These accidents... should not happen!

I have been thinking since yesterday whether I should share this event with you or not. It is not for the particularly sensitive people, so if you are in that group, then maybe you would better not read any further. And I don't want anyone to be worried (especially not worried about us because we are fine, nothing happened to us) or bring a disturbance into your day.

However, this event was somehow present all day yesterday in our thoughts, and today too when we are checking the updates on the news about this event. It is a serious topic that should be talked about or tried to find a solution (this is difficult - to find a solution in this particular example) or to warn about possible dangers and encourage us to be more careful. It might be a topic of interest to all those who participate in traffic, both cyclists and car drivers.

So, what happened yesterday morning was that we were in a town called Calpe and we were supposed to leave for the next town, Altea, at 11:00. There is only one road connecting the two towns, the N-332 National Road. It is a winding road, quite narrow, and there are almost no straight sections where it would be possible to overtake another car or a group of cyclists. It is a route of about seven kilometres and in normal conditions, when traffic is not heavy, you get from one entrance to the town to the other in seven or eight minutes. Here, in the screenshot, it shows 8 minutes at this moment.

As I said, this is the one and only road that connects the two towns directly. If you would like to take the highway, you should first go to another town in the opposite direction, Benisa, and from there take the AP-7 highway. To travel between the very same spots, but using the highway, you need to drive 32 kilometres, and that takes 28 minutes in normal conditions with no heavy traffic.

So, everyone uses the N-332! Cars, trucks, vans, campers, cyclists... Cyclists. In recent years, the number of those who practice this sport has increased a lot. The area is very beautiful, and the mild winters make this place a paradise for cycling. Many cycling teams from all over Europe come to this part of Spain to train for cycling races and competitions. Some of the roads are perfect for their activity, with uphill and downhill sections, and I am sure it is much more interesting (and more suitable for road bike training) than pedalling on marked bike lanes. The hotel where I play also hosts cycling teams. I see them preparing for the training every Sunday.

I was supposed to leave at eleven from this place, but my son (my family was with me, they were walking a bit around) wanted to use the restroom, so we left some 5-10 minutes later. When we reached the N-332, there was already heavy traffic, but we were still moving slowly. First, a civil car with rotation passed by us, and then two ambulance cars, and we saw helicopters flying above us too. We realised it was an accident, the navigation showed it was a crash ahead, so we had to be patient. And time was passing, we were stuck there, eventually two police cars also passed, so we hoped they would organise the traffic and let the stuck cars pass.

We lost too much time and nothing was happening; in the end, the policeman from the last police car that passed showed with his hand a gesture that we should turn back. Many cars did the same as we did, we turned and went toward Benisa and from there we took the AP-7 highway to continue our travel.

Later in the day, we found out that at 11:07, a terrible thing happened; a car ran over a group of cyclists. 😞 One cyclist died, and the 14-year-old son of that victim was seriously injured. 😞
So terrible thing, it makes me so sad to see accidents, it brings tears to my eyes just to see crashed cars and if I were to see a person who just lost his life... if we were there just 10 minutes earlier, we would have seen that accident from close or maybe been involved too in some way... no, better not to think about that. You can't control what others do while driving, even though you drive carefully. But who is responsible for this accident, and are there ways to prevent future accidents of this kind?

The car drivers many times don't respect the cyclists, that can't be denied, however, the cyclists also have a lot of freedom and ride in groups in the middle of the road. People who live there go to Calpe to work, and the traffic is heavily affected since this road is not suitable for both cars and bikes that circulate there at the same time. I know they train for the cycling races and go very, very quickly down curves. I don't know how they can control the bikes. I, as the one behind the steering wheel of my car, don't know what to do or think sometimes. Am I in the middle of a bike competition? Is it the Tour de France I found myself in? Please, don't take my words wrong, I highly appreciate this sport, and I don't know where the cyclists get the mental strength from to pedal uphill and then the courage to go downhill so quickly, quicker than the cars. However, this road, this section of the N-332, is not suitable for both things because accidents, with fatal endings, happen! It is now the task of the authorities to think about the possible solutions here (which I don't see happening), but too many lives have already been lost and ruined.

What can I do as a driver? Well, drive super carefully and slower in this section, and avoid at all costs overtaking bikes; maybe I should take the much longer road and go a bit more safely. What could the cyclists do? I can't answer this question, maybe some Hive cyclists can give their opinion and inform us about the bike lanes or routes where they ride. I saw that some countries don't have bike-friendly roads, and I see it as dangerous to drive among the cars in that way, without a bike lane! I invite @friendlymoose, as the creator of the cycling community, to give us some suggestions on what car drivers (and cyclists, too) can do to avoid possible accidents. Are the roads like this suitable for riding in groups? Also, everyone who rides the bike, in a professional or amateur way, could share with us their opinion; is riding the bike a safe activity in their place?