Cyclists cause 10% of car-bike accidents

[OakLeaf]

Everyone take a deep breath.

"Fault" and "responsibility" are not synonyms.

Rarely, there are collisions that one party was completely powerless to prevent. The fact that they're rare doesn't make them any less devastating when they do happen. Maybe even more so.

Because of the speed differential between cars and bicis, left-turners are probably high on the list. It's pretty easy for a motorcyclist to avoid getting hit by a left-turner. Not so much for bicis, who may have entered the intersection well before the left-turner even approaches it, and who don't have the power to accelerate fast enough to complete the crossing ahead of the car.

The fact that there is such a thing as a collision that one party was powerless to prevent, doesn't obviate anyone's responsibility for anything. The fact that one party is at fault in a collision, doesn't obviate the fact that the other party usually could still have prevented it. "Usually" is not the same as "always." But it's a long, long way from "never."

[kfergos]

OK then - hands in the air those of us who have been hit by cars.....

I haven't said much about it here, but my hand is up. MMQFC - anyone else?

OK - how many of us caused our own accidents - hmmmm is that crickets I hear.....

I was hit by a car and I caused my own accident. It was in my first 6 months of biking as an adult. I was in Worcester, MA, riding one mile from my work to the train station. I rode, at the time, on the sidewalk and in this case it was on the wrong side of the road to boot. It was dusk. I did have blinky light (I think), but it wasn't very powerful. I crossed into an intersection and was hit by a car turning right. I doubt the driver even saw me. He looked for cars on the road and never expected a fast-moving vehicle on the sidewalk. (Now that I think about it, I'm not 100% sure it's legal to ride on the sidewalk in Worcester -- I know some cities do ban riding bikes on sidewalks.)

After that, I took some LAB bike classes, started riding my bike like I drive a car (slow and predictable ), and haven't been hit in 15,000 miles.

Edited to add: Having read the rest of the thread, I have a couple comments.
1. Bicyclists clearly have to be proactive about riding defensively to protect themselves as much as possible from harm caused by negligent drivers.
2. Is this the way it should be? No. Drivers, particularly irresponsible drivers who text or talk on their cell phones while driving, should absolutely be held responsible for causing collisions with bicyclists.
3. Unfortunately, we can't force drivers to drive safely around us. We can work on better driver and bicyclist education, so everybody knows what they should be doing -- I've had innumerable drivers tell me to "get off the road" or "get on the sidewalk," showing terrifying ignorance on their part; but on the other hand, I've also seen all too many cyclists riding the wrong way, riding without lights, riding on sidewalks, etc., again showing their ignorance -- and meanwhile ride defensively.

Q: Do you think requiring a drivers to pass a driver's test every 10 years, or maybe every 5 years after the age of 65, or something like that, would help? Also, would requiring something like a bicyclist's license for cyclists riding on the road help ensure bicyclists at least know their rights & responsibilities?

[MM_QFC!]

OK then - hands in the air those of us who have been hit by cars.....

I haven't said much about it here, but my hand is up. MMQFC - anyone else?

OK - how many of us caused our own accidents - hmmmm is that crickets I hear.....

Hey Eden - yep, got both of my hands waving in the air here! Am still recovering from the injuries caused by the driver who crashed her car right into me. Police report has her admittedly speeding, but not paying any attention to where she was driving, as she was also reaching into the back seat to play with her 2 yr old nephew and, oh yeah, she said that she knew the brakes on the car she was driving (she wasn't the registered owner nor the policyholder) were in need of repair.

I was on my bike, in a crosswalk at the intersection of a MUT with a cross street; all other vehicles were stopped and she pulled out into the empty traffic lane, instead of stopping. She has a record of multiple criminal cases and traffic infractions and ended up agreeing to a plea of reckless driving and reckless endangerment, so she had a traffic ticket (failing to yield) and some court costs to pay, plus these guilty convictions added to her record; that's it: no injuries, no other consequences.

Yes, I'm grateful to have survived this...however, the pile of consequences, injuries, costs, painful aftermath and recovery all seem overwhelmingly unilateral to my way of thinking!

Nope, no issue in my situation about me contributing even a tiny bit to causing this crash; the driver who hit/hurt me and my friend and destroyed our bikes and lives is 100% at fault, as this was TOTALLY avoidable and unnecessary.