Uneasy Riders

Crash: Carroll was returning to work after riding home for his lunch break on July 17. Just before one o'clock, he was pedaling down Linwood in the left lane, preparing to turn north onto Harrison. With no oncoming traffic, he stuck out his left arm, signaling his intent to turn. He heard brakes squealing behind him. A second later, the front bumper of a maroon Mercury Grand Marquis collided with his rear wheel, flinging him into the air. "The bike swung out in front of me, and I landed on my feet, running," he says. Traffic at the intersection stopped as Carroll retrieved his damaged Schwinn Le-Tour and the driver, Robert Allee, rushed up to him. "His first response was, 'Man, are you OK?' And his second sentence was, 'You shouldn't have been riding in that lane,'" Carroll says. "I didn't respond to that at all. I just asked him for a pen to start writing down his information." After a friendly stranger offered him a spare tire, Carroll was able to ride the rest of the way to work.

Legal action: Based on state law, Carroll knew he had the right to be in the left lane to make a turn like any other vehicle. According to the police report, Allee had a clear line of sight, and the collision was caused by the driver's "failure to yield" and "inattention." Even so, Carroll says, the cops seemed to take the crash lightly. "The police officer basically asked me if I wanted him to write a ticket or not, and I said, 'Well, yeah, I would think so.'" A subpoena was issued, and Allee showed up in court on October 1. He pleaded guilty and paid a $138 fine.

Injured

Jeff Denny

Age: 28

Stats: Denny lives downtown and rides for recreation. For the past two years, he has commuted by bike 20 miles each way to his job in Overland Park.

Crash: On an overcast morning in December 2006, Denny was traveling through Prairie Village on his way to work. It was the beginning of rush hour, about 7:30 a.m., and Denny lined up behind two other cars at the traffic light where Roe meets Tomahawk. On the other side of the intersection, Lisa Marie Bastean idled with her signal blinking, waiting to turn left onto Roe. Denny, continuing on Tomahawk, followed the other vehicles. "She yielded for the other cars, but I started to go and she didn't yield for me," he says. When Bastean spotted him crossing —

 with his red helmet, red bag and flashing red light — she slammed on the brakes. But not before she struck Denny with the right edge of her Toyota Matrix, sending him barreling over the hood of the car. He clattered to the pavement with the bike still clipped to his feet. "She was out of her car so fast to check on me, it started to roll away," he says. But when police and paramedics showed up, he says, she had an excuse: "I didn't see you." Bastean tells The Pitch that she remembers the morning as "dark and misty" and says Denny didn't come into view until too late. "It was a very, very scary, startling experience," she says. "I was just thankful he was OK." Bastean says the collision has made her more mindful of cyclists.

Medical bill: Health insurance covered his doctor visits, costs for which totaled approximately $500.

Insult to injury: Denny says he tried to get Bastean's State Farm policy to cover the fees, but it was a battle to get the company to talk to him. "It was just kind of insulting," he says. "At one point, the State Farm agent said, 'Poor car. It was a brand-new car.'"

Legal action: According to the police report, the officer concluded that Bastean "failed to pay full time and attention to the roadway, causing the accident." He didn't issue her a ticket, though. That doesn't sit well with Denny. "If I had been a car, she would have gotten a ticket," he says.

Injured

Nan Borchardt

Age: 47

Stats: Borchardt has been biking since 1999, after a fracture in her left leg sidelined her from running. She bought a road bike and has been cycling up to 5,000 miles a year.

Regular route: Just about every Monday night, Borchardt can be found at Gringos Mexican Restaurant in Olathe after a weekly ride sponsored by the Johnson County Bicycle Club.