Christopher Weigl’s death in a bike accident was indeed tragic, and need not have occurred. However, blaming “horrid city planning,” Boston University’s inadequate planning for students' safety, and the absence of a “safe zone for cyclists,” as three Dec. 8 letter writers did, misses the root problem not only in Massachusetts but in the nation.
People have forgotten the concept of taking responsibilty for one’s own actions. Too many have become accustomed to looking to government (here, the city of Boston) or someone else (BU) to fix, or protect them from, things that should be handled on their own.
Comments
Mr. Hauben has it right, and has dared to speak the unspeakable- that it was the biker's own fault that caused the collision. Now watch as the bike-nazis rail against this unpleasant truth.
I've been following this story closely, and this writer seems to be the first to acknowledge the apparently unspeakable. Let's consider putting speed bumps into the bike lanes just before the intersections.
As a cyclist who does not own a car and bikes to work every day even in winter (fanatic?)...
I believe the bicyclist and the truck driver likely share the blame equally here. The bicyclist was clearly not paying attention. And the truck driver probably should have checked the bike lane before crossing it (however slowly). "Going too fast" is too simplistic of an explanation. Everyone is going too fast at the moment that they hit something. The question is why they didn't slow down sooner.
But I don't think this excuses city planners from anything. MOST traffic infrastructure is designed to overcome human nature. Separated bike tracks help a lot. Speed bumps do not. Instead, they just give bicyclists another thing to focus on besides trucks. Any ways we can find to make it so that future stupidity does not result in fatalities is a major accomplishment in my book.