Despite accidents, bicycling getting safer - Dispatch

Despite accidents, bicycling getting safer

Increase in riders may heighten awareness

Monday, May 31, 2010  02:50 AM

BY BILL BUSH

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Last summer, Greg Yoakum was riding his bike about 25 mph through Hilliard when a car traveling the opposite direction turned left across his path, sending him crashing into the windshield and then onto the road.

He was one of the 269 bicycle-vehicle crash victims in Franklin County in 2009.

His right arm had a cut 8 inches long and 3 inches wide. He injured his lower back and sustained a 4-inch contusion on his right leg. He left the hospital using a walker, which he needed for a few days.

"I completely went up onto her windshield, smashed her windshield, and was taken by ambulance to the hospital," said Yoakum, 37.

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