Post navigation

Prev: (05/29/19) | Next: (05/29/19)

Man suffers head injury after struck by cyclist in the Broadway bikeway

A man in his 60s was struck by a bicyclist in the Broadway bikeway and had to be taken to Harborview in an incident early in the Wednesday morning commute on Capitol Hill.

According to Seattle Fire and Seattle Police radio updates, the man was struck around 6 AM in the 1700 block of Broadway across from Seattle Central and was reported bleeding from the head and groggy but conscious. Seattle Fire says the man was transported by medics to Harborview in stable condition.

There were no reported serious injuries to the bicyclist and SPD did not have further information about the collision. Traffic on northbound Broadway was closed briefly during the response.

(Image: SDOT)

Broadway’s partially protected bikeway was installed as part of the Sound Transit-financed, SDOT-built $132 million First Hill Streetcar project in 2013 as a necessary enhancement to move riders away from the two wheel-dangerous streetcar tracks. A plan to extend the bike route north on Broadway was scuttled along with a proposed extension of the streetcar.

Subscribe and support CHS Contributors -- $1/$5/$10 per month

10 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Eric
Eric
4 years ago

I was almost hit last year by the Harvard Market QFC by a cyclist. So many of them are arrogant jerks who don’t follow the laws and cuss and scream at anyone who gets in the way as they go blasting through intersections that this hardly surprises me.

There needs to be some sort of insurance requirement for cyclists since our city seems hell bent on building these protected bike lanes. That way if s a cyclist hits a pedestrian and was int he wrong the pedestrian can file a claim and/or sue for medical expenses, pain and suffering.

Joseph
Joseph
4 years ago

I disagree with the previous poster’s rush to condemn this cyclist, and apparently all cyclists.

It’s a bikeway, so pedestrians shouldn’t be jaywalking there any more than they should be wandering in the street.

While I wish the man a speedy recovery I wouldn’t rush to blame the cyclist any more than I’d blame a car driver if they hit someone who walked out into the street.

Glenn
Glenn
4 years ago
Reply to  Joseph

Do we know he was jaywalking?

Joseph
Joseph
4 years ago
Reply to  Glenn

I don’t *know* anything since I wasn’t there, and can only guess based on the article, which said he was struck “while walking in the bikeway”.

Bikeways are designed for bikes to be ridden, not for people to walk in (although that happens all too frequently). Walking in bikeways is dangerous to people that do it, and to cyclists who risk hitting them or crashing while trying to avoid them.

It’s nice to separate cars and bikes. It’s also key to separate walkers and bikes, especially since people (me included) aren’t always super attentive while walking.

cd cyclist
cd cyclist
4 years ago
Reply to  Glenn

Little has been published so I don’t think anyone who wasn’t there can definitively state they know the guy was jay walking *but*…. if you look at the scene photos it’s very much mid block – between Pine St., beyond the statue of Jimmy, but not as far up as the crosswalk at the SCCC bookstore, so it would certainly appear that he was in the bike lane in a place that could be considered to be jaywalking. It’s very possible he was parked there and was crossing or walking in the bike lane mid block either getting out of or going back to his car – another good reason that parking simply does not belong along side a designated bike lane… on the right it’s a door hazard, on the left it pretty much forces people to jaywalk across the bike lane – and that Broadway one is particularly problematic because it is bi-directional. People simply are not accustomed to having to look both ways for bikes.

Justine
Justine
4 years ago

I used to work at SU on 12th & Columbia and coming back from Starbucks WHILE IN A CROSS WALK I was so close to the biker that almost hit me I felt the rush of air in front of my face. This happened at least twice. I have always thought that bicyclists should have a license plate so that the red light cameras or people hit by bicyclists can have a recourse when they are injured. They should also pay tab fees and help the rest of us pay for their bike lanes. Fair is Fair.

cd cyclist
cd cyclist
4 years ago
Reply to  Justine

Sigh… once again, the money for SDOT comes mainly from grants (federal money) 30%, debt (bonds) 23% and *property taxes* 18%…. My home pays for much more bike lane than your car tabs – which in reality pays *absolutely nothing* for city road projects and very little into state road funding. Most of your car tab money (like *everything* over the $30 base fee) pays for TRANSIT!!!! Oh, and BTW, I also own a car, so I pay tab taxes, but I drive it very little, using my bicycle instead and thereby causing far less road damage than pretty much any other form of transportation, other than being a pedestrian, which I also do with great frequency. So there we go – reality check, please stop spreading baseless lies about cyclists not paying their way…

and then…. OMG… twice A WHOLE TWO TIMES, you’ve come across stupid cyclists.. (perhaps…. or were you jaywalking – did you really look both ways and not step out in front of them?? or did you walk out far closer than you’d ever have dared with a car and expect that they would slam on their brakes?) but any who… Those two whole times, yeah that means everyone does it -eh? How many times have you not stepped out into the street because motorists simply will not stop for you and you know you won’t win that fight? Probably every time you do it….

Meh – if I only encountered 2 stupid motorists *every bicycle commute I make*, I’d probably be happy…… and I’ve certainly had more than 2 encounters with idiotic jay walkers who’ve stepped out into the street, against the light, without looking (usually staring intently at their idiot device). I’ve never hit one – *I* keep my eyes open, because it hurts to fall down and I have zero desire to scape myself across the pavement even if it’s you being stupid…

CD Cyclist
CD Cyclist
4 years ago
Reply to  Justine

Oh…. and I’d also love to see any real and actual statistics to back up why you think license plates and cameras are needed to solve this apparent (to you at least) epidemic of hit and run cyclists…. Seriously… seriously….

1) cyclist/pedestrian accidents are rare – so rare in fact that you’ll find no formal statistics are even kept

2) show me some sort of evidence that the cyclists who are involved in these very rare accidents usually leave the scene

Scofflaw Cyclists
Scofflaw Cyclists
4 years ago
Reply to  CD Cyclist

Just because they aren’t reported doesn’t mean they don’t happen. When I walked to work every day for years down Boren and Fairview I got clipped by cyclists on the sidewalk probably half dozen times. Did they stop? No. Did they even acknowledge they hit someone? No. Did they shout obscenities back when I yelled after them? Yes.

Kind of hard to feel like reporting that when you know nothing will come of it. How would the police do anything (if they were even willing?). By the time the cops would get there the cyclist would be safely at his or her destination. The only evidence you might have is a bruise (hopefully) – and that’s not enough.

Cyclists do what they do because they know they can get away with it. Period. As far as this incident – if the man was walking in the bike lane and he got hit by one of the handful of people that actually use it, then chances are I’d bet the cyclist was going too fast for conditions in that he was unable to stop for an old man walking in the bike lane.

CD Cyclist
CD Cyclist
4 years ago
Reply to  CD Cyclist

I just love double standards…. when was the last time you ever heard of a pedestrian or cyclist being hit by a driver and the driver being called out for going too fast for the conditions – HA….