qmsdc15

Please explain.

buzzman

Gambler, You're just plain in the wrong. The cyclist was completely entitled both legally and in terms of good riding practice to be where he was on the highway. Riding predictably and in a straight line is 99.99999% of the time the right thing to do. Unless, as in this case, an incensed, aggressive driver decides to deliberately hit you. In which case, the cyclist still did the right thing. He recorded it, he reported it and he survived it.

To see the cyclist as in the least bit "bullheaded" is beyond my comprehension. The truck driver is probably the kind of driver who aggresses all road users- not just cyclists- but probably didn't realize that:

#1 swerving at a bike as opposed to another motor vehicle can be particularly dangerous.

#2- that the bicyclist had a camera and recorded the incident.

The actions of the driver are indefensible and it makes one wonder how many more serious bike "accidents" there are that prove to be fatal or where the cyclist has no memory of the crash and they were deliberate acts on the part of drivers. I hope this guy is brought to court and has to answer for his actions with appropriate penalties.

radshark

No arrests yet .. wonder what's up...

dougmc

The parking lane? When we first see the truck to the left, there's a car directly to the right in the parking lane as well. There's nowhere to go. Now, he could move into the parking lane later, but it's only about four seconds later that he's struck.

I imagine you won't find much agreement on that thought here. Or with the police, hopefully.

Cyclaholic

What a bunch of crap. The cyclist was assaulted while doing NOTHING illegal.... By your logic if I punch you in the face you're equally to blame because you didn't duck therefore I'm not guilty of assaulting you...... Congratulations, here's your sign.

dynodonn 

I ride in a similar fashion as the cyclist in the video, especially when passing parked vehicles as he was. That type of riding will almost always trigger some sort of motorist aggression in my area, with the aggressive motorist resorting to tailgating on the positive side, and close passing, pinching me out of the lane on the negative.

dynodonn 

The cyclist was riding in a legal manner, but using the boxing analogy, the motorist was telegraphing his punch, and I counted 6 seconds after the cyclist cleared the last parked car for the cyclist to move away from the motorist. You cannot effectively collect video evidence, such as license plate numbers if you're on the ground.

GamblerGORD53

My guess is the truck was behind the bike at the light. The cyclist never looked behind. So the light went green and the white car was 100 yards away before the bike went 30 feet. The truck was then thinking "why is this bike not letting me by ?". He then pulls up beside the bike at the last parked car and starts yapping. The cyclist was 1 to 2 feet inside the line, which is fine. Then he turned his head and drifted to the center of the lane, where the truck seemed to be. The truck probably was angling slightly to the center as well, but I see no obvious swerve. So the cyclist is not blameless by any stretch.

dynodonn 

Only in the sense in letting the asshat motorist take him to the tarmac.

Chris516

DC drivers are not kind to cyclists'.

Even though the incident in the video happened in North East DC, the drivers' in the South East, South West, and North West sections of the city are no better.

Chris516

A four-wheeled motorized vehicle, does not have a predominant right to the road over a two-wheeled non-motorized. While there is FRAP, WABA(Washington Area Bicyclist Association) lists the present laws in DC, MD and VA here:https://www.waba.org/resources/laws.php

Just because the truck may have been behind the cyclist at any given point, is no justification for threatening the cyclist with a deadly weapon.

Bekologist

here's some advice for everyone convinced 'holding a line' is the right thing to do in this type of situation:

IF a motorist is yelling at you while swerving their vehicle towards you, utilize the buffer zone you've left for yourself, and avoid the vehicle at all costs.

I brake to always try to be behind the ragers rear bumper if this situation occurs. and it does.

WHEN the motorist yells and swerves, Avoid the vehicle.

Brake and move right. helmet cams are not mitigation.

sudo bike

Easy to say... in the heat of the moment, it can be forgotten, especially when there were cars on the right only a moment ago. You can tell the way he looks back and forth he's still processing what's going on.

The point people are making is that he was in the right to be riding where he was riding, not only legally but practically; not that avoiding the collision itself could not have been handled with more skill. In the end, he was riding FRAP, and as far as skillful avoidance of the truck itself, just like football, it's a lot easier to backseat cycle than do it yourself. The most skilled rider can get flustered in a bad situation. Anyone who has been in this situation more than once knows this, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.

(Incidentally, it looks like he did hit the brakes, just a touch too late)

Digital_Cowboy

Did you actually watch the same video that the rest of us did? As there was nothing in the video that I saw that indicated that the cyclist was acting in an inconsiderate or bullheaded manner.

What I saw was a cyclist who was riding as in a legal and actually considerate manner. As well as a motorist who was acting as a bully towards someone whom he saw as "encroaching" on "his road." And that he was going to "teach him a lesson."

Why "should the cyclist have moved into the right lane "a bit?" Why should the driver of the truck have "expected" that the cyclist would do so?

And PLEASE explain how the cyclist "caused" the collision "as much as the truck." The driver of the truck in a fit of road rage caused the collision NOT the cyclist.

As with a lot of the people who post hateful comments at the end of articles about this sort of thing you are blaming the victim instead of the road raging, aggressive driver. Who is really to blame.

Bekologist

Oh i agree.

Yes, easy to say but sound advice nonetheless, and a maneuver seasoned bicyclists should be prepared to execute without waffling.

Encounter a yelling Motorist swerving towards you?

Take evasive action. utilize the buffer zone.

sudo bike

Indeed. That's one reason I think just about everyone supports LAB courses. Even seasoned cyclists can benefit from the experience.

Bekologist

Bicycling with a helmet camera in traffic might induce a type of gladiator syndrome in certain types of cyclists, not that it is evidenced at all in this video.

For some riders, video cameras may lead to aggravated interactions that become counterproductive to enhancing their personal safety. I'm thinking of the bicyclist - discussed and even posts here himself - that videotapes himself yelling "Hey!" at almost every vehicle passing him with a camera positioned preventing him from using the drops on his road bike.

Cameras may ostensibly be a bicyclists safety tool but their efficacy at this is debatable. Cameras are neither tools nor techniques to mitigate traffic hazards.

This case however is very clearly a case of aggressive motorist gone foul.

qmsdc15

So when the 'beating on the side of the truck' argument fails, you try a different tack?

gmt13

My remark questioned whether there was more to the story in a lot of these described accounts. I would also ask whether this snippet of video showed the whole story i.e. what happened before the edited cut?

To say it again but differently, we all need to reflect on our own behavior to determine whether we are part of the issue. To be sure, sociopaths need no triggers; however representatives of that group are rare. I have to believe that most encounters are with normal people that just happen to be driving - and normal people don't seek confrontation.

-G

Bekologist

I'd recommend avoiding the tack of beating on the ragers vehicles entirely.

i recommend not beating on a road ragers' vehicle. pounding on a vehicle is best reserved for the unwitting or hapless slow speed squeeze play from motorists that is another, common traffic engagement scenario.

you know, you're pulling up to a signal, a motorist slowly slides by and begins encroaching as you both slow up for the intersection.... a quarter panel THWACK will make a hapless motorist aware of your presence.

Don't pound on the road ragers vehicles, it will generally go badly. Thwack a rager's vehicle, the vehicle goes TOWARDS you.

Ride to avoid the ragers at all costs.

Metal Man

The first 36 seconds is him rolling to and waiting for the light to change, then 34 second of straight legal riding until he was attacked. Just what is it you think they edited out?
I wondered why there was so much video left in at the beginning, I guess it's to answer your question.

cranky velocist

Flinching just makes angry dogs want to strike more. He was trying to say something to the cyclist - you shouldn't run away from human communication out of fear. Theres a reason people have a general aversion to cowardice.

The manuver you describe is common in urban areas, but you can't depend on it. The trucker could have tapped his brakes as well - or there might have been another car back there in the first place.

cranky velocist

Why do you bike?

You assume that cyclists break the law so often video evidence of being a victim isn't "the whole story" because of unrelated riders, but you dismiss aggressive auto driving is "rare"? So rare that you imply the cyclists' behavior influenced the driver in some mysterious way the video didn't capture?

bikebuddha 

That truck driver would have probably just smashed me flat because on a multi-lane road like that I almost always take the lane.

Bob N.

I had some guy do this to me on Prince St (two lanes, one-way street) in Old Town Alexandria. He didn't hit me, but it was certainly threatening. All with no other cars on the block, me in the right-wheel part of the right lane, and with my wife watching from 50' behind me. Just what I needed.