Another cyclist fatality

Saw this one on the Wisconsin Bike Fed blog:

http://wisconsinbikefed.org/2016/06/22/driver-hits-kills-co-worker-...

Unlike other incidents I've seen reported, this one appears to involve people who likely knew each other. The two were coworkers, both working for WS Packaging Solutions in Algoma, WI.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 23, 2016 at 4:01am

The Sun-Times account had the by now standard mention that Ms Qiu wasn't wearing a helmet. I penned this missive to the reporter.

I try and track all bicyclists' deaths involving motor vehicles. I've been doing it since the tragedy in Kalamazoo in June in which five cyclists were killed and four injured by a driver apparently terribly impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. My intent is to eventually build a spreadsheet or database with as much relevant data about these crashes as I can.

Last night, you posted a story about Chunyuan Qiu, a Northwestern freshman from China who collided with a cement truck and was apparently run over, resulting in her death. In it, you wrote, "Investigators said it is believed that the woman was not wearing a helmet." I'm sure you were just reporting the facts, but in a case like this, it is highly unlikely that if she had been wearing a helmet, it would have saved her life. In fact, as I thought about it last night, about the only benefit I can think a helmet might have been in this case would have been to delay the start of her final ride by a few seconds so that the cement truck was farther up Sheridan Road, turning a collision into a near miss. In a case where a bike rider is run over by a car or truck, about the only thing which would save them from death by crushing would be Iron Man's suit.

Bike helmets serve to protect cyclists in some situations (mostly notably falls at relatively low speeds), but they are not panaceas. All nine of the cyclists in Kalamazoo were apparently wearing helmets, yet five of them died. A bike helmet isn't going to save a person run over by a cement truck. Although the police can determine whether or not Ms Qiu was wearing a helmet or not, it is immaterial to the outcome of the crash. They might as well have reported whether she was wearing Nike or Adidas shoes, or whether she was wearing nail polish.

In the future, when you investigate cases like this, please don't ask immaterial questions about helmet use. If, unprompted, the police offer that the cyclist wasn't wearing a helmet, ask them why they think it is an important fact, and whether and how they think it would have changed the outcome. Unchallenged, all it does is serve as a small amount of victim blaming by the police. By stating she wasn't wearing a helmet, you are subtly suggesting that the crash was her fault. That may well have been the case, I don't know. It surely wasn't her fault because she lacked a bike helmet.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on September 23, 2016 at 4:18am
Bravo! Thanks Skip!
Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin on September 23, 2016 at 4:46am

Thank you. Do let us know if you get a reply.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 23, 2016 at 5:36am

Dedicated thread on The Chainlink is here.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 23, 2016 at 4:07am
Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 26, 2016 at 6:53am

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 26, 2016 at 11:34pm

A later report identified the victim in the Littleton crash as Maryanne Casalinouva, age 53.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 27, 2016 at 5:22am

A later report identified the Chicago victim as Anastasia Kondrasheva, age 23.

Permalink Reply by mike w. on September 27, 2016 at 7:50am

Read the article, but since it's behind a paywall i was unable to comment on  the authors' use of the word "accident" several times through the story. These were crashes, not accidents.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 27, 2016 at 8:00am

> I think it's best to write directly to the article's author, where possible. In this case, that's mwisniewski@tribpub.com.

Actually, make that rsobol@chicagotribune.com,mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com. The article as two authors.

Permalink Reply by mike w. on September 27, 2016 at 8:34am

Thanks, Skip. Done.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 27, 2016 at 8:37am
I couldn't find this point in the thread before, but your new reply gave my the hook I needed (I dislike Ning's threading). I sent a noteas well. Mary Wisniewski responded almost immediately. Sounds like she might make some edits.

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