If bicyclists don’t act responsibly, the only result, from case history, is their own hurt.

This is simply not true. If the driver of the automobile and bus in this accident have any morals, which from reading the various articles they certainly seem to, then they have both been wounded by this incident. No, they aren’t physically hurt, but physical damage is not the only question here. Someone’s life, if they are a truly caring individual, can be ruined by hurting or killing someone else, even if it was an accident.

Yes cyclists are going to loose any sort of physical engagement, but this doesn’t remove all responsibility for how we act.

Control and train your steel slinging cagers. Fines? Scale them relative to net worth. Revoke and suspend licenses of repeat offenders. Cameras and computers? They are already at a lot of inner city intersections, but it’s all to raise $4 million a year in revenue, which hardly pays for installation. The only answer is police in neighborhoods knowing neighborhood DUIs, keeping tabs, watching out. That and better traffic planning, which is generally atrocious in Newport and Providence Counties, I’m sorry to say, even since they’ve been put on notice by FHWA for over a decade. Who’s the scofflaw?

We cyclists also need to take responsibility for our actions. Accidents will happen, motorists will make mistakes, it’s our responsibility to try and anticipate these actions and ride safely. This is a truly sad story, but it sounds like the teen just blew into a roadway and was wearing headphones, so he was likely distracted and most likely couldn’t hear anything.

I’m in agreement with you re: the speed people drive around here. What I don’t understand is why motorists aren’t in an uproar over annual automobile related deaths, much of which could likely be tracked back to speed, running red lights, aggressive driving, etc. Personally, I’m in favor of red light cameras and automated speed ticketing devices. I truly believe the only way to change people’s driving behaviors, when it comes to these two activities, is to hurt them in the pocket book. I don’t think we have enough police, nor do I think it is a good use of their time, to catch speeders; computers can do just as well.

I’ve routed many rides for people using Google set to “walking map”, then tailor, then email to them. I know from an encyclopedic knowledge of RI where every dog and hill is. I’ve always said, “Climbing builds, coasting thrills.” Hills do slow your ride, but fast smelly traffic clogs flats.

I’ve been trying it out some more this evening, entering a few possible trips into the directions finder. It seems to be handling it okay. I hope to bike to Jamestown and/or Newport one of these days, so I tried entering that. Of course it directed me over the Newport bridge, which I’m pretty sure is forbidden for cyclists. (Jamestown Bridge is as well, right?). I would have been shocked if the step by step directions had said something like, “Dismount and wait for the XX bus to take over the bridge”

Police and witnesses say the 15-year old rode his bike into oncoming traffic on Bark Street in Swansea.

Police say drivers never saw him coming and some witnesses have told police he was wearing headphones at the time.

A friend of the victim, Matthew Sousa, tells WBZ-TV he was looking out the window and saw his friend coming down the street. “He wasn’t going too fast. He could have stopped, but he didn’t look both ways.”

Police say the teen hit a car, flew over and hit the windshield, then was propelled into the path of an oncoming school bus that struck him as well.

Deputy police Chief Robert Furtado says drivers could not have reacted quickly enough.

The driver of the car, Grace Santos, is described as an elderly woman who was so distraught she had to be hospitalized as well.

Note to all us parents out there… make sure we spend time working with our kids, even our older kids, and make sure they know how to ride safely and responsibly.

The law for intersections is to take the rightmost lane going in your direction. In this case, that would be the left lane.