I’m a cyclist. I love to ride my bike and when I go for a ride, I do so on the shoulders of the highway.
When I ride on the highways, I’m often nervous because lets face it, it’s not just me out there. I’m sharing the road with cars, motorcycles and semi trucks.
On July 4th, on a highway only a few miles from my home, a highway I ride frequently, a cyclist was hit and killed by a vehicle. The news flew through the community quickly. Okotoks is a small town. An active town. And the news hit hard.
I must say that at the time of writing this, few details about the accident are known. It has been reported that the cyclist for some reason, swerved unexpectedly into traffic. Perhaps due to a trouble with her bike, maybe she swerved to avoid debris on the road, it’s not known. It’s also not known what the driver of the car was doing at the time. Like I said, few details are known at this time. It was an accident, a tragic accident.
What is known is that a young woman is dead and the community is shaken.
As a cyclist myself, the news has hit a little too close to home for myself and for my friends who are also cyclists. We’ve ridden this road. A lot. We’ve all experienced moments where a truck and trailer has come a bit too close as we’re pedaling, or a car has come up behind us and honked, scaring us into the gravel. I’d like to say that this never happens. But it does. More often than I’d like. I’ve experienced cars that actually drive closer to the shoulder and the bikers as they pass. Why? Are they trying to prove a point that they’re a car and I’m a bike? I’ll never know.
Every time I get on my bike and head out on the road, I’m taking the chance that this young woman took. I take the chance that the drivers will be paying attention. That no one will reach down to write a text message while they’re passing me, that they won’t come too close to the shoulder, that I won’t encounter a pot hole or piece of debris at the wrong time. 
It’s a risk I take. And now I’m shaken.
My friends and I have been texting, messaging and talking about what happened. The thing is, it could have been any one of us. Scary.
Nothing can bring back the life that was lost, but please, please, next time you’re out driving on the highway and you see a cyclist, share the road. Be aware. If there’s room, move over into the next lane, don’t honk or do anything unexpected.
And cyclists, we all need to do our part. Ride single file, don’t make any sudden moves, be aware of vehicles.
Please. Share the road.
Please keep your thoughts, prayers and well wishes with the families of both the victim and the driver of the vehicle.
Ohhhh…such a tragic story! I try to be the most proactive and safe driver that I can. And when I see a cyclist, I try to gauge on coming traffic, slow down, and find a way to pass safely so we both have plenty of space.
It is such a sad story. Thank you for being such a safe driver out there.
Wow, this is awful! My hubby is a cyclist, and I always worry about him out on the road. Most drivers in our area are considerate (our town gets some sort of good rating for being bike-friendly), but it’s still scary. Stay safe!
Nadine, thank you for your comment. Most of the drivers I encounter are very considerate as well. Most will move way over as they pass. (as long as they can) It’s strange, I was always considerate when I passed cyclists, but after I became a cyclist I had a whole new respect for it as well. Accidents will still happen, but we can all do our best to avoid them. Thank you.
Oh that poor woman, her family. Tragic indeed. As Natalie said, I try to be a safe driver and aware of what is going on around me, be that other motorists or cyclists. What a sad reminder.
Very tragic. Being as safe as we can out there, whether we’re the driver or the cyclist is all we can do. Thanks for the comment, Raelyn.
I am so saddened by this woman’s death. what a loss
I am always amazed at cyclists who ride our major roadways during rush hour. you have the right to the road, but when traffic is bumper to bumper and there’s no where for me to move, you’d best be careful and hug the sidewalk, because in any interaction with my car, you will lose.
Many many years ago, I was driving on a side street in the middle of winter. it was a typical calgary winter – the roads were deeply rutted with frozen snow and it was cold. I was driving a one ton truck, going very slow because it was so slippery. Out of a yard to my right, slightly ahead of me a 12 year old boy came flying down the walk and out on the street in front of me. His bike wheels slid out from under him and he disappeared under the hood of my truck. I finally got stopped (it felt like forever) and jumped out and checked. He was lying under the bumper of my vehicle, his bike still beneath him. He was fine and his bike had nary a scratch. but I had nightmares for months.
so I am as careful as I can possibly be – but bikers on the road scare the daylights out of me.
What a terrible tragedy! It saddens me to read this, and makes me worry for you and your friends out on the highway. I try to give cyclists as much room as I can on the road. We live in a community with tons of cyclists, my daughter among them. What happened to the woman in your town is always on my mind when my daughter heads out for a ride. Be safe, be aware, and let’s all share the road.
So senseless. I always slow down and give a lot of space for error.
Bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists. I personally know too many people who have been seriously and permanently injured, or killed, by cars. It’s actually the reason I don’t ride a bike. I’m terrified of the cars. I am the jerk who goes the speed limit in my neighborhood because that’s the most dangerous place- tons of bikes and people walking and pets and little kids running after balls, all in that dappled sunlight that is so hard to see in. I wish everyone safety. I tell my kids over and over that cars can’t always see them, and they have to assume they don’t.