Bicycles are common sights around college campuses. They are cheap and convenient transportation for getting around. But for students in urban areas, riding a bike on city streets can put them in danger of getting hit by negligent motorists, likely causing them serious injury.
After a bicycle collision with an automobile, drivers sometimes panic and flee the scene, rather than stay and wait for emergency responders as they are supposed to. This makes things worse, by possibly delaying medical care for the victim, who might not be able to call for help on his or her own.
In an example from the other side of Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh, a Temple University student was critically injured when she was struck by a car while riding her bike the evening of Apr. 29.
Whether the driver acted negligently or recklessly during the collision is not clear, but police say the driver drove away after briefly hesitating. An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the driver may have been urged to flee by one of his passengers, according to witnesses. Officers later found the vehicle involved, but the driver was still at large as of Apr. 30.
The nature of the victim’s injuries is not clear. A picture from the accident scene shows her bicycle, crumpled and bent, lying beneath a parked car. She is 22, and is on the honor roll at Temple.
Too often, car and truck drivers do not look out for bicycles, or respect their space and right of way.