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| So, you are turning and a cyclist hits you and is injured/dead and you worry about the paint on your 6 months old 3000km on the odo car?
Or I am understanding it wrong? | |
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Guess I asked for this one, given that I was moving at 2/3 mph and the cyclist about the same the likelihood of injury was low, though increased by the fact he wasn't wearing a helmet, so let's just call this me letting off steam, no matter what the circumstances I wouldn't want to see anyone hurt.
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| Why only the corner of your eye? If you're turning, you should be checking your mirrors immediately prior to making the manoeuvre. If you're moving off after being stationary for a period, you should also be making a final check over your shoulder into your blind spot. Signalling doesn't give you the right to make a manoeuvre - it just makes others aware of your intentions.
The point I'm trying to make is that if you had had an accident, this is what the cyclist's lawyer would be saying. You would have to convince a judge that you had checked all these properly immediately before beginning to turn, found them to be clear, and yet the cyclist managed to arrive from outside your field of view to next to your car within half a second or so. I doubt you would win that one, I'm afraid.
Even if the cyclist has made a poor decision themselves (which they clearly have in this case), it would be easy for his lawyer to claim that you had plenty of opportunity to make sufficient observations to avoid the collision. The responsibility for ensuring safety is pretty much all in your hands in this case. | |
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Yes I did check my mirrors, yes I did check the blind spot, just unfortunate he was behind the rear pillar so out of site, and actually I was moving when the cyclist came up the inside, either way the discussion is moot as there was no accident just a near miss.
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| I don't necessarily want to bring up any past history here, but give cyclists some space and respect their right to be on the road. Hitting them is not an option, even if you think you're legally in the right, soft targets go down easy and then figure out how "right" you feel. | |
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I always try and give cyclists way more space than they actually need, we all have a wobble on bike now and then. I certainly respect cyclist/motorcyclists rights to on the road, I use those modes of transports myself, all I ask is that they show me the same respect/right to be on the road and not assume that they have priority over other road users just because they are on a bicycle.
Nobody in their right mind is ever going to go out and try and hit somebody and as you and others have stated regardless of right or wrong everybody has an obligation to do everything they can to avoid an accident be they car driver, cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian