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Friday, April 01, 2011
Cyclists Lose in Collisions With Motorists and Laws
By Donald Simonson
Chair, Greater Albuquerque Bicyclist Advisory Committee
New Mexico bicyclists were saddened by the March 6 death of Dr. Ronald Fronczek, struck from behind on his bicycle by a motorist on U.S. Highway 70 in Las Cruces.
The State Police investigator quickly decided no one was to blame. We find this quick judgment hard to understand.
Too often New Mexico's bicyclists experience severe injuries and death but there is little or no serious investigation or consequences for neglectful drivers involved in such tragedies. When a violent collision like that involving Fronczek is treated as a routine no-fault accident, hundreds of thousands of New Mexico bicyclists must fear that their rights and lives will not be protected on New Mexico's highways.
Fronczek, a 63 year-old Las Cruces optometrist, was struck and killed operating his bicycle while following traffic laws. Yet, State Police Lt. Eric Garcia said that officers currently have no intention of citing the driver. Incredibly, Garcia dismissed the incident with simplistic advice for bicyclists to "visit their local bike stores for brochures and information on recommended routes of travel, instead of riding on open roadways."
In effect, he seemed to blame Fronczek for riding his bicycle legally on a highway regularly used by bicyclists. Where else in the law can one be within the law and have his life taken without consequences for the one who took it?
According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, the fatal accident occurred in full daylight at about 4 p.m. Oddly, the motorist did not see Fronczek traveling on a section of U.S. 70 a number of miles east of Interstate 25. The motorist claimed that Fronczek was traveling in the far right-hand lane of three westbound lanes. These facts do not excuse the motorist in this tragedy.
The police are required to protect the rights of all, especially the most vulnerable, such as bicyclists who are observing all traffic rules. Roadways are not only for motor vehicles.
The U.S. government, in paying for much of highway construction, establishes that most highways are open to not only motorists but also bicyclists and others.
In most states, the motorist would face serious charges for this fatal accident.
This column also signed by Greater Albuquerque Bicycling Advisory Committee members Diane Albert, Jeffrey Norenberg, Steve Mathias and Miguel Trujillo.
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