A young woman riding on Portage Avenue near Polo Park was hit by a car yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses say she was rode out from a side street infront of a car travelling in the curb lane. Bad enough she didn't check for cars, she was apparently listening to something with earbuds in both ears.
She has apparently suffered some lacerations to her head and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she had spinal cord injuries as well. I hope I am wrong and that she is fine.
I was thinking of this as I rode to work this morning and the thought made me shudder. I hate all that noise so close to my brain, and the thought of anything like that interfering with traffic noises is frightening. "Don't young people know better," I thought to myself? Then one of my co-workers (who turned 57 on Tuesday) rode up beside me, and guess what he had in his ears?
I am occasionally a little too judgemental about 'young' people.
3 comments:
Yikes! I just had a car-bike collision Tuesday, and I was paying complete attention to everything! While it sounds like it might be nice to have a soundtrack to your ride, I now more than ever am keeping my eyes and ears as peeled as they can be.
The funny thing is, one of the things that was damaged in the crash was the pair of ear buds I had in my bag! It's like the universe is telling me, "*definitely* don't ride with headphones!" Noted.
I don't understand those things either, but I don't understand riding without a helmet and I see lots of people doing that foolishness.
Cycling safety issues aside, I also can't stand the "music too close to your brain" feeling and can only use "classic" earphones (not while cycling).
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