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Close call

Old 09-10-07, 08:27 PM
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Close call

I was walking into an office building today and I heard some people scream. I looked back to the parking lot and I seen a bicyclist down on the ground and a lincoln towncar stopped half in/half out of the space. Seems the town car was backing out of a parking space and hit the cyclist as he rode behind the car. The cyclist got up, said he was ok and rode off.
Turns out the car that hit him was one of those sedan type limos. I saw the chauffer who hit him a couple of hours later waiting outside the building and asked him what happened and he said the bicyclist was riding to fast thru the lot and he didnt see him because he was a bicycle. He said he was backing out of the space and he heard a crash and stopped right away and got out and seen the guy laying there and 2 people screaming at him to be more careful. Turns out the cyclist was a courier.
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Old 09-11-07, 09:40 AM
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In CA, when you are backing up you do not have the right of way.

...and many times, those moving with the right of way through the parking lot may be moving way too fast.

When riding or walking through a parking lot, it's a good idea to look for backup lights or brake lights. Or, any sign the engine is turned on. At least you have an idea of what the vehicle may do.

My vehicle doesn't have the best rear visibility, and I'm hyper-careful and slow when I back out of a parking space. But I can't look in all directions at once. Many people can't wait, and run, ride, drive, or skateboard behind me while I'm trying to back out.
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Old 09-11-07, 10:45 AM
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I certainly wouldn't be quick to place blame on the criver of the Town Car; the cyclist easily could have been riding very quickly or riding too close to the cars, therefore making themselves invisible. If the car does or doesn't have the right of way doesn't matter here.

I have learned that I have been taking my extra-defensive riding for granted. After riding with my wife only a few times, I have noticed that what I consider common sense isn't normal defensive riding for other people. My point being that even though most of us on this board would have been riding in a very visible part of the aisle and looking for back up lights constantly, many (if not most) people wouldn't be so careful while they were riding.
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Old 09-11-07, 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by eubi
In CA, when you are backing up you do not have the right of way.

...and many times, those moving with the right of way through the parking lot may be moving way too fast.

When riding or walking through a parking lot, it's a good idea to look for backup lights or brake lights. Or, any sign the engine is turned on. At least you have an idea of what the vehicle may do.

My vehicle doesn't have the best rear visibility, and I'm hyper-careful and slow when I back out of a parking space. But I can't look in all directions at once. Many people can't wait, and run, ride, drive, or skateboard behind me while I'm trying to back out.
Some people I can't understand how they've lived this long. Moving right behind a car that's backing up is definitely on the 'dumb' list.

The clueless masses you figure they're stupid - but for runners and bikers, if you put in many miles you quickly adapt coping mechanisms to keep you alive. Though I suppose anyone can have a brain cramp.
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Old 09-11-07, 01:15 PM
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In almost every crash, either party probably could have avoided it.

In this case, if the driver had backed out slower, the cyclist probably could have noticed him and slowed and/or moved around him.

Likewise, if the cyclist had been riding further left and/or slower, he probably could have avoided the crash whether the motorist backed out slowly or not.

Since the motorists obviously did not back out slowly, and the cyclist obviously did not ride far enough left (and possibly too fast for how far right he was riding), there was a crash.
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