Personal responsibility

I made a trip tp the BMV today. Overdue change of address on my license. It was relatively uneventful...wait in line, check in, wait some more until a young latina with the prettiest eyes I have seen in many moons calls my name...

I got my business taken care of in an hour or so and drove home. On the way home the idea of personal responibility came to my mind. I don't know why. Maybe it was due to a radio commentator ranting about some political issue. Often abstract concepts enter my head with no rhyme or reason and usually as quickly fade away.

A sad incident of recent weeks came to mind. After one of our recent snowstorms recently a young man was hit by a car while walking along a street. It was a hit-and-run. Some of his injuries were pretty serious and some permanent. I really can sympathize with him, to a degree as I have been injured while riding my bicycle and am lucky the injuries were not more serious. Six weeks later and I was OK. The driver needs to have the book thrown at him, maybe not for the hit but the run. Of course the run may be due to the reason for the hit (suspended license, drinking, etc...)

I do, however believe the injured man was in some part responsible for his injuries. How? Well first he was walking on the street because he couldn't walk on the snow. OK, maybe the road had been plowed so it would have been difficult so I'll give him benefit of doubt for that. The major part was that he said he was walking and looked back to see if a car was coming when he was hit. That tells us he was walking on the right-hand side of the road. There was no mention of what color he was wearing so I can make no assumption of how visible he was.

Unfortunately, stories of this nature are not uncommon. I have often been driving, even at night on busy roads like Georgetown road in Indianapolis and seen people wearing dark clothes walking on the right hand side of the road. Many times I have seen, typically males, riding bicycles on the left-hand side of the road at night with dark clothing and no reflectors or lights. Many would say they are naer-do-wells who don't want to be seen. Maybe, but maybe they are just trying to get somewhere.

In the rare occasions in which I ride a bike at night I am always well lit. I realize many people don't really know the rules of the road when it comes to non-motorized vehicles. State law requires reflectors. Lights are certainly a wise choice IN ADDITION TO, not instead of, reflectors. A bicyclist must always ride with traffic (the right hand side of the road). Pedestrians should walk against traffic (left hand side of the road).

I know it is hard to teach children the basic rules, most adults don't know them. We need a way to get the message out in some way. There is no political momentum for this message but maybe there should be. How expensive could it really be to publish this info and put it into the hands of the public? Maybe any store selling bicycles could be given flyers stating the basic rules and required to hand one out with each bike sold. There has been talk of passing helmet laws in the past (I always wear mine). This could help save lives as well and cost the consumer nothing. Publishing costs are cheap, depending on how elaborate the flyers. More importantly, the best way to survive a crash is to avoid it.

Would you like to know more about bicycle laws? Do you have children out riding bicycles, or who soon will be? Many local bike shops have free pamphlets you can pick up. Also CIBA has the Indiana laws on their website. Copy and paste the following page to read it"

http://www.cibaride.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=50

Even if there is no law concerning helmets, wear them. Teach your children to wear them. I crashed my bike in 1998 when a dog got into my path and flipped me. I suffered a number of injuries including a severe concussion. That whole day was erased from my memory. I WAS wearing a helmet. So you say "you got hurt while you were wearing one? then why bother?" Well, had I not been wearing my helmet I may well have been killed or been rendered a vegetable. I can tell you from personal experience that it is a worthwhile investment. wal-mart can sell you one for a reasonable price that can save a lot of headaches...and heartache.

As for the young hit and run victim. I wish him the best. Certainly his life will never be the same. At least maybe the rest of us can learn from his misfortune.

ME