The question is who had the right of way. "Failure to yield right of way" is against the law. In most scenarios, the vehicle entering the roadway from an alley must yield the right of way to traffic(the cyclist) in the roadway. If this were the case then the motorist in the story is clearly at fault. The accident report filed by the police would note this.

I had a motorist fail to yield right of way to me at a stop sign. She basically "California stopped" or rolled through the stop sign and then gunned it through the intersection. She had a stop sign, I did not. I hit her car with my bike at the passenger side door jam and took off her mirror with my ribs, launching me in a complete flip over the vehicle.

The woman blamed me, naturally. Cussing up a storm she said that I should have been more visible, should not be on the road, everything that is mentioned in the article and comments above.

THE FACT IS, THE LAW SAYS THAT FAILURE TO YIELD RIGHT OF WAY IS AGAINST THE LAW. PERIOD.

I had to hem-haw with this woman's insurance company too. The eventually accepted liability after the police report showed it was 100% this other womans fault.

If someone were to use the defense of "I can't see cyclists, they need to wear brighter clothes" as a valid defense, then people driving darker colored cars would be put on the hook for the color of their cars.

These stories make me so mad.