Welcome. This is the offical #BlackOutDay Masterpost, where I comb through all the posts and questions about this day and rewrite it into this one post.
This is the reference post that will be used to address answer all frequency asked questions and concerns about this lovely day planned. So, let’s get started…
What is #BlackOutDay?
In a show of community and solidarity, for those 24 hours, we are exclusively posting and reblogging pics, gifs, videos, selfies, etc. of Black people. We want to show that Black History is happening today, right now. That we are all Black History. (credit: incogneeco in a message to Chescaleigh)
In this photo, which Tom of @seabikeblog tweeted last week, you can see that the reflective bollards that were in place to encourage drivers to slow down and make a harder turn at that intersection have long since been knocked down by drivers cutting the corner.
This photo is particularly eerie to me because it’s almost as if it’s from the point of view of the driver who hit my sister - he or she drove right over those stripes and struck Alana from behind when she was right about where the cyclist is painted on the pavement.
I am really grateful to Seattle Bike Blog, KOMO 4 News, and lots of friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter who helped to spread the word about this story. In particular, my partner Archie contacted SDOT directly and asked for a meeting to discuss how to make this intersection safer. He met with an SDOT representative on Friday, July 12, and he learned that SDOT now has plans in the works to install a new curb right where the stripes are painted on the pavement at this intersection. Archie rode by the intersection after his meeting and noted that SDOT has already marked the pavement.
He was told that the curb would be installed this quarter, so it will be complete sometime before the end of September.
Archie reports that around the new curb (C-curb filled with asphalt) SDOT will install reflectors and plastic pylons, similar to what was there before but made of a much more durable technology that SDOT is piloting.
My family and I are absolutely elated that this change will be made at the intersection where Alana was struck. That such a terrible event for our family resulted in something good for our city, and so quickly, is a huge comfort. Three cheers for everyone who speaks up about safe, liveable cities every day, and who raised their voices about this story in particular. And thank you to the City of Seattle and to SDOT for responding so quickly.
@SeaBikeBlog tweeted this image of the intersection where my sister was hit from behind by a driver who fled the scene. You can see that the reflective bollards that were in place to keep drivers out of the bike lane have long since been knocked down by drivers cutting the corner. A cement curb or a stop sign at this intersection are two of several possible solutions to make it safer. Details about the hit-and-run here. Thanks to Seattle Bike Blog for calling for improvements to this hazardous intersection and others like it!
Alana Martinez has a punctured chin, a bruise and cut on her forehead. But she still has her life.
My sister and I were on KOMO News last night, talking about her hit-and-run accident on Dexter on Saturday. We really appreciate the attention to our story, and the opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of wearing helmets as well as the hit-and-run problem in Seattle. Two points I made in the interview that didn’t make it into the story: (1) these incidents happen all the time in Seattle, and unfortunately our story is in no way unique or unusual and (2) one way to deal with the hit-and-run problem in Seattle is to create safer infrastructure to prevent the collisions from happening in the first place. The Dexter-Nickerson-Westlake intersection has a number of hazards, but replacing the yield sign where drivers on Nickerson can merge onto Dexter with a stop sign would slow drivers down and reduce car-cyclist collisions in number and severity.
On Saturday, July 6, around 10 PM, my sister Alana and her husband Ben were riding to Capitol Hill from Ballard when Alana was struck by a car. The car did not stop. Alana was taken to Harborview and sent home just after 5 AM with relatively minor injuries: road rash, skin lacerations, severely sprained wrists, severe bruising. She took a severe blow to the head but the helmet absorbed most of the impact, as you can see in this video. Incredibly, she had no broken bones or internal bleeding, nor did she suffer a concussion.
Alana and Ben are visiting me from LA. They have been borrowing bikes from me and my boyfriend Archie. The four of us have been riding bikes all around Seattle for the last several days, as Archie and I very rarely drive. Alana and Ben had become more confident with urban cycling. Alana went to the University of Washington for undergrad and is fairly familiar with the area.
The details of what happened are a little complicated, but I will try to explain as best I can for the Seattle bike community who will want to know. We had all been out in Ballard together. Alana and Ben decided they were ready to go home but I was not. They knew the way home as we had ridden it a few times together, so they were comfortable with going home on their own. They took the Burke Gilman trail from Ballard. They took the stairs on the East side of the Fremont bridge, and rode on the sidewalk on the East side of the bridge. They walked their bikes across the crosswalk to the Southeast corner of that large intersection, at Dexter and Westlake. Then they rode their bikes across the crosswalk at Dexter. At the end of the crosswalk, Alana turned South to begin to climb Dexter in the bike lane. Ben was still in the Dexter crosswalk when a car traveling East on Nickerson made a right turn to go South on Dexter, striking Alana in the bike lane. She never saw the car and describes the experience as like being lifted up by a wave. The car did not slow or stop. The EMT report described the car as traveling at about 30 miles per hour.
There were many witnesses at the scene - one of the first people to approach Alana was an off-duty EMT. We don’t know this person’s name but she was a godsend.
Ben did not get a good look at the vehicle. We are hoping some of the other witnesses did, and that they told the police who quickly arrived on the scene, but we haven’t been able to connect with the officer who took the police report today so we don’t know how much information he has. We have little hope of the driver being identified, but if anyone knows anything, please call the Seattle police.
Alana was riding Archie’s Masi Speciale Commuter. The police took it and we haven’t recovered it yet. Alana described it as “fucked.” More to come when we see it.
Big big thanks to Haley Woods who drove me to Harborview to join Alana and Ben, all of the helpful witnesses at the scene, the EMTs, everyone in the Harborview Emergency Department, and all our friends and family who have sent love and support. This was a really really scary close call. We are rattled but remain committed to doing all we can to make Seattle streets safe for all users. Alana is strong and healthy and healing fast. Thanks for the support everyone.
