The Albuquerque Police Department said no charges are expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.

WTF?!

This is infuriating to me. I'm going to include big chunks from the article, because otherwise you won't get the actual picture.

Here is the incident:

Yellow lights flashed on a pole above — fixed alongside bicycle and pedestrian crossing signs — as she biked off the Hahn Arroyo trail and across Carlisle, south of Montgomery, in Northeast Albuquerque. A driver in a blue car slowed to a stop for the 19-year-old as she rolled into the northbound lanes that afternoon.

An SUV in the next lane screeched to a halt, nearly hitting her.

But it was a black Ford Fiesta, in the far right lane, that slammed into VanLandingham — sending her and her bicycle flying through the air.

Here is the legal context:

Burton said the woman was driving 28 mph in the 35 mph zone and told police she didn’t see the flashing yellow lights — although they don’t require drivers to yield, either, according to state statute. Only flashing red lights require drivers to stop and yield to those walking and biking.

“There’s no signage that says that requires a driver to slow, stop, yield right of way — anything,” Burton said of the crossing used by VanLandingham. He said drivers they spoke with had different interpretations of the crossing: some said the lights are always flashing, even with nobody there. Others said they slow down if they see the lights flashing.

The crossing is not considered a marked or unmarked crosswalk despite the signs and lights and, according to the statute, drivers “may proceed through the intersection or pass such a signal only with caution.”

And here are the consequences:

The Albuquerque Police Department said no charges are expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.

Sgt. James Burton of APD’s Fatal Crash Unit said, “She’s not speeding, she’s not intoxicated, she’s not driving recklessly. We have no proof that she was doing anything distracted in the vehicle, so even if she was, I can’t prove it.”

This is how incredibly fucking bad people are at driving. Even the police can't imagine that seeing people in other lanes slowing down and stopping at a flashing yellow light should be an indication that there might be something to be cautious about.

Even without the yellow flashing lights, if you see people suddenly stopping in other lanes on the road, continuing to drive without slowing down to a near stop seems like completely reckless driving to me, because you can't see through the stopped cars. And if you didn't see the stopped cars, then you must be driving distracted.

And the laws in Albuquerque don't even require drivers to yield at flashing yellow lights? What's the fucking point? That's disgusting.

And let this be a reminder. If you're crossing a road, even if you have the right of way, that won't save you from being killed by a shitty driver.

This is a fucking tragedy, and they're doing nothing about it. Pathetic excuse for a city. The bodies of good intentioned young people will continue to pile up while they sit there and do nothing.

Teen was third employee of city bike safety center to die in bike crash

Ah yes. It's not that A CAR crashed into her, it was a bike crash.

/s

Awful. Just awful that this keeps happening.

Our collective tolerance for driver negligence is literally killing us and most people don't care. In fact, it may as well be on you for choosing to put yourself in harm's way by choosing not to drive a car.

Riding bikes in ABQ is really dangerous, there's not a single sufficient bike lane, and there are multiple bikers in the last decade who have been deliberately ran over by abq drivers.

Crazy that on a shitty technicality, the driver did not break any rules...

The crosswalk with the flashing lights is neither marked or unmarked, and drivers are not required to slow down or yield right of way when yellow lights are flashing, only flashing red.

Like sure maybe you don't see lights flashing above you, but maybe pay attention at the road directly in front of you??

There's every excuse to take blame off drivers.

That's no good.

I live in Albuquerque and the drivers are by far the worst compared to anywhere I've ever lived. There's no enforcement as APD doesn't want to "deal with it" anymore. Our current mayor pretends it's fine. When I talk to burqueños about it they agree that it's terrible but I get the sense that no one actually cares. To me, drivers have gotten worse since the pandemic and no one wants any kind of enforcement. It's infuriating. These deaths are so pointless and easily preventable.

I love biking but can't here for fear of being run over like this.

@DwZ Bicycling safety instructors, who wear helmets and meticulously follow all the rules, are dropping like flies at the hands of motorists, but other cities (@BmoreCityDOT) put out press releases claiming they/their partners in disinformation and inaction are meaningfully addressing bike safety by handing out helmets and platitudes.

The fact that it seems legal to hit someone there at a flashing yellow is wild, even if it's somehow not a crosswalk. Where I live, hitting anyone, including jaywalking pedestrians in dim light wearing all black, is illegal and can get you at least manslaughter.

Then again, I'm pretty sure people still get off... especially if they hit a bicyclist. The technicality they use is calling it a vehicle, and hitting a vehicle isn't illegal even if it kills someone. My cousin got hit biking on the sidewalk in the wrong direction and wasn't able to sue for hospital bill, though that's always an incredibly unsafe thing to do at speed.