Cyclists cause 10% of car-bike accidents

[Eden]

Hope you don't mind, but I swiped this link to post over at Cascade - there are pretty lively debates over there, even amongst cyclists about how to co-exist with automobiles. (and there are some there who are cyclists who still persist in blaming the cyclists for accidents - the phantom hordes of dangerous scofflaw cyclists..... )

You know - other studies have shown that a percentage of collisions have the blame assigned to cyclists only because the cyclist was unconscious or worse deceased and could not refute the motorists story.... so what does that leave 95% of collisions caused by automobiles.... and the remainder are likely those who have done really stupid things - riding at night with no lights is one of the is one of the major causes of cyclist caused fatality.

[dianne_1234]

Reminds me of "The Myth of the Scofflaw Cyclist"
http://washcycle.typepad.com/home/20...th-of-the.html

[Biciclista]

Ironically I got this link from Cascade!

[Kalidurga]

Interesting to read about this in light of a recent cyclist death in Baltimore. At this point, they're saying surveillance video shows that the cyclist was at fault, although it sounds as if the truck driver's actions may have contributed. I'd be willing to bet that there's similar grey area in a lot of bike/auto accidents.

[Crankin]

I have mixed feelings on this topic. In the past 2 weeks I've spent a couple of evenings in Cambridge (urban riding and lots of commuters, though mostly in designated bike lanes). Frankly I have never seen such blatant disregard of the law. Going through red lights, zipping through lanes of traffic, and no lights at night. And this is in a city that actually tickets cyclists. I hate to be seen as anti-cyclist, but this is one reason I don't ride in the city. The cars react to the riding and vice-versa, and everyone is angry, which is a recipe for disaster.
My son (the one who is not a cyclist) recently started riding the mountain bike we handed down to him around the city, as he realized he is a skinny out of shape person. He called us to ask why all of the other riders were going through lights and was this OK? We taught him the rules of the road a few years ago when he rode to a summer job and he was following everything we taught him last week. We told him to keep following the law!

[DebW]

In Switzerland, cyclists are required to buy an insurance policy (all of $6) in case the cyclist CAUSES an accident or injures a pedestrian.

[marybee]

While the researcher (victim of a car crash himself) who did this study found that 10% of car-bike crashes in Toronto are cyclist-caused, research done by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) has found that it's something like 50% of all bike-car crashes are caused by the cyclist. But let me back up...
--50% of bike crashes involve just the rider, wiping out, losing control of the bike, etc.
--for adults riders, 50% of the bike-car crashes are caused by cyclists, the other 50% by cars....
but in any event, it makes little difference whose fault it is, if you're dead or in the hospital for an extended period. In a car-bike collision, the car is ALWAYS going to win, so ride defensively, and know how to control your bike, and know how to maneuver it when car drivers do dumb things. This will prevent 90% of all crashes, according to LAB.

I am a LAB certified bike safety instructor, and I see, all the time, cyclists blowing through stop signs, blowing through stoplights, riding the wrong way down the street, helmetless, hugging the curb while going straight in front of a car making a right-hand turn, riding at night without lights, riding down the sidewalk and then blasting through the crosswalk... well I could go on and on. From my perspective, I'd say only about 50%-60% of all cyclists I see ride like they belong on the road.

[Blueberry]

In Switzerland, cyclists are required to buy an insurance policy (all of $6) in case the cyclist CAUSES an accident or injures a pedestrian.

I actually wish that were the case here. Seems the main anti-cycling arguments are 1) you don't have insurance and 2) you don't pay road taxes (ummm...yeah....I'm still paying them on the 3 cars DH and I have - I'm just not tearing up the road as much). Of course, then I'm sure the anti-cycling types would just find something else to be unhappy about

Very interesting link - thanks for sharing, Mimi.

CA