Chattanooga cyclists: Cars often don't share roads
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The car was honest inches from his bicycle, so close he could touch it.
Instead, Gary Hooper dodged and crashed onto the control on Dayton Boulevard at Browntown Road.
The car kept going as he picked himself up. His in partnership directly hurt and his helmet had a "huge divot" that would have come out of his scalp if he'd been bareheaded, Hooper said.
It happened at the end of a waste with the Chattanooga Bicycle Club. Another club member got the car's license trencher number, but the Red Bank police officer who answered the call said there was nothing to be done because the car hadn't in point of fact touched the rider, according to Hooper.
"Because I'm on a bicycle you can run me off the road, leave me prevarication there, the police can come out, and nothing happens. I'm very bitter about it," he said.
Red Bank Administer Chief Tim Christol said Wednesday he was unaware of the incident and would be auspicious to meet with Hooper to try to resolve the problem.
On Wednesday night, close by cyclists participated in the annual Ride of Silence, part of a worldwide at the time to "raise awareness of cyclists' right to ride on the road and to honor the fallen cyclists no longer with us," according to the Chattanooga Bicycle Trounce band website. The riders left from Finley Stadium and rode 14 miles in tranquillity.
It was John Meek' third year to participate in the event. He rode in honor of his fellow-countryman, David Meek, who was killed in 2009 while riding his bike to work on Ashland Terrace.
"It's inspiring, basically," Lowly said Wednesday afternoon before the ride. "Probably a hundred, two hundred people all riding together quietly. It's kind of like a moment of silence."
According to the Ride for Shush website, the event was held in 322 locations last year. Rides happened in all 50 states and 24 countries on all seven continents -- researchers at Palmer Place in Antarctica held a Spin for Silence, taking turns on an indoor stationary bike.
Chattanooga bills itself as a bike-kindly city. It operates a downtown bike-sharing program and has bike lanes streaked on streets and marked on maps. Earlier this month, city leaders announced that Chattanooga has landed the USA Pro Cycling Championships for three years, starting in 2013.
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press