Tom Fudge: A year ago, I was one of those health-conscious, conscientious tree huggers who rode his bike to work. Good for my health, and good for the environment, too, right? I was spewing fewer pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
But one year ago today while cycling to work, I was hit by a car. I spent several days in intensive care and a total of two weeks in the hospital. My traumatic brain injury kept me away from work for about three months, and I'm not entirely beyond it. I suffered nerve damage that's still healing, and still transmitting some dull pain to certain parts of my body.
My story is only one of many, and there are a lot of cyclists who've had it a lot worse. This really is too bad, because getting more people to use bikes as transportation is good for the environment in more ways that one. But people don't want to do things that aren't safe. So I thought on this anniversary of my accident we'd talk a little bit about the relationship bikes have with the mean streets of our city, and with the motorists who use them.
Guests
- Kathy Keehan , executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition .
- Gary Brustin , attorney with practices in Santa Monica and San Jose, representing injured cyclists all around the state.
