Cyclist struck by SUV on Rt. 571
West Windsor Bicycle & Pedestrian Alliance
A bicyclist was critically injured on Friday evening at Route 571 (Princeton- Hightstown Road) and Rabbit Hill Road after being struck by one of two sport utility vehicles that collided. I came upon this accident 5 minutes after it happened. The cyclist was lying on the ground and not moving, a policeman had just arrived and was assessing the whole chaotic scene- an SUV on its side with a woman trapped in the driver's side, the inert cyclist, a traffic tie-up at the intersection. It was surreal. The cyclist was a 46 year old man from Keansburg and appeared to be riding a small kid's bike. There is an indication that the cyclist was not biking at the time, but stationary at the intersection on Rabbit Hill Road waiting to cross Rt. 571. After the accident he and his bike were about 30 feet from the intersection. We didn't see any evidence of a helmet, which may account for the massive head injuries. He was clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time- he was basically struck by an out of control SUV. A helmet though would have clearly helped mitigate some of his injuries.
From my perspective, this accident points to several things that need to be improved for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians in this part of town:
-One- the traffic light at this intersection should be changed such that cars on Rt. 571 should only be allowed to make a left turn onto Lanwyn Blvd or Rabbit Hill Road when the left-turn arrow is green. The time with the green arrow could be made longer, and then replaced with a red arrow. Far too many accidents have been caused by improper sight distances when cars are attempting those left turns at busy times of the day. We've all had near misses here and I've sadly had friends who have gotten into accidents doing just this.
-Two, EVERYONE in the township should be wearing a bicycle helmet when the cycle. Again, a bicycle helmet would have helped mitigate head trauma to this cyclist. One element here is clearly education. But I also wonder if we should work on an ordinance to this effect, making it against West Windsor law to bicycle without a helmet for residents of any age.
-Three, whether or not the cyclist was biking along Rt. 571, it is important to educate area cyclists not to bike on Rt. 571 from the East Windsor border to the NE train tracks. It's far too dangerous. As an avid cyclist, I never bicycle on this stretch. But we need to provide a safe east-west route for cyclists. One solution is sidewalks along the entire length of Rt. 571. This is feasible and should be a goal (we have rated sidewalks on 571 very high in our sidewalk analysis). Far too many cyclists bike on this busy dangerous road. WWBPA Trusteee Sandy Shapiro feels that 571 should not be such a fast road and should not be 4 lanes without shoulders. She has made that point at the Central Jersey Transportation Forum, but it is clear that reducing 571 to two travel lanes (and a middle turning lane) with bikelanes would take a lot of effort and political will. There has been talk at the forum to improve bike/ped lanes for the whole stretch, but Sandy feels the imp rovements will not be adequate. The other option is to encourage cyclists to bike on Cranbury Road as an alternate route. Granted, this is not the safest road to bike on, yet it is far safer than Rt. 571. I, and many other cyclists, use this road as a cycling route. To make Cranbury Road safer, "share the road signs" should be installed on this road as we have been advocating for, and the speed limit should be lowered from the Plainsboro border to Grovers' Mill Pond.
Until we make additional efforts to improve our roads, there will sadly be more serious injuries and fatalities in our town. Let's work together for solutions and implement improvements rapidly.
Ken
posted by Ken Carlson @ 7:31 AM
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