albanyweblog.com
Updated
July 1, 2007
And here are more responses
Hey Dan,
Just a quick note of thanks for writing such a lucid and helpful article. Your points make great sense and I now have a sharp perspective about all that is involved in understanding what happened. Well done!
Dave Eilers
(Dave also posted on the ABC thread.)
Dan,
Your blog was absolutely correct. There is no way a responsible person could have hit Diva. I believe this is a cover up. I'd like to know how many DWI's and speeding tickets the person who hit Ms. DeLoayza had. The whole thing stinks...
Chuck George
Thanks Chuck. As long as the details are kept under wraps, we will never know if something fishy is going on. I think we can safely assume that the Albany Police have no love of bicyclists and want to see them off the streets.
-dwvr
I was very sad to learn of this woman's death. I know several avid bicyclists in Albany.
NYS Traffic laws needs to be looked at – and changed. Many are outdated and dangerous. Trying to change traffic laws, from what I understand and have personally experienced, is like trying to move a mountain. Many laws and practices in our state seem to be mountains that defy logic and common sense.
I live on a dead end street in the town of Coeymans. Several years ago, the Town decided it was okay to allow a residence on a county route that runs parallel to my street, access to my street. So a road was created through some woods, and alas, there is a new entrance to the residence. (The residents that live on this dead end street were never consulted or approached about this change - the dead end street is now a thoroughfare. The Town Supervisor has looked me in the eye, and denied that this road is now a thoroughfare).
The house was sold and became a home for several developmentally disabled individuals. I have no problem with the work the organization is attempting or the people who live there. I have an issue with the traffic that is generated from this type of organization – at the end of a dead end street.
There are large, gray transport vans, usually 3 to 4, that travel this street daily; A street that is about 12 car lengths long. Staff cars arrive and go throughout the usual shifts. You can also have ambulances, fire trucks, doctors, and visitors. Granted, some days you may only have 6 or 8 vehicles passing through, but some days you may have 15 or 20.
In any case, according to NYS, 30 mph is permissible on this street. Traffic conditions, according to the state, do not warrant the posting and enforcement of a speed, of say perhaps 15 to 20 mph.
We are talking about a street that is no more than 1 car length wide. And, 12 car lengths long.
An interesting wrinkle is that local ‘kids’ have discovered this winding short cut, and on occasion, speed from my street, down on to the county road, or vice versa. Fun. Last December 6, my husband was unloading groceries from my car, and one of those non-resident cars sped down the road, could have hit my husband, but instead, killed a beloved pet animal.
I understand for some, there is a difference between people and animals. Some people do not have the common courtesy to stop when they run over an animal. I do not recall who said that society can be judged by how the ‘lowliest’ creatures are treated. A bicycle rider seems to be a ‘lowly’ creature as well.
It does not surprise me to learn of the traffic signal technology that is designed to menace a rider. We want people to move faster and therefore accomodate the driver of the gas guzzling machine that puts money in many pockets.
I live in a rural suburb of Albany.and have had many battles trying to get the vans/cars/trucks to slow down. Especially when my children wanted to ride their bicycles, or we walked our dog. Attempts for relief or support from the town and state have been in vain.
What should we do? Get some common sense laws that reflect the way things really are. (Easy for me to say.)
We really have bicyclists. We really have animals and kids on some streets. Motorcyclists, joggers and pedestrians are a part of daily life on small streets, and highways.
Could it be that the lawmakers do not see the way things really are? What work do they really do in session? Sounds like we both have different visions.
-Laurie Schaible
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