Chris516

I definitely agree with the frustration of the cyclist. I am not questioning that.

As for the two examples you gave. I have seen those before, and I totally agree with the cyclist.

67Vert

I watched this multiple times. I'm not getting it. It looks like the bike rider is intentionally riding into the van. I would've slowed down and stopped. Possibly the driver left because she was afraid of the angry biker guy who just intentionally crashed into her.

lopek77

At 51 seconds... SUV starts moving...not much time and distance for cyclist to stop safely.

howsteepisit

Looks to me like the cyclist is riding on a sidewalkand needs to stop for crosswalks, even if its a MUP needs to stop at crosswalks.

GP

I didn't see it either. The cyclist didn't go down so maybe the driver thought it was OK. That happened to me once; I was barely touched by a car so I turned, waved that I was OK to the driver and continued on.

kickstart

I'm not seeing how one can express indignation when they choose to run into someone because they're not doing the right thing.
Here in Washington when one cycles on a sidewalk they are expected to conduct themselves as pedestrians, which includes not entering a crossing unless clear, and allowing ample time for motorists to see them and yield.

67Vert

The cyclist should've noticed the van at 47 seconds. IMO, He should have slowed down to a safe speed approaching the intersection.

lopek77

And he did see it and slowed down. The problem is with driver who stopped and go without making sure it's safe first. It's the cyclist who have the right of way there, not the driver.

lopek77

It's a bicycle route...There was stop for the car, and not for the cyclists.

kickstart

Making decisions based on how conditions should be rather than how they actually are leads to the results demonstrated in the video.

lopek77

You are right. That's why cyclist didn't go under that car... We have to deal with so many stupid people each and every day...The question is why? Why stupid people are allowed to drive? Drivers licence is way too easy to get here in USA comparing to any other country in the world. On the top of everything, every driver thinks that he or she is a very good driver...simply scary to ride on the road...

trailangel

Biker was riding on the wrong side of the road.

GP

The more you ride the less it'll bother you. You'll gain skill and awareness and learn to avoid bad situations. The opposite is true too. For the past year, after years of commuting on a bike, I've been commuting 96 miles per day by car. It took me a few months but my I'm finally comfortable on the freeway.

lopek77

There is no WRONG side. It's a bicycle route...

As a cyclist who share the road with much bigger, heavier and faster vehicles, I don't want to be less bothered by that...It's a real danger, and I would rather stay off the road. One of our dear friends, and a member of BF was hit just month ago... I don't like to be a part of statistics, especially bad ones.

Both sides should respect other life...not just by the type of vehicle.

kickstart

That's all true, but we know that before we get on the road and what others do isn't under our control, which is why its up to us to compensate for their shortcomings rather than try to correct them with outbursts or cameras.

no motor?

This made the front page of Yahoo news today, but there weren't any comments listed under it. The driver definitely looked to be in the wrong here, have the police got involved in this yet?

EvilWeasel

95.736% of the time silly angry drivers are to be ridiculed and ignored. The other 4.484% please get out of your car so i can stuff you back in upside down.

TransitBiker

I would have called local non-emergency number and had a cop come and sort it out via the video recording.

- Andy.

TransitBiker

People that only look one way can be cited if an officer sees the incident regardless of anything else, even if it was the only car on the road. You have to look both ways at mutli-direction intersections. If it's 2 1 way streets sure look one way but there can still be people on the sidewalk so looking is very important. I do live car free but when ive driven other people's vehicles my head is on a swivel and am always checking my mirrors and blind spots. I don't know how these lazy motorists don't get into crashes more often, it's really unbelievable.

Putting a turn signal on does not give you the authority to make a turn, it simply alerts other drivers to your intent, and only when you have enough time and space can you turn or change lanes, honoring traffic lights, direction signs and stop signs as well as the lines on the road (cutting into shoulder around a blind curve for example).

- Andy

trailangel

Exactly. I don't see a bike path. Biker is on the wrong side expecting right-of-way coming to intersection while 2 other vehicles are there before him.

67Vert

But instead of stopping like any normal person would do, he intentionally bumps into the van and then he stands there cussing at the driver like he's dumbfounded. I'm guessing he did this in attempt to make some kind of point and have something to put on his youtube video.

digger

I tend to agree with this post. Although I use a camera myself, I cannot help get the impression that the cyclist was intentionally causing an issue to record on camera.

I agree that the driver should not be on the phone. I agree that the driver has a responsibility to look both ways before proceeding. I agree that the driver(s) should stop at the stop line before proceeding. However, to be fair to the driver(s), one is not expecting wrong way traffic, on the sidewalk, and especially at the speed a cyclist can travel. This, combined with the fact that the cyclist is further back from the road, and thus out of the sight line, but, as stated, can quickly approach the intersection just moments after the motorist (may have) checked to the right for pedestrians.

At 0:50 it appears that the motorist stopped (MAYBE a rolling stop), likely looked (we don't know) did not see a pedestrian approaching from the right, then proceeded to make a right turn just as the cyclist came up and struck the vehicle in the motorists right rear blind spot.

The second incident clearly shows the driver not stopping. Although the stop sign is set back from the intersection quite a bit, and the trees to the drivers left likely block the sight-line of oncoming traffic. Thus the motorist should have stopped at the sign (stop line), checked the sidewalks for pedestrians then rolled forward up to the intersection, look left for oncoming traffic and proceeded. Again, cyclist was travelling faster than a pedestrian and likely appeared quickly behind those trees near the stop sign (at 2:04).

Just my perspective on this (and I understand this is an armchair critique) but
1) The cyclist was riding, on what appears to be, a sidewalk and travelling against traffic. Right turning motorists do not expect traffic to come from the right, at that speed. This DOES NOT give a motorist the right to endanger the cyclist - in the right or not.

2) I feel the cyclist intentionally struck the first vehicle in order to capture it on video. There was some drama going on there. That motorist knew that the cyclist was struck, as evident by the slowing down of the vehicle, but I presume left the scene due to the enraged cyclist.

3) I feel the cyclist could have been travelling on the mostly snow-free road in the same direction as traffic. That road had little traffic, at that point anyway, to be of a concern.

4) The motorist in the second case I think holds about half the blame, but not in the first case.

I think the camera only encouraged the cyclist to act in this manner, and I would urge anyone that uses a camera (I do) to be judicious in its use.

EDIT: I just read that the OP says that this is a signed bicycle route. That changes my perspective a little. But it seems to be a dangerous bicycle route. Does the road, perpendiculaer to the bike route, at the stop signs, indicate that there is a bike route there?

genec

With regard to the Michigan snow video... it is pretty obvious that the gold van is already there at the intersection... and the cyclist rides right into the van... then states "HIT."

If the cyclist could not see and slow down to avoid the vehicle that was already there... there is something wrong with that cyclist IMHO.

I didn't bother watching further... this cyclist is an idiot.

kickstart

Agreed,
That's not an unusual encounter, and most cyclists could identity and avoid it without conscious effort.

lopek77

I found something very interesting about that snow video. Seems that folks who lives in a 4 seasons states understand the situation much better. Folks from OR, WA or CA, and from any other "warm" or snow free state may just simply not have enough experience riding on snowy surfaces, or understanding what's really going on during winter time, especially for cyclists. Is that the reason why they see that situation in such a "bad" way?
It reminds me a situation when there is some snow dusting in southern states...The whole state is paralyzed. Well...lately it's cold and snowy in all states but Alaska...go figure