LUBBOCK, Texas — 26-year-old Da’Johnnie Sanders was on his normal commute Wednesday morning near 4th and Quaker when he was hit by a car from behind on his bike. Sanders said he was left with a broken knee and wrist.
“I was making sure the roads were clear. Letting cars by,” Sanders said. “I make sure I constantly check my back once and the road was clear until a car came out of nowhere.”
Sander’s aunt, Teila Mays said she drove all the way from Dallas after she heard her nephew was hurt.
Sander’s told Mays he was forced to ride in the street every morning since the sidewalk ends.
“There’s no sidewalk right there, so you have no other choice but to ride in the street because you can’t ride in the bushes,” Mays said.
Greg Davis owns DFC Cycles and Fitness and South Plains cycles said Lubbock has prime spots for riding, like the half streets, but also has spots to avoid.
The spots to avoid are “22nd, 42nd and 66th [street] in terms of east and west,” said Davis. “I’m going to stay off of Indiana, 4th Street, 82nd Street, anything that’s a major seven-lane where people where the speed is high.”
Davis said streets that have a high speed should be counted out of your commute while riding on bikes.
“The difference between the speed of the car and the speed of the bike, the greater that speed differential is, the more likely we’re going to have a serious injury or death,” Davis said.
The city has been working on multiple projects in recent years to make Lubbock bike-friendly; most recently adding bike lanes in 2017. Davis said with the city growing others rely more on bikes to get to places.
“The more people that want to transport themselves across town and the more popular we see the electric bikes become, the more of that we’re going to see,” Davis said. “So having those assets of the city available to the cyclists to be able to use it as an alternative transportation source is important.”
Sanders’s family has set up a GoFundMe to help offset expenses with him being out of work recovering. To help out, visit the link here.
