Originally Posted by
hardboiled718
^ you don't sound like an a-hole when you provide an informed opinion presented in a reasonable way. although i feel that whether or not defensive riding could have prevented the accident is irrelevant at this point because the accident already occurred. while it's always important to learn from our mistakes and try to improve for future instances, often times "should/could have" type comments just end up sounding like victim blaming and neglect to place responsibility with the guilty party.
Thanks, and I agree it doesn't really help anymore, which is why I was hesitant to type this. I decided to because I saw the youtube comments being mentioned as ridiculous victim blaming and when I read them, I thought "well, most of these aren't all that bad and they do have at least a bit of a point".
This accident happened, can't prevent that anymore. I do think it's important to realise that while you can't prevent all accidents, you can prevent a lot of accidents that would have been someone else's fault (I know, because I do so regularly, both on my bike and in my car) by being paying attention and being careful.
Bottom line: this video contains valuable lessons for both drivers and cyclists
