Mount Ayr Cyclist attending Iowa Bicycle Summit after son involved in bike/car crash
The Iowa Bicycle Summit & Expo will roll into Des Moines on January 27 & 28 at the Iowa Events Center. The event kicks off with a bicycle facility design workshop, hosted by Roger Geller, a Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator. Geller will be training participants to use the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide - a cutting edge design manual on bicycle facilities.
Attendees will primarily be planners and engineers, but there will also be a special parent in the group. Chris Doster of Mount Ayr will be attending to learn everything he can about bike lanes and facilities to bring home with him. Chris has some important motivation - his 10 year-old son, Zachary. Doster describes Zach as a happy, healthy, bike-riding machine.
Chris describes the moment of panic encountered one day following school. “Zach called me after school one day a few weeks ago to tell me he had been hit by a car while he was riding home from school! I asked him ‘What do you mean you got hit by a car? Are you all right?’ I could hear the fear in his voice so now I was getting scared. ‘Yes, I'm ok, my shoulder is just bleeding a little bit.’”
Zach was shaken following the crash, but he was brave enough to get on his bike and ride with dad to where he got hit, so he could explain it a little better. He showed how he was sitting at a stop sign waiting for cross traffic to go by. A big 4x4 truck took the corner to turn on the street Zach was on. He took the corner so sharp he was headed straight for Zach. Zach even demonstrated how he was getting ready to get down on the ground and lay as flat as he could hoping the truck would pass over the top of him.
The driver stopped just in time but still the bumper of his truck knocked Zach down off his bike giving him a scrape on his shoulder. The driver stopped, made sure Zach was fine, followed him home, and left his phone number.
Chris was happy Zach escaped basically injury free, “On the one hand, I am grateful my son learned the most important lesson about bicycling, in my judgment, that a person on a bike must be watching the vehicles because the people driving the vehicles are not watching for us. He was lucky to learn the lesson without getting seriously hurt to learn it. I have noticed Zach is more careful and cognizant of other drivers now so I'm happy about that.”
Chris was an advocate for bicycle facilities in Mount Ayr before the crash. “I went to a City Council meeting about kids walking and biking to school awhile back. We were advocating for a bike lane to be painted on the main street that goes from our school through town. The City Council shot the idea down saying it was a misuse of funds even though we offered to pay for everything except the labor. We were asking for city workers to help with that. Now this accident with Zach happens no more than 6 months after. It clearly shows we need to raise awareness for drivers in our town to watch out for kids on bikes AND people on bikes.”
Many lessons learned at the Iowa Bicycle Summit and the bicycle facility workshop have been implemented on roads and trails all over Iowa. It’s a great opportunity to improve safety and access for bicycles. Chis will be attending the Iowa Bicycle Summit on a special scholarship because of support of Iowa Bicycle Coalition members and partners.
“I want to come to the Bicycle Summit so I can hear everything possible about getting bike lanes and trails in our community. I am an avid bicyclist myself. I ride the rural highways down here but am fully aware of how nice it is to ride a true bicycle trail. I will use what I learn at the Summit to start the conversation and get people moving in the right direction in our county,” Doster said.
You can help support Chris and the efforts of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition by taking a moment and making a year-end donation to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. These funds are used to plan and operate the Iowa Bicycle Summit & Expo, Safe Routes to Schools and the other programs of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. Visit the website at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/join for more information.
Anyone with an interest in bicycling is welcome to attend the Iowa Bicycle Summit & Expo on January 27 & 28, 2012 in Des Moines at the Iowa Events Center. The bicycle facility workshop on January 27 is $120 if you register before January 1 and $150 following. The session on January 28 are free and includes a consumer expo. More information is at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/summit or call 515-309-2867.
Attendees will primarily be planners and engineers, but there will also be a special parent in the group. Chris Doster of Mount Ayr will be attending to learn everything he can about bike lanes and facilities to bring home with him. Chris has some important motivation - his 10 year-old son, Zachary. Doster describes Zach as a happy, healthy, bike-riding machine.
Chris describes the moment of panic encountered one day following school. “Zach called me after school one day a few weeks ago to tell me he had been hit by a car while he was riding home from school! I asked him ‘What do you mean you got hit by a car? Are you all right?’ I could hear the fear in his voice so now I was getting scared. ‘Yes, I'm ok, my shoulder is just bleeding a little bit.’”
Zach was shaken following the crash, but he was brave enough to get on his bike and ride with dad to where he got hit, so he could explain it a little better. He showed how he was sitting at a stop sign waiting for cross traffic to go by. A big 4x4 truck took the corner to turn on the street Zach was on. He took the corner so sharp he was headed straight for Zach. Zach even demonstrated how he was getting ready to get down on the ground and lay as flat as he could hoping the truck would pass over the top of him.
The driver stopped just in time but still the bumper of his truck knocked Zach down off his bike giving him a scrape on his shoulder. The driver stopped, made sure Zach was fine, followed him home, and left his phone number.
Chris was happy Zach escaped basically injury free, “On the one hand, I am grateful my son learned the most important lesson about bicycling, in my judgment, that a person on a bike must be watching the vehicles because the people driving the vehicles are not watching for us. He was lucky to learn the lesson without getting seriously hurt to learn it. I have noticed Zach is more careful and cognizant of other drivers now so I'm happy about that.”
Chris was an advocate for bicycle facilities in Mount Ayr before the crash. “I went to a City Council meeting about kids walking and biking to school awhile back. We were advocating for a bike lane to be painted on the main street that goes from our school through town. The City Council shot the idea down saying it was a misuse of funds even though we offered to pay for everything except the labor. We were asking for city workers to help with that. Now this accident with Zach happens no more than 6 months after. It clearly shows we need to raise awareness for drivers in our town to watch out for kids on bikes AND people on bikes.”
Many lessons learned at the Iowa Bicycle Summit and the bicycle facility workshop have been implemented on roads and trails all over Iowa. It’s a great opportunity to improve safety and access for bicycles. Chis will be attending the Iowa Bicycle Summit on a special scholarship because of support of Iowa Bicycle Coalition members and partners.
“I want to come to the Bicycle Summit so I can hear everything possible about getting bike lanes and trails in our community. I am an avid bicyclist myself. I ride the rural highways down here but am fully aware of how nice it is to ride a true bicycle trail. I will use what I learn at the Summit to start the conversation and get people moving in the right direction in our county,” Doster said.
You can help support Chris and the efforts of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition by taking a moment and making a year-end donation to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. These funds are used to plan and operate the Iowa Bicycle Summit & Expo, Safe Routes to Schools and the other programs of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. Visit the website at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/join for more information.
Anyone with an interest in bicycling is welcome to attend the Iowa Bicycle Summit & Expo on January 27 & 28, 2012 in Des Moines at the Iowa Events Center. The bicycle facility workshop on January 27 is $120 if you register before January 1 and $150 following. The session on January 28 are free and includes a consumer expo. More information is at www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/summit or call 515-309-2867.
