Velda Mapelli died after being hit from behind by a bicyclist while walking on the  Cedar River Trail near Renton, WA in April 2010. The medical examiner reported she had fractures to her skull, clavicle, ribs and pelvis and had blunt force trauma to her head and torso.

 

For more information:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2011740016_nicole30m.html

 

Witnesses described ... how the cyclist called, "On your left!" and how Mapelli didn't seem to know what to do. She "appeared agitated," one witness said, turned right and then darted left across the trail, directly in front of the lead cyclist. He made hard turn in a failed attempt to miss her, and they both landed off the trail.

 

Who was at fault seemed to be the most frequently asked question. However I was wondering, what were Velda and the bicyclist thinking and how did that influence their actions?

 

Surely stepping to the left into the path of a vehicle, a bicycle, passing on the left is the wrong thing to do. We know this from driving vehicles on the road. But...Velda was not driving, she was walking - on a trail. 

 

Can you see the different behaviors, pedestrian and vehicle driving? The natural behavior of pedestrians is to get out of the way of people coming straight at you at high speed because in the natural world, that is a threat. 

 

But, in the vehicle driving world, it's normal to approach directly in-line from behind as closely as practical to minimize the time driving against oncoming traffic while passing.

 

Have you noticed how this plays out? Bike riders fear faster traffic from the rear and advocate for bike facilities that get then out of the way.

 

But then - when on the trail - now bike riders want to pass pedestrians quickly and efficiently. Now they want pedestrians to drive their shoes like a vehicle predictably in a line to the right. Approaching from the rear they bark out "On your left!" and pass. No “Hello, how are you?” to get the pedestrian’s attention. No 3 feet clearance.  

 

Where pedestrian and driving behavior are mixed there’s room for confusion. But, I’ve noticed that bicyclists who learn the rules of the road and ride with traffic are more likely to appreciate the pedestrian’s perspective and treat them better while reserving driving behavior for the road and vehicles.

 

What have you noticed? Email your comments to david@bicycledriver.com

Comments

6/14/2012

Bunky 1053

I have not made a study of Road versus trail riders so cannot comment on that.  My observation is that cyclist who have had professional training and have a good positive attitude are the better and safer riders.