LIHUE – Following a bicycle accident with injury this weekend, bike experts say alertness, visibility, predictability and assertiveness are the key for cyclists to avoid accidents.
Police say a 61-year-old man sustained severe but non-life-threatening injuries in a bike accident near Halfway Bridge and Knudsen Gap Saturday.
According to preliminary police reports, the 62-year-old male driver of a 2009 Honda, struck the male cyclist about 5 p.m.
The cyclist, according to reports, was attempting to make a U-turn from one end of the highway to the other, at which point he was struck by a car.
Based on information received by the police, they do not anticipate citing or charging the driver of the vehicle with any infractions.
The cyclist was transported to Wilcox Medical Center to be treated for his injuries.
One of the problems with biking in that direction, Jim Benkert, event coordinator for Bikes on Rice said, is that halfway up the hill, the bike lane ends.
“So your only choice is to ride back or continue to Poipu with no bike lane,” he said.
While riding on the highway, Benkert said the same rules apply for bikes as they do for vehicles.
“You need to be visible, because cars aren’t looking for you, they’re looking for other cars. You need to be predictable,” he said.
Cyclists should use lights and wear helmets and use all of the safety features available to them, because they have the same issues as motorcyclists.
“One thing we’re doing with Bikes on Rice is making bikes more visible. The more drivers see bikes on the road, the more used to it they will be and it will be safer for everyone,” Benkert said.
As one of the three certified bicycling skills instructors on Kauai, Tommy Noyes, executive director of Kauai Path Inc. said while riding bicycles on streets, roads and highways, cyclists fare best when they act and are treated the same as those who operate motor vehicles on the roads.
“This approach is consistent with Hawaii’s traffic laws. In practical terms, operating a bicycle as a vehicle means that responsible bicyclists will always be alert, visible, predictable and assertive,” he said.
Similarly, people who drive cars are also responsible for being alert and vigilant for other road users, including roadway workers, people who walk, jog, or run and people who ride bicycles, Noyes said.
“Every year far too many people are injured or killed in incidents of roadway violence. Putting our best minds together to find solutions to this dire situation is an international effort of tremendous potential benefit to families everywhere,” he said.
Kauai Paths Inc. board members extended their prayers to the cyclist who was injured in this weekend’s incident.
“We pray that he has a full and speedy recover,” Noyes said.
For more information about biking on Kauai, visit kauaipath.org
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Bethany Brunelle-Freudenthal, courts, crime and county reporter, can be reached at 652-7891 or bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com.
Hopefully the cyclist recover from his injuries quickly and find all is well.
Was it around a blind curve in the location of the accident? Could he see that it was okay for him to manuvere and complete his U turn? Cause both directions (westbound or eastbound) vehicles will probably be approaching in ah igh speed. It’s an uphill and downhill incline. A driver would either be excellerating up hill or the vehicle would roll fast downhill.
If those condition existed the cyclist shoud have got off his bike and turn it around. Then ride in the bike lane going against traffic untill it was safe for him to cross and ride with traffic.