June 4, 2008: Impact

[breakingnews]

Here's a sad article about a bad car vs. cyclists accident in San Jose back in March. It was caused by a county sheriff who fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the double yellow line and smashed into three riders riding single file along the shoulder.

http://www.velonews.com/article/73458

This particular article is from a cycling/legal column penned by a pro cyclist-turned-lawyer. He addressed media bias surrounding bike accidents after the initial newspaper stories made it sound as if both the cyclists and the sheriff were equally at fault: Those reports buried many of the details showing the sheriff acted negligently.

I agree that there are idiots out there who don't ride safely and cause accidents - they should be banished from the road. But the majority of riders I share the road with do obey laws and ride very conservatively. Most of the near-accidents I've had or witnessed involved drivers who were too impatient to wait an extra 5 seconds while the group cleared an intersection or passed through a tight stretch of road. Go easy on the gas pedal, please.