A tragedy's lesson.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Sometimes an accident is just an accident, one definition of which is "something that goes wrong unexpectedly." Something went unexpectedly, tragically wrong May 31 on Territorial Road, and in the blink of an eye Eugene cyclist Jane Higdon was dead, killed under the rear wheels of a loaded log truck.

The loss of the well-known and well-liked scientist, triathlete and author stunned the community. Cyclists, in particular, reacted with horror and disbelief. There was simply no way, in their understanding, that a cyclist with Higdon's skill and experience, traveling with three other equally experienced riders, would have intentionally done anything to draw her dangerously close to a passing truck.

For them, that meant one thing: It must have been the log truck driver's fault. He probably didn't leave enough room between his truck and the bicycles. Most likely he was going too fast as he tried to pass the group of four riders on a tight curve. It had to have been his fault.

But it wasn't, not in terms of how expert accident investigators determine fault. After an exhaustive Oregon State Police analysis of the tragedy, a grand jury reviewed the evidence in 11 hours of hearings over five days and on Wednesday declined to file any criminal charge against the truck driver, John J. McWhorter, 31, of Winston.

State police investigators determined that as McWhorter approached the cluster of cyclists, he slowed to 35 mph in a 55 mph zone. Traveling south, he crossed the double yellow lines and pulled his truck mostly into the northbound lane, giving the bike riders about seven feet of clearance. There's nothing unreasonable about McWhorter's decisions here.

What should have been a routine pass - McWhorter could see the road ahead clearly from his high vantage in the truck cab - became a fatal accident in the space of a few heartbeats and a series of catastrophic complications.

The cyclists were hugging a recently painted fog line on the far right side of the road that had become "slick as ice" from a light rain earlier in the afternoon. The second rider in the line of four lost control on the fog line and fell in the roadway as the log truck passed by.

The third rider then swerved along the pavement edge to miss him. Higdon followed the third rider, but something - no one is sure what - diverted her front wheel, causing her bike to slide out of control to the left, taking her beneath the rear wheels of the trailer.

No evidence showed that the truck struck Higdon while she was upright, or that she swerved purposely into the truck's path to avoid her companion's crash.

Could McWhorter have slowed even more or waited for the cyclists to round the curve before attempting to pass?

Yes, just as the cyclists could have left enough distance between themselves so that they could have safely stopped, under control, when something unexpected happened in their path.

With the benefit of hindsight, it's possible to see how Higdon's death might have been prevented. The truck driver and cyclists each could have made minor modifications that might have altered the outcome.

The most significant lesson in Jane Higdon's death, delivered amid heartbreaking circumstances, could be this: Every day, on every road shared by bicycles and motor vehicles, a few minor changes in the habits of each could be all that it takes to save someone's life.

Sometimes an accident is just an accident, and sometimes the truths revealed by a tragedy are poignantly simple.