We have made it 2010.  How many people have made their New Year’s resolutions?  I have a suggestion every Kentuckian should resolve to be a safer driver. We must attempt to make our Kentucky roads safer.  How can we avoid serious automobile accidents?  How can we avoid striking a pedestrian or a bicycle? How can we be more careful and avoid motorcycle accidents?  The answer is obviously yes.  In getting 2010 off to a good start I decided to give you my top ten ways to be a safe driver.  Here we go.

            10.       Pay attention to what is going on around you. 

            9.         Expect the unexpected.  You never know when you’re going to have to react.  I’ve been trying to teach this lesson to my daughter as she learns to drive.  I’ll let her tell you some of the stories at a later time. 

            8.         Don’t tailgate. 

            7.         As a bicyclists you must obey the rules of the road.  Don’t ride on the sidewalks.  Make sure that you are aware of what the cars are doing.  Remember cars can’t see you as well as you see them. Drivers of cars need to watch out for bikes too. Remember that bikes have the same rights as cars. 

            6.         Motorcycles don’t needlessly speed and be aware of what cars are doing. When I ski I need to watch out for other skiers as well as snowboarders, who go down a hill differently then a skier. I have to be aware of this and respect the differences to avoid an accident. A driver of a car needs to have the same respect for other vehicles that are on the road. 

            5.         Avoid road rage.  A calm driver is a safe driver. 

            4.         Be courteous.  This goes along with No. 5. Let another car into traffic.  Don’t cut them off.  It won’t kill you. This goes a long way toward helping to control a driver’s temper and traffic running smoothly.  Remember everyone is trying to get somewhere in a hurry and where they are getting is just as important as where you are going. 

            3.         Remember a yellow light means to stop, not speed up and try to get through the intersection.  If you can stop safely you should.  A yellow light only means that you should clear the intersection if you are in it. If you speed up at a yellow light sooner or later you will cause an accident. 

            2.         Make sure your car is in safe working order.  Make sure the tires, brakes, etc. are all working properly. Have your mechanic check your car out. It is a lot cheaper than being in an accident. 

            1.         Drumbeat please – don’t be a distracted driver.  Get off your cell phone.  Don’t text.  Don’t  look up phone numbers.  Don’t put on your makeup.  Distracted Driving is the No. 1 cause of accidents in America today overtaking drunk driving (which you obviously shouldn’t do either, so we will make it 1A). I actually saw a young girl try to text and drive on the snowy roads last night on the way home. She probably ended up in a ditch some where.

            I’m sure I could easily have a top 25 list of ways to avoid automobile accidents. I hope this gets your mind thinking on how you can avoid automobile accidents and be a safer driver on our Kentucky roads.  Nobody is a winner if there is an accident.  Let’s keep them to a minimum this year.

Over the last week I have seen a lot of bicycles out on the roads in Louisville as well as the Prospect, Kentucky area. I am not talking about all of the athletes that were in town training for and competing in the iron man competition. What I saw were people riding their bicycles through downtown Louisville that either do not know the law or are ignoring it. I was probably conscious of bikes since I had interviewed three potential clients in the last few weeks that were injured while riding a bicycle and were hit by a car.

The one common thread in these bicycle/automobile accidents was the fact that the bicycles were being ridden on the sidewalk. This is against the law and very dangerous. Local Louisville regulations apply to the operation of bicycles. This is defined in the local Traffic Code chapter on Bicycles and Motorcycles. The Traffic code states that: No person 11 years of age or older shall operate a bicycle on the sidewalks located within the geographical boundary limits of Louisville Metro.

There are a lot of other interesting rules, laws and safety considerations that all bicyclists should read, but that discussion will be for another time.  What this means is unless you are a child 10 years or other your bike is to be ridden on the roadways in Louisville, Kentucky. Not on the sidewalk!

Why can’t adults ride on the sidewalk? In my opinion it is for the safety of walkers as well as the cyclists. All of the accidents that I am talking about had a variation of the fact of bicycle riding on the sidewalk and then traveling into the street crosswalk where they were struck by a car. In most situations a car has no chance of seeing a bicycle entering the street from the sidewalk. The driver is not looking for anyone other than a pedestrian.

Know the law and protect yourself. If you are 11 years of age or older ride your bike on the road obey the rules of the road and use appropriate safety equipment such as reflectors and helmets. Protect yourself. Know and obey the law. Don’t find out after an accident that you were in the wrong. This will make all of us safer and prevent accidents.

As a bicyclist I know that there are dangers out on our Kentucky roads. There is not a ride that I go on where someone doesn’t tell me to be safe. I usually shrug it off, thinking no big deal. I am a safe rider. It won’t happen to me. This weekend was tragic in many ways and will make me stop, listen and be more thankful for the suggestion to have a safe ride.

            In the last weekend here are some of the headlines we have seen about two fatal bicycle accidents:

·        Triathlete Killed By Hit and Run Driver

·        Child in critical, cyclist stable after fatal Radcliff accident

Both of these tragic accidents and deaths may or may not have been avoidable. You can not take the actions of a drunk driver into consideration as you are pedaling down the road, especially in an organized event. In the Radcliff accident the car hit the four bikes from behind and will undergo a blood test as part of the investigation. Alcohol may have been involved in both of these fatal accidents.

The other common factor was the visibility of the bicyclist. When riding a bicycle by yourself it may be hard for a car to see you. This is a complaint drivers have about both bicycles and motorcycles. There are steps you can take to make yourself more visible such as blinking reflectors, bright colored clothing and riding smart. But in these tragic deaths all of the victims were extremely visible.

In the triathlon the victim was part of an organized race. I find it hard to believe that the drunk driver, Kenneth Yates, had not passed and noticed several bikes before the fatal accident that killed John Carr. He was visible and presumably riding safe. There is no justification in my mind for Yates’ actions and the book should be thrown at him.

In the Radcliff accident there were three bikes on the road together. There is visibility in numbers if only the driver was paying attention. Once again the bicyclists appear to have been in the right.

I feel the problem lies with education of non riders in many situations. I was going to lunch yesterday down Market Street and I saw a car driving an entire block in the bicycle lane. They just were not aware that the lane was restricted for bicycle use. Later in the day I received a phone call from a potential client whose son was injured Friday evening when a car hit two bikes passing in front of it. One of the boys was dragged under the car. Thankfully there were no deaths. The driver should have seen the bicycles. There were two of them riding together.

As more and more bikes are on the roads, those that do not ride either for recreation or for transportation need to be aware of bikes and understand how they use our Kentucky roads. I have a “Share the Road” license plate and that is a start, but it isn’t enough. How can we educate the public? What can be done to make every one aware of bicyclists on the road so we do not have another weekend like this?

All drivers need to expect to see a bicycle on the Kentucky roads. It should not be a surprise. Until bicyclists are expected to be on the roads and not considered a second class citizen we will unfortunately have more tragic weekends.

There is a new billboard campaign that has been launched by the National Safety Council called “Death by Cell Phone.” The campaign has been launched in 67 markets nationwide. I have yet to see one in the Louisville area. If you know of one post a comment and let me know where it is. Jennifer Smith, who is the daughter of a victim that was tragically killed by a driver using a cell phone, coined the phrase in describing the tragic death of her mother.

            Cell phone usage while driving was addressed by Kentucky in 2009, but did not make it out of committee. Nationwide it is reported that 81% of cell phone owners use their phone while driving. There is little doubt that the use of cell phones distracts drivers and is the primary cause of tragic auto accidents on Kentucky roads.

I have represented accident victims who have been injured by teenagers texting while driving that some how ignored a red light. Today I was conferencing a case where the driver of a motorcycle was apparently using his cell phone when he some how didn’t see the stopped car at a traffic light and slammed into the car at 50 mph.  Tragically, he was not wearing a helmet and is believed to have died in this motorcycle accident. I still can’t believe the driver had his cell phone out while going 50 mph. I take my cell phone while I am riding my bicycle, but the only time I am on it is when I am off my bike and on the side of the road in a safe place.

            Many states have already banned the use of cell phones in motor vehicles in some form or another. Now Australia looks to be jumping on the band wagon in banning all cell phone use in cars, including hands free devices. As a parent I do not allow my daughter to use a cell phone while driving unless a blue tooth is in use. 

We need to pay attention to the pleas of Jennifer Smith, whose mother was killed by a cell phone user. Everyone should listen to David Teater, whose son was killed by a cell phone user. Let’s pay attention to what has happened to these accident victims.

One study links cell phone use as a factor in 6% of all motor vehicle accidents. According to this estimate cell phones result in 2,600 deaths each year. All because we couldn’t wait to text or make a call. This is senseless. It’s not just cell phones, but they are in my opinion the most dangerous. Americans are distracted by the radio or CD, the cup of coffee, polishing nails or putting on make up, or even reading the paper. The time has come to limit the use of cell phones while driving a car in Kentucky. We should follow the lead and help prevent any further needless deaths by cell phone.

Running a red light is dangerous for everyone on the road. I drive in downtown Louisville every day and there isn’t one single day that goes by that I don’t witness a red light being run by a car that either isn’t paying attention or is in a hurry. Whether it is texting and driving or being late for work, to a majority of the population in Louisville, Kentucky a yellow light seems to mean to press the right foot hard on the accelerator. If you have a green light you had better check to make sure that the coast is clear in the other direction or you could be broad sided and find yourself an auto accident victim.  People are in a hurry and they are disregarding this simple traffic control device more and more often.

A few years I was waiting at the corner of Muhammad Ali Blvd. and 5^th Street to cross. The white walker began flashing and I took one step from the curb into the crosswalk. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something and jumped back. This was just in time to see a bus miss my nose by about six inches. Once I started breathing again I thanked God for sparing me and said a few choice words about the bus driver. My point is you should assume that there will be a car running a red light. Whether you are a pedestrian, bicyclist, riding a motorcycle or in a car you are in danger anytime you go through an intersection.

Napa Valley, California has installed cameras at several intersections and has been recording violations and issuing warnings by mail to the violators for the last 30 days. Starting this past Saturday violators are getting a ticket for $435 and photographic evidence that they ran a red light.  This evidence includes a color photo of the driver, the license plate, the traffic light changing to red before they entered the intersection and a final picture of the car in the intersection. Although I can see some due process violations I believe that these cameras would have a deterrent effect on those thinking of pressing hard on the accelerator and attempting to beat the light. There are warnings of the existence of the cameras before the intersection. I believe these cameras will save lives. It will be interesting to see the statistics after ninety days to see if this is the case.

Maybe it is time for Louisville to think about buying cameras for some of the busier intersections. I believe it can do nothing but make our Kentucky roads safer and help prevent many tragic auto accidents.