Who is in the wrong? Cyclist being hit by turning car sparks heated debate (video)

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cyclist vs driver

Footage of a cyclist being hit by a turning car has sparked a heated debate over who was in the wrong.

The video, which was taken in Bedford Park on the outskirts of Adelaide, Australia, shows gridlocked traffic on Main South Road when the cyclist is seen overtaking cars on the inside lane. But as he entered the intersection, a white car turned straight into his path resulting in a scary collision.

The cyclist escaped without any serious injuries, but the video has divided the internet, with hundreds claiming the cyclist was at fault.

11 COMMENTS

  1. Cyclist at fault.Not thinking ahead as to what could happen.Going to fast with a junction coming up.
    Not thinking ,Why traffic has slowed or stopped.
    Meshlg.

  2. Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the person turning to be sure the coast is clear before proceeding.

    That said, the cyclist should have recognized the potential for a car turning in front of stopped traffic and been more cautious. That’s called being defensive … but failing to be defensive doesn’t constitute liability.

    Hard to tell whether it was dark enough to require a headlight on the bike or whether the cyclist had one. That’s the only thing that I could see mitigating the driver’s responsibility.

    • The cyclist had a front headlight on flashing mode – immediately after the collision you can see the light fly into the air and land to the left of the impact point still flashing.

      This sort of incident and damage happens all the time between drivers of cars and no-one even thinks twice about apportioning blame – it is the fault of the person making the turn across the carriageway(s). I’m not sure why all the noise in this case just because it happens to be a bike rider as one of the participants.

      However, would I be riding defensively in that situation if it were me? You bet I would be!

  3. I got hit in exactly this same situation many years ago. It was definitely my fault as the cyclist. That was before I took a LAB Traffic Skills 101 course; knowing what I know now, it would never happen. All road users, cars or bikes, are supposed to pass on the side closer to the center (on the left in Americas/Europe, on the right in AUS/UK/Japan). That’s because other road users — oncoming and turning — can see you better there. If you pass on the other side, like this guy, you need to use extreme caution, with the knowledge that crossing traffic can’t see you. This guy was blowing through there like he was invulnerable, which clearly he was not.

    That said, most of the blame for this situation falls on the traffic engineers — when they put a bike lane down like that, they encourage people to think they can use it as fast as they want, without thinking about all the other vehicles on the road nearby. A better-designed intersection would have minimized this risk. The Dutch know how to do this and have done it nearly everywhere in the NL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlApbxLz6pA . I’m 100% in favor of vehicular-cycling skills for dealing with the reality on the ground in the US/Canada/AUS, but nobody should have to run those risks, when the fix is so cheap and low-tech — it just takes political will.

  4. I slow down if I can’t see a good distance ahead & left and right. That’s whether I’m driving a car or riding.

    Both made the mistake of proceeding too carelessly into a situation insufficient visibility.

  5. The bike has right away. I use to split lanes on a motorcycle and I always had a good look before crossing an opening in the traffic. It is not who has the right away but the potential out come is.

  6. It appears as though the cyclist was in a designated bike lane and the driver turning left had to yield when crossing the bike lane so the driver was at fault. Having said that one could question the judgement of the cyclist for riding that fast in such a congested area with reduced visibility and not anticipating the possibility of a car turning.

  7. Looks to me as if the cyclist in is a bike lane and has right of way? He doesn’t seem to have crossed any white lines that would indicate he needs to stop or give way.

  8. Cyclist should have been going slower. Or he could have been quicker to hit his brakes. He made no attempt to swerve around the car.
    Cyclist could have avoided the trouble if he had ridden down the center of the road, overtaking the stalled vehicles on their right side, he would have then seen the oncoming vehicle making a turn.
    Cyclist did Not have enough lights on the bike.
    Bad bike lane design, inadequate lights and brakes on the bike. I can’t say the driver deserves any jail-time for this one.

  9. I can’t tell you what a court would decide. But, I believe both were to blame. Both were less than careful in an intersection that offered an obscured view to both the driver and the cyclist. Both should have been more tentative in handling the intersection. If a child had taken the track of the car and was struck by the cyclist, then it would be all too clear who was to blame.

  10. He is in a bicycle lane not an inside lane.
    Car has responsibility to check the way is clear and give way to traffic going straight, that is law.
    This is simply the problem with a lack of bicycle awareness in the genera
    l community.

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