[BikeLongmont] "into the setting sun"

[Richard Masoner]

There's a pretty good photo in the Times-Call today of a Ford Taurus smashed 
into the side of the traffic circle on Mountain View at Princeton. The 
driver's wife claims her husband, who was driving, was blinded by the sun 
and didn't see the circle.
 What if instead of a huge concrete barrier covered in yellow reflectors and 
signs, there was a child crossing the street that Mr. Wayne Ross didn't see? 
What if it was a bicyclist? What if it was a motorist doing the speed limit? 
Instead of a shooken up man and his wife and a damaged car, *we would have 
dead or maimed people*. The traffic circle clearly achieved its purpose of 
improving safety at this intersection. You can bet this driver will be 
driving a lot more slowly at traffic circles now.
 The "blinded by the sun" claim is clearly a lie anyway unless he has a 
filthy windshield. When the accident occurred at 4:45 p.m. the sun is still 
quite high in the sky, with almost three hours to sunset. The sun also sets 
14 degrees south of due west right now, and Mtn View at Princeton is going 
due west. It seems obvious to me from the photo that the driver was going 
too fast, tried to swerve around the barriers and he didn't quite make it. 
This is what Mr. Dan Burden calls "teaching points."
 IMO.
 RFM
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