[SDCBC] Bicyclist Dies In Crash With Motorcycle

[Jack Bochsler]

I thought about this - not to be pedantic, but veering means
to turn sharply.  But what would be categorized as a sharp
turn at 50mph is quite doable and natural at 20mph, and easy
at 12mph.  So what would appear to be abrupt actions from the
perspective of a motorized vehicle may well be natural behavior
from a bicycle.

So when crossing a lane to avoid a freeway on-ramp, what appears 
as a natural, smooth lane crossing to me appears as veering across
the lane to the motorist behind me. So both parties can be equally
'right' and 'wrong' in the same situation.

Although it would be nice if motorists could account for cyclist
specific behavior, history shows otherwise.  And thinking about
bicycle peleton behavior, collisions I have seen are a result of
cyclists moving quicker than the rider behind can react.
So the onus is clearly on a cyclist to move thru traffic as a 
vehicle would, not as a bicycle can.

jack

--- Jim Baross <JimBaross at cox.net> wrote:

> At the risk of appearing to be too quick to jump to the defense of 
> the bicyclist... something I/we may be accused/guilty of in this case
> 
> where we don't know what really happened.... We do know that people 
> on bikes and in vehicles do make mistakes.
> 
> That said, bicyclists veer. It is the nature of a two-wheeled device 
> to need to be steered/veered/moved from side to side to keep upright.
> 
> People overtaking such a device should account for that veering to 
> some degree by using safe passing behaviors - slowing until it is 
> safe to move over to provide safe passing distance. It is not 
> generally sufficient to continue the same roadway position when 
> overtaking someone traveling slower.
> 
> But, maybe the motorcyclist did try to pass safely....
> 
> At 09:44 AM 6/6/2007, Jack Bochsler wrote:
> >My interpretation of the "bicyclist veered" statements
> >is that the bicyclist did not do what the motorist had
> >wanted/hoped/desired.
> >
> >jack
> >
> >--- Tom Jenney <Thomas.Jenney at Sun.COM> wrote:
> >
> > > They had this story on NBC7/39 TV News this afternoon.  The
> reporter
> > > said the cyclist just suddenly veered in front of the
> motorcyclist, who
> > > was unable to stop in time.  Maybe that is what really happened 
> > in this case, but
> > > it just seems a little dubious when this is the standard
> explanation
> > > reported by the media.  It perpetuates the notion that bicyclists
> 
> > as a whole
> > > don't  know what they are doing on the road and probably should 
> > not be there since
> > > they end up getting killed due to their erratic riding behavior.
> > >
> 
> 
> 
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