Originally Posted by
sstorkel
There are similar statistics for motorcycle accidents, so it would surprise me if the trend for bicycles is similar. The most common multi-vehicle accident involving motorcycles was a car turning left in front of the motorcyclist. The most common explanation from car drivers involved in car/motorcycle accidents was "I didn't see the motorcycle". Again, it wouldn't surprise me if bicyclists face similar problems...
In this case though the information we have is that the biker ran the stop sign and T boned a car. Whether this is the whole story or not, we don't know. I've seen cyclists do stupid things, I've seen car drivers do stupid things, I've seen them both do stupid things in the general vicinity of the other, the issue is that either way the cyclist pays for it.
Four scenarios, where the story is incomplete, only the first will be admitted by a car driver.
1) Cyclist not paying attention, doesn't detect car, runs stop sign, crash....
2) Car driver is pootling along, cyclist decides they have enough time to get there before the car, car speeds up, crash.
3) Car is speeding along, slows down just before entering intersection, cyclists thought car would clear before they got to it, crash.
4) Intersection screened by snowbanks, cyclist thinks it's clear, and decides to go through, car hidden behind snowbank, pops out, crash.
The cyclist in the hospital may not remember the exact events, either way, the car driver is always telling the truth.
