this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2024
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This sucks all around. Sad for the cyclist who was killed, for the driver who has to live with it, along with the other riders.
How could a cyclist not understand inattentional blindness?
As a motorcyclist, this is one of the first things you learn in class - other people don't see you because they don't expect to see you.
Assuming others see you is like planning to make this situation happen.
I've had drivers not see me and I have a really annoying headlight flasher with other lights up front.
It's my life on the line, I never assume other drivers see me - even when they look me in the eye. Ive seen too many mistakes, and avoided (so far) all of them.
While i get your point and i also ride defensively, but man, fuck that victim blaming attitude. They ride in a group of 10, it's like when driver saying they couldn't see a herd of cow because they aren't expect to see them. It's THEIR job to drive safely, attention on the road, not whatever the shit they're looking. I drive and i cycle, and i have some mistake while driving because i was looking at the shop or signboard, luckily nothing happened, but i will never blame the other but myself for not being attentive. In this particular case, the driver is very apologetic, she made a grave mistake, and she didn't blame the cyclist, which is good because she need to imprint that mistake in herself for the rest of her life for not paying attention. Lots of other motorcyclist/cyclist/pedestrian lost their life but still get blamed for the driver's mistake, always with lame excuse of "losing control" or "couldn't see them".
Edit: imagine your two daughters left for school in a motorcycle, and then police called and said both your daughter lost their life because a truck trying to turn right(or left if you're american) on a junction and couldn't see them going straight, and now you're yelling at your daughters corpses for not riding defensively.
I'm a very defensive cyclist (and motorist), but the idea that it's the most vulnerable people on the road or sidewalk who have to pay attention more than the person behind the wheel is exactly the thing that motorists want to hear.
Why can't car drivers pay attention? Why can't they follow the rules and stay below or at the posted speed limits? Why is it that "I didn't see you" is such an airtight defence, that society basically accepts it as normal without any consequence?
People are getting killed doing ordinary things, and it's because of someone else driving a multi-ton weapon without any regard for human life.
And it's not only humans. Some will purposely go out of their way to drive INTO animals, but maybe the animal should have been paying better attention. /s
I'm getting really tired and angry of seeing cyclists and pedestrians getting run over on a regular basis, and then getting blamed for not anticipating every idiot's move behind the wheel.
Dollars to donuts she was on her phone. It's not an unfortunate accident, it's manslaughter
As a motorcyclist and bicyclist, I don't agree with the idea that it's the victim's sole responsibility to be visible at all times; there is a minimum expectation of sanity behind the wheel of a multi-ton vehicle when it comes to following rules, expectations and the law.
Based on this article, I don't think this person ought to be permitted to drive again, they've proven that it's too much responsibility.
Why would you not expect to see other road users at an intersection? You would expect to see a car, why not a cyclist?
Because everybody on the roads are complete idiots and you should always drive accordingly. Don't trust blinkers "I had it on from the previous turn", don't trust lack of em, don't trust someone slowing down to let you pass "oh I wasn't letting them pass (and anyways regular drivers cannot 'give you right of way'). Don't trust cars at crossings - people pass when others have stopped. Lower cars can sometimes not see you because of the edge of the car door / the thing that the windshield sits in. Higher cars can not see shorter people or kids.
At the end of the day, cars are 2 ton machines that go at very high speeds, a cyclist is basically 80kg + the weight of the bike. Same in trains vs cars.
It's worthless to have "he had right of way" written on your tombstone.
I mean you're making a lot of assumptions about the situation here. The only piece of context the article provides is that they were at an intersection (doesn't state what kind), the cyclists were already going through and "she just came right across and split the group."
It doesn't say if there was a hill for the oncoming traffic which could have caused them not to see the car before the group began to cross. It doesn't say that the cyclists all saw the car and decided "you know what we have enough time let's just go." It doesn't say she was on her phone (though that is what my assumption is).
What we know is that she, intentionally or not, killed someone because "she didn't see them." How could you possibly fault a group of 10 people for this?
Editing to add: Your argument is all about trust. You can trust or not trust anyone to do anything and all that does is increase or decrease your chances of a critical outcome like this. I ride very defensively and very visibly. Safety vest, front and rear cameras with lights, the works. At a certain point the only thing I can to do increase my odds of not getting hit while riding is just not riding my bike, which is not an option for me or many other people.
I'm not making any assumptions or speaking about this specific situation. I'm saying this as a general rule.
You are quoting something that I didn't say in my comment. It wasn't even remotely close.
I'm sorry, that was the top level comment user. That's my mistake.