Newton Bike Fatality

According to Wicked Local, a bicyclist died as a result of a collision on Commonwealth Avenue at Lowell/Homer late this afternoon. There are few details yet available. According to the article, the cyclist hit the rear half of a car crossing Commonwealth Ave., and was not wearing a helmet.

Everyone at Bike Newton is grieved by this loss, and feels terrible for the cyclist's family and friends, whose lives have been changed suddenly and tragically. Our hearts also go out to the driver involved.

Ideally, our streets would be as safe as those in the Netherlands, where most bikers go helmet-less. Unfortunately, our streets aren't that safe yet, and this accident (though it is unclear whether a helmet would have prevented a fatality) is a terrible reminder that helmets are a necessary precaution.

Updates (5/18/10, 7:10 am):

According to Wicked Local, the biker was a 21 year old male, and his death is confirmed.

Though the autopsy results aren't yet available, it is likely, says Srjdan Nedeljkovic, a neurosurgeon affiliated with Harvard, that the cause of death was epidural hematoma, the same head injury that killed the actress Natasha Richardson in a skiing accident last year, and Richard Atkins (of the Atkins diet) in a slip on ice at his home. Head injuries, even ones that seem minor, can be quite dangerous. An epidural hematoma can be caused by only a small tear of a blood vessel between the brain and skull. Helmets can prevent many of these injuries.

The troubling mystery is why the cyclist didn't stop. The traffic signal on Lowell had just turned green, and there were at least two cars in the intersection crossing Comm. Ave. That intersection has clear sight-lines. He would have had the sun at his back. Even if he were recklessly running a red light, it's unclear why he didn't see the cars in the intersection or respond to them. The damage to the bike was severe enough that it would likely be hard to tell whether the brakes had been operable right before the collision.

Update (5/24/10):

Jane H. pointed out on the Newton Tab Blog (comment near the end) that the intersection actually has rather poor sight lines for a biker riding on the right, eastbound.  Cars stopped at the signal on Homer (northbound) would be invisible behind trees, as would the signal, until a biker is fairly close to the intersection. There has been a very rich discussion on that blog entry about the carriage lane and locations along it where there are accidents waiting to happen. Now that signs near the eastern edge of Newton tell bicyclists to use the carriage lane, some easy changes (especially the location of stop signs at streets entering the carriage lane) are long overdue.

It also occurred to me to wonder whether there was sand on the road surface. Street sweepers have been busy in the last few weeks in Newton, but I still see pockets of sand here and there, especially near road edges.