October 29, 2009

Dangers of Cycling: Louisville Magazine


The November issue of Louisville Magazine is out, and inside you'll find one of my illustrations (so go out and buy one now, people of Kentuckiana!). 

The article, written by avid Louisville cyclist Joe Ward, draws attention to the dangers facing cyclists and the unfortunate deaths that have occurred because of drivers' negligence.
"Bicyclists on the roads are not the problem. The problem is motorists who don’t recognize their responsibility for the lives and limbs of their fellow citizens. It’s time for serious attention to the motor vehicle as a deadly missile."
Sadly, unless alcohol or excessive speed were cause for the deadly accident, the driver walks free and clear (well, except the excessive guilt they will probably live with, hopefully a la Crime and Punishment)

Mr. Ward questions this lack of penalty and offers this solution:
"When a person kills somebody with his car and there are no mitigating circumstances, he or she should at very least lose his driver’s license for life.
Put them on bicycles. "

postscript:  These murderous drivers are the reason I have not touched my road bike since I moved to Los Angeles, where drivers are the most self involved, distracted, and ruthless of all!!

2 comments:

megan said...

do you get any copies of the magazine... or are they still available? this article sounds really interesting. bryan & i both commute to work & this topic is somewhat terrifying. especially now that finn is in the trailer with me!

great illustration!

Cat Scott said...

Megan, I don't have a copy (that one skipped me somehow!) but the link to the article is here. There was another interesting article in the LA Times, which is here. Of course, the problems in LA are probably 2475235 times worse than anywhere else! Glad you like the illo, and thanks for all the comments!