Again, obviously a cyclist needs to take responsibility for his own safety. But a cyclist, no matter how reckless he is, never puts motorists lives at risk.

All motorists, just by putting their car in drive, do put everyone else on the road at risk. It is an enormous responsibility. I believe they should drive in a manner respectful of all life, including idiot cyclists that don't respect their own lives. If they can't drive defensively enough to account for the careless cyclist or unforseen circumstances, they should not be driving.

The iriginal poster seems like he did everything right...he was aware of everything around him, and was driving at a speed at a more dangerous spot (entering side street) that allowed him to avoid a serious accident. It's irrelevent that the cyclists actions made things much more interesting than they should have been. His life still matters. You can't just drive in a way that you KNOW would have resulted in hitting that biker.