JameB

Cyclist critical after colliding with vehicle | CTV Winnipeg News

This has got to be the weirdest article I've read that involved a cyclist. :|

Thulsadoom

I don't get it. What do you think is so weird?

Chris516

What motorbike?

FBinNY 

What do you mean -- no charges (yet). From the skimpy article, it appeared the cyclist was the one drinking, not the motorist, and the cyclist who entered a road from an alley. So why the yet?. If anyone were to be charged (based on hospital BAC results) it would be the cyclist. I don't know about Canada, but here in NY it's rare to charge the victim, if there was no serious damage or injury to others.

walrus1

That's interesting. I hope he gets charged with a DUI. Or an RUI!

I think dui cyclists, at least here in NYC, are something of an underreported problem. I've been to bars where I've seen people do shots and then go unlock their bike and ride home. I've watched groups of people let a friend go home on a bike after way too many drinks. I just don't get it! Don't people realize that cycling demands that you be as sober as when you drive? I'm sure at least some of those people wouldn't let a drunk friend drive yet they let them go out and cycle. I don't bring my bike out with me if I know I'm going to drink anything more than a beer. If I end up having a few rounds I walk my bike home.

As an offside I was saw two cops administering a field sobriety test to a ninja cyclist he was failing pretty badly when I left.

FBinNY 

There's a world of difference between DUI drivers, and DUI cyclists. Drunk drivers kill and injure others, drunk cyclists kill or injure themselves.

walrus1

In terms of destructive potential yes. But DUI cyclists still have the capacity to severely injure or kill themselves and injure pedestrians as well as other cyclists. Plus lets remember due to the risk involved DUI is seen as pretty looked down upon by society and the law.

Let's just say I have no desire to see leniency for anyone who operates any vehicle when intoxicated. As you point out "an ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure." In many places where a cyclists are also car drivers someone who shows such poor judgment as to ride when drunk might very well repeat that judgment behind the wheel. I'd prefer that they be stopped before they do indeed kill someone.

Dave Cutter

There is a very great probability that the driver of the car the cyclist hit.... also suffers some trauma from the accident. I heard one motorist that was involved in a similar accident.... report waking up in a cold sweat reliving the accident in a nightmares... even years later.

The bad thing is drinking is involved in about half of all cycling deaths. Often times it's the cyclist... sometimes the motorist and sometimes both.

RISKDR1

He may have been on a bike but he is no "cyclist" in my book. Sounds like just another drunk. I don't have any sympathy. He created his own reality.

walrus1

Excellent points! I know I'd be horrified if I hit a cyclist even if they were drunk and swerved in front of me. I don't know how I'd handle it if they died. I also didn't think that motorist might injure or kill themselves attempting to avoid a drunk on a bike.

I've read that motormen on the subway and trains suffer similar symptoms if they hit someone. I remember hearing an NPR report about a suicide by freight train. The driver said that it was horrible the car pulled out in front of him and he just knew he wouldn't stop the train in time. He had to sit their and watch the train hit the car and he said he could see the driver's face. How does a human being get over that?

JameB

Exactly, I'm sorry he got hurt but RUI (LOL) should be a min here! Personally, I've never seen a drunk cyclist so it was weird for me. I mean who thinks about biking when they're drunk?!

I'm seeing double standards here. Just because someone doesn't get physically injured, it doesn't mean they're fine mentally. Many people can't even stand to see a drop of blood!

howsteepisit

If one is mentally injured by the actions of another there are civil courts to take care of that, not everything needs to be a criminal matter.

Schwinnhund

I have to disagree totally. It is absolutely possible to seriously injure, or kill another person, or persons with a bicycle. In my state (Georgia), bicycles are full-fledged vehicles, as far as the law is concerned, and you can be, and many people have been, convicted of DUI on a bicycle in this state.