Being a lifelong participant in any outdoor sport or activity would seem to prepare a person for the various and specific dangers involved. While this may be the case in general, when it comes to bicycle riding, safety must be paramount in a rider’s mind when negotiating public roadways with other automobile and commercial truck traffic.
As Maryland injury attorneys, I and my colleagues understand how even the simplest error in judgment can mean the difference between life and death on a city street or a country road. Such was apparently the sad case in a bicycle-auto crash not long ago that claimed the life of a father and husband.
According to news reports, the victim of the accident was a 43-year-old bicycling devotee from Owings Mills, MD. Lawrence Bensky was apparently an intrepid cyclist who would think nothing of riding his bike from Bel Air to Ocean City. Regardless of the difficulties, family and friends reportedly said nothing could slow this rider down.
Being a passionate cyclist, Bensky enjoyed riding and the challenges it presented. That all came to an end on a Tuesday afternoon in April when the rider and a friend where caught up in an unexpected crash that left Bensky dead at the scene and his 45-year-old riding buddy seriously injured.
Police reports indicate that the accident occurred near Butler and Falls roads in Baltimore County. The initial police investigation shows that 64-yrear-old Faith Frenzel was driving her Toyota Echo westbound on Butler Road around 4:30pm when she struck Bensky’s bike as it was travelling on the shoulder of the road. According to reports, Bensky’s bicycle became lodged in the front of the car.
After hitting Bensky, Frenzel then struck the second rider, Joel Alan Wyman, with her vehicle sending both cyclists off the road. By the time emergency personnel arrived, Bensky could not be saved. Wyman was treated at the scene and then transported to Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition at the time of the news report.
Police said Frenzel had not been charged in the collision, but the investigation was ongoing at the time of the news article. Regardless of the outcome, it is obvious that more needs to be done in the area of bicycle awareness including what some advocate as the three-foot rule to help give cyclists some breathing room when automotive traffic is concerned.
Family recalls bicyclist killed in crash with auto in Owings Mills, BaltimoreSun.com, April 8, 2010