Originally Posted by
PatrickGSR94
This seems like an extremely poor point of view to hold. You consider any and everything that happens to you on the road to be your fault in the end? It almost sounds analogous to "oh she was *****? Well it was probably her fault in the first place because of... (whatever)". No. Just no.
Do what you need to do to stay safe, ride visible and predictable, be assertive, all those things. But please don't ever feel like everything is your fault. And I hope you don't consider things that happen to other cyclists to always be their fault.
I think you are taking my writing too literally.
Legally, it's a driver's fault (when I respect the traffic rules and laws).
However, both when riding, and when driving, I've avoided many accidents by compensating for other people's faults. I think one should always do their best to avoid traffic accidents.
I don't ride in driver's blind spots and would consider being hooked in that scenario my fault as much as drivers.
I'm aware bicycle is not nearly as visible as a larger, wider vehicle, so I always expect people not to give me right of way. If I know there's a chance of driver not giving me right of way, but don't correct my speed so I can stop in time if that happens - I consider it my fault.
Not legally, but I'd still consider such behaviour reckless and contributing to getting hit. I've been riding bicycles for over 30 years, all year long, as a main mean of transport as well as sport. Been hit by a car four times so far. It's always been driver's fault from the traffic law point of view, but I've learned from experience how to stay more visible, be predictive and what driver's blind spots are, when they are distracted etc. If I just followed the traffic law without considering driver's limitations, I'd get hit by a car on a daily basis. Yes, most are distracted, not paying attention etc, but I can't change them.