A woman was struck and killed at 2nd and University this morning

A cyclist was struck and killed by a left-turning box truck on 2nd and University, per the SPD Blotter.

This Ish Ed has used the 2nd Avenue bike lanes frequently, and can say that I am always terrified this is going to happen, since the lane brings you right into the path of a left-turning vehicle that totally doesn’t see you pretty much every time. This is why bikes don’t use those bike lanes, dudes, so next time you see a cyclist outside of a bike lane, before you comment on a local news article about that one time you saw a bike doing something that did not make sense to you, consider the safety concerns that may have led to that decision. Usually, the answer is, “I feared for my safety,” not, “I wanted to slow down that guy in the left lane because BICYCLE RIGHTS.”

Also, you know, consider the inherent humanity of every human being before you take to local news comment threads and demand banning all bikes from downtown or going on about how you see cyclists run red lights sometimes. Because, no. Stop.

Seriously, reading news comments right now is like:

The City had already planned to address safety concerns with the 2nd Ave bike lanes, installing a two-way bikeway east of the parking lanes – similar to the Broadway Bikeway – which I hope prevents at least some of these incidents in the future. SDOT specifically cites getting bikes out of the “door zone” and reducing “conflicts of left-turning vehicles and people walking and biking” as benefits of their design. They’ll be installing the protected lane September 5-7.

R.I.P., unnamed cyclist. We’ll be thinking about you.