LINCOLN — Leah Purdy came within one stride of becoming a fatality last year.
The North Platte woman was running along a road in her rural subdivision, training for a half marathon, when a Chevy Trailblazer hit her from behind at 45 mph.
Had the vehicle caught her at a different point in her stride, she could have been knocked down and run over.
Instead, she was thrown up on the vehicle's hood.
Purdy lived but suffered road rash, a concussion, deep bruising, swelling in her joints, kidney damage and a back injury that will likely affect her the rest of her life.
"It could have been devastating — it could have been a homicide," her mother-in-law, former State Sen. Vickie McDonald, told members of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee on Monday.
McDonald returned to the Legislature to argue for a bill that would require motorists to leave a three-foot cushion when passing pedestrians, bicyclists and people using electric scooters and wheelchairs.
Sen. Tom Hansen of North Platte said he offered Legislative Bill 1030 at the request of several people in his hometown.
Some had been involved in serious accidents themselves.
Some knew people who were killed while bicycling or walking or running.
One was William McGahan, the retired superintendent of North Platte Catholic Schools. He wrote about the many near disasters he has encountered while riding his bicycle to work and around town.
He also wrote about Martin Cordes, a teacher and principal, who was struck by a pickup while cycling to work. Cordes had to be flown to Denver for emergency treatment and spent more than five months in the hospital.
"How much difference five seconds of patience on the part of that pickup driver would have made to Martin's life, this community and our medical resources," McGahan said.
Omaha and Lincoln bicylists also told of dangerously close encounters with semi-trailer trucks, pickups and cars.
Elisabeth Reinkordt of Lincoln said a law would not prevent every problem on the roads. But it would be a step toward educating drivers and would reinforce safety education campaigns.
"This is a minor change in motor vehicle law that will make a major change for bicyclists," she said.
Making Nebraska roads safer would help promote healthy activity and more use of bicycles for commuting, said Mark Siepker, president of the OmahaBikes organization.
Hansen said 20 states now have safe passing distance requirements.
He acknowledged that enforcement of safe passing distances might be difficult but no more difficult than enforcing many other traffic laws.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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