Wednesday August 21stAn Annapolis Cyclist Fatality

The person writing the vast majority of these wheelsucker blog postings tries to keep them light and not take himself at all seriously. But every now and then there is something very serious … The Wheelsucker very much enjoys writing, and it comes easily to him, hence the long detailed posts about races or rides.

But this is probably one of the hardest things to write I have ever tried and it has taken days to get to the point where I could post something.

My workout for Wednesday August 21st was:

"BT: Warm up then ride at a pace equal to 80-90% of your threshold power continuously for 3x10 minutes. This may be done on the trainer or with a group by taking long steady pulls or staying out in the wind. Do NOT hold efforts greater than 95% of threshold. If you're feeling good add a 4th. On TT bike."

I had been sick and not feeling great for several weeks, and had not been able to hold threshold or higher for long, but this was an easier workout and I wanted to give it a go.

I rode alone from the Davidsonville Park & Ride starting at about 6:00pm and returned to my car about 7:43pm, as I had felt good and had done the 4th interval. After putting the bike on the roof top rack, I took a moment to check for messages on my iPhone.

One of the e-mails I received was:

"Breaking News - Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch” saying "Parts of Riva Road are closed Wednesday night following a car and bicycle collision. Riva Road in Davidsonville is closed in both directions from Maple Creek Lane to Bear’s Point Road following a Wednesday evening accident involving a car and a bicycle, according to Anne Arundel County Police." "

Riva Road is a frequent route for my team mates and other Annapolis area cyclists to get from Annapolis to the less-busy routes many of us prefer south of Central Avenue/214. I frequently use all or a portion of Riva Road myself. So this news immediately had me worried. The detail in the patch article mentioned "serious injuries".

I decided to drive home via Riva Road to see if it was still blocked and if I could offer any assistance, perhaps bring a bicycle home for someone who was going to hospital, or go to the hospital.

When I drove north on Riva Road towards Annapolis, I found two police cars were blocking Riva Road at Maple Creek Lane. I stopped and asked the police officers for a status and if they knew if the cyclist was an ABRT member, but was given minimal information. But I came away with the impression that it was a very serious crash and that they had not identified the rider.

I turned the car around, found a safe place to park close by, and forwarded the Patch e-mail to ABRT president Stu Waring. My first thought was of all the ABRT cyclists who use Riva Road, and the cyclists I had seen during my ride.

I phoned Michelle Faurot to check on her and Duane – they very frequently ride out Riva Road -- she answered, and was fine, so it wasn’t one of them. A few minutes later it occurred to me that I had seen and briefly ridden with Patricia Caldera on River Road, not far from the crash site.

I followed up my e-mail with phone calls to Stu.

At some point soon after I learned that the cyclist had not survived, was female, and was thought to be in the 25-28 year old range.

With a sick feeling in my stomach, and very worried for the cyclist's friends and family, I drove home, showered and changed.

Over the next few hours and into the next day, a little more information became available. The earliest reports were saying the bicycle was "in the travel portion of the road" and the "bicycle collided with the car". The first statement, which may have been quoted from the first police statement, was annoying because it did not also point out that bicycles are entitled to be in the travel lane and that there is no shoulder on this section of Riva Road (I had ridden and driven Riva Road often enough to be familiar with the crash location), so the cyclist literally had no other place to be and was every bit as entitled to be there as a car.

The second was also annoying, because I doubted it was the bicycle that collided with the car, rather it would have been the other way around, and this was borne out in the next days as more details became available. Both statements could be misinterpreted by people reading them, and they might not read the follow up articles to correct those misinterpretations.

The cyclist was eventually identified as Patricia "Trish" Cunningham, age 50. While I don’t think I ever met Trish, I soon learned that we had friends and acquaintances in common; this was very "close to home". In later discussions with other area cyclists, everyone seems to have similar thoughts; everyone either knew her, her children, her husband, other family members, or knew someone who did.

As more information became available I learned that Trish and the vehicle had been southbound – going away from Annapolis -- on Riva Road.

Apparently the vehicle had attempted to pass; the driver saw oncoming traffic and swerved back into the lane, crushing Trish.

The police report wrote that police had responded at 17:23, so the crash must have happened shortly before that.

While I know Riva Road fairly well and drive, cycle and scooter on it frequently, I drove out in the early afternooon the next day to get a look at the accident location.

I was appalled and angered when I saw the exact location.

Riva Road southbound is open, almost straight, with excellent visibility from the "Y" intersection where Beards Point Road angles off to the left. A small tree covered hillock is visible further south.

Riva Road climbs up the hillock, but the road is sunk into the top of the hillock, leaving steep up-sloping banks covered in vegetation on either side of the road and no ditch. There is no shoulder.

The hillock completely blocks the view of oncoming traffic, and the centerline marking is a double yellow line.

This was an absurd place to attempt a pass. The open portion of road before the hillock meant that the cyclist would have been clearly visible to a driver paying attention, as the vehicle approached the cyclist.

The crash site was marked by police with blue chalk or paint, and was just before the crest of the hillock. From well before and up to the actual crash location, oncoming traffic is obscured. But a few more feet further on, at the crest of the hill, the oncoming lane is visible for a considerable distance.

While Annapolis area cyclists are far from a homogeneous group, and outside the various clubs and teams, may not know each other, it started to feel like everyone was tied to this. It could have been any one of us.

Many knew Trish, many ride down Riva Road, which while far from perfect is much safer than route 2 going past the Harbor Center mall.

More details came out: The Cunningham family had wondered where Trish was when she did not return home when expected and checked where she was by checking where her smart phone was. Jerry assumed she had flatted and drove out to get her, but was stopped by the police where Riva Road was closed, and had to wait. Later several officers went down the hill to tell Jerry what had happened.

Meanwhile the police were trying to identify her, and had found the Annapolis Bike Doctor sticker and the bicycle serial number, and had called Annapolis Bike Doctor asking that the owner of the bicycle be made known to them. Andrew at Bike Doctor had looked it up and given the police her name and address.

Andy at Bike Doctor still has the note with the serial number

Clear view to the hillock

I went back to the crash site a few days later on my scooter and took some photographs and a short video, taken at 35-38 mph (my scooter does not actually do 40 unless going downhill) from close to Beards Point Road to past the crash site (the police investigation blue marks were still visible and the site was also marked by flowers on the embankment) near the top of the hillock and down the other side. The speed limit in this section is 40 mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A2njLUbai0

The video clip shows how open – excellent visibility – Riva Road is before the hillock, how clearly visible a cyclist up the road would have been to a vehicle driver, how the hillock blocks the view of any oncoming traffic, and the double yellow line, and how ridiculous it would be to attempt a pass at this location. It is quite literally the worst spot anywhere on Riva Road to attempt a pass.

A few days after the crash, the police released a statement saying they had determined the driver was at fault and the matter had been referred to the MD State Attorney. Apparently the police are continuing the investigation, perhaps to determine if distracted driving was a factor.

Two area cyclists held a peaceful demonstration at Rowe Blvd and Taylor avenue on the next weekend, August 24th or 25th, asking that drivers and cyclists follow the rules/laws, and to draw attention to the 3 feet clearance law when passing a bicycle. They started a Facebook group called SpokesPeople -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/172621622922668/ -- to document this. By the following weekend, August 31st and September 1st, that FB group had well over 300 members. On Monday September 2nd there were four demonstrations in various Anne Arundel county locations, with the cyclists from three of them converging on the fourth at Rowe and Taylor. Another demonstration is scheduled for October 5th.

The Cunningham family was at the Rowe and Taylor demonstration, and I was there for part of it as well. Words are failing me here – I am still quite emotional as I recall this – but I was able to express my sympathy to Jerry, as well as my respect and admiration that he and two daughters were at the demonstration, holding up signs and trying to make our world a little bit safer and better for us. I cannot even imagine how horrible this is for them, and I rather doubt I would have had that kind of strength.

Every time there is an article in the media about cycling or an accident, some people feel compelled to post comments about cyclists running red lights (completely irrelevant to this event, there are no traffic lights for miles), cyclists passing cars stopped in traffic (legal in MD), etc. The coverage of this fatal crash was no different.

What really amazes and disappoints me about these posts, is that these posters seem want to hold all cyclists responsible for the actions of some, complaining about cyclists going through red lights and passing cars. I see unsafe driving, distracted driving, unsafe passing, speeding, and much more, every time I drive or cycle, but I don't blame all car drivers for this, just the ones I see doing it. I also see unsafe pedestrian behavior but similarly do not blame all pedestrians.

Some of the posters complain about cyclists riding on rural roads with no shoulders. Well, the only routes with shoulders in the area are portions of 214 and portions of route 2, and Riva is the safest route to either of those from Annapolis.

Other posters complain about cyclists on the roads and in travel lanes, even though this is explicitly legal in MD, the other 49 states, and probably any country that has laws you can look up on the web.

So now, two weeks after Trish was killed, her family, her many friends and acquaintances within and outside the local cycling and running communities, her other friends and acquaintances, the track athletes she coached at Annapolis High, and an upset and angry local cycling community, are waiting for the final police report and a decision on charges from the state attorney general and Anne Arundel County officials.

Several area cyclists, including me, have written the state attorney general asking that they look at the accident scene and consider charging the driver under the new vehicular negligent homicide in Maryland, which allows prosecutors to seek criminal penalties when a sober-but-aggressive driver causes an accident that kills someone.

I see unsafe driving, distracted driving, unsafe passing, speeding, and much more, every time I drive or cycle.

It could have been any one of us.