Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Only if vehicles involved in the collision are traveling in the same direction.
Not true when a "fast bike" collides with a stationary object such as an opened car door, or collides with a vehicle pulling out or turning left in front of the fast bike. I suspect bikes being ridden fast may be especially vulnerable to just these type of collisions due to driver miscalculation of a "fast bike's" actual speed.
Yep, the bike speed is a factor for impact when colliding with any vertical object.
Additionally, njkayaker believes that a car-bike collision will throw the cyclist up or down, increasing the vertical velocity. I believe that scenario to be an extreme case.
Whether a "fast bike" is more vulnerable to right/left hooks or cars pulling out, is speculative at this point. You certainly have less reaction/stopping time at 25 mph than at 15 mph, but whether that difference is enough to translate into more of those types of collisions is unknown to me. I'd like to see the data if you know of it.