OPINION.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Drivers, bicyclists react to tragic death

European technique is safer

Another tragic and unnecessary bicyclist death. I say unnecessary because there is an effective riding technique designed to avoid precisely this type of rider/vehicle collision.

I have ridden for several years now with a group led by a Dutch bicycle tour leader through Sicily, Germany, the Czech Republic and Croatia - often on narrow, shoulderless roads with heavy traffic. This technique is effective because in Europe both bicyclists and drivers understand and use the system.

It works like this: bicyclists ride single-file, maintaining a distance from each other at least twice the length of the longest truck or tour bus. Each approaching vehicle, regardless of size, moves out according to oncoming vehicle traffic and then back in ahead of each cyclist, progressing along the line of riders. Each driver and rider then knows exactly what to expect and how to react. This method works for even the largest tour buses and the narrowest of roads.

Yes, the line of riders may be quite long, but so what? Even when no vehicles are present, riders should maintain a considerable distance behind the rider in front. If a rider can talk to the person ahead or behind, she is too close.

I have never ridden with a group of American bicyclists who are willing to use this method. I don't understand the need of riders here to run like a pack as though competing in the Tour de France. Even without vehicle traffic, it almost guarantees unnecessary crashes and injuries.

CAROL LAVERY

Eugene

Agree on road-sharing rules

As a resident of the Lorane area, I would like to express my sympathies to Jean Higdon's loved ones for their tragic loss. I also want to underscore that the impacts and emotional scars don't stop with Higdon and her friends and family, but extend beyond to the young truck driver, his family and employer.

The emotional and physical lives of many travelers of the Lorane and Territorial highways are placed in peril on a regular basis by the growing encounters of bicyclists and motorized vehicles. These winding, picturesque roads, which were originally designed as working motorized vehicle conduits, now contain the allure that attracts the recreational cycling public.

I do not foresee a reduction in usage by either bicyclists or automobiles, which makes an easy solution elusive.

However, until or unless major road modifications are made to safely accommodate both motorized vehicles and bicyclists, some serious attention needs to be directed to arriving at rules of conduct for both cyclists and motorized vehicles that minimize conflicts and maximize safety.

CRAIG ROYCE

Lorane

Bicyclists shouldn't bunch up 

I would not ride my bike on Territorial Road, but The Register-Guard's June 5 editorial is right: Bicycles have as much legal right as motorists to use that road.

On a narrow, shoulderless road with hills and curves, it is often difficult for motor vehicles to pass one bicycle, much less a group of bicycles. Published reports of the tragedy indicate the group was bunched so that when one bike fell, another apparently collided with it and went under the wheels of the logging truck trailer.

Would this tragic accident have happened if the bike group were spaced to permit motor vehicles to safely pass one bike at a time? We ride roads such as Territorial at some risk. For safety's sake, we should do everything possible to avoid impeding motor vehicles.

R. CRAIG TAYLOR

Eugene

Editorial lacked common sense

The tragedy of Jane Higdon's death is shared by not only her family, friends and colleagues, but also those of us who didn't know her.

However, I found the June 5 Register-Guard editorial, "Share the Road," dogmatic, filled with a mishmash of half-truths, erroneous content and outright lack of common sense. To write that "no roadway, anywhere" cannot be shared safely by motorists and bikes is sheer stupidity.

On any road with narrow or no shoulders having hard-to-see bicycles traveling at a much slower speed than traffic, with hills and other vehicles obstructing a driver's view, I've considered each and every bicycle rider on such a highway to be putting their life at risk. With bikes in such close proximity to motorists, such conditions are inherently dangerous, even with drivers exercising due caution.

For decades, when traveling the McKenzie Highway to and from Sisters, I have been amazed that there have not been more bicycle rider fatalities from collisions with motorists.

Bicyclists on highways with narrow shoulders risk injury or worse simply because they are smaller, more difficult to see and traveling much slower than the flow of traffic. It is not because a hoard of demonic drivers are out there to get them, as the editorial implies.

CHARLES R. WILLIAMS

Eugene

Back roads risky for cyclists

I would suggest that anyone eager to place blame for the terrible tragedy on Territorial Road recently try driving a loaded log truck on that same route and also ride a bicycle on that stretch of road when a log truck is approaching.

This type of accident is a fear that most residents in our area carry every time we approach bicyclists on any of the back roads around here.

It is not just log trucks that travel these roads, there also are cattle trucks, hay trucks, semis and delivery trucks. Yet to ride these roads on a bike is a risk more and more people are willing to take. I just pray I am not the driver in a similar tragedy.

I have lived in Lorane for 20 years and drive to Eugene four or five times a week. I am so grateful to have a small car that responds quickly. Log trucks do not have that luxury.

SANDE MAXWELL

Lorane

Allow extra room to pass bikes

The tragic death of cyclist Jane Higdon highlights the common thread that links all of us who use Oregon roads: We are all people, and our lives are precious.

Oregon law recognizes this commonality by recognizing bicycles as vehicles, legal to ride on any road. Road design can reduce conflict, and Territorial Road certainly needs road improvements - but it is ultimately human actions that determine safety.

Bicyclists are expected to ride as far to the right of the pavement as they safely can. But they also must respond to hazards that motorists may not even see - broken pavement, debris, even wind. For this reason, even the most responsible bicyclist may at times follow a somewhat erratic path. A passing motorist must accommodate this by allowing at least three to four feet of space between his vehicle and the bicyclist.

To pass a bicyclist safely, a motorist often must cross over the center line. That's why the line is made of paint, and not concrete.

If there is a curve, or an oncoming vehicle, the motorist might not immediately be able to pass a bicyclist safely. That's the breaks. Simply slow down, and wait until it is safe to pass. Treat the bicycle exactly as if it were a larger vehicle with four wheels.

Our roadways are a common resource, shared by motorists and bicyclists. Traveling them safely simply requires common sense and common decency.

SUE WOLLING

Eugene

Territorial is really dangerous

Jane Higdon was a swimming and biking mentor and buddy to many in our community. Her tragic death is a profound loss for us.

Those of us who regularly ply Territorial Road, either in a vehicle or on a bike, know it to be extremely dangerous. The shoulder is essentially nonexistent, the surface is hummocky and driving the speed limit requires a firm grip on the wheel. Yet it serves as the primary corridor for north-south transportation along the western edge of the southern Willamette Valley.

The Oregon Department of Transportation resurfaced portions of Territorial between Veneta and Gillespie Corners about four summers back. The effort was window dressing at best. Given that bikers will continue to use Territorial to connect between better-constructed and maintained county roads, it is high time the state take its responsibility for Territorial seriously. They should widen and resurface the road to include 2.5-foot shoulders on both sides of a smooth surface.

DEAN LIVELYBROOKS

Crow