A 19-year old Albuquerque woman became the third employee of the city’s bicycle safety center to be killed by drivers in the last two years
Teen was third employee of city bike safety center to die in bike crash
This is infuriating to me. I'm going to include big chunks from the article, because otherwise you won't get the actual picture.
Here is the incident:
Yellow lights flashed on a pole above — fixed alongside bicycle and pedestrian crossing signs — as she biked off the Hahn Arroyo trail and across Carlisle, south of Montgomery, in Northeast Albuquerque. A driver in a blue car slowed to a stop for the 19-year-old as she rolled into the northbound lanes that afternoon.
An SUV in the next lane screeched to a halt, nearly hitting her.
But it was a black Ford Fiesta, in the far right lane, that slammed into VanLandingham — sending her and her bicycle flying through the air.
Here is the legal context:
Burton said the woman was driving 28 mph in the 35 mph zone and told police she didn’t see the flashing yellow lights — although they don’t require drivers to yield, either, according to state statute. Only flashing red lights require drivers to stop and yield to those walking and biking.
“There’s no signage that says that requires a driver to slow, stop, yield right of way — anything,” Burton said of the crossing used by VanLandingham. He said drivers they spoke with had different interpretations of the crossing: some said the lights are always flashing, even with nobody there. Others said they slow down if they see the lights flashing.
The crossing is not considered a marked or unmarked crosswalk despite the signs and lights and, according to the statute, drivers “may proceed through the intersection or pass such a signal only with caution.”
And here are the consequences:
The Albuquerque Police Department said no charges are expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.
Sgt. James Burton of APD’s Fatal Crash Unit said, “She’s not speeding, she’s not intoxicated, she’s not driving recklessly. We have no proof that she was doing anything distracted in the vehicle, so even if she was, I can’t prove it.”
This is how incredibly fucking bad people are at driving. Even the police can't imagine that seeing people in other lanes slowing down and stopping at a flashing yellow light should be an indication that there might be something to be cautious about.
Even without the yellow flashing lights, if you see people suddenly stopping in other lanes on the road, continuing to drive without slowing down to a near stop seems like completely reckless driving to me, because you can't see through the stopped cars. And if you didn't see the stopped cars, then you must be driving distracted.
And the laws in Albuquerque don't even require drivers to yield at flashing yellow lights? What's the fucking point? That's disgusting.
And let this be a reminder. If you're crossing a road, even if you have the right of way, that won't save you from being killed by a shitty driver.
This is a fucking tragedy, and they're doing nothing about it. Pathetic excuse for a city. The bodies of good intentioned young people will continue to pile up while they sit there and do nothing.
Burton said the woman (...) didn’t see the flashing yellow lights — although they don’t require drivers to yield, either, according to state statute. Only flashing red lights require drivers to stop and yield to those walking and biking.
“There’s no signage that says that requires a driver to slow, stop, yield right of way — anything,”
Am I getting this right: yellow flashing lights at a crossing, presumably installed officially, are legally meaningless? Isn't putting them there an act of deliberately misleading pedestrians/cyclists then?
It’s absolutely insane, that means it’s not a pedestrian crossing it’s a pedestrian trap to bait them into crossing where drivers can legally run them over.
There is a lot of malpractice going on in traffic engineering (I say as a person trained as a traffic engineer). In a sane world, the engineer of record would lose his license for this sort of shit.
@Anornymousse @logicbomb Every state has some version of duty of care or expectation that a driver maintain control of their vehicle to avoid collisions. Passing stopped cars in two adjacent lanes before hitting the person crossing under a flashing yellow light is definitely an indication of negligence. There was clearly some traffic engineer negligence too, but if police/the DA wanted to at least put a mark on the driver's record for killing the victim, they absolutely could.
Wouldnt matter, only a fucking moron would think the can demand priority/right of way. You wait for cars to stop, because if they dont, well, this happens. So many people think that being right is some kind of shield, its not. Being right will get you killed just as quickly as being wrong. Even when its a red light, if youre stepping out in front of a 2 tonne death machine, you make sure its stopped first.
Here is the intersection location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4uxzNMZbAVDuyrsz5
This type of flashing yellow light does not require drivers to stop, it is just there for warning. My city has been spending (wasting) a huge chunk of its ped "safety" funds on this type of signal. It is a way to make it look like traffic engineers care about ped safety, without doing anything that would actually slow down cars.
Nothing scares me more then crossing a strode with these types of signalized lights. Even signalized intersections with more then 2 or more lanes of traffic scare the shit out of me.
This roadway is designed like a hwy and the flashing lights want it to be a street.
This crossway needs to be raised, the stopping point needs to be 2 car lengths back from the crossway. And potentially the roadway need to be shrunk down to one lane with a island in the center if the intention is to turn this strode back into a street.
That intersection looks like a nightmare for crossing on foot or bike. It's so flat and open cars are going to want to just gun it.
I hate this mindset that you have to prove they were distracted
mf the outcome proves that they were not capable of driving safely NO MATTER the reason
You can kill a person and no charges can be raised? This is so dumb....
No sir, I did push that guy from the roof, but you see the pavement killed him! I left him alive and quite excited actually....
I agree, it's still manslaughter even if it was involuntary.
no charges are expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.
Literally walking away. Really infuriating.
The Albuquerque Police Department said no charges are expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.
WTF?!
There’s an old joke among American lawyers that if you’re going to murder someone in America, do it with your car. But it’s not really a joke, because the cops will 100% assume it was just an accident, and prosecutors will refuse to bring any charges.
it was just a little accident. haven't you ever bumped into someone by mistake before?
jeez, before are so uptight about this, it's not a big deal, just a harmless little accident
If anything, it was the cyclists/pedestrians fault for traveling unprotected by a car. /s
“Traffic collision”. ‘Accident’ implies no one’s to blame.
Well, as the article's headline tells us, it was a "bike crash". Probably be charges laid posthumously so that the motorist can sue for civil damages. (Modulo being killed, this happened to someone I know; hit by a car in the bike lane, had to pay for the car's damage.)
Our collective tolerance for driver negligence is literally killing us and most people don't care. In fact, it may as well be on you for choosing to put yourself in harm's way by choosing not to drive a car.
Crazy that on a shitty technicality, the driver did not break any rules...
The crosswalk with the flashing lights is neither marked or unmarked, and drivers are not required to slow down or yield right of way when yellow lights are flashing, only flashing red.
Like sure maybe you don't see lights flashing above you, but maybe pay attention at the road directly in front of you??
There's every excuse to take blame off drivers.
I don't understand how they're not pressing charges when the driver's lack of attention killed somebody. Even if there's no requirement to slow down at flashing yellow lights it's still illegal to kill someone, we have manslaughter charges specifically for this type of accidental death. I don't get how the driver is exempt from this, the driver is responsible controlling their car after all.
American culture values cars (and guns) more than the lives of people, even children.
In America you can kill randoms with a gun or a car and that's fine.
Riding bikes in ABQ is really dangerous, there's not a single sufficient bike lane, and there are multiple bikers in the last decade who have been deliberately ran over by abq drivers.
@DwZ Bicycling safety instructors, who wear helmets and meticulously follow all the rules, are dropping like flies at the hands of motorists, but other cities (@BmoreCityDOT) put out press releases claiming they/their partners in disinformation and inaction are meaningfully addressing bike safety by handing out helmets and platitudes.
I live in Albuquerque and the drivers are by far the worst compared to anywhere I've ever lived. There's no enforcement as APD doesn't want to "deal with it" anymore. Our current mayor pretends it's fine. When I talk to burqueños about it they agree that it's terrible but I get the sense that no one actually cares. To me, drivers have gotten worse since the pandemic and no one wants any kind of enforcement. It's infuriating. These deaths are so pointless and easily preventable.
I love biking but can't here for fear of being run over like this.
I used to live in Albuquerque. One night my friend and I got t-boned by a Lincoln Continental that ran a red light at 50+ mph. The driver pulled into a convenience store parking lot on the corner and asked some random bystander if we were OK (they said "how the fuck would I know?") while tossing empty beer bottles from her car into the trash. Meanwhile we were unconscious in our car on the front lawn of somebody's house. The driver drove off before the cops and ambulance got there, although witnesses were able to take down her license plate.
My friend and I were somehow only bruised (thank you Subaru!) although our car was totaled. The police never did a SINGLE FUCKING THING to investigate this, even though it turned out the driver had a long-expired license and registration and no insurance (and multiple DWIs on her record). My friend and I even got the accident report (which included the driver's address) and went to her house where we saw the Lincoln in the driveway with the smashed-up front end. We reported this to the police and they were like "oh well".
This was more than 30 years ago, so it's nice to know nothing has fucking changed there.
I literally moved away from albuquerque because the drivers are so bad lol. I saw people run red lights directly in front of APD and the cops did nothing on two separate occasions.
I remember taking my car for an emissions inspection in Albuquerque years ago. The mechanic fiddled around for about half an hour trying to get it to pass and then finally stuck the sensor up the tailpipe of his own car. Service with a smile lol.
The fact that it seems legal to hit someone there at a flashing yellow is wild, even if it's somehow not a crosswalk. Where I live, hitting anyone, including jaywalking pedestrians in dim light wearing all black, is illegal and can get you at least manslaughter.
Then again, I'm pretty sure people still get off... especially if they hit a bicyclist. The technicality they use is calling it a vehicle, and hitting a vehicle isn't illegal even if it kills someone. My cousin got hit biking on the sidewalk in the wrong direction and wasn't able to sue for hospital bill, though that's always an incredibly unsafe thing to do at speed.
You are totally right, but it's so crazy that you need to argue that killing people should be illegal.
That's no good.
Ah yes. It's not that A CAR crashed into her, it was a bike crash.
/s
Awful. Just awful that this keeps happening.
Yes, the article confirms all three were killed "by drivers," i.e. in CARS.
Yeah the victim was asking for it riding a bike like that
Yes, if only people would look before crossing a busy road... This attitude of "Im in the right, so Ill just march out in front of 2 tonne death machines" is weird. Being right, has never, and will never, be a protective shield against morons or the careless. Just because you have right of way/priority, doesnt mean you stop looking or taking care when crossing a road.
I'm a very experienced urban cyclist. I've used a bicycle as means of transportation ever since I was 8 years old and cycling 5 km to school. I haven't driven a car regularly since I last lived with my parents at 19.
I am super careful and defensive when I ride my bike. I respect the laws that make me safer, and bend those which don't. My head is on a swivel. I generally feel comfortable even riding on busy roads with high speed traffic.
Despite all that, I still get a close call or two every single day I ride my bike. No matter how vigilant you are as a cyclist, it only takes a moment of inattentiveness from a motorist for us to get injured or killed.