Meet Frank.
Frank is not his real name, but Frank represents a real person.
Frank is a 56 year old professional upper management type who has lived in Santa Clarita for decades. He enjoys bicycling as a sport and has been cycling 90-130 miles a week on our roads since 1983 without incident.
Until last month.
That’s when Frank was hit from behind by a motorist travelling at 50+ mph. He barely got any attention from The Signal, so we decided to interview him at SCVTalk.
On May 18 -ironically around 1 pm on Wednesday during Bike to Work week- Frank was riding back from Fillmore in the Industrial Center on Rye Canyon road. Frank knows how to dress to attract attention while he bicycles.
“I wear very bright clothing and a helmet all the time because I want to be seen. I want to stand out,” he says.
On that day, he adds, he was wearing his “obnoxious knickers” just to be seen.
Frank was riding on Rye Canyon Road after a 50 + mile ride out to Fillmore and back. As John B. detailed in a post last month, Rye Canyon road is one of those high-capacity, high-speed, highway-like streets our City specializes in.
Such roads aren’t very accommodating of cyclists who have a legal right to the road.
That’s when it happened. A teenager driving a Dodge Magnum sport wagon was driving eastbound on Rye Canyon when a vehicle entered the number two lane (center lane) in front of the Magnum. The police report says the Magnum’s driver, in an effort to pass the vehicle in front of him, switched lanes to the right at 50+ mph.
Frank was on his 1980s vintage steel road bike riding at about 15 mph. The next thing he heard was the screech of car tires.
The Sheriff’s Station report put it like this: “Driver of car caused collision because of unsafe speed. He was not cited at this time. ” The report said the Magnum driver hit Frank at 55 mph.
Bicyclist Frank put it like this: ”Oh boy, I thought. Somebody is going to get hit. The next thing I know, all I see is the sky. And I’m bewildered. I’ts not until I hit the ground and started sliding that I realized I just got hit by a car,” he told SCVTalk in an interview last week.
Westbound on Rye at Beale. Where does a cyclist ride?
Frank says that when the car hit him, he was fortunate because his bike flew out from under him, and he ended up on the hood of the Magnum until the driver stopped and Frank fell to the ground.
“I flew up in the air and landed on the hood. The bike ended up 20 feet down the street,” he told SCVTalk. There were “87 feet of skid marks on the road.”
The teenage driver of the Magum stopped, got out of the car and checked on Frank, apologizing profusely.
“That driver’s eyes were as big as sausage eggs. I was very irate and upset,” Frank says. A bystander to the incident forced Frank to lay down and calm down. An ambulance arrived and Frank was taken to Henry Mayo Hospital for treatment.
Frank says he always rides as far to the right as is safe, per California law. “I ride as safe as I can on the asphalt,” he told me.
Amazingly, Frank suffered few injuries, a fact he attributes to God’s grace and mercy.
“There’s only one reason that I have some slight road rash. By the Grace and Mercy of God.” He even said that he’d like to apologize to the Magnum’s driver for the “rage and filth” that spewed from his mouth in the seconds after he was hit.
He added that he hopes the teenage driver becomes a “more safe and cautious driver” after the incident. According to the Sheriff’s station, the teenage driver was not on a cell phone at the time he collided with the cyclist.
But Frank noted that Santa Clarita has gotten less safe to bicycle in in recent years. In particular, he noted that he was disappointed that Newhall Ranch Road and Bouquet Canyon Road had become unsafe for cyclists.Both lanes are now four lanes in each direction, and while Bouquet has a bike lane on the north-bound side of the street, the south-bound direction has no space for cyclists.
“I would much prefer to have a bike lane in traffic,” he told SCVtalk. “But there’s so much traffic.” He advised the City to study other municipalities that successfully integrate bicycle and vehicle traffic, like Eugene and Portland Oregon.
Overall, Frank says that Santa Clarita needs more education when it comes to bicyclists. “There needs to be a lot of education. To some degree, there’s some hostility between motorists and cyclists. Cyclists need to make sure they’re obeying the traffic laws.”
My View:
John and I interviewed Frank at length. While he was very gracious and compassionate to the driver who struck him at 55 mph, we are not. The basic fact of the matter is that the City of Santa Clarita views cyclists as recreational, not transportational users. They sequester cyclists off the road, out of the way of motorists, because that’s how they see bicycling, as a recreational activity. They endlessly tout the 60+ miles of Class 1 bike paths as proof that the City of Santa Clarita is bicycle friendly, but it is not. The bike paths end, often dumping riders onto sidewalks or multi-lane streets with highways speeds that offer no protection to bicyclists.
A better way to accomodate motorists, transportational and recreational cyclists is to save some space for us on the roads we pay for. I’m a big advocate of cheap, effective, and easy-to-implement bike lanes rather than expensive off-street bike paths. As John B. pointed out, there is literally no space for a cyclist on Rye Canyon Road.
That needs to change, if the City of Santa Clarita really aspires to be bicycle friendly.
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Looks like a new tee shirt is in order.
Stories like this are what cause my family to worry about me whenever I get out there for a ride. None-the-less, this article is a public service message that everyone (especially teen drivers, elected officials and staff of the city ) needs to read and heed the lesson from.
Excellent commentary. Unclear why Sheriff did not issue a citation. Come to the June 17th meeting at Hart Hall on the County Bicycle Master Plan and include comments such as “cyclist and driver education programs” and “police outreach.” I was hit by a left-turner who broke both my leg and arm. I know others who nearly died..and who have died. The lack of citation does not mean lack of fault. I suggest those who are injured and miss work get a good bicycle accident attorney (I used Brustin) because sadly, most think it is the bicyclists fault for being out there no matter what. You wouldn’t say that about a little kid walking to school, or a grandma in a crosswalk, but bicyclists can follow all the rules of the road, get nailed by a car, and then the biker gets more criticism than the car driver. Cycling is on the rise. Bike on over to the County Master Plan hearing or submit comments online…any design or policy that will help cyclists in SCV or countywide is fair game.
Great article Jeff and John! I really appreciate the effort.
For those interested in attending the public meeting for the County Bicycle Master Plan, it will be at William S. Hart Park in Newhall on June 17th at 6:30pm to 8:00pm. You can find out more by going to lacountybikeplan.org/
I know I’ll be coming prepared to speak about:
-cyclist education
-police out reach
-Rye Canyon Road and The Old Road T intersection and the danger presented to southbound cyclists attempting to turn left onto Rye Canyon Road
-more support for mountain biking
The more people we can get out there, the better!
Also, for anyone really interested, I’ve met with two of the city’s Senior Traffic Engineers to discuss the Rye Canyon Road. They had a wealth of information and made every effort to be helpful. The cost to add bike lanes (which would be my preference) is prohibitive; because the road would have to be widened (I knew that going in). The lanes are already about as narrow as can be and there is no shoulder. The “cheap” option would be to add sidewalks that bikers could then use (not ideal, but better than the current situation). The city’s Non-Motorized Transportation Plan (NMTP) actually has a project in it called: Sidewalk Gap Closure (Industrial Center) Project (NMTP: 5-36). It was originally classified as a Tier II project based off of a points system because it only got points for helping pedestrians. However, now that bicycles are allowed on sidewalks the project should get additional points, making it a Tier I project. We still need almost $1.5 million for it, but making it a Tier I project should prompt city staff to start looking at funding options.
I would recommend emailing or calling your council person or the city manager and attending a council meeting.
For those interested in attending the public meeting for the County Bicycle Master Plan, it will be at William S. Hart Park in Newhall on June 17th at 6:30pm to 8:00pm. You can find out more by going to lacountybikeplan.org/
I know I’ll be coming prepared to speak about:
-cyclist education
-police out reach
-Rye Canyon Road and The Old Road T intersection and the danger presented to southbound cyclists attempting to turn left onto Rye Canyon Road
-more support for mountain biking
The more people we can get out there, the better!
Joe,
I remember talking to the County a few months ago. They indicated that the County got grant money to reconfigure The Old Road from Magic Mountain Parkway to the 126. I believe the County indicated that bike lanes or bike trail is included in the project. You might be able to get a definitive answer at the bike meeting and a timeline on that.
Thank God Frank was not seriously hurt. Having recently returned to bike riding my rides are 90% recreational so I enjoy the trails to avoid the cars to the extent possible. Last weekend when I used the bike for errands I went South on Seco Canyon. it was terrifying to be in the narrow right lane with the cars approaching from behind. As Jeff says, Southbound Bouquet was no better. I preferred to get up on the sidewalk. To avoid the Southbound traffic.
We need to make sure that everyone wears a good fitting helmet, I see so many people without helmets, and now more and more kids are not wearing them. Please parents set an example and wear those helmets, they could save yrou life or your kids life
Great idea and this should apply to kids diving into shallow pools.
I ride a bike to work and back probably about 3 times a week. From CC to North Valencia, (or maybe we could say “south Castaic”). Roughly 13 miles one way. I have invested in some of the riding gear, as well as “tripping out” my bike in order to convert its original use as a mountain bike to being more for urban riding. I love the paseo system and it demonstrates one area of competence for our city planners.
My ride takes me through the industrial center where a good portion of my ride keeps me on the main streets. That has to do with limited road lanes for biking and no paseos going in the direction I need to go.
Biking on a regular basis has made me more aware of bikers when I drive my car. It certainly has made me aware of cars when I bike. I never trust drivers, period. I expect them to be uncaring of me being present on my bike and I just assume they are annoyed with me being in their way, so I ride defensively all the time when I am in traffic.
HSAT, you guys just need to face reality that biking will always remain a recreational activity. The majority populace, and that is a good 99% of the people easily, will always perceive biking as a recreational activity. This perception will never change.
The facts of the matter remain: biking to work or for work or to run chores is impractical and unworkable for people. The primary reason I bike is because we have only one car. I also need the exercise and my wife needs the car much more than I do.
I am blessed to have a shower at work and a locker to keep my stuff stored. Pretty much all work places don’t have such facilities. People do not want to spend doing a 45 minute bike ride, getting sweaty, and then not being able to shower, and then work all day. People don’t want to hassle with having to bike to TJs or Whole Foods, shop, and then having to lug their stuff home in some basket-baby buggy contraption. If the weather is unfavorable to being out biking, that compounds the problem.
So, as much as I feel your pain to some degree, biking is never going to be seen as an alternative means of transportation for the regular person. It is always going to be seen as recreational. Even at those meetings you mention, the mind-set will be helping the city accommodate a growing number of enthusiasts, not providing alternatives for genuine transportation needs. And if you insist on “forcing” the 99% of the world to “accept” your perspective by taking away a lane of traffic where the lane is much more needed for cars than a minuscule group who rarely use it, people will hate you. They’ll hate you with the visceral hatred those parents at the Summit swimming pool hate those few petty grumblers who don’t like kids.
Ridership for daily transportation needs? Maybe for a few extra folks. Striped lanes would be a workable solution just as long as it doesn’t hinder the flow of car traffic which should have precedent. Bouquet Canyon north of Newhall Ranch is a good example. An entire lane of traffic could easily be added for cars, but it is marked for bikers, who I rarely, if ever see using it. Maybe on Saturdays or in the evenings.
Like I stated, I am with you to a degree because I bike a lot, but I am just facing the reality of things. Cars are not going away as the primary means of daily transportation for people and biking will never replace them as a viable alternative.
If the city really wanted to get cars off the road and increase bike ridership, they would allow free bus rides for bicycle riders (up to the bus carrier maximum).
I know this sounds counter-intuitive… as in ‘if they are riding bikes why are they riding the bus?’ but it would help move riding bikes from a recreational focus to a transport focus.
It actually wouldn’t cost anything more than it costs now… those buses run whether anyone is on them or not.
If the bike/bus transport mode catches on, I am sure someone will develop some kind of bicycle trailer for municipal buses.
I know this sounds counter-intuitive… as in ‘if they are riding bikes why are they riding the bus?’ but it would help move riding bikes from a recreational focus to a transport focus.
I also ride the bus. I love it, in spite of the surly teenagers. But I ride when the temp is just too hot for me, say for example 95 plus. It just kills me. Plus, I take the bus when it rains or is too cold.
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Just curious, Did Frank get his new tee shirt yet that reads:
“One Less Bike”
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