lawrencehare

The only one who knows of this is my wife, and she knows how extremely upset I was at the time, but has anyone here - a bike commuter - actually hit a bicyclist when driving a car? I commute by bike as often as I can, but I have to use the car when I need to go to another office or the customer site, or I am meeting someone someplace, or for a variety of reasons I need to commute by car. But when I can I'll take the bike, a 28 mile round trip, and a very nice ride mostly on trails.

It was last winter, rainy and dark. I was turning right. He came across the road and whacked into my left front. He did not fall, and in fact did not seem to be in any way hurt. His right pedal tore into my left front bumper lamp. He sat on his bike, leaning on my hood and calling me every name in the book. He pulled his bike away from my car and was screaming "call the police - call the police." I drove around the corner and parked. Some woman appeared out of nowhere and started taking a bunch of photos with a mobile phone, then she vanished. I assume she communicated with the guy at the time but I did not see her do so.

At his point I suppose I could have got belligerent myself! He was dressed in black from head to foot, even his bike was black. He had no front lamp but he had a weak rear blinky lamp. No reflectors or anything that would make him visible. I was quite happy to call the police and I said so. I asked him if I could examine his bike for damage and that I would cover any, but he refused to let me near his bike. Despite this, I was able to effect a cursory examination but I saw nothing wrong. He at this time calmed down and started riding off, I gave him my information before he did so and told him to contact me if there was anything he found damaged. He never did. Last I saw of him was him riding off with that feeble lamp blinking sneeringly at me.

I should have - could have - said a lot that may have even helped him in the future, especially about his dress and night gear. I did not. I was too shaken to really be very intelligent.

The damage to my car cost me $270.

I have never been hit by a car but I have been hit by a truck. I was riding in Italy, ironically from the rental I was staying in to a store to buy some replacement wine glasses we had broken. I was returning with the new glasses when a truck turned right, in front of me, and hit me. For reasons I have never understood the bike seemed to stick to the side of the truck. He accelerated up a hill with me glued a few inches from his rear wheel, I was thumping my fist on the side of the truck, but he did not hear. At some point the bike broke away from the truck and I literally went flying. It was a whole mess of cuts and bruises and the bike simply needed straightening up. The new glasses were all broken and I returned to the store to get some more when I went into shock. I recognized what was happening and went and sat outside until it all passed - shaking like crazy. But I remember it like it was yesterday and feel very close to people on bikes who get hit by cars or trucks. It is utterly terrifying - there really are few words to describe it!

Anyway, I felt for this guy, I know what it was like although he never even fell over - still it is frightening. So I have been on both sides of this argument, and neither are pleasant. Anyone else been there?

Metal Man

The way you descibe it the guy on the bike that hit you was totally at fault.

JanMM

Can't really tell what happened from your description but maybe you are still not sure where he came from either. Was he on the road or in the crosswalk or a wrong way cyclist?
Sounds as if he was in stealth mode and likely the responsible party.
No matter whose fault, it would feel bad to hit a cyclist with a car.

coldfeet

Kinda meaningless comparison. Glad you survived the collision with the truck.

DX-MAN

OK, so it was OP's fault he hit a NINJA? Really?

Little b*st*rd got less than he deserved.

Burton

This might sound a little heartless but next time you should INSIST on calling the police and filing an accident report. Statistics and circumstances are used to decide what priorities need to be addressed to ensure public safety. And in this case a few comments from a police officer about driving at night in dark clothing and no front light or reflector could well save a life. That particular cyclist's!

a1penguin

You were making a right and he hit your left side? Did you have your blinker on? Did he pass you on the right? Or was he going the wrong way on the road? I would say he was at fault, but that's not very comforting. I've become much more paranoid looking for idiot cyclists violating the rules of the road.... baiting me into damaging them.

woodway

Around here it's not legal to ride a bicycle at night without a front light, and therefore the cyclist likely would have been at fault in the scenario you describe.

lawrencehare

It was like this: An interchange with a four lane road and a two lane road. The four lane had two lanes going north and two going south, the two lane road was east west, one lane east and one lane west. I was heading north on the four lane road, I was going to turn right onto the two lane road. At the point of intersection there is a third right-turn only lane in the north bound direction, I was in that lane, heading to the intersection behind a couple of cars all going slowly. Lanes one and two of the north bound road had cars stopped at the red light, and as I noted, the right turn lane had cars slowly turning right into the east-bound road.

The cyclist was heading east on the two-lane road and he had the green light. He could see the cars stopped in lanes one and two of the north bound road but the third right-turn only lane was not visible - I imagine. Although he should have been able to see that a car would turn right now and then. As I turned right, he came across the road and thumped into the left front fender of my car, I was moving at the time so we both came to a standstill. If I had not been moving he would have missed me. As I noted, it was wet and dark and had he had a front lamp I would have seen him. In fact, had he had reflective clothing - my wet-weather gear is yellow with reflective shiny bits - it would not have happened. Anyway - I was horrifed, as was he, only he was able to express himself at great volume and without bothering to listen to me!

I did have my blinker on, but I doubt he would have seen it. These right-turn lanes can be very dangerous as people whizz along them and turn right without stopping, you can see the intersection where you want to turn and can see if it is clear; anyone turning left from the opposite direction or coming across the green light will not see you if there are cars in lanes one and two until it is too late. My friend wrote off his new BMW in just such an accident a few months back. He was turning left and a car came out of the oncoming right lane to turn right, they met with stunning force. No one was hurt but he lost his car.

I think you are right. I also should have told him his clothing was just asking for an accident. I should have pointed out that had he had a front lamp I would have seen him - leastways, I am pretty certain I would have. I should have got the name and address of that wretched creature snapping pictures over and over too, with her confounded flash. And - I do have a camera - I should have taken a picture myself of his bike to show the lights he did not have, and of him to show how he was dressed. Then called the police. Heaven forbid there should be a next time, but I hope I can be a little more collected!

I still have nightmares about that! Perhaps the scariest moment of my life!

MattFoley

No excuses for ninja cyclists. Even in an increasingly bike-conscious DC, I still see them on my commute. I've almost yelled at a few, but I don't think it'd do any good. WABA occasionally does night rides where they give out lights to ninjas, but I have to think that people who ride without lights at this point are either too stupid or too stubborn to change their ways.

coldfeet

Sorry, were you responding to my comment?
If so, all I meant was the only similarity between the 2 incidents were that they both involved a motor vehicle and a bicycle. There was no attempt to set blame.

CB HI

Yes the cyclist should have had a headlight. The OP should have been more careful when making a right turn on red.

The OP words his post to blame the cyclist for everything.
OPs front bumper hit the cyclist who had the ROW, yet OP says cyclist hit him.

Reflective material on the cyclist would not have helped since OPs headlights were not shining on the cyclist.

JanMM

Maryland requires front and rear lights if dark. Cyclist was in violation. And in stealth mode.

unterhausen

I don't see anything wrong with saying that the cyclist hit him. I almost had a nasty accident where a motorist ran a stop sign when I had the ROW, and I definitely would have hit him as opposed to him hitting me. Doesn't change the fault of the matter.

I'm getting less enamored of right turn on red laws as they are now observed by motorists. Few motorists give more than a cursory glance towards oncoming traffic, much less look at what is on the sidewalks. I have to say that I'm not sure how you are supposed to see an unlit cyclist in the dark. When I was younger, I rode fairly frequently without a front light, but you can't ride through many intersections at speed that way, that's asking for it.

electrik

There is no comparing the experience of being hit as a pedestrian or cyclist by a car, to being the person who is hitting them.

What is the argument here exactly?

Robert C

For me the annoyance with right on red and bicyclists is that when preparing to make the right turn, there is often a bicyclist passing on the right, running the light.
I wrote this a whie ago about a particular light that was a constant annoyance for me when I was in grad school:Really, all they needed to do, to make the turn easier for everyone, was to pass on the left. I never did hit any of them; but it was annoying. I think the root problem was two fold, the first was their being so in the habit of running that light that they never even looked. The second was that they were so conditioned to staying on the right that hey never looked to see if it was appropriate.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I think I was more aware of that particular light on my bicycle days because I saw it both as a bicyclist and as a motorcyclist.

DX-MAN

OK, lawrencehare, now I have to recant my rant.

Yes, he was a ninja rider; yes it was dark and raining. BUT, he had the green light.

Your second description was a lot more detailed; now I have to hold the opinion that fault was 50/50.

I agree with the other poster; the RTOR was, and is, a PITA.

CB HI

Most locations require a motorist to move as close as possible to the curb when making a right turn. All you needed to do was move right far enough before your turn so there was not enough room for them to pass on your right and your problem would have been solved.

CB HI

When it is a front fender contacting the side of a bicycle and both are moving, I would want the police report to say the motorist hit the cyclist.

Robert C

I have yet to see a law requiring me to operate a motorcycle, or bicycle, in the gutter. Further, I seldom will go to the extreme right while making right turns on my motorcycle because people will pull up on the left and make a right turn in front of me. Even on a bicycle, riding in the gutter is seldom the safest choice.

On this one I have to disagree with you. I think the safest thing would have been for riders to not have been passing one the right while going through a red light. If the vehicle in front of a person is slowing and has their right turn signal on, a prudent rider would not pick that moment to pass them on the right. However, it you are approaching the issue from the point of view that the bicyclist is always right, no matter what jacka$$ stupid thing they are doing, then you will, of course, disagree.

Not a big deal, I no longer go to that school. I am now in China where bicyclists are considered to have no traffic rights.

lawrencehare

The OP words his post to blame the cyclist for everything.
OPs front bumper hit the cyclist who had the ROW, yet OP says cyclist hit him.

Not my intent - I agree - I should have seen him. But I do note that we were BOTH moving at the time of impact. I would have stopped had I seen him, I make no doubt he would have also had he seen me. He had the right of way, so - yes - ultimately my fault.

My purpose of this post was to se if anyone else had experienced being on the bad side. As I noted above, I have been both hit - and a bad one at that - and this was my first time as a hitter - I felt terrible! However, I think I could have behaved better in that I might have pointed out to him that he was not doing all he could to make riding at night that much safer. Although I am not denying blame, I wish that somehow he might see that he could have done a lot to avoid the accident by making himself more visible; light clothing, front lamp, reflectors. It was wet and there were lots of lights all around, the reflectors would still have helped. In the event - if he continues riding dressed like he was, he is increasing the risk of another accident, possible hurt to himself, his family and the person on the other side of the collision.