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news
Video: Cyclist falls into gap as bridge opens to let boat through
Video from the United States shows the moment a cyclist who ignored warning signs as a bridge was opened to let a boat through fell into the gap between the roadway and the leaf of the bridge bring raised.
The incident happened on the Racine Street Bridge – a bascule bridge, similar to Tower Bridge in London – in Menasha, Wisconsin, following a Fourth of July firework display, reports wsaw.com.
Footage supplied by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows lights flashing as the gates are lowered ahead of the bridge being raised.
But the cyclist ignores them, pedalling through the gates, hitting them with her backpack as she does so.
Moments later, she falls into the gap. More than a minute later, people come to her aid, one checking her condition, another appearing to phone for help.
According to wsaw.com, the bridge was kept open until the cyclist, a 37-year-old woman, was taken to safety.
Police said that she was subsequently taken to hospital to be treated for facial injuries.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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26 comments
I'm curious if she was drunk. The way she wobbles past the barrier suggests she wasn't necessarily in full control of her bike.
Got to be, surely? Otherwise I can't understand what she imagined was going to happen even if she'd made it over the openning gap. Must have been thoroughly pickled.
ha ha! briliant bit of comedy, darwin award attemptee
"some red lights are not meant to be jumped".... Erm NO, any red light on roads = stop!
On my way home today I encountered a fellow cyclists coming straight at me through a single lane roadworks with traffic lights...why!?? As dumb as this lady in the video..
Anyone doing this gives us all a bad name and pisses every other road users off. One day you will be killed.
Only by dumbasses who think that the actions of a few individuals is representative of the groups as a whole, and it doesn't piss me off (I assume the poor riding and not the sweeping generalisation- which does piss me off).
Your stupidity is giving us all a bad name. Collective accountability works several ways.....
As others have already addressed your collective responsibility idea, I'll take a different tack.
Imagine if this lady had been in a bigger vehicle and done the same thing? The situation would have been far worse - probably causing a lot of damage to the bridge. Similarly a driver coming straight at you through a single lane roadworks would be far more dangerous.
Now to be fair, that's somewhat of a false equivalence as you need to be licensed to drive a vehicle and so society can expect a minimum standard of driving (not necessarily getting it in some cases). People can ride bikes with no previous knowledge of roadcraft and most of the time they don't cause harm to others probably due to the far reduced mass and speed compared to drivers.
Harm reduction should therefore mean that we want to encourage as many people to cycle as possible which not only gets them out of cars, but also tends to reduce congestion, pollution and improve the cyclist's health. Get as many idiots as possible onto bikes and we'll all be better off (hopefully they'll learn better roadcraft with experience and feedback).
I don't know as I wasn't there but could it have been a factor that the timing of lights doesn't account for cyclists and just maybe she entered on green?
I find it's not uncommon with longer sections that there just isn't enough time to get through, and I am slightly faster than the average cyclist.
That happens all the time. Also, traffic lights that respond to traffic presence sometimes don't recognise bikes, as they have been mis-set. You can wait on red until a car arrives.
And let's not forget that it can be safer, in some circumstances,to set off just before the light turns green, if you make sure there isn't anything coming.
To be fair, I went through a green (not amber) light on Sunday at some roadworks, as I got to the other end I was met by a cross driver... turns out the other end had turned green before I'd got through although I wasn't hanging about.
I wonder if it was because the light sequence didn't allow enough time for a slower cyclist to get through? Or that the cyclist was waiting at a red light that didn't change because the detector doesn't pick up bicycles? Or maybe, just maybe, they RLJ'd because there was bugger all else on the road and it is no problem for two bicycles to pass eachother safely on a single carriageway?
By an oncoming bicycle?
Is this the new bluesmobile or what?
I wish that I could give this post more than one like.
You sound like you hate illinois nazis.
We're so glad to see so many of you lovely people here tonight. And we would especially like to welcome all the representatives of Illinois's law enforcement community that have chosen to join us here in the Palace Hotel Ballroom at this time. We certainly hope you all enjoy the show. And remember, people, that no matter who you are and what you do to live, thrive and survive, there're still some things that makes us all the same. You. Me. Them. Everybody. Everybody.
That really was a quite extraordinarily stupid thing to do. What on earth did the cyclist think was going to happen?
Being America, the cyclist will probably now sue the bridge operators.
Some may chuckle but get a load of this....
Oh, wow, that is truly weird...
In Soviet America, hotels sue you!
Fly, you fools!
ShallNotPass.gif
To quote an African proverb....
"Only a fool tests the depth of a river with both feet."
Wisconsin is too far north for the Bible Belt, so Darwin has it over righteous vengeance.
Stupid is, stupid gets
Some red lights are not made to be jumped. What a buffoon - even if she had got over the initial crack was she going to do an Evel Kneivel style jump over the canal?
Drink responsibly, kiddies!