On the roads, there's room for everyone

On the roads, there's room for everyone
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/06/17/opinion/editorials/9e4e87893aee7a02852572fc0082db5c.txt
Our view: Following simple rules can make summer safe.

Published: Sunday, June 17, 2007

On a really nasty roller coaster, your body will experience a gravitational force of 4.9 Gs.

The pressure on space shuttle astronauts during a launch is about 3.4 Gs.

A race car driver taking the turns at Texas Motor Speedway can pull almost 5 Gs.

And when you smack your head on the ground falling off a bicycle or motorcycle, the force transmitted to your brain at that instant can be more than 1,000 Gs.

You don't want to be one who fell of that bike. And you don't want to be the one who made the rider hit the deck in the first place through careless, aggressive or drunken driving.

Summer is Wild West time when it comes to accidents. Folks are out on the roads walking, jogging, riding their bikes. Motorcycles and ATVs come out of the garage. People pile into cars for trips to the beach or the drive-in. We're drinking alcohol. We're staying up late. Teenage drivers are out of school and out on the roads with their friends. There are more of us sharing the same road space than at any time of the year, and we're all a little distracted.

Kids are particularly at risk from highway accidents in the summer. The National Transportation Safety Administration lists July, June, September and August, in that order, as the months when the most teenagers die in car crashes each year.

It's not a coincidence. And nearly one third of all bicyclists killed in traffic accidents are between 5 and 15 years old.

So as the end of the school year approaches and summer ramps up into full throttle, we need to remind ourselves about the dangers we all face, and the dangers we all pose to one another, when we're out on the road.

You always hear drivers say that a bicyclist might have the right of way, but in a one-on-one battle with a car, it's the bicyclist that's going to lose.