Almost Flattened a Cyclist in the city tonight

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
I have mixed feelings of "Would I have been at fault", I'm hunting for the video off my dashcam, but this was easily the closest I've ever come in my life to hitting a pedestrian of any kind.

I was pulling into the entrance of a parking garage with an obscured view on my right side due to a tour bus, and at the last possible second a cyclist on a Diivy came tearing out in front of me doing easily 15-20mph on the sidewalk from the opposite side of the tour bus.

I feel that I was going at a slow enough speed that even with the obscured view I would have been able to stop had a pedestrian suddenly come out into the crossing, but with the speed of the cyclist there was no way I could have approached it slow enough to have reacted.

So Just generally curious, was I pulling into the lot too fast with my view obscured (once I have the footage up)? Or was the Bicyclist doing that rate of speed ON a sidewalk potentially illegal/wreckless?

Thankfully nothing happened, just kind of looking back at it in the "What if I had hit him" sense curious if I would have been at fault.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
As someone who has been hit by a car, the bicyclist is always at fault. They don't give a single fuck about anyone else on the road.

As Eager I am to throw the cyclist under the bus 'Figuratively', I'm just curious what the legalities are more than who was ACTUALLY at fault.

Given the rate of speed of the bicyclist, and him narrowly dodging other pedestrians and my truck, I feel there would be no question that they would have been at fault, but given the time I spend in the city lately in a car, I'm just growing more curious about the legal nature of it (Does them being at an egregious rate of speed out-weigh me pulling into an obscured intersection).

I also realize that on the topic of 'giving zero fucks, I realize that some of these bicyclists downtown may be deliberately even more wreckless given that the bike isn't even theirs now with the Diivy rentals.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
Got the video pulled down, I think the cyclist WAS on the street, but basically moved to over-take me on the right side, and then cut across onto the sidewalk.

Also listening to it, I didn't hear my signal.

Is it more egregious to have not signaled, or for him to have over-taken to begin with?

My lane positioning was pretty obvious that I intended to turn right (Suburban/Long Vehicle), and I had Yielded to pedestrians that I didn't need to...

So far; I have to say I'm surprised I didn't signal for that, big mistake on my behalf there, but I'm not sure still about the whole 'at fault' thing here.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
Video doesn’t really show just how close he came up on my right side, or at least it sure doesn’t seem like it. It also seems clear how much time I had already spent starting to turn when he came across my nose that he had plenty of time to stop instead of risking collision.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
Question of fault is the question of legality. Did you signal? Was the bike legally proceeding down the street? If you signaled, he's at fault. If you didn't, it depends on if he was legally proceeding. If he was, it's your fault.

I think of IL law with cars, “Failure to reduce speed to avoid collision” that’s used in all rear end collisions.

Especially seeing how much time between when I had started to make my turn to when he over-took, it’s a solid 4 seconds. The bicyclist clearly took the risk I think signal or not. I’m still really curious, he effectively threaded the needle between the tour bus and the front of my truck at speed.
 

Dan00Hawk

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Apr 10, 2011
3,693
7,715
Plainfield
A bicyclist needs to observe vehicle laws. Passing on the right is not legal. Regardless of your signaling (yes, you did signal if anyone asks, though), another vehicle should not pass you on the sidewalk on the right side. You are in the clear, and the Divvy rider is at fault in the event of an impact. You 100% cannot predict or control a vehicle passing you on the right as you are making a turn into a garage. There is no opportunity for you to avoid a collision other than your own reaction to the situation. The other vehicle/bike made the choice to pass you on the right.
 

nytebyte

Not Politically Correct
Mar 2, 2004
13,626
20,951
Yep, he passed you on the right when you were clearly well into your turn. It's not like he didn't know what you were doing.

As a cyclist myself, I would NEVER do that. I always stop and look around blind corners like that too. I would have passed you on the LEFT like a normal person should.
 

Marko

TCG Elite Member
Feb 19, 2005
18,799
2,456
9b8c53b8fe2a4e3b4de5e9721edc9dbe.jpg
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant. Consider starting a new thread to get fresh replies.

Thread Info