Buses, Bikes, and Automobiles THIS ROAD AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US, BUT IT SHOULD BE by Brett Lider graphic by Brett Lider The issue of cycling safety here at the university was brought vividly to the forefront with the death of Charles Donovan Vogel. Donovan was killed by a Charlottesville city school bus driven by 66-year-old David Poston. The accident report filed by the police does not charge Mr. Poston, yet the circumstances of the accident do not suggest such absolute vindication. Questions have arisen concerning individual and community responsibility for safety and education. The process of creating a safer environment for cycling in the university area remains in its infant stages. ACCIDENT There are two different scenarios that could explain February 18th's fatality. What actually occurred will never be known, but it is probably somewhere in between these two descriptions. It should be kept in mind that it is easy to assign responsibility to people who cannot speak for themselves. And Donovan isn't saying a word. The testimonies conflict. Witness Miranda Branson told the Daily Progress that Donovan was riding in the street between the cars and the curb., while another witness, Heather O'Gorman, claims he was riding on the sidewalk. O'Gorman, who was in the car behind Poston's school bus, added, "He was riding so fast, I don't understand." None of the witnesses had a good view of the accident, nor were they able to explain the interaction between Donovan and the bus. The respective skill of each of the drivers remains to be examined. Ben Moon, Donovan's Resident Assistant, called him a "very skilled rider" and emphasized that "he was very careful." Friend and fellow rider Kevin Burger said, "Donovan had ridden with the University Mountain Bike Club and could handle his bike well." As for his riding on the sidewalk, Berger stated that "Donovan never did." Poston has a clean driving record, which says a lot given his 48 years of driving experience. Yet Jamie Cowly, a former rider on his route, said, "He didn't signal his turns, and if he thought no one was coming, he wouldn't stop at stop signs ... he'd step on the gas." This and the fact that Poston supposedly had not realized he was in an accident (school buses are not known for their smooth rides, though one would think a human being would prove a noticeable impediment to forward progress), suggest the possibility of some culpability in this affair. Scenario One is that Poston's bus made an unsignaled right-hand turn as Donovan pulled alongside it, and as Poston cut the corner too closely Donovan fell. Scenario Two is that Poston signaled his turn and while he was making it, Donovan and his bike closed in too fast - due to misjudgment or inattention - and Donovan either collided with the bus and fell off, or over-braked his front wheel and ejected himself. Blame is a black-and-white distinction. Responsibility is a better concept. It seems that many forces were and continue to be at work on the streets of Charlottesville. There is the contribution of the school bus, for possibly cutting the corner and failing to signal. There is Donovan, who probably carried too much speed into the intersection. There are the circumstances: The right-turn onto Barracks is more than 90 degrees; a tight curve to navigate, especially for a bus. Barracks and Emmet are both multi-lane, divided high volume roads not engineered with bicycles in mind. This leads to the most subtle, overlooked, and powerful force at work - the environment and tone set for cycling in this city: adversative, uneducated, unaccommodating, and dangerous. People live at the university. People need food. Food is on 29. This sets up Route 29 as the corridor for a heavy amount of cycling traffic that it was not designed to handle. Traffic engineers use the terms "site generator" for an area that people live and work in and therefore travel from, and "site attractor" for an area that contains attractions that people travel to. The university and Charlottesville both must accept responsibility for their failure to adequately address the relationship between these site attractors and site generators. This is not as simple as someone being at fault and another the victim. Recognition of this reality will lead to meaningful change that will alter the current situation and avoid future tragedies. SAFETY Whatever happened that day and who is responsible is irrelevant to the fact that Donovan is dead, and that cycling and driving here at the university and in Charlottesville is no safer than it was February 18th. This has been an issue long overlooked. Cyclists and drivers, each time they operate their respective vehicles, take responsibility for knowing the rules and having the skills to operate those vehicles safely. TO CYCLISTS: You are invisible. You are small and light and hard to see compared to the mastodonal girth of a car. No matter who's at fault in an accident, the cyclist always loses. Signal your turns: left arm out, hand and forearm up for a right turn, left arm and hand fully extended to the left for a left turn. Make eye contact with vehicles that may cross your right-of-way, such as cars in a turning lane. Wear a helmet. Even if you follow all the rules and are a skilled cyclist, you cannot predict or control the actions of others, which is why it is a good idea to wear one. Do not ride against traffic. It is a major cause of bicycle-car collisions, making closing speeds faster, and therefore reducing the window for reaction. Look out for car doors opening in your path: Scan parked cars for occupants as you ride along, giving those that are inhabited a wide berth. TO DRIVERS: Pay attention. Drivers often only notice other multi-thousand pound vehicles, and their eyes glance over the cyclist. Signal your turns well in advance and check for cyclists behind or beside. Many bicycle-automobile accidents are caused by cars turning into bicycles that are riding beside them or passing. Prepare to be passed. In Virginia, bicycles can pass on either the left or the right side, so look out if you are stopped in traffic or driving slowly. Check in the rear view mirrors before opening the street-side door. The number one cause of bicycle-car accidents is people opening car doors and having someone ride into them. ACTIVISM Last spring, the Charlottesville Albemarle Bicycling Association (CHABA) led a hard- fought effort to get bike lanes put on West Main Street. Their efforts continue and their focus remains on the area surrounding the university. Rugby Road recently recieved bike lanes along a portion of its length, and CHABA is now trying to get City Council to put up lanes on other main thoroughfares and to study other roads, so that in repaving them, cyclists' needs will be engineered in and accommodated. Ruth Stornetta - a member of the university staff, a cyclist, activist, and member of the Virginia Department of Transportation Bicycle Advisory Committee - has several ideas. She would like the university to co-publish with the city a route map of Charlottesville. The route directory would include safety tips, rules of the road, and other cycling-related information. It is Stornetta's hope that the university sees fit to include cycling related safety materials with the information that incoming students receive, or perhaps at the bicycle registration provided by university police in the beginning of the academic year. Interestingly, McCormick Road through Central Grounds used to have bike lanes, but they were removed. McCormick Road - along with Emmet Street, University Avenue, and Jefferson Park Avenue - is probably the most heavily trafficked byway used by cyclists in Charlottesville; bike lanes for Jefferson Park Avenue are planned for the next re-paving, but Emmet Street and University Avenue remain low on the priority list. The months and years ahead will see much discussion about the issue of creating cycling facilities such as bike lanes. Input from citizens and students, be they drivers or riders, will have a determining influence on what and how much is accomplished. Getting involved with making facilities like roads more inclusive; increasing awareness, such as "Share The Road" signs; and educating drivers and cyclists alike, such as a seminar on cycling safety currently in the works, can only make things better for all of us out there on the road. A long-standing problem climaxes in the death of Charles Donovan Vogel, and the ensuing fallout brings discussion to the specific and overall issue. Every driver who has ever been surprised by the presence of a bicycle on the road and every cyclist on grounds who has ever ridden against traffic should feel interest and responsibility for what is happening here. Driving in Charlottesville means driving with a dense population of pedestrians and cyclists. Cycling in Charlottesville means riding in a dense population of pedestrians and heavy, inattentive traffic. In the immediate and long-term future, there is much to be accomplished to reduce the risk and possibility of accidents; let this be the beginning and not the end of the struggle. Contact City Council at jcox@cstone.net, CHABA at chaba@cycling.org; Mary Hughes, University Landscape Architect, at mvh@virginia.edu

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