles have a familiar excuse: “I never saw them”. Frankly, I don’t think that excuse cuts it. If you are going to operate a potentially fatal piece of equipment– your car or truck– you have a legal and moral obligation to do so safely. That means slow down when the sun is in your eyes, put on sunglasses, put down your visor. If you can’t see properly, for God’s sake, stop your car until you can see.

   So, please, please, please be careful when driving.

   Thanks, Jim
   _________________________________________
   James B. Reed, Esq.
   Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
   Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
   303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
   Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
   Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
   mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

   Visit the New York Injury Law Blog at: http://www.NYInjuryLawBlog.com

8. Jim,
   This will be my last post because I don’t want to continue discussing this, but how do you know she didn’t have sunglasses on or her visor down.

   Last weekend I went to the Balloon Festival in Dansville and the sun was so bright when they were taking off I could not see them until they were up in the air and away from the sun. I had good sunglasses on by the way.

   I still think that bikers have to take a certain amount of responsability also. As a pedestrian that walks Market Street quite a bit. I don’t trust anybody. I always take a double take before crossing. And as a driver I feel that I am very cautious of my surrondings. God for bid if I ever get into an ACCIDENT. Everyone would have me convicted of manslaughter before any charges were even brought up on me. The Star Gazette has a post saying she should be in jail.

   I feel sorry for people who don’t believe that accidents don’t happen or cut it anymore. Yesterday I walked into my son’s bedroom and he had a bottle of windshield washer fluid for his car sitting on the floor right as you walked in. I went to step over it and got my toe caught. Ripped the toe nail off, toe is swollen and may be broken. The point is he should not have had the bottle right there and I should not have tried to step over it. It was an accident or if accidents don’t cut anymmore maybe I should sue my son for negligence for keeping the bottle on the floor.

   Just trying to get a point across.

   Kelly

9. Kelly:

   OK, this will be my last Comment too. Truce? I am the first to admit that accidents do happen and sometimes they simply can’t be avoided. My problem is that if we just call everything an “accident” it means that we just accept that bad things are going to happen and it removes any incentive to try to keep bad things from happening. I just want to encourage EVERYONE to be more careful– bicyclists, drivers, skateboarders, walkers, runners– EVERYONE. The problem with people that are biking, walking or running is that they have virtually no protection if hit by a car– accordingly, it’s very important that drivers do everything in their power to avoid a collision. I have no beef IF people do everything to try to be safe. I do have a big beef when people are cavalier about safety. And that goes for EVERYONE– bikers, drivers….

   I certainly understand your point and I hope this discussion has led us both to understand one another a little better.

   Good luck with your toe nail! And NO, I don’t think you should sue your son….although a good tongue-lashing by Mom might be appropriate!

   Take care and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

   Jim Reed
   N.Y. and PA Accident Lawyer
   jreed@zifflaw.com