Arlington County Police Department have identified the cyclist in Sunday’s fatal collision as Fitzgerald Pollard, age 44. Unfortunately, no more details about the nature of the collision have been made public, so most theories on how it happened (including my own) remain conjecture. Please try to be responsible in any contributions you might make toward that.
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Between Mr. Pollard’s and pro cyclist Wouter Weylandt’s death (in a high speed crash during a race) on Monday, it’s been a jarring few days. It’s moved me to think about the dangers of cycling, and recommit to being a more careful cyclist (and helping others do the same).
Joy
I’m thinking of finally doing a demonstration on divided attention while on a cell phone in my cog psych class. I’m tempted to do it with bikes (instead of just walking through cones and dodging obstacles). The number of students I see on their bikes, with no helmets, with headphones in or on their phone is just crazy.
Now, I’m guilty of the no helmet much of the time (although not really any long, since I need to set a good example to the girls on their bikes, and I want it to be a non-negotiable rule). But talking on the phone while on the bike while riding on the street just seems suicidal. One student almost plowed into my car last fall, coming out of a parking lot and into traffic, while on the phone. I actually rolled down the window and told him the stats on driving while talking on the phone, but of course that just made me seem like an old uptight lady.