When Close to Home is Close to Home

Blair P. Houghton said:

This happened about 200 yards from my front door:

http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/crime/articles/041112b.html

[Quoting from the linked article]
If Cabanillas was impaired by drugs or alcohol, the case will go to the
Maricopa County Attorney's Office for a decision on prosecution, said
Morales.

But if there was no impairment, "it could have been an instant of
inattention. If that's the case then you're talking nothing more than a
traffic violation," for failure to control his vehicle, Morales explained.
[snip]

*Traffic violation??*

What was it Fred Flintstone used to say? Muss'n fuss'n brick-n-brack-n . .
.. .

Hey, Blair: keep us posted on this, will ya'?

Blair P. Houghton said:

This happened about 200 yards from my front door:

http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/crime/articles/041112b.html

[Quoting from the linked article]
If Cabanillas was impaired by drugs or alcohol, the case will go to the
Maricopa County Attorney's Office for a decision on prosecution, said
Morales.

But if there was no impairment, "it could have been an instant of
inattention. If that's the case then you're talking nothing more than a
traffic violation," for failure to control his vehicle, Morales explained.
[snip]

*Traffic violation??*

What was it Fred Flintstone used to say? Muss'n fuss'n brick-n-brack-n . .
.. .

Hey, Blair: keep us posted on this, will ya'?

Blair P. Houghton said:

It's now one of two shrines to cyclists killed within
the confines of that photograph.

Quoted message said:

It's for a 9-or 10-year-old boy, also riding in a
bike lane, hit by a car 4 years ago. His family still maintains it.

I wonder what the odds are on two separate cyclist fatalities (out
of 7,000-8,000 per decade in the USA) happening within sight of
each other. I also wonder if it was in spite of or partly caused
by the bike lane.

Mitch.

Wow.. [censored]..

We recently got bike lanes in a major street, and the papers were FILLED
with [censored] people that were against the lanes. Mainly because the rode
went from 4 lanes to 2 because of the bike lane additions.. so the car
people werent' happy. Whenever I ride on these bike lanes, I'm afraid
someone in a car is going to get [censored] and take it out on me because
they're stuck at a red light at 5:15PM.

Mike

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This happened about 200 yards from my front door:

http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/crime/articles/041112b.html

You can see the spot in my homepage photo:

http://blair.houghton.net/

Pecos is the four-lane road with the wide median at the
very bottom of the picture. The shrine is about midway
between the two power-pole shadows that fall across it.

I remember seeing the shrine (it's a hispanic thing;
usually a cross and some plastic flowers, but it can be
more elaborate) the day after it happened. I thought it
was just another traffic accident. Then I read the story.

It's now one of two shrines to cyclists killed within
the confines of that photograph. The other is on the
south side of the intersection of Liberty (the darker
road with the center-turn lane) and 17th Street (the
short north-south street on the left). It's for a 9-
or 10-year-old boy, also riding in a bike lane, hit by a
car 4 years ago. His family still maintains it.

I ride past each of them four times when I'm doing my
normal loop-ride, east on Liberty then west on Pecos.

Anselmo's shrine is growing. Clearly a grandfather with a
loving family. I was wondering if the local riders would
add to it as well. Then on my third lap this morning I
noticed someone had left him a water bottle.

--Blair
"Two wheels good."

Here's some more about Donald Anselmo.

This guy is so much like me (except the family part) it's scary:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1112AR-bikerZ14.html

--Blair
"The perfecting bike rider."

Blair P. Houghton said:

Here's some more about Donald Anselmo.

This guy is so much like me (except the family part) it's

scary:

Quoted message said:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1112AR-bikerZ14.html

Quoted message said:

What does this mean: "Police say Anselmo seemed to be doing
everything right. He was wearing a helmet and other
protective gear and rode in the makeshift bike lane to the
right of the main thoroughfare."

"Makeshift bike lane" could mean a lot of things; it makes
me curious.

Yeah, he could be a lot of us.

--
Mike Kruger
If you fall and break your leg, don't come running to me.

Blair P. Houghton said:

Here's some more about Donald Anselmo.

This guy is so much like me (except the family part) it's

scary:

Quoted message said:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1112AR-bikerZ14.html

Quoted message said:

What does this mean: "Police say Anselmo seemed to be doing
everything right. He was wearing a helmet and other
protective gear and rode in the makeshift bike lane to the
right of the main thoroughfare."

"Makeshift bike lane" could mean a lot of things; it makes
me curious.

Yeah, he could be a lot of us.

--
Mike Kruger
If you fall and break your leg, don't come running to me.

Mike Kruger said:

Blair P. Houghton said:

Here's some more about Donald Anselmo.

This guy is so much like me (except the family part) it's

scary:

Quoted message said:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1112AR-bikerZ14.html

Quoted message said:

What does this mean: "Police say Anselmo seemed to be doing
everything right. He was wearing a helmet and other
protective gear and rode in the makeshift bike lane to the
right of the main thoroughfare."

"Makeshift bike lane" could mean a lot of things; it makes
me curious.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but the "bike lanes" on either
side of Pecos road are not properly-marked bike lanes. They are
wide, paved shoulders on the outside of the line marking the
outside road lane.

There are signs every so often that show a car beside a
cyclist and the words "Share the Road", but they are not
"Bike Lane" signs; and the lanes carry no painted diamond
markings.

In Arizona, the rule for the road is "space makes lanes",
and the lines painted on the road often mean nothing,
legally (double-yellow lines, gore points, and bike/bus
lanes being some of the codified exceptions).

The law is clear however about giving bicyclists a 3-foot
buffer no matter the situation.

And when it talks about driving in a marked bike lane,
it only specifies a penalty if there is a collision with
a bike that causes an injury. But in this case, it's
not a real bike lane, so that particular infraction would
not apply.

It's still illegal to run into things; they can get
the driver for "failure to control speed," "unsafe lane
change", things like that.

Anselmo's widow wins some sort of latter-day saint award
for hoping the kid's drug test comes back negative. I
need to get me one of her.

Quoted message said:

Yeah, he could be a lot of us.

I did a few years contract work on Iridium, which was
a Motorola space-systems group project (iirc, before it
was officially space systems, but I'm not so sure about that).

Somewhere along the line I may have passed Donald Anselmo
in the hall or maybe even sat in one of the bigger meetings
or a training class with him.

I left off riding my bike many years ago and only recently
got back on. Same as he did.

And I'm kind of obsessive about logging my rides and
somehow improving every time I put rubber to road.

--Blair
"20 years from now, if you read about
another fatality in that same spot,
listen for Twilight Zone music..."

I am Don Anselmo's daughter. A lot of people heard about my dad being
killed riding his bicycle on Pecos Road but most do not know how tragic
the accident really was. I hope the bicyclists in this community are
concerned. My dad was killed on a clear day at high noon on the
straightest, flattest road in Phoenix. The first tire mark on the scene
is the back wheel of my dad's bike in the middle of the bike lane where
he was struck square from behind and then sent straight through the
windshield. The driver tried to blame my dad for the accident but the
police have already proven this impossible. The driver also admitted to
smoking pot regularly but not that morning (just imagine what he could
do under the influence). But it still doesn't matter to the police - as
long as his blood is clean on that day, he will bare no responsibility.
We still don't even have the truck's insurance information and the
police don't seem to care and I'm sure that is against the law. The
driver's mother also claims he has the mentality of a 14 year old - why
would you let him drive? Anyway he'll be out there again.

I'm asking the bicyclists in the area to put some pressure on the
police to make sure this driver bares some responsibility. I know the
case is still being reviewed and some attention and concern from other
riders could help.

Police report#042102018

Quoted message said:

I am Don Anselmo's daughter.

I know of your father only through the posts and links here
on this newsgroup, but he sounds like a man I would have
liked to have known. I am sorry for your loss.

--
Mike Kruger
Too many people spend money they haven't earned
to buy things they don't want
to impress people they don't like. -Will Rogers

My point that should concern any bicyclist or pedestrian is that
according to the Phoenix police investigating my father's death, it is
not against the law to drive down the shoulder lane and kill someone as
long as they are sober. I find that outrageous that there is NO penalty
what so ever. My dad was riding in the center of the shoulder (bike
lane) on Pecos Road not in the car lane. I was hoping to stir up the
bicyclist in Phoenix to demand some penalty for the guilty driver for
the good of all bike riders. Contact Ed Tuttle PPD 602-495-5862 to
complain. Thanks

Quoted message said:

My point that should concern any bicyclist or pedestrian is that
according to the Phoenix police investigating my father's death, it is
not against the law to drive down the shoulder lane and kill someone as
long as they are sober. I find that outrageous that there is NO penalty
what so ever. My dad was riding in the center of the shoulder (bike
lane) on Pecos Road not in the car lane. I was hoping to stir up the
bicyclist in Phoenix to demand some penalty for the guilty driver for
the good of all bike riders. Contact Ed Tuttle PPD 602-495-5862 to
complain. Thanks

I don't think I can add much to this, except for my own expression of
sorrow, but it isn't illegal to drive on the shoulder? I thought the
shoulder was for emergency stopping. If someone is driving there just
to pass other cars, isn't that reckless driving? The article said
nothing about traffic conditions at the time. Frankly, anything that
would cause someone to drive on the shoulder is reckless driving. He
was distracted by something, unless, as the article points out, he
frequented the group opposing bicycles on the street. Then it could be
murder.

dgk said:

Quoted message said:

My point that should concern any bicyclist or pedestrian is that
according to the Phoenix police investigating my father's death, it

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

not against the law to drive down the shoulder lane and kill someone

as

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

long as they are sober. I find that outrageous that there is NO

penalty

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

what so ever. My dad was riding in the center of the shoulder (bike
lane) on Pecos Road not in the car lane. I was hoping to stir up the
bicyclist in Phoenix to demand some penalty for the guilty driver

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the good of all bike riders. Contact Ed Tuttle PPD 602-495-5862 to
complain. Thanks

I don't think I can add much to this, except for my own expression of
sorrow, but it isn't illegal to drive on the shoulder? I thought the
shoulder was for emergency stopping. If someone is driving there just
to pass other cars, isn't that reckless driving? The article said
nothing about traffic conditions at the time. Frankly, anything that
would cause someone to drive on the shoulder is reckless driving. He
was distracted by something, unless, as the article points out, he
frequented the group opposing bicycles on the street. Then it could

be

Quoted message said:

murder.

Subject: Ride of Silence - December 18th

As most of you know, a fellow cyclist, Don Anselmo, was recently killed
on Pecos Road. In memory of Don we are going to hold a 'Ride of
Silence' on Saturday, December 18th at 8:00am. The intent of this ride
is to honor Don and other fallen cyclists and to promote the awareness
of
cycling safety. Mountain Park Community Church has allowed us to use
their
parking lot as a meeting place (24th St. and Pecos). We'll leave from
Mountain
Park Community Church at 8:00am and ride 1 loop of Pecos.
The Ride of Silence is not a training ride and asks that
cyclists ride no faster than 12mph and ride silent. To learn more about
the
national ride:
<http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php>
While the national ride is held during May, we are holding our ride in
December due to the recent tragedy.

Please pass this message onto other cyclists as all are welcome.
Sincerely,

Quoted message said:

Jane Meneely
(602) 431-6598