Originally Posted by
Dave Mayer
Huh? This is the real world, where people can get seriously hurt. It is not Grade 2 or some politically correct paradise where everyone is a winner and nothing anyone does is wrong.
Riding on the wrong side of the road is highly dangerous and illegal for a good reason. If I'm on a head-on collision trajectory with a wrong-way Fred, then they are going to get out of the way, and then hear about it loud and clear.
As far as judgment, if I get hit and suffer loss by a wrong way Fred, or any other bonehead cyclist, then the lawyers and the courts will do the judging for me. It may take years of process and hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal costs, but justice will be served.
This is pretty funny. In my collision with a cyclist that was obviously in the wrong, there was zero chance of my recovering anything from the other cyclist. A) He spoke no English or at least would not respond to my requests for ID, only reply'ing in what I believe was Spanish. B) Had I called 911, I'm certain they would have taken the call but it's just as certain the police would never have responded. It's possible that EMS might have after a prolonged delay, but with no cops, no 2nd cyclist to get the info off of as to further action.
I know that this is how things exist in NYC and I'm certain other major cities in the US. The cops just have more important things to do and the minute they hear "Bike on Bike collision" they put it way down the list of response priorities.
Thus the OP's attitudes and actions are spot on.