Advocacy & Safety - Sudden moves, contact with car, MY fault?

So I'm riding in the city and as always impatient.
There's a guy in front of me going quite slow and I decide to pass. I moved to his left to pass. At the same time this van comes barreling into the lane, the mirror and my handle bar makes contact, I compensate by turning over a bit more and end up bouncing off him twice before he passes me and ends up to my right.
I remain upright and at that point end up in the fast lane (middle of 3 lanes) while he's slowed over to the other side, I'm actually accelerating away with traffic behind me and everything seemed fine, absolutely no damage so I just kept going since I was late to pick something up.

In any event, say I'm in a car and I suddenly swerve into a fast lane and someone plows into me, would that be my fault? What if I do the same on a bike? I know it's a nightmare with 3 lanes of traffic, plus pedestrians and everything in midtown rush hour but would that be just an unfortunate accident or is someone at fault here?

In any event, say I'm in a car and I suddenly swerve into a fast lane and someone plows into me, would that be my fault?
Anyone in a lane has right of way over anyone else entering that lane. If you were already in the lane and another vehicle subsequently enters it and hits you, they are at fault, given no other variables.

The loophole in all this is that, if ever the other driver is summoned to court, they will argue they did not see you, since you are a cyclist, which is of course a weak argument.

Everyone who has driven enough has had a situation where two side-by-side cars try to enter the center lane at the same time. I always wondered what the law says about that.

Everyone who has driven enough has had a situation where two side-by-side cars try to enter the center lane at the same time. I always wondered what the law says about that.

The car to enter first would have the right of way, however good luck proving which car entered first. I believe both cars can be at fault in an accident and that would likely be the case.

I would think the leading vehicle would claim right-of-way, and in the event of a collision this would be determined via impact damage. In some cases it would be a matter of inches, but how often does it happen that vehicles are dead-even in such an event?

slvoid: Glad you came through unscathed! That must have been a scary few seconds! When you say the fellow in front of you was going slow, are you saying this person was a cyclist? If it was a car you were passing on the left in such conditions, all I can say is that you must clang when you walk! :eek:

you need an air horn... get one!

sorry, i'm not quite sure from your descritions:

At the same time this van comes barreling into the lane,
was he in this lane and came up fast from behind? or did he also change lanes at the same time (this is what the other posters seem to assume)


I remain upright and at that point end up in the fast lane (middle of 3 lanes)
so you mean 3 lanes of travel in your direction?

so you were in the right lane, moved to the center to pass a slow car, while simultaneously a van going faster moved from the left lane to the middle and you arrived at the same spot? is that right?

in that case, i would say it is sketchy who has right of way determined by either
a) who was there first and/or who started first. here a signal would help
b) the driver behind should also yield to the one in front and since the van was travelling faster i would assume you were in the front.

if there had been a report filed, i think it depends on the state - where some are "at-fault" states (meaning whoever is determined at fault carries all costs - you would probably be NOT at fault), some are "shared fault" (meaning x percent for each - you would be maybe 30% repsonsible), a few are "no-fault" meaning both insurances pay for their own.

i think legally you were most likely not responsible for the majority fault --- but you should definitely consider signalling (passing is NOT usually a defensive maneuver and you can signal as you check that the lane is clear)

Did you signal your lane change? If not, the van had no way of knowing that you were going there.

Well to clarify, the guy in front of me was on a bike, not a car, we were both able to comfortably fit into the lane except he was in the center and I was towards the left side of the lane.

When I went to pass, I didn't signal since I was still within my lane (left lane). While I was passing, I was at the white line that separated the left and middle lane. I know he was moving into my lane when he plowed into me cause my bike was pushed over to the right. After bouncing off him, I ended up behind him and swerved to the left of him. It was at this point that I ended up in the middle lane and was able to get along side of him to his left while he had his car stopped in the left lane.

Right after bouncing off him with a loud "THUD-POP-POP-POP-POP" sound, some guy on the street shouted "you're too close to him."
I thought to myself... "no s*it sherlock!"

thanks for the clarification...

dude, sounds like the van was way in the wrong.

even if you hadn't passed the cyclist, he still would have been entering other cyclist's "space" in the lane...

and he was the one changing lanes, not you, so he should be looking (i mean you too for your safety of course)

i guess if you want to get technical, you would have to examine the state bike laws: many allow bikes to ride 2 abreast in a lane, and ALMOST all even if they require single-file riding, make an exception for passing another cyclist...

so from his described behavior, i would guess the van also did not signal?

IF there had been an accident i'm pretty sure he would have been found almost entirely at fault. (or course had been injured that would still suck)

Those drivers are out to kill us.

Well I'm not sure if the van signaled or not, wouldn't have helped since the guy was behind me. Usually *IF* the driver isn't a moron I get a "beep beep".

Haven't gotten any "beep beep's" lately...