Who's At Fault Here? - Car Vs Cyclist (Video)

Who's At Fault Here? - Car Vs Cyclist (Video)

Author
Discussion

Pete317

1,430 posts

222 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
'At fault' means different things to different people or viewpoints, and, to most of us, it doesn't necessarily imply liability - legal or otherwise.

And, as it takes two to tango, I'm just going to leave it at that.

blindswelledrat

25,257 posts

232 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
Pete317 said:
Well whatever. I am right. Last word.
EFA

walm

10,609 posts

202 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
Pete317 said:
'At fault' means different things to different people or viewpoints, and, to most of us, it doesn't necessarily imply liability - legal or otherwise.
I think we just hit peak denial.

TheBALDpuma

5,842 posts

168 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
walm said:
Pete317 said:
'At fault' means different things to different people or viewpoints, and, to most of us, it doesn't necessarily imply liability - legal or otherwise.
I think we just hit peak denial.
No I think he's spot on.

LoonR1 loves a fight, but I'm with Pete. If I was that cyclist, it's my fault. Same as if you walk into a lampost because you're not watching where your going, it's your fault. If the cyclist was paying attention, he would not have hit the car. Whether the car is liable or not is a different point.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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TheBALDpuma said:
No I think he's spot on.

LoonR1 loves a fight, but I'm with Pete. If I was that cyclist, it's my fault. Same as if you walk into a lampost because you're not watching where your going, it's your fault. If the cyclist was paying attention, he would not have hit the car. Whether the car is liable or not is a different point.
I don't "love a fight" I just may have a different opinion to you, which is grounded in a lot of experience.

When was the last time you saw a lamppost trying to get off its drive and onto a road btw?

Robert Elise

956 posts

145 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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How many times has Loon signed off this thread?

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

186 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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LoonR1 said:
I don't "love a fight"
rofl

Next you'll be claiming not to be an authority on insurance matters!

walm

10,609 posts

202 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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TheBALDpuma said:
If the cyclist was paying attention, he would not have hit the car.
I think this is where most of the contention lies.
On a bike going 10-15mph, 2 seconds isn't enough time to react and stop over just two car lengths, even if you were covering the brakes, which he wasn't.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Robert Elise said:
How many times has Loon signed off this thread?
Errrrr none. I considered it yesterday but thought better of it.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
Johnnytheboy said:
LoonR1 said:
I don't "love a fight"
rofl

Next you'll be claiming not to be an authority on insurance matters!
A question has been asked and I'm giving my views and challenging those with differing views and trying some education via explanation as well. It's not working. That's a world away from fighting.

Granfondo

12,241 posts

206 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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roofer said:
To be honest, yes, I hate cyclists, but the fat fella in the vid could have avoided that, I know it.....and so do you.
So he wanted to wreck his bike and go arse over tit onto the Tarmac in shorts and t-shirt ?

TheBALDpuma

5,842 posts

168 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
walm said:
TheBALDpuma said:
If the cyclist was paying attention, he would not have hit the car.
I think this is where most of the contention lies.
On a bike going 10-15mph, 2 seconds isn't enough time to react and stop over just two car lengths, even if you were covering the brakes, which he wasn't.
I disagree. I think he had plenty of time to stop. Had he been paying attention with his hands on the handlebars.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
TheBALDpuma said:
walm said:
TheBALDpuma said:
If the cyclist was paying attention, he would not have hit the car.
I think this is where most of the contention lies.
On a bike going 10-15mph, 2 seconds isn't enough time to react and stop over just two car lengths, even if you were covering the brakes, which he wasn't.
I disagree. I think he had plenty of time to stop. Had he been paying attention with his hands on the handlebars.
Absolutely, nothing worse than someone not paying attention 100% of the time when you're about to do something quite ignorant.

roofer

5,136 posts

211 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
Granfondo said:
roofer said:
To be honest, yes, I hate cyclists, but the fat fella in the vid could have avoided that, I know it.....and so do you.
So he wanted to wreck his bike and go arse over tit onto the Tarmac in shorts and t-shirt ?
Obviously, or he would of been paying more attention while using the public highway.

And as someone has said previously, I think the van driver was an ignoramus also.

flemke

22,865 posts

237 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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The car driver did something stupid, and the cyclist failed to account for the risk that there might be a car driver doing something stupid, which was stupid of him.

TheBALDpuma

5,842 posts

168 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
LoonR1 said:
Absolutely, nothing worse than someone not paying attention 100% of the time when you're about to do something quite ignorant.
This is why I said you love a fight - you flat out simply refuse to see grey. It's black or white and you will argue till you're blue in the face.

The cyclist wasn't just not paying 100% attention, maybe 50% on the road and 50% on his phone (generous I'd say!). So are you saying that as a road user it's okay to be occupied by other activities while travelling, like using a phone, puttin on make up etc?

At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions. I think the car pulled out fairly carefully, but will concede that he could have taken even more care but the cyclist in my opinion has to hold up his hands and say that he caused himself to crash due to his lack of attention. The car saw the cyclist, and stopped significantly before the cyclist took avoiding action.

Granfondo

12,241 posts

206 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
roofer said:
Granfondo said:
roofer said:
To be honest, yes, I hate cyclists, but the fat fella in the vid could have avoided that, I know it.....and so do you.
So he wanted to wreck his bike and go arse over tit onto the Tarmac in shorts and t-shirt ?
Obviously, or he would of been paying more attention while using the public highway.

And as someone has said previously, I think the van driver was an ignoramus also.
Looking at the vid again you have to remember that the view you get from the dash cam is not the same as the cyclist who is being blindsided by the parked van!

Retroman

Original Poster:

966 posts

133 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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TheBALDpuma said:
I disagree. I think he had plenty of time to stop. Had he been paying attention with his hands on the handlebars.
Are you a cyclist?

Did you see my post earlier post saying how it would be very unlikely they could stop in time?

The cyclist had one hand on the bars and in the position of the picture below. They had less than 2 seconds to move their hand, pull the brake, slow down and stop. The fall might not have been as bad, but there would have been a fall regardless.

http://www.roadbikerider.com/sites/default/files/a...

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
TheBALDpuma said:
This is why I said you love a fight - you flat out simply refuse to see grey. It's black or white and you will argue till you're blue in the face.

The cyclist wasn't just not paying 100% attention, maybe 50% on the road and 50% on his phone (generous I'd say!). So are you saying that as a road user it's okay to be occupied by other activities while travelling, like using a phone, puttin on make up etc?

At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions. I think the car pulled out fairly carefully, but will concede that he could have taken even more care but the cyclist in my opinion has to hold up his hands and say that he caused himself to crash due to his lack of attention. The car saw the cyclist, and stopped significantly before the cyclist took avoiding action.
No I'm not, but I'm also not saying that it's OK to pull out onto a road and collide with an established roaduser.

The point is that fault is fault. There is no law to say that I must pay attention 100% of the time to compensate for someone else's negligence. There is a law around negligence and negligence defines liability (or fault, as it's the same meaning). You are hiding behind moral obligations amd dressing them up as if they mean something. You are also defying the moral element by your own standards.

Let's take a few other examples. Some more extreme than others.

1. A driver is driving along a motorway when someone hurls a brick off a motorway bridge, this hits his car and he crashes. Is he at fault for not paying attention to the clearly visible group on the motorway bridge?

2. He crashes into two cars to the left of him. Are they at fault for not seeing the group amd predicting that he wouldn't see them and then swerve into him?

3. One of the cars is uninsured. Are they at fault for being there despite being illegally on the road?

4. A car is waiting at a Give Way junction about 300 yards in front of me to the left. I am on the main road, it is exiting from a small avenue. My road is a 50mph limit and flowing freely at that speed, but it is busy amd I have a line of cars behind amd in front of me that are safely spaced. Should I drop my speed to a crawl just in case he sets off in front of me?


TheBALDpuma

5,842 posts

168 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
Retroman said:
TheBALDpuma said:
I disagree. I think he had plenty of time to stop. Had he been paying attention with his hands on the handlebars.
Are you a cyclist?

Did you see my post earlier post saying how it would be very unlikely they could stop in time?

The cyclist had one hand on the bars and in the position of the picture below. They had less than 2 seconds to move their hand, pull the brake, slow down and stop. The fall might not have been as bad, but there would have been a fall regardless.

http://www.roadbikerider.com/sites/default/files/a...
Cycled throughout my teen competitively in DH racing, haven't done that for 10 years, but have always had a bike of some kind including DJ, road and XC. Currently a rather nice Stanton Slackline.

Having one hand on the bars is not an excuse! That's like saying it's not my fault I hit the car in front, I was on the phone on cruise control with my legs cross so I didn't notice couldn't brake in time