Cyclist Hit by Car: 'You Have to Have Stricter Laws'

By Josh Birch, Capital News Service, with additional reporting by Jenni Pompi

Accidents between cars and bicyclists in Maryland increased sharply over the last five years, according to a Capital News Service analysis of crash data. 

There were 841 accidents between cars and bikes in Maryland in 2012, according to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, a 5 percent increase over the 799 bike-car accidents in 2008.

Pam Moore of Bel Air never worried about sharing the road with cars until she was struck by one while riding her bike in August. She lost consciousness and suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, abrasions and a concussion from the accident, she said.

“There was nothing I could do different,” Moore said. “I was following the laws. I was where I was supposed to be.”

In 2012, five people in Maryland died from bike-car crashes and 689 people were injured. 

Annapolis High School coach Patricia Cunningham, 50, of Annapolis, was killed in August when the bicycle she was riding was struck by a minivan driven by Whitney Decesaris, 37, of Calvert County. Both Cunningham and Decesaris were traveling south on Riva Road when the incident occurred. Cunningham later died at a hospital.

A Grand Jury decided not to indict Decesaris on criminal charges. She instead faces a series of traffic violations for failure to use caution, negligent driving and other similar charges. 

Moore of Harford County thinks Maryland needs to increase the passing distance between bikes and cars and do a better job enforcing existing laws.

“You’re going to have people that don’t like cyclists, people who don’t like runners, people who don’t like that because they don’t want to share the road,” Moore said. “I think you have to have stricter laws.”

Cunningham's death in Edgewater created a movement in the local cycling community to increase safety and raise awareness of bicycle safety laws in the state. Read more here: 

• Who can get justice for Patricia Cunningham?
• 'Because the Driver Didn't Want to Wait 15 Seconds, My Kids Don't Have a Mother'
• Is it Safe to Be a Cyclist in Edgewater and Davidsonville?
• Cyclists Gather in Edgewater Monday to Raise Awareness
• Cyclist: Knowing Road Rules is a 'Two-Way Street'
• Was fatal car-bike collision on Riva Road a homicide?