Bad bicycle reporting on Channel 5 in Kansas City - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

02-18-2005, 08:51 PM

Bicyclists,

A TV news story has been making the rounds of cycling email groups in
Missouri & Kansas. The basic situation is that a pair of cyclists were
riding abreast on Blue River Road. This road runs right through Kansas
City, Missouri, along the (you guessed it!) Blue River. It's a
two-lane road that generally has a rural feel to it, with relatively
low traffic most times of the day--maybe about 500-1000 average daily
traffic.

The bicyclists were riding abreast around a curve. They said they
heard the driver approach from the rear and honk. They didn't even
have time to single up when he started to pass. The cyclists say that
as he came beside them he suddenly swerved over, hit the outside rider
with his mirror, causing both to run off the road and crash. (They
were not injured too seriously.)

Of course, the driver has a different story.

I won't comment on whose story I believe. I will encapsulate my
viewpoint on the matter by saying that it is both polite and legally
required to single up when a car approaches to pass. Yet failure to do
so does not give the motorist carte blanche to go into attack mode--or
even "must pass no matter how stupid and dangerous" mode.

But what is notable is how really, really bad the TV reporting is. It
implies the bicyclists are not allowed in the "traffic lane", they
should always ride on the shoulder (in this case a dinky little thing
about 6-12 inches wide), that the cyclists were at fault for riding
abreast whereas the motorist was not at fault at all, and so on.

Worse yet is that much of the misinformation seems to have come from
the police.

See the story (text and video) at:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Note that the text is a summary--the video has quite a lot more
details.

Local cyclists are planning to contact the TV station and the police to
try to educate them a little.

But if you should feel inclined to politely express your opinion about
this piece of reporting, here is how:

KCTV5
P.O. Box 5555
Kansas City, MO 64109

KCTV5 news email: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
KCTV5 news fax: 913-677-7243
KCTV5 news phone: 913-677-7211

For reference, Missouri bicycle laws, and links to Missouri traffic
laws, can be found here:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

--Brent
brent [at] brenthugh.com