By: Diane Benjamin
The Normal Police Department posted this pic Wednesday on Facebook along with:
Road Closed
Vehicle vs. Pedestrian Accident
Raab Road between Linden St. and School St. will be closed to thru traffic while the McLean County Accident Reconstruction Team conducts their investigation. Please find an alternate route of travel through this area.
At 10:48am a vehicle traveling through the intersection of Raab Road and Constitution Trail struck a pedestrian on a bicycle. The victim was transported to a local hospital with unknown injuries.
.
In the distance is the Stop Sign in the middle of the road. People who aren’t familiar with Raab will never see it.
I wrote in 2020 about the insanity of making drivers responsible instead of bikers who want to cross the road: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/14/raab-road-is-a-death-waiting-to-happen/
That story has video taken by Normal resident and then avid biker Doug Fansler.
This lunacy was an accident waiting to happen – and it did. We don’t know the condition of the biker injured this week. We don’t know what consequences the vehicle driver had either.
The Normal Police cited Illinois code about vehicles yielding to pedestrians – then they called the biker a pedestrian. See the video – bikers are moving much faster than a walker would. Vehicles can’t respond fast enough to bikers who think they have the right-of-way.
Bikers should have a STOP sign. Normal fails to realize roads were created for cars. Bikes can co-exist but it should be the riders responsibility to be safe since they can clearly see vehicles. At these crossings vehicles can’t see bikers – especially when they don’t even pause.
In 2021 I posted even more information: https://blnnews.com/2021/08/19/mia-common-sense-in-normal/
Cyclists using roads designed for car traffic is an insane concept, only fully understood by bike shop owners. In addition, how many people use those stupid bike paths all around town, or on Route 66? What a waste of money that could have been spent upgrading roads and other infrastructure! JK
On an unrelated bicycle vs. car topic, several years ago a male bicycle rider was killed by a motorist near Indian Creek subdivision in rural Towanda. The name of the motorist was NEVER released. I asked many people, including some cops, who the driver was. Nobody could come up with a name.
P.S. It is risky enough driving a car past Indian Creek, with all the morning commuters coming off the Gridley blacktop in addition to Indian Creek residents who are late for work, let alone a bike! JK
The stop sign in the middle of the road was and is a terrible idea. Better served to have the stop signs placed on the trail for the cyclists unfortunately I observe most cyclists never stopping at stop signs on the streets. Come watch the cyclists at north street and broadway in uptown normal I never observe a cyclist stopping on those streets that is if they are on the street many are riding on the sidewalks.
Just an observation!
This subject really frosts me! I don’t know how many times I came close to hitting a cyclist coming out of my subdivision. THEY have a stop sign on the trail….there too is a stop sign for cars. Cyclist never stop, seldom slow down, usually avoid eye contact and just pedal faster! I can’t feel any sympathy when they get hit.
Cyclists are not pedestrians unless walking the bike. Bicyclists do have a stop sign on the trail. I don’t think they have the right of way unless they are walking the bike across. There is not enough distance for a car to see a bicyclist riding at speed crossing these intersections.
Normal Police don’t believe this. See their Facebook page
I agree. I drive that route every day during the week to work. A vehicle traveling the speed limit does not have time to stop if a bicyclist or runner suddenly appears out of the trees. I don’t use the trail a lot but I’d never just fly out in front of an oncoming vehicle expecting them to stop.
By and large, cyclists are an arrogant group no matter where you find them. Many think they are the reincarnation of Lance Armstrong or someone competing in the Tour de France. Some of the biggest offenders of traffic rules were the members of local cycling clubs who thought public roads were their personal velodrome. I lost count the number of times I encountered these guys blowing stop signs on busy city intersections or riding three or four wide on a municipal or county road with a trail right next to them then were outraged when someone just avoided hitting them or knocked them off their bike. Riding licenses and tags should be mandatory for these jags at the same rate as motor vehicles no matter where they reside.
I see e bikes and regular bicycles blowing through stop signs every single day.
Case in point several years ago when I could ride a bike I used to travel the trail to work when going home one afternoon on my bike I rode onto the trail and 9 yes 9 cyclists 3 wide dressed in their shiny tight bike uniforms ran me off the trail and laughed as they went by. That was years ago and obviously the rudeness has not changed with cyclists.
Flashback: “The Good Roads Movement occurred in the United States between the late 1870s and the 1920s. Advocates for improved roads led by bicyclists such as the League of American Wheelmen turned local agitation into a national political movement.” Wikipedia, History of road transport
Way too many bicyclists are lazy, arrogant scofflaws who should be getting way more traffic tickets. The only people who are more lazy and arrogant than bicyclists are… wait for it… motorists who think their own pleasure and convenience take precedence over everything and everybody that’s outside their cars.