CB HI

Maybe target fixation. Maybe the 3rd cyclist making a bad choice to change his line.

Even from the little I can see of the 1st cyclist, a better counter steering sharp turn would have saved him from any contact with the car. His wheels completely missed the car with room to spare. His only contact was with his left hand and left most bar. A better counter steering sharp turn would have move him farther the motorist even at the last second and would have leaned him away from the car, maybe just enough to avoid the contact.

The 3rd cyclist had the best counter steering sharp turn move of the first 3 and likely would have avoided contact with the car all together if he simply increased his counter steering sharp turn to the right, rather than bad decision to swerve left at the last second.

enigmaT120

If the third cyclist was the one with the camera like I thought, then he shouldn't have been following so closely that he couldn't stop without running into people in front of him who stop or crash for any reason. And yes I think the front cyclist should have been able to nail a tight enough line around that corner to avoid the car but target fixation exists and sucks unless you're a predator going for a kill.

Probably even then, sometimes. But there must be a reason for it.

CB HI

The 4th cyclist was the one with the camera.

FBinNY 

Yes. I suspect that part of the problem counting is that the 1st was hidden behind (in front of) the 2nd at the time of collision.

Of the four, I suspect that the 2nd and 4th (cameraman) would have gotten past unscathed, except that the rebounding 1st cyclist blocked the escape route.

As I said very early in the thread, and discounting the driver, this is about 4 cyclists riding above their skill level and/or too fast for the conditions and unprepared to handle a crisis. Less speed, better lane placement or more separation could have made a big difference in the outcome, a least for two or three of them, if not all four.

Ball Bearing

I always assume that drivers will do the wrong thing, so I ride accordingly. Group rides also can lead to unsafe riding - following the lead through yellow lights and being too wide in a corner scare me the most. I prefer solo.

mr_bill

I agree - the three of you are fixated on target fixation. Not that there is any evidence in this video it had *ANYTHING* to do with this crash, but hey, speculate away.

You want target fixation? THIS is target fixation:



WHILE WE ARE AT IT, why don't you offer advice about what *these* two people on bicycles did wrong?

Perhaps if they were wearing all black kits or camo kits they wouldn't have been targets to fixate on?

-mr. bill

njkayaker

They aren't allowed to speculate but you are.

FBinNY 

Boiling it down to the simplest elements, the crash was caused by five people not prepared for what might come around a bend in the road.

phoebeisis

Best-Best
we see perceive movement BEST when our head eyes are in a neutral position

racing bikes-are for RACING-they compromise safety for speed
1st order of business- look where you are going

I will bow out of this before I get started on bike saddles

Right for FBinNY 5 folks were riding driving on a dangerous rural road-as if they weren't.

CB HI

They clearly would not have been hit if they had taken the lane. Another example why taking the lane is safer.

CB HI

The 1st cyclist and bicycle were airborne when both hit the other cyclist at chest to head level. The bicycle was horizontal when it hit the 1st cyclist. That would have been hard to avoid that hit.

FBinNY 

You lost me here. Unless you mean the 1st cyclist's bike flew into the 2nd, and then the 4th hit both of them. If so, it's pretty much what I said, which is that the 2nd and 4th might have safely passed on the right, except that the rebounding 1st cyclist closed that window.

But the details don't change my opinion that nobody (neither driver, nor any of the cyclist) was ready for what came at them around the bend. It didn't have to be a car, it could have been a dog, or child.

BTW - I've been there myself, and hit a child crossing the street unexpectedly. Fortunately, for all parties, when I decided that I couldn't avoid him, I was able to lay the bike down, and ended up scooping his feet from under him with my sliding wheel, landing him on to of me (not exactly by design, just good karma). My buddies who were following were able to scrub off some speed and swing around us.

mr_bill

Hey, maybe if they were riding two abreast things would have turned out better, huh huh huh?

Anyhow, unlikely with the horse fences. Maybe a squirrel:


And not just around corners either.

-mr. bill

GamblerGORD53

It is all over in 2 secs, so not even I could fault the cyclists. The car is full over to the road drop off.
The back 2 aren't all that close either. Maybe everybody, including the car, is a too fast going into a corner.

vol

It's possible the driver was originally behind the other car seen on the right side of the road, and became impatient and decided to pass it on the left.