GUEST EDITORIALS

Cycling deaths are serious concern.

Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Guest Opinion

There has been a lot of news concerning bicycling lately. Of course, the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa has wrapped up, with all its associated hype in the press. We have also heard of efforts by the Iowa Bicycle Coalition to enforce a car-passing law. In April, the Register printed a sobering article on the 22 bicycle deaths in Iowa due to collisions with other vehicles. Then, ironically while watching the Tour de France, I read of the death of a Coe College professor while riding his recumbent bicycle early in the morning. He happened to be my age, 58, and was most likely an avid bicyclist. This is also almost four years to the day that I heard of my cousin’s death while riding his bicycle in Michigan.

I meant for this opinion piece to be focused on all the positives associated with bicycling in Iowa City and to provide a shout-out to all those who have advocated for the many bicycle lanes and trails that now spread out across Johnson County, not to mention all those who actually built them. However, given the sobering news, I would like to offer some thoughts on laws I would like to see enacted.

RAGBRAI riders bike from Rathbun to Moravia on Thursday morning, July 28, 2016.

The coalition car-passing law wanted to enforce that cars pass a bicyclist using the entire opposite lane. To be honest, three feet is fine with me. I like to ride north of Iowa City on the narrow winding roads that offer wonderful views and never-changing terrain. But, they also include blind curves and hillcrests. I have seen dozens of cars pass me near the crest of the blind hill on Prairie Du Chien south of the reservoir dam as if rolling dice as to whether an oncoming car will plow into them.

So rather than enforcing how a pass is made, I would propose a law concerning when a pass is made by outlawing what I call the “triple pass.” This is when a car passes me at the same time that another car is approaching. This necessarily forces the car in my lane to pass me as close as possible (what are you going to be sure to avoid?). A driver of a car in my lane should actually apply pressure to the brakes until he/she can veer past me at a comfortable distance from both of us rather than zoom by between me and an approaching car.

The website bicyclesafe.com offers “10 ways not to get hit,” which would be worth reading by bicyclist and motorist alike. By far, the most common occurrence for me is what they call the “right hook.” I have another name for it, the “beat-ya-to-the-corner game,” or, more insidiously, the “out-of-sight, out-of-mind game.” Everyone plays this game, young and old, male and female. You see a bicyclist ahead of you and speed to pass him/her before making the turn you need to make at the next corner. Once past the bicyclist they no longer exist, like a pothole one drives by. The problem is that a bicyclist keeps on moving and taking a corner actually slows a car to almost a full stop while turning.

Most of the time this is an annoyance more than a hazard, but can be very dangerous. My sister was severely injured this way on a country road while clipping along at a good pace, 15 to 25 mph for most bicyclists. Once past a truck she was out-of-sight, out-of-mind even though it turned into a driveway only yards further down the road. To avoid this, I propose the “half-block” law, making it illegal to pass a bicyclist and turning into the bicyclist’s lane within a half-block of the turn.

Of course, bicyclists have their obligations to minimize accidents, the most important of which is to obey traffic laws to avoid unnecessary and surprising maneuvers. Likewise, there is no reason in this era not to be lit up like a Christmas tree with all the options for Day-Glo clothing and bicycle lights. Look at highway construction workers now compared to 20 years ago. There’s a reason they all now wear fluorescent green shirts. In the meantime, my heartfelt condolences to the family of the recently killed bicyclist.

Let’s work to make it the last such death in Iowa. And, bicyclists, whenever a driver actually does slow down to make sure you get home safely, please give them a huge wave of thanks.

Patrick O’Shaughnessy is a professor in the University of Iowa College of Public Health in the department of occupational and environmental health.