TURLOCK JOURNAL
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

By Abby Souza
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 9:43 PM PDT

Students at Brown Elementary School have a living, breathing - but barely walking - example of what can happen when bicyclists don't follow the rules.

It's their principal, Garry Dudley.

“Mr. Dudley didn't follow the rules,” Dudley said to his fourth- through sixth graders at an assembly Tuesday. “Mr. Dudley ran a stop sign.”

Walking to the front of the cafeteria with the help of a walker, Dudley told the students what an important role a helmet played in his bike accident three weeks ago.

Dudley, in his first year as principal at Brown, was on a leisurely ride on his bike when he ran a stop sign. An oncoming vehicle hit Dudley, breaking his hip, pelvis and several ribs, collapsing a lung, crushing a cheekbone and tearing up his face.

Because he broke the rules, Dudley blames himself for the accident.

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