Rider Down

[Scotty]

Anybody hear about this

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index ... lle_b.html

John DeStefanis was riding his bicycle to meet friends on Saturday night in Clinton Township, but he never made it.

A driver struck DeStafanis, 41, of Roseville, less than a block from his destination, leaving him on life support in a local hospital.

"They found his body in the middle of Gratiot," said his girlfriend Diane Ferschneider.

"They're talking about maybe taking him off life support tomorrow. And he's a father. He's a good man."

[i69whitey]

a fellow rosevillian

ridin along the curb on gratiot at night...

five kids...


tragic

[c0nsumer]

I'd like to know how/where he was riding. I keep seeing jackasses salmoning up Schoenherr and VanDyke near me at 5mph, wobbling back and forth against traffic along the curbs; both outer and center. Just yesterday afternoon a guy was standing in Schoenherr just north of M-59, straddling a bike and talking on a cell phone. I wonder if this is the same kind of irresponsible behavior.

[mmba7572]

macomb daily doesn't have any more info

Clinton Township police on Sunday were investigating a pair of unrelated accidents, including a hit-and-run incident that left two people hospitalized with critical injuries.

A bicyclist riding in the curb lane of Southbound Gratiot, near Quinn Road, was struck by a car that fled the scene shortly after midnight, Lt. Tony Greene said in a news release.

Witnesses told investigators the car was a dark blue sports vehicle that has front-end damage to the windshield area.

Officers recovered identifiable parts of the car at the accident scene. Authorities did not release any information on the bicyclist, who was reported to be in critical condition at an undisclosed hospital.

Meanwhile, a 43-year-old Mount Clemens man walking in the roadway on Cass Avenue between Halsey and Romeo Plank was struck by a 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the news release.

The 16-year-old driver from Clinton Township stopped at the scene and reported the accident. Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Anyone with information on either of the incidents is asked to call police at (586) 791-7817.

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2009/10/05/news/doc4ac9cd99c6019908093714.txt
from the mlive article and macomb daily article, I would speculate that he could be a "DUI rider' (5 kids, after midnight, "rocky past") but nothing to confirm the salmon cycling.
(or if he had a rear blinky light, light colored reflective jacket.)
so much for "precieved safety" of riding on the road, (in that area, Gratiot is a divided hwy with sidewalk)

[Scotty]

I'd like to know how/where he was riding. I keep seeing jackasses salmoning up Schoenherr and VanDyke near me at 5mph, wobbling back and forth against traffic along the curbs; both outer and center. Just yesterday afternoon a guy was standing in Schoenherr just north of M-59, straddling a bike and talking on a cell phone. I wonder if this is the same kind of irresponsible behavior.

I think there's a bias in the minds of seasoned cyclists that people who aren't in the spandex club are all "bike salmon" or ignorant. I've heard that type of reaction before to reports of people being killed while riding bikes.

The fact is that based on the reports thus far there's no information to suggest that this guy was at fault in his own death. For all we know he was riding a Bianchi Pista with a $500 LED light, fancy Giro carbon helmet and fancy Look road pedals.

I don't care if he was a homeless dude on a huffy or Jason Lummis on a $5,000 Quiring Custom. I really doesn't matter to me. It was a hit and run. Somebody ran the guy over and left him for dead in the road. That's bad.

[c0nsumer]

I don't care if he was a homeless dude on a huffy or Jason Lummis on a $5,000 Quiring Custom. I really doesn't matter to me. It was a hit and run. Somebody ran the guy over and left him for dead in the road. That's bad.

Of course. But what's unfortunate is that my experiences with people doing very wrong, very unsafe things with bicycles on high-speed roads (in similar areas) far outweighs people riding them responsibly. I'm trying to find more information, but it's really hard not to presume that he was doing the same thing as every other rider I see on those roads.

[c0nsumer]

so much for "precieved safety" of riding on the road, (in that area, Gratiot is a divided hwy with sidewalk)

I would imagine that anyone riding in that area who knows how to ride safely in the road would instead take one of the hundreds of parallel side streets. Gratiot itself is just simply not safe.

[jalopy jockey]

I don't care if he was a homeless dude on a huffy or Jason Lummis on a $5,000 Quiring Custom. I really doesn't matter to me. It was a hit and run. Somebody ran the guy over and left him for dead in the road. That's bad.

Of course. But what's unfortunate is that my experiences with people doing very wrong, very unsafe things with bicycles on high-speed roads (in similar areas) far outweighs people riding them responsibly. I'm trying to find more information, but it's really hard not to presume that he was doing the same thing as every other rider I see on those roads.

Yep I almost hit someone over the weekend. He 2 feet off the curb heading right at me. If I have moved over I would have hit an oncoming car. And Last Friday my 5 year old and I got to see the spectacular flight of the BMX as a 'kid' cut out of a parking lot which i was attempting to turn right out of through 2 lanes of parked cars to get smaked by a car that had just made a right off the intersecting road that we were all waiting for the light at. After a a few minutes of of laying on the ground the kid proceeded to get up and run. Turns out the bike was stolen and he had priors.

I will say 2 real good things came of it. My 5 year old now really looks before crossing the road and he got a first had view of dad doing his civic duty and filing a police report. He even got to tell the cop what he saw he loved it.

[i69whitey]

so much for "precieved safety" of riding on the road, (in that area, Gratiot is a divided hwy with sidewalk)

I would imagine that anyone riding in that area who knows how to ride safely in the road would instead take one of the hundreds of parallel side streets. Gratiot itself is just simply not safe.

i also would perceive my safety being greatly increased one block over on little mack, but...

(CAUTION: third party heresay)
this poor DAD who had recently made major changes in life to take steps forward no longer has the option to continue this.

was he riding in the dark without lights wearing a black jacket?
doesn't matter now.
like scotty kinda said, would it make a difference if he had seven tail lights and a yellow beacon on his helmet?


there but for the grace...


j jockey, hope my boy learns to look both ways that easily.

[HiptonRadcliffIII]

You have to feel for anyone who is struck by a car regardless of the circumstances.
I was nearly struck coming home on my longboard last night. I have to go by about 4 fast food restaurants and someone was zipping out of the taco bell parking lot as I decided to take a slightly longer diagonal across orchard lake because the road was clear. They didn't see me immediately and I definatly started pushing harder to get out of the way. Technically, I was probably doing something illegal by riding a skateboard on the road for about 500 ft; but, had I been on the sidewalk like I should have been, I have little doubt I would not have been seen until it was too late.
my point in all of this (other than sharing a short story) is to remind everyone to be alert while driving. You never know when a person or animal is going to surprise you, you need to be alert all of the time, especially at night. My heat goes out to anyone just trying to use our road ways for anything other than driving a car; it is a dangerous choice, that shouldn't be nearly as dangerous as it is. You can look like a cycling rave party and you still might get taken out, people treat driving like a right and not a privilege.

[jalopy jockey]

You have to feel for anyone who is struck by a car regardless of the circumstances.

I disagree. I feel for the driver of the car and the bike but not the person on the bike from my experience on Friday.

[c0nsumer]

You have to feel for anyone who is struck by a car regardless of the circumstances.

I disagree. I feel for the driver of the car and the bike but not the person on the bike from my experience on Friday.

Eh, I feel for anyone that gets hurt, just because they are hurt. I'll still say that they were doing something stupid, though.

[dirt]

You have to feel for anyone who is struck by a car regardless of the circumstances.

I disagree. I feel for the driver of the car and the bike but not the person on the bike from my experience on Friday.

Classless.

[HiptonRadcliffIII]

You have to feel for anyone who is struck by a car regardless of the circumstances.

I disagree. I feel for the driver of the car and the bike but not the person on the bike from my experience on Friday.

I wasn't there, but it sound like the driver was at least partially to blame. When making a right hand turn you really have to proceed with caution. When you make a turn in a car, the rules and your responsibilities are not the same as driving straight on a road.
I wouldn't feel bad for the driver. in the end of the day, your at fault when you do not drive with enough caution to avoid hazards. what if that was some 3 year old kid who slipped away from mom running through a parking lot. Would you have felt differently?

[mmba7572]

If I understend JJ's post correctly, the BMX sped out from between two rows of parked cars. The rider is at fault: Failure to yield to oncoming traffic.
The situation is similar to uncontrolled crosswalks (like sidewalks crossing driveways.)
Autos are supposed to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, or about to enter into the crosswalk.
However
Pedestrians cannot enter into crosswalks if there is insufficient time/distance for the vehicle to stop.
If you are on a bicycle, roller blades, or skateboard - on a sidewalk- you are considered a pedestrian.
Since such conveyances travel faster then walking pedestrians, they need to be excersize that excemption sooner.
"better to be judged by twelve then carried by six"
lastly - before the flaming starts.
it is simplistic to say that riding the road or riding on the sidewalk is safer then the other.
Under different circumstances, one may be safer then the other.
Same goes with auto drivers.
The blue metallic 2001 corrvete driver (from the original post) is probrably at fault.
The rider in that situation, could have excersized better options.
The opposite is true in the bmx/parking lot situation.