*UPDATE*
Before Steve and I parted ways, he asked for my contact info. He was going home and intending on filing a Police Report. I didn’t have a business card on me so I told him, “I work at the local NBC affiliate. My name is Jodi. If you can’t remember my name, ask for the chick that rides bikes – they’ll know who you’re talking about.”
Well, I’m happy to report that the very next morning after the incident I got a call from CMPD Officer Taylor. He recorded my side of the story and was sincere in his questioning of what can be done to offer better safety for cyclists. His tone was almost apologetic – I was a little thrown by it, although extremely grateful. A lot of times there is so much anger in the debate of a cyclists rights to the road that sometimes you feel like an Officer is just putting up with you; rolling their eyes at you on the inside. Officer Taylor was not like that at all. I ended my part of the conversation with, “It’s just a shame this taxi driver is going to get away with hurting someone like that.”
“Actually he’s not,” said the Officer. My ears perked up and a drop of happy hit my heart. Turned out there was a passenger in the taxi. The happy flooded my heart. She heard the bang on the side of the car and when she turned around, had seen Steve crashing. She questioned the driver about it, but he did not speak English. She willed him to turn around and when he didn’t, she called 911. That woman deserves a huge collective hug from the cycling community. I hope she realizes the importance of what she did and I hope Karma returns the favor for her.
As for Steve, in all the chaos the other day, I didn’t even catch his last name. I would love to check on him and see how he’s healing. So, if anyone sees a guy out there in a Hammer Gel jersey riding a Colnago Dream, please tell him Jodi’s looking for him.
Be safe, friends.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Happy Birthday, Steve…Here’s a Hit ‘n Run!
Oftentimes, I like to head over to the Booty Loop after work for a light workout. I get to be with other cyclists and the camaraderie is a nice departure from the typical 3 hour ride I spend by myself. Most of the time, I find a rider better than myself that will push me into some good intervals. So yesterday, after punching the time clock at 3PM, I left work and made my way over to the Booty. Sure enough within the first lap, I had a riding buddy. We didn’t talk much – just entered into the silent “you pull for a lap, I’ll pull for a lap” agreement that most cyclists understand.
We had a good pace going - not too slow, not too fast. My buddy (I hadn’t yet asked his name) was leading me up Heartbreak Hill (Hopedale Ave) and at the top it would be my turn to pull. As we came around the corner and merged onto Queens Road, a green taxi switched lanes in the intersection and came into our lane. The rear end side of the car clipped my buddy sending him flying across 2 lanes of traffic. I slammed on my brakes skidding my rear tire whilst screaming at the taxi driver. I squinted hard to get some part of the license plate, but the driver took off so fast, I couldn’t see anything but the color of the vehicle. I yelled to a passing vehicle to get after him, but she looked at me like I was crazy. And I’m sure I was a little crazy. I had just witnessed a hit and run, my buddy’s on the ground bleeding and people are rubbernecking instead of catching the asshole whose gonna get away with this. From the ground I hear, “Go after him!” I assumed my buddy was ok so I took off on a full sprint riding as fast as I could, hoping the stop lights would, for once, work in my favor. I was pedaling at 30 mph but as fast as that is for a bicycle, it’s simply no match for a car and the taxi got away.
Completely out of breath, I returned to the scene of the hit and run. It was like nothing had happened. Nobody had stopped. Nobody had offered assistance. My buddy had scraped himself off the road and put himself on the sidewalk. He was standing up checking out his bike. He was red from his left knee up to his left hip and the blood was seeping through his bike shorts on his thigh. There seemed to be no skin left on his left palm. I asked if he was sure he was ok. “Yeah, you know how it is – doesn’t hurt much now, but this time tomorrow will be unbearable.”
I helped him adjust his handlebar back into place as we discussed what had happened and what went wrong. It’s a tough intersection as the 1 lane road goes to 2 lanes on the Booty side. But, the intersection is set up so that traffic coming through it is delivered into the left lane of Queens Road so merging traffic can take up the right lane. Oftentimes, people change lanes in the intersection which is confusing for the merging traffic. Still, even if you’re conducting an illegal lane change in the intersection, there is plenty of sight and reaction time, that if traffic does merge into the right lane, you should be able to correct yourself without incident. However, for some reason, this taxi driver continued changing lanes until his tires had almost hit the curb. Of course by then, he had already hit a cyclist. Maybe the driver was distracted by a phone call…or looking for a cd. Maybe he hates cyclists and decided to “teach us a lesson”. Whatever the reason, we’ll never know because that asshole took off. Hit and Run. Felony.
After our brief conversation, I finally asked my buddy his name. “Steve,” he answers with a shake of his head. “And today is my birthday.”
Well, Happy Birthday Steve, I hope you don’t mind; I didn’t wrap your present. I couldn’t find wrapping paper big enough for a hit and run.
I wish you a speedy recovery and safe riding when you get back on your bike.
We had a good pace going - not too slow, not too fast. My buddy (I hadn’t yet asked his name) was leading me up Heartbreak Hill (Hopedale Ave) and at the top it would be my turn to pull. As we came around the corner and merged onto Queens Road, a green taxi switched lanes in the intersection and came into our lane. The rear end side of the car clipped my buddy sending him flying across 2 lanes of traffic. I slammed on my brakes skidding my rear tire whilst screaming at the taxi driver. I squinted hard to get some part of the license plate, but the driver took off so fast, I couldn’t see anything but the color of the vehicle. I yelled to a passing vehicle to get after him, but she looked at me like I was crazy. And I’m sure I was a little crazy. I had just witnessed a hit and run, my buddy’s on the ground bleeding and people are rubbernecking instead of catching the asshole whose gonna get away with this. From the ground I hear, “Go after him!” I assumed my buddy was ok so I took off on a full sprint riding as fast as I could, hoping the stop lights would, for once, work in my favor. I was pedaling at 30 mph but as fast as that is for a bicycle, it’s simply no match for a car and the taxi got away.
Completely out of breath, I returned to the scene of the hit and run. It was like nothing had happened. Nobody had stopped. Nobody had offered assistance. My buddy had scraped himself off the road and put himself on the sidewalk. He was standing up checking out his bike. He was red from his left knee up to his left hip and the blood was seeping through his bike shorts on his thigh. There seemed to be no skin left on his left palm. I asked if he was sure he was ok. “Yeah, you know how it is – doesn’t hurt much now, but this time tomorrow will be unbearable.”
I helped him adjust his handlebar back into place as we discussed what had happened and what went wrong. It’s a tough intersection as the 1 lane road goes to 2 lanes on the Booty side. But, the intersection is set up so that traffic coming through it is delivered into the left lane of Queens Road so merging traffic can take up the right lane. Oftentimes, people change lanes in the intersection which is confusing for the merging traffic. Still, even if you’re conducting an illegal lane change in the intersection, there is plenty of sight and reaction time, that if traffic does merge into the right lane, you should be able to correct yourself without incident. However, for some reason, this taxi driver continued changing lanes until his tires had almost hit the curb. Of course by then, he had already hit a cyclist. Maybe the driver was distracted by a phone call…or looking for a cd. Maybe he hates cyclists and decided to “teach us a lesson”. Whatever the reason, we’ll never know because that asshole took off. Hit and Run. Felony.
After our brief conversation, I finally asked my buddy his name. “Steve,” he answers with a shake of his head. “And today is my birthday.”
Well, Happy Birthday Steve, I hope you don’t mind; I didn’t wrap your present. I couldn’t find wrapping paper big enough for a hit and run.
I wish you a speedy recovery and safe riding when you get back on your bike.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Someone finally got it right!
I can't believe it was South Carolina! Finally, legislation that protects cyclists! I'm floored. Will this keep cyclists from getting harassed and hit by people driving cars? No, but it will make it easier to prosecute those who do. A pedal stroke in the right direction.
http://www.thestate.com/politics/story/430331.html
http://www.thestate.com/politics/story/430331.html
Thursday, June 5, 2008
I Paid For These Roads: Now Get the Hell Off 'Em!
One of the arguments that many motorists use as an excuse to hate cyclists is “My vehicle taxes pay for these roads so they are mine, now get the hell off!” There are so many ways this line of thinking is wrong that it’s somewhat hard to decide where to begin.
I guess my first question is who the hell started the rumor that only vehicle taxes pay for our roads? Where did you hear that and where is your proof? If that was true, we’d all be walking on dirt roads to and from work. There simply wouldn't be enough money generated to keep up with demand. Go to your county government’s website for God’s sake and look at where the revenue comes from and where it goes. Any idiot can do that. Take up too much of your time? OK, let me break it down for you.
Wherever you live, you pay county taxes. Some of us pay City/Municipality taxes as well, but let’s focus on County Taxes since that’s where the money for our roads comes from sans Interstates (Federal Taxes) and State owned roads (duh, State taxes). I’ll use Mecklenburg County, NC for my argument since that is where I live and ride. Property tax needs a definition before we can go any further. According to Charmeck.org, “Property taxes are leveled on real property (land and buildings), business personal property, motor vehicles, boats, trailers and income producing personal property.” Of those, I technically own 4 pieces of real property (because a home and the land on which it sits are assessed separately and I own 2 homes), and 1 motor vehicle. The current tax rate in Mecklenburg right now is .8387 per $100 of property value. Using that formula my vehicle tax will bring the County a whopping $89 of revenue. However, between my 2 homes, the County will reap about $3003 from my pocket. Still want to tell me I’m not contributing to the building and maintaining of the roads I ride my bike on?
It’s really all a moot point anyway because our property taxes are all lumped into one sum and in Mecklenburg County that sum accounts for 76.1% of the total revenue. There’s no way to track where a specific dollar paid by a taxpayer has gone. So when you say your vehicle taxes paid for these roads, you’re making a grossly uneducated assumption to justify the harassment, hurting and sometimes killing of another law abiding taxpayer. In fact, let’s apply that way of thinking to motorists instead of cyclists. Suppose you want to spend the weekend in the mountains. Well, you better get a good pair of sneakers because you certainly won’t be driving around Asheville to see the sites. Why? Oh, poor you. You didn’t pay Buncombe County Property taxes, so you’re not entitled to drive those roads. Want to go to the Outer Banks? I hope you’ve paid your Dare County Property Tax. No? Too bad. No Jockey Ridge hang gliding for you.
Equally as ridiculous is this: the entitlement that is suggested with the “my taxes, my roads, get off” myth. Entitlement meaning, I pay taxes on the car and you don’t pay taxes on that bike, so I have more rights to this road. More generally put, if I pay more in taxes than you, I am contributing more the community, so I get more rights than you. How fucked up would that be? Here’s how: if you rent, you’re not paying real estate taxes and, therefore, are paying considerably less to the County than me. Approximately $3000 less. So that would mean all renters need to get the hell out of my way when I’m driving to the market place. Rush Hour? Not a problem for us homeowners – your renting ass needs to get the hell off the road and make way for the people who contribute more!
Apart from that nonsense, is the fact that our Property Taxes pay for many, many things. Roads are just one small fraction in an otherwise extremely complicated equation. Again, according to Charmeck.org, “When you call the police or fire department, play in a park, send your children to public school, check out a book at the library, or eat at an inspected restaurant you are using services paid for by your property taxes. Your taxes also pay for services to help people move from welfare to work, protect children and senior citizens from abuse and neglect, protect our water and air from pollution, repair and build roads and much, much more.” So, as long as I’m paying my taxes, which I do every year in full and on time, I have every right to be riding my bike without harassment on a road that all Mecklenburg County residents helped pay for.
“My taxes, my road, get off” myth: Debunked.
I guess my first question is who the hell started the rumor that only vehicle taxes pay for our roads? Where did you hear that and where is your proof? If that was true, we’d all be walking on dirt roads to and from work. There simply wouldn't be enough money generated to keep up with demand. Go to your county government’s website for God’s sake and look at where the revenue comes from and where it goes. Any idiot can do that. Take up too much of your time? OK, let me break it down for you.
Wherever you live, you pay county taxes. Some of us pay City/Municipality taxes as well, but let’s focus on County Taxes since that’s where the money for our roads comes from sans Interstates (Federal Taxes) and State owned roads (duh, State taxes). I’ll use Mecklenburg County, NC for my argument since that is where I live and ride. Property tax needs a definition before we can go any further. According to Charmeck.org, “Property taxes are leveled on real property (land and buildings), business personal property, motor vehicles, boats, trailers and income producing personal property.” Of those, I technically own 4 pieces of real property (because a home and the land on which it sits are assessed separately and I own 2 homes), and 1 motor vehicle. The current tax rate in Mecklenburg right now is .8387 per $100 of property value. Using that formula my vehicle tax will bring the County a whopping $89 of revenue. However, between my 2 homes, the County will reap about $3003 from my pocket. Still want to tell me I’m not contributing to the building and maintaining of the roads I ride my bike on?
It’s really all a moot point anyway because our property taxes are all lumped into one sum and in Mecklenburg County that sum accounts for 76.1% of the total revenue. There’s no way to track where a specific dollar paid by a taxpayer has gone. So when you say your vehicle taxes paid for these roads, you’re making a grossly uneducated assumption to justify the harassment, hurting and sometimes killing of another law abiding taxpayer. In fact, let’s apply that way of thinking to motorists instead of cyclists. Suppose you want to spend the weekend in the mountains. Well, you better get a good pair of sneakers because you certainly won’t be driving around Asheville to see the sites. Why? Oh, poor you. You didn’t pay Buncombe County Property taxes, so you’re not entitled to drive those roads. Want to go to the Outer Banks? I hope you’ve paid your Dare County Property Tax. No? Too bad. No Jockey Ridge hang gliding for you.
Equally as ridiculous is this: the entitlement that is suggested with the “my taxes, my roads, get off” myth. Entitlement meaning, I pay taxes on the car and you don’t pay taxes on that bike, so I have more rights to this road. More generally put, if I pay more in taxes than you, I am contributing more the community, so I get more rights than you. How fucked up would that be? Here’s how: if you rent, you’re not paying real estate taxes and, therefore, are paying considerably less to the County than me. Approximately $3000 less. So that would mean all renters need to get the hell out of my way when I’m driving to the market place. Rush Hour? Not a problem for us homeowners – your renting ass needs to get the hell off the road and make way for the people who contribute more!
Apart from that nonsense, is the fact that our Property Taxes pay for many, many things. Roads are just one small fraction in an otherwise extremely complicated equation. Again, according to Charmeck.org, “When you call the police or fire department, play in a park, send your children to public school, check out a book at the library, or eat at an inspected restaurant you are using services paid for by your property taxes. Your taxes also pay for services to help people move from welfare to work, protect children and senior citizens from abuse and neglect, protect our water and air from pollution, repair and build roads and much, much more.” So, as long as I’m paying my taxes, which I do every year in full and on time, I have every right to be riding my bike without harassment on a road that all Mecklenburg County residents helped pay for.
“My taxes, my road, get off” myth: Debunked.
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