Watch where you're going! Sad story from Dallas tonight...

Liesl

Liesl

Barefooters
Oct 1, 2010
24
0
1
#1
My husband just saw this on the news... this is such a sad story, she has our last name but we don't know her.

Jogger in ICU after collision with Cyclist

www.wfaa.com/news/local/Jogger-in-ICU-after-collision-with-cyclist-on-Katy-Trail-104191814.html

How many of you run with earphones? I stopped wearing them since running barefoot, I guess I felt like I needed to have all of my senses to be more aware of my surroundings. I have my iPhone strapped to my arm and if I ever feel like listening to music I do it without the earphones and I don't make it loud. I use the Nike+ GPS and a voice tells me once I've reached each mile which I like.

I hope this young woman will recover from her injuries :( I feel bad for the cyclist too.
 
#3
Too many people forget how

Too many people forget how dangerous our environment can be. Liesl. you're right that running, walking or biking with earphones just makes it moreso. I can hear bikers coming from a long way off on my favorite towpath runs,which are graveled. On a paved trail they can zoom right up even on me when I'm listening for them. Be careful out there, folks!
 
#4
After I shed the shoes, I

After I shed the shoes, I started ditching everything else (MP3, GPS, HRM, hydration waist pack) a little at a time, until now, all I run with are clothes...and I'm sure I won't be shedding those...trust me, that's a good thing. ;-)
 
#5
 I run on some paths where

I run on some paths where cyclists frequent and it gets a little hairy at times. once I was on a loop and this guy kept brushing me while flying by and I warned him twice to let me know he was coming and to watch himself. I run on the edge of the path but he didn't seem to care so on the third pass I shouldered him off his bike as he passed from behind again nearly brushing me off the paved path. Not my finest hour as he could have been seriously hurt but as he got off the ground ready to fight his friend said these exact words "man i've warned you about messing with the runners" so at that point I decided he more than deserved it and I was ready to throw down if need be :) gotta protect the rights of the runners out there.

I have no problems with cyclists when they are respectful and announce their presence so I can steer clear or at least know they are coming. I realize a bike isn't a car but at 20-30 mph it's more than dangerous enough.
 
#6
That cyclist should have

That cyclist should have known better than anyone the importance of sharing the road.

You did the right thing Jimmie, that guy was just trying to be like one of the drivers that pi$$ed him off

regularly.

I don't think he'll buzz another runner again as a result of your well justified actions.

I've mellowed out with age, but I scared quite a few deliberatly irresponsible motorists over the years

while they were surprised to find me & my road bike in their face at the next light.

Just as they had never expected to see me again after their closer than comfort brush with me, your

guy had no idea a runner could take him down.

Those were the days, when road rage had'nt yet entered the lexicon and I could really pull the watts.

Only had to answer to the police once, a few hours after snatching the old-school cellular antenna from a guy's rear window. They were around $100 back in the day.
 
#7
I have to deal with morons

I have to deal with morons now and again too. I run on "multi-use" paths that used to be called cart paths that were built for golf cart traffic. (It's a golf cart city.) I will normally yell something to them like, "It would have been nice if you could have announced yourself!" Or "Hey! How about a little space here!" Or "Slow down!" The people on their bikes normally announce themselves. The carts about half the time could care less if anyone else is there.

One time I was running, when I heard the wheels of this cart squealing and this child screaming and yelling. I looked back to see that a kid about 10 years old had been thrown from the cart he was riding in as the cart went too fast around a corner. There was a baby killed the year before that, when the baby fell from its mother's arms. (What idiot allows their baby or child to ride loose in any vehicle? Put them in car seats!)

On two occasions, at the same place, I watched an almost head-on collision with golf carts. You may not think they go that fast, but they do, and they are totally open-air, and rarely do you see people using the seat belts. The first time, as the second, it was a matter of one cart coming out of a tunnel and the other cart wanting to go into the tunnel. The second time, there were several small children on one of the two carts. Tires skidding, kids hanging on. Quite scary. The rules are simple: Slow down at the entrance of the tunnel. If someone (bike, runner, cart, dog, walker, whatever) is already in the tunnel coming from the opposite direction, you must wait until they exit before you go in. This is regardless of whether or not the tunnel will fit two carts wide. People just keep assuming there's no one there.
 
#8
I stopped running with

I stopped running with earphones when my i-pod got stolen on the FIRST DAY OF TRACK!!! (Stupid locker-room thieves.) But I'm not sure I'd be using them now anyways, though it would be nice to have some music to keep me on that 180 tempo. I have a tendency to slap my feet a little thoug, especially my left foot, so I have to be able to hear them to make sure I'm running well, so even keys or something bouncing in my pocket bugs me to no end. I think I may have become too obsessed with silence, because I don't even like to breath hard because its so noisy!

When I did run with headphones in I could still hear my enviornment though. Maybe not necessarily a bike, but I could hear cars, and my own noisy still shod feet. So the girl should have been paying a little more attention, especially if she knew cyclists would be on the trail.

The cyclist should have also been paying more attention, because I'm a stupid teenager, and I've never even hit a person with my bike, and thats saying something. I've hit large rocks, walls, fences, gates, and even a parked car, some of these at upwards of 30mph (courtesy of all the hills in my town) but never a person, because people are small, and really easy to dodge. It might be a slightly different story on a trail, but it still just takes a little lean to the left or right and you've missed the person entirely. In my experience pretty much all bike crashes are a result of being stupid.

Jimmy, good job, haha. The guy got what he deserved, though I probably would have just stuck my arm out so he would effectively smack himself in the face with my hand as he passed.
 
#9
Give him a clothesline, huh? 

Give him a clothesline, huh? :crazy:
 
#10
Don't get me started on golf

Don't get me started on golf carts. The local university facilities people ride them on the sidewalks and it's so dangerous. A cyclist killed a pedestrian in Philly last year, so sometimes they are as dangerous as cars.
 
#11
  I mainly run on gravel

I mainly run on gravel trails barefoot of course. Since I am barefoot I don't make noise and I can hear very easily. The trail is so wide, there really isn't a problem. I remember back in the day when I ran in shoes, I was so loud I couldn't hear somebody coming up on me. Barefoot is safer lol! Most bikers here are somewhat respectful, I haven't had any issues so far. The most dangerous part I have experienced was a copperhead slithering across the path about a foot away from my barefeet. I just knew I was bit, but it didn't even strike! I can see how running on pavement can lead to accidents with bikers. But, both should be cautious and look before making any lane changes or sudden moves.
 
#12
I enjoy biking and I attended

I enjoy biking and I attended those 100K bike tour events, but I got tired of all the obnoxious roadies acting as if they are doing road race. They would buzz you as they pass you on the left. I feel that some bikers (very small percentage) ruin it for all other bikers, where they don't respect runners. walkers, others bikers and of course cars. The type of biker who does this is someone who owns a 15pound $5,000+ bike, along with a large ego and who is striving for attention. To feed their ego they want to show everyone how fast they are and see how close they can come to you while passing.
Back in the eighties I never had bikers do this; I think the most expensive bike was 2K.
 
#14
That is terrible.

That is terrible.
 
#15
Tragic ending to something

Tragic ending to something that could have been prevented. This reminds me of a story I read a while back where a guy was pushing a stroller while his wife was running a few yards ahead of them...with headphones. She entered an intersection without looking and was immediately hit by a car and died instantly. All while her husband and young child were just a few yards behind her. Very sad and again, something that could easily have been prevented.

These kind of stories are just one of the reasons why I dislike people running with headphones.

Some of the trails I run on are notorious for speedy mountain bikers. Getting hit by one of them would be the least of your worries if you end up flying off a cliff. And yet I see people out there running with headphones on.
 
#17
So sad and tragic.  Here is a

So sad and tragic. Here is a person who obviously took care of her body, snuffed out in an instant through inattentiveness. Stay alert people! If I wore headphones while running, I'd only do it where I knew I would not be interfered with, not on a busy multiuse path.
 
#18
So sad - it reinforces that

So sad - it reinforces that runners must always look back before they cut across a path. It took me a little while to learn to do this - I learned from other runners and it needs constant reinforcement. I will be thinking of her and her family tonight.
 
#19
Keep the old Army maxim -

Keep the old Army maxim - "Stay alert, stay alive." Situational awareness is what soldiers call being aware of everything going on around you. I know we've got to watch right in front of us, but look up and all around (and back) quickly and occasionally, like driver's ed once taught us to do with our mirrors while driving.

Most of us are not doing this so we can look good in a coffin. Besides, I get too much good advice from you guys to lose any of you to inattentiveness.

Stay alert, stay alive!
 
#20
"Stay alert, stay alive."

"Stay alert, stay alive."

Very fine advice. Headphones---which I have never worn while jogging, not at all really---diminish ones alertness to sounds by about 75%. I listen to birds with more rapt enthusiasm than to any music ever conjured by man. And I am a classical musician. Running barefoot makes the sounds of nature stand out even more, since there isn't a heavy clop-clop of shoes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Support Your Club

Natural Running Center

Forum statistics

Threads
19,155
Messages
183,638
Members
8,705
Latest member
Raramuri7

Latest posts

Share this page

Share this page
Top Bottom
Back
Menu