[Harold]

I won't say I've been following this closely, but my social media feed has been blowing up with various reports about this guy.

Bicyclist killed after crash involving school bus on north side | Fox 59 News ? fox59.com
School bus hits bicyclist on north side - TheIndyChannel.com

Neil Kelty | Cyclist on Strava

https://twitter.com/neilkelty

https://medium.com/amateur-cycling/ad5df66c937

The last words from his final blog post are absolutely chilling.

And if you see me out there, please don't hit me with your car.

 

[Cayenne_Pepa]

The WORST thing a commuter can ever do is assume everybody SEES them. Learn to crane your neck always, guys!

 

[mtbxplorer]

Sorry to hear, that is just terrible. Thinking of his family and loved ones...

 

[Harold]

More about Neil from reddit. He was to be married in sept.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bikeIN/comments/23wj9n
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[BrianMc]

I hope he has a nice tailwind now.

I don't understand the lack of a charge. I assume no one witnessed that Neil did not mess up, so the driver is off the hook?

 

[nemhed]

RIP Neil, I hope the riding is great where you're at! My heart goes out to his loved ones. Hopefully something can be learned from this.

 

[bedwards1000]

Looking at the Strava page is creepy knowing that it just ends there.

You just never know. I passed a car accident on my commute home a few days ago where both cars looked like dust. It can happen in a car or on a bike or even by slipping in the shower.

 

[jrm]

Two scenarios: Bessie turned left on a signal and Neil ran a red light or Bessie turned left w/o a signal and Neil had a green light.

 

[Harold]

Two scenarios: Bessie turned left on a signal and Neil ran a red light or Bessie turned left w/o a signal and Neil had a green light.

I think it was probably solid green both ways.

Here's a pic of Neil's view, headed westbound.

And here's the bus's view, eastbound in the left turn lane.

The more likely scenario IMO is that both lights were green (but not a green arrow for the bus). There would have been no cars headed westbound (otherwise the bus would not have turned), and the bus driver was not paying close enough attention to the fact that a cyclist was in the bike lane. School bus drivers terrify me. They behave the worst around bikes. Crowding you out of the road, not paying attention to you, etc. I think school buses should have dash cams.

Read the guy's blog. He took bike commuting seriously. He practiced his routes. He bought lots of safety gear. I do not believe for a second that he blew a light. I also find it unlikely that the school bus driver flat out blew the light, for that matter. Rushed a yellow, maybe. The bus driver was 72. I simply believe she was not looking for bicyclists, so did not see Neil. Absolutely tragic, but she should not be driving a school bus anymore.

Another article about Neil, pointing out his attention to safety.

Cycling enthusiast hit, killed by school bus practiced safety year round | WISHTV.com

 

[jrm]

The 2nd, and most likely scenario i mentioned was based on that same 2nd picture b/c that car is making a left w/o a left arrow signal from that 2nd set of hanging lights to the left of the primary signals at the other end of the intersection. Bad traffic engineering design? probably..

 

[Harold]

Maybe so but that is legal in Indiana unless otherwise indicated

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[749800]

I hope he has a nice tailwind now.

I don't understand the lack of a charge. I assume no one witnessed that Neil did not mess up, so the driver is off the hook?

Where I live a guy who killed a bicyclist as a hit-and-run (i.e., left him to die at the side of the road while he drove away and then checked the car for damage) got a whole year.

Ordinarily, you can kill a bicyclist with complete impunity.

If you want to murder someone and get away with it, buy them a bike, have them go for a ride and then run them over with your FUV. No probem.

 

[ser jameson]

These stories always make me feel as though I've lost a friend. I'm sorry this happend, my heart goes out to his loved ones.

 

[BCTJ]

How sad. I keep thinking about velomobiles after seeing one in my work garage a few weeks ago. I wonder if velomobiles might be safer, though they are pricey.

 

[Harold]

This isn't directly related, but because Neil's death and this event occurred so close together, connections are (rightly) being made. Today at lunch, I got to attend the press conference for the People for Bikes Green Lane Project in downtown Indy. Indianapolis was one of the winners this year, and apparently Transportation Secretary Foxx decided to come here for today's announcement. Officials from Denver and Atlanta were in town, also. After the press conference, they all went out on a group ride on the new Pacers Bikeshare bikes. I got to watch while I ate my lunch outside.

My boss was interviewed and he's the one at 0:49 talking about if bike lanes are safer, more people will ride bikes. The interview was quite a bit longer, but the content of the video and the article take some of the points he mentioned.

City awarded funds to install safer bike lanes | Fox 59 News ? fox59.com

Apparently one of the candidates for the protected bike lanes is a corridor I use to commute downtown from my house. For purely selfish reasons, I hope it's chosen. That said, the route home (two one-way streets that are a block apart) goes past some motorcycle clubhouse and I have passed the place in the evening before and members were parked in the bike lanes. Next time that happens, I'm calling the police to report them, because the road can take a LOT of traffic during the evening rush and being forced into it is no good.

 

[BCTJ]

So, I was riding into work today on the bus (yes, bus - because I don't have enough money saved up to buy a Specialized Epic 29er) and I overhear the guy behind me talking about how his nephew was killed a few months ago. When I hear killed, I'm thinking he got murdered or something. Then the guy futher explains that his nephew was riding his mountain bike and got hit by a car. Sad.

 

[shining_trapezoid]

Sad and infuriating. I just don't understand why people can't pay attention when they're driving.

And why insult him by calling him a newbie? Even if he was, it seems insulting.

 

[Harold]

Sad and infuriating. I just don't understand why people can't pay attention when they're driving.

And why insult him by calling him a newbie? Even if he was, it seems insulting.

It's not insulting. Noob and its variations are insulting. He was new. He took bike commuting seriously. He wanted to get involved in the local advocacy group's policy committee. He wanted to make a difference.

 

[tigris99]

Too many drivers just don't care. Driving tests all that have no concern for bikes and ppl in cars just assume bikes will stop regardless. And school bus drivers are just dangerous, they don't care one bit or are too old to be driving something that big anyway.

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[KentheKona]

It does seem bus drivers, whether school or transit are unaware to downright hostile towards cyclists.

It's such a tragedy. Its disgusting that you can kill someone who is exactly where they should be on the road and nothing was done "wrong."