[TRTR] Accident on Blueberry Hill Road

[Barbara J. Sheppard]

Hello Everyone: 

I strongly urge folks to come to our meeting Monday evening and talk about
how we can address the incident on Blueberry Hill Road that has left a 32
year old young cyclist in critical condition at UNM Hospital.

Please see the emails from Robin Collier who was nearby when it occurred.
Also, from where I live I saw several emergency vehicles traveling at high
speeds up Cottam and along Blueberry Hill. It clearly raises the question of
emergency vehicle response protocols (if there is even one in place) and the
need to address the safety/maitenance issues of this road for the whole
community before more people get hurt. As you know these roads are not
designed or adequately engineered for any high speed travel!!!

I also, refer you to the Breaking News section of the Taos News web site. I
have a call into the reporter covering the story to get more information and
to raise our concerns etc.

Again, please come and show your support for this cyclist and to addressing
the lack of safety on our roads

Barbara Sheppard


Hi all,

Just to add urgency to the work we are doing to slow down traffic on
Blueberry Hill Road, a cyclist was badly injured about 4 pm today
when hit by the animal control officer's truck just north of
Nighthawk. This officer, the same one that had been disciplined
earlier this year for unnecessarily shooting a dog, was speeding to
supposedly assist at another incident. The officer was going south,
hit his siren and claims the cyclist turned across the road in front
of him.  The animal control truck has only 2 small flashing lights
inside the windshield. Of course there is no place to pull off to the
right at that point, so the cyclist may have jut been trying to get
off the road the only place he could to avoid the speeding sheriff.

The speed that sheriffs, town and state police go when rushing to
whatever emergency is appalling, whether it is on Blueberry or
through the center of town. Had we had the speed tables that have
been proposed, no one could go these ridiculous speeds. Sheriffs are
often the drivers that come closest to me when I am riding on
Blueberry, and they are often talking on their cell phones at the
same time.

Robin Collier
-- 
Cultural Energy
A Non-Profit Organization Creating Media Voices
for Youth, Arts & Activism for Northern New Mexico
192 Blueberry Hill, HCR74 Box 21912, El Prado, NM 87529
505-758-9791 energy at culturalenergy.org
http://www.culturalenergy.org



Hi Barbara,

This shows the impact of the collision. Note how small the emergency lights
are inside the windshield, and that there is now where on the north side of
the road that the cyclist could have gone to get out of the way of the truck
rushing toward him. This kind of truck should not be responding to
emergencies! The truck must have hit the cyclist about where the officers
are in the photo. An EMT who lives right next door heard the crash and
rushed out with a medical kit to help.

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