I’m a statistic. I share the unfortunate distinction of being one of the 48 Mecklenburg County cyclists who were hit by a car in 2001. Mercifully, no one died in any of those crashes, and the old data doesn’t indicate the extend of anyone’s injuries. But I remember mine like it was yesterday. Well, most of it anyway.
The actual “getting hit” part is kind of a blur, it happened so quickly. I remember being on the bike – then suddenly flying off of it – then waking, face-up in the street. The responding police officer knew my wife and called from the scene, which was just a block from our house. I can only imagine what it was like to be on the receiving end of that call, seven months pregnant with kid number one. I don’t remember anything about the ambulance ride or much about the ER. But with a wrenched shoulder and neck, and an array of scuffs and scrapes, I was able to walk away from this one. Days later, my eye doctor would discover a retinal hemorrhage. That, of course, meant an emergency visit with a specialist and another surprise call to my still pregnant wife. The injuries and the retinal bleed would keep me off the bike and the run for most of the summer. Beats the hell out of going blind. Once cleared, I was back on and in the streets; even pushing our first kid over miles and miles in baby jogger number one. Or, pulling him along behind my bike in the same traffic, along those same streets.
Since then, I’ve logged thousands of miles as a bike commuter and a pedestrian; sometimes racking up more miles on foot or by bike than behind the wheel. Heck, there was even a summer (yes, summer) when I essentially went car-free. That’s not a brag, and none of that proves anything, aside from my risk tolerance. Charlotte can be found consistently among the ranks of cities with the most traffic congestion, toughest commutes, and having a majority of roads in fair to poor condition. With an average of 82 car crashes a day in Charlotte, we’re all gambling a little every time we get out there. But this story isn’t about me. I’m just a statistic. A nameless, faceless plot within a bigger hunk of data that shows these streets are mean. And they’re getting meaner.
Numbers Don’t Lie
According to the City’s Vision Zero Initiative, there are an average of 82 car crashes in Charlotte every day. Nearly one third of all traffic fatalities involve people walking or bicycling. Queen City Nerve has been tracking the numbers, too, and the details don’t paint a prettier picture: fatal car crashes are on the up, and so are the number involving pedestrians and cyclists.
The numbers don’t lie. It’s tough out there on these streets. And the numbers get really real when you put a name and a face to them. Like Reid Livingston. Livingston says she saw it coming, quite literally, when she was hit by a car back in January. She was running a familiar morning route, and felt she had the light and the traffic on her side as she crossed the intersection at Runnymede Lane and Selwyn Avenue.
“I remember when I knew I was going to get hit, saying, it won’t be that bad,” she told a group at February’s Mobility Safety Forum. “It’s funny how your body processes that, realizing what is going to happen.”
Livingston was calm and softspoken as she described her injuries: two broken wrists, lots of road rash and a nasty cut on her eye.
She said she’s not fearful, just extra cautious and “hyper aware” at intersections now, even when she’s driving. Everything’s a risk, she said, and it’s up to us to be ok with whatever our comfort level is in any given situation.
Lisa Landrum is a runner and safety advocate who helps organize the Mobility Safety Forums. She’s had her share of close calls at intersections, too.
“Some drivers aren’t looking for us, even though we may be looking for them,” she said. “I need to remind myself of that all the time.”
“I don’t think a lot of runners think about that,” Livingston finished. “You don’t think it’s going to happen to you until it does.”
In part two of this series, we’ll talk about what it’ll really take to make streets safer, the City’s commitment to the process, and what runners can do to be part of the process.
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