Just an update on my accident. I continue to heal, but I feel like I am in the midst of an ancient Greek paradox. Each day I improve half of the amount necessary to feel perfect. But I never seem to get quite there, at least not yet.
On another front I did receive a file that supposedly contained the claims, complaints and work orders for that stretch of South County Road from The Suffolk Department of Public Works. Although there were a few items that were unaddressed I could not specifically identify those as being due to the poor and uneven condition of the shoulder versus the road.
My accident was caused by the shoulder and road having settled differently or having been laid down incorrectly. As a result there was a height difference between the road and the shoulder, or the lip, that at times was several inches high. Further, the white line that overlapped the shoulder and road tended to hide that difference.
I did send a letter to Suffolk County's Department of Public Works and have received a reply. They sent an inspector to look at the road and he has acknowledged the problem. In their words they have “been progressing a project near this area. We have nearly completed the design of the roadway which will provide many improvements to pedestrian, bicyclist, and vehicular safety on South Country Road from Bellport Village to Montauk Highway. A construction start date has not been scheduled yet, but as that time nears we will conduct a budget analysis to determine if work in the complaint area can be incorporated into the project.”
I am not exactly sure what this means but for me it is stunning that no one else has ever filed a complaint concerning this road, especially since, to my best knowledge, other people have fallen there as well. It raised the question of whether people know how to file a complaint.
In the meantime given that there is an acknowledged problem with the road that has been recognized by the county inspector I think the club should specifically attempt to avoid riding on this section of road until the problems have been addressed. I am not a lawyer but I can't imagine it would be a good thing if an accident were to happen on a club ride on a road that we know is dangerous. I would go even further and suggest the club post on its home pages those roads that are acknowledged hazards.
Rafael