Elderly woman hit by bicyclist on Renton trail dies of injuries

trojan33 said on April 20, 2010 at 4:24 PM

Some of the bikers are turning into bullies and think they own the road. I've even seen them trying to take people in cars on. Wearing those helmets and tight pants must make them stupid.

whitetrashed said on April 20, 2010 at 2:10 PM

it's too bad the lady didnt have a cane to shove thru the front of the bikes spokes and save herself

anonymoususer said on April 20, 2010 at 1:11 PM

Quite a few bicycle riders only think of themselves and do not care about sharing the trail / roadf / etc. with others (gee- thought I would get away without calling someone narcissistic - but the shoe fits here) Most do not slow down for anything - they just keep on going and if their are walkers ahead instead of slowing down they just ride as fast as they are going right through them.

beclexa said on April 20, 2010 at 11:17 AM

Hmmm, sounds like some info was left out. I wonder if the bikers called out, and if they did if the lady even heard them; most seniors I know don't exactly have good hearing anymore. In my opinion, there needs to be laws governing bicliclists, even on cyclist trails, that give clear intsructions on what to do. I'm not talking the general rules of courtesy like announce your approach before passing that aren't even enforcable. I talking actual laws that state something to the effect of speed limits if using a location where pedestrians will be, or slowing down when approaching pedestrians to a specified speed (really, is it going to kill your cardio so much to slow down a little? Worth risking injury to others?) I walk trails with a stroller, and most cyclist are courteous, but a few how there just fly by 'announcing themselves' about the time they've already gone around you. Its dangerous out there!

sailsman said on April 20, 2010 at 7:56 AM

Get the bicycles back out with the other wheeled traffic, or maybe allow motorcycles on bike trails? Cycling is exercising, why do they get all the special treatment, lanes, trails, no responsibility, no cost to them for a place to exercise, no license, no helmet, traffic laws don't seem to apply, and the list could go on. Get them back on the streets, where they belong, and start writing tickets to pay for law enforcement.

brucelee said on April 19, 2010 at 6:25 PM

Pedestrians shouldn't share the same road with bicycles. There're just too many things that can go wrong. When I was jogging on the similar trail one day, I got into a confrontation with a bicycler once. When he charged at me as soon as getting off his bike, I kicked his face really good. Then, I just walked away like nothing happened.

joe_auburn said on April 19, 2010 at 5:55 PM

I'd suspect at 83 she wasn't moving very fast when she apparently 'walked' in front of the bicycle. At 56 I often can't move fast enough to get out of the bikes way on some paths and on the road - it's hard telling what they'll do - go right - left - slow down - speed up.

jinkiesshaggy said on April 19, 2010 at 4:48 PM

You have a responsibility, just the same as an automobile driver to obey the rules and be alert at all times while you are operating your method of transportation. For me, I would like to know the following: -Where they riding side by side? -Did they call out “passing on your left” or did they use a bicycle bell to warn they were approaching? -Did they try to pass around her, one on each side of her? One would think it would be fairly easy to see a tottering old woman in front of you. The investigation will give more information. One thing for sure the cyclist is at fault and needs to be held accountable.

whitetrashed said on April 19, 2010 at 4:47 PM

sad story but how ironic there is a Northface ad to the right of this story with a jogger running down a trail. maybe if the poor woman had been wearing northface this wouldnt have happened

tizzyfit said on April 19, 2010 at 4:41 PM

The article said nothing about the bicyclist announcing themselves, such as, "on your left" BEFORE passing this elderly lady. As is the case with most bicycle riders, they are closing on walkers/runners at 12-15mph or faster, without announcing your presents, IN A LOUD VOICE, the walker has no clue you are there. I'm very sorry to hear this woman lost her life. As to the two cyclists are concerned, IF they failed to announce their presents, they get to live with this tragedy for the rest of their lives.

letusallbekind said on April 19, 2010 at 4:41 PM

I am sad for both parties. I know from being a walker that this is a trail for both bikes and walkers and both need to be careful. Whatever happened in this case, the biker realizes that the woman walked in front of them. If that is the truth, I can attest that it doesn't take a fast bike to knock someone down. As a walker (I am mainly a walker), I have to be very diligent and careful when walking on a trail made for both bikes and walkers, as most are following the rules, there is the rare exceptions where 1) the biker is not paying attention, or 2) the walker is not paying attention. Let us not blame and mourn the loss of this woman. My heart goes out to her family and friends, as true accidents do happen, as we just witnessed last week two adults backed over there children. How would they feel if they were blamed. They are already dealing with a huge amount of guilt.

wawolf said on April 19, 2010 at 4:29 PM

For the folks trashing on the bikers, read the article more closely. They were on the Cedar River trail, which is for bikes and pedestrians, not a road. They were going around the women when she stepped in front of them. You don't have to be going very fast on a bike to knock somebody down, so they weren't necessarily going by her too fast. It sounds like a horrible accident to me, not negligence.

seattlegirl83 said on April 19, 2010 at 4:29 PM

Before we start ranting on cyclists, please note that the Cedar River trail is a designated cycling trail. This simply sounds like an unfortunate accident with a woman getting startled, not necessarily the carelessness of a rider.

browndog said on April 19, 2010 at 4:12 PM

There needs to be more bike laws, and bike riders should not be allowed on roads. If so there needs to be bike lanes and in order to ride on them bicyclers need to pay a licensing fee to pay for the bike lanes.

aolaolaol said on April 19, 2010 at 2:41 PM

Wow thats sad, Seattle bike riders need to be more careful, either they are screaming down the road as fast as cars, or wearing black/dark colors with no lights of any kind! I almost had a close call with such a person whom I COULD NOT SEE