The Virginian-Pilot
©
Carole Taylor will ride her bike on Shore Drive only on weekends. Her friend Fred Adams won't ride on it at all.
Too scary, they said Sunday, standing in a parking lot off Shore Drive, a few feet from where police say bicyclist Daniel Wayne Hersh was struck and killed by an SUV on April 19.
"Even though we have the right to be on the road, I just don't feel comfortable," Taylor said, as cars whipped by at 45 mph.
But she's a recreational rider, she said. Those who ride their bikes to work take the same commuter roads used by cars, she said, and the way things stand now, those riders aren't safe.
More than 100 bicyclists took to the streets Sunday to call attention to bicycle road safety and to memorialize Hersh, 54, who was hit while on one of his regular early Sunday morning rides.
On a sunny spring day, the group took to some of the city's biggest, busiest roads - Virginia Beach Boulevard, Independence Boulevard and Shore Drive - to demonstrate that bicyclists ride on the same roads and under the same rules as cars and they expect the same justice, according to ride organizer Wes Cheney.
The group stopped to set up a "ghost bike" - a bicycle completely covered in white paint - in memory of Hersh, in front of a gas station near where he was killed. Hersh's two sons, Greg, a senior at Virginia Military Institute, and Stephen, a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University, locked the ghost bike to a telephone pole. The y both wore black for the ride.
Hersh, an experienced cyclist who his family said had been riding since he was a teenager, was traveling east on Shore Drive early April 19 when he was struck by the right side of a Ford Explorer traveling the same direction, police said.
A white "X" on the ground just outside of a right-hand turn lane marked the exact spot where Hersh was hit, his brother, Bob Hersh, said. Daniel Hersh's six brothers and sisters and his mother all came out on foot to support the ride Sunday.
Hersh is the second cyclist to be killed on a Virginia Beach roadway in a year. On Sunday, the group also set up a ghost bike for Kenneth Craver, who was struck and killed on Witchduck Road in May. No charges were filed in that case because investigators determined that Craver veered into the vehicle's path.
As of last week, no decision had been made regarding charges against the driver who struck Hersh. Police said alcohol and speed did not appear to have played a role in the incident.
Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Biking on the road
Cyclists have just as much right to be on the road, as cars do.
This is the address to, what says about the minimum speed limit in Virginia: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/enforce/stspdlaw/vaspeed.htm
The general attitude of motorists, towards cyclists is, one of disdain. Motorists never think of the possibility, that, not only is a cyclist exercising, they are commuting at the same time.
I would love to see a vehicle pass me, causing their engine to blow and, forcing them to stop. Then, As I pass them, I laugh in their face.
Bicyclists their worst own ememy!
I have been listening to both sides and here are the facts: Bicyclist in this area disobey every single violation to the rules of the road period. Please do not make matter's worst by insulting the intelligence of thousands of Motorist that have had to danger themselves because bicyclist FORCE hundreds of cars to snarl traffic, FORCE thousands of motorist into going over the yellow lines even on curves. How many of us have witnessed Bicyclist not even in a single file, but arrogantly riding 3,4,or 5 abreast in the middle of the road? Bicyclist act as if they do not just share the road, they own it! Take a trip down Sandbridge road, or Indian River Road some morning and just watch how they will endanger every single motorist traveling the road! Their attitude is I have a right to do this so all you thousands of vehicles, TOO BAD! They choose to take up a very dangerous hobby and a hobby that endangers us all, then they start the usual whining when tragedy strikes! "It is always the cars fault"! If they think they have a right to endanger us all, they it is time to make a new change and get rid of the Bikers!
JWB
Special Use Permits
If the comments here are any reflection of the average Hampton Roads driver maybe the city of Virginia Beach should require drivers who want to use Shore Drive to attend a Bicycle Awareness class and pass an exam to obtain a special permit.
Revenues generated could be used to hire more police to get some of the self-professed drivers who are ill-equipped to legally share the road fined and removed for everyone's safety.
A Little Patience
I've never been inconvienced by a cyclist, nor do I get upset when I see them sandwich themselves between traffic to get up to the red light. I give them lots of room on the road because I know debris or a pothole can take a bike down. I drive an suv and I ride a bicycle, however since I moved to the Hampton Roads area eight years ago, I don't ride my bike as much as I would like to, because I'm generally the only bike on the road, and that makes me almost invisible to the driver. After reading the comments here, I can see why. This is not a bike friendly area at all. Many of the anti-bike folks are simply ill informed of the law and inpatient. A scary thought. Bikes and cars could actually share the road safely if the driver were more patient. I've lived in towns where this occurred daily, however due the the overwhelming ignorance here toward the cyclist, I say, bike lanes, bike lanes, bike lanes bike lanes.
Cyclist Killed on Shore Drive
Anyone who would question the legality of riding a bike on the road is a complete fool! I ride on these roads on a regular basis. Its never ceases to amaze the number of people who get behind the wheel of a two ton vehicle and drive about without noticing a bike in front of them. They are too busy on a cell phone, drinking coffee, or otherwise not paying attention to the task at hand. I travel in the morning at 25 MPH in the SCHOOL ZONES on Great Neck, and have upset drivers passing me! I am doing the speed limit! Hampton Roads needs to catch up with the rest of the civilized world and establish safe bike lanes and understand common courtesy while they drive around in thier giant oversized SUV's.
Comments -- concluded
As for the lack of charges brought against the driver in the accident, I have to wonder, why? If this driver had struck and killed a motorcycle rider, or the driver of a Fiat, or a pickup truck, or a school bus, that driver would be in hot water. Why is it any different for a bike driver who was legally on the road?
Comment directed to Rederick
You asked, What business do bicycles have being on roads with 35 and higher speed limits?"
When I was a young Sailor, stationed on a ship in Norfolk, I lived out by Military Circle Mall. I didn't have a vehicle, so I road my bike back and forth to the base almost every day. I would challenge you to find a route from Point-A to Point-B where the speed limit doesn't go above 25.
For the most part, the cyclists we're talking about here are not out there for recreation, they are choosing to use the bicycle as their primary mode of transportation. By doing so, they are putting "one less car" on the road, and possibly even speeding up the commute of the car drivers.
I'm sure that if there were safe, low-speed routes these cyclists could use to get where they're going, they would use them. But the fact remains that a 35 MPH speed limit is the "max" a vehicle should be going on that road, not the "minimum." If a bicycle is legally travelling on a road, we must give them the same courtesy we would to another car -- Just pretend its Grandma driving her Buick at 20 miles per hour, and when it is legal for you to pass, do so.
As for the lack of charges brought against the driv
I don't get it.
I don't get it. I recently read that a housing developement in Hampton received approval to allow golf carts to drive around their community. One of the caveats for approval was the speed limit could not be over 25 miles per hour. This article states that bike riders are subject to the same rules as cars. What about driving the speed limit? What business do bicycles have being on roads with 35 and higher speed limits? Why is this lawful?
"That doesn't really mean
"That doesn't really mean you're any healthier than the overweight guy."
That's just silly. Credibility lost. College athlete? Funny. Defies science, but funny.
Bike Riding
I think bike riders should obey the laws and clean up their own driving before they critize me. Usually when I see a bike rider on a street, I brace because I have no idea what they will do next.
You want new revenue....make the riders have a license to ride a bike and register that. If there's as many a the letter writers imply, it would bring in $$$BILLIONS$$.
Missyonshoredrive should get a day job. She spends too much time writing to people who have no effect or really care about this problem. Only our glorious politicians can do anything we're complaining about.