This is infuriating to me. I’m going to include big chunks from the article, because otherwise you won’t get the actual picture.

Here is the incident:

Yellow lights flashed on a pole above — fixed alongside bicycle and pedestrian crossing signs — as she biked off the Hahn Arroyo trail and across Carlisle, south of Montgomery, in Northeast Albuquerque. A driver in a blue car slowed to a stop for the 19-year-old as she rolled into the northbound lanes that afternoon.

An SUV in the next lane screeched to a halt, nearly hitting her.

But it was a black Ford Fiesta, in the far right lane, that slammed into VanLandingham — sending her and her bicycle flying through the air.

Here is the legal context:

Burton said the woman was driving 28 mph in the 35 mph zone and told police she didn’t see the flashing yellow lights — although they don’t require drivers to yield, either, according to state statute. Only flashing red lights require drivers to stop and yield to those walking and biking.

“There’s no signage that says that requires a driver to slow, stop, yield right of way — anything,” Burton said of the crossing used by VanLandingham. He said drivers they spoke with had different interpretations of the crossing: some said the lights are always flashing, even with nobody there. Others said they slow down if they see the lights flashing.

The crossing is not considered a marked or unmarked crosswalk despite the signs and lights and, according to the statute, drivers “may proceed through the intersection or pass such a signal only with caution.”

And here are the consequences:

The Albuquerque Police Department said no charges are expected to be filed against the woman who crashed into VanLandingham.

Sgt. James Burton of APD’s Fatal Crash Unit said, “She’s not speeding, she’s not intoxicated, she’s not driving recklessly. We have no proof that she was doing anything distracted in the vehicle, so even if she was, I can’t prove it.”

This is how incredibly fucking bad people are at driving. Even the police can’t imagine that seeing people in other lanes slowing down and stopping at a flashing yellow light should be an indication that there might be something to be cautious about.

Even without the yellow flashing lights, if you see people suddenly stopping in other lanes on the road, continuing to drive without slowing down to a near stop seems like completely reckless driving to me, because you can’t see through the stopped cars. And if you didn’t see the stopped cars, then you must be driving distracted.

And the laws in Albuquerque don’t even require drivers to yield at flashing yellow lights? What’s the fucking point? That’s disgusting.

And let this be a reminder. If you’re crossing a road, even if you have the right of way, that won’t save you from being killed by a shitty driver.

This is a fucking tragedy, and they’re doing nothing about it. Pathetic excuse for a city. The bodies of good intentioned young people will continue to pile up while they sit there and do nothing.