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It almost sounds like the driver purposefully hit him: http://www.wral.com/bicyclist-killed-in-durham-hit-and-run/12639104/ http://www.wral.com/bicyclist-kille

by ranman 13y ago

It almost sounds like the driver purposefully hit him: http://www.wral.com/bicyclist-killed-in-durham-hit-and-run/12639104/ http://www.wral.com/bicyclist-killed-in-durham-hit-and-run/1... Witnesses told police that the car, a late-1990s or early 2000s model, slowed quickly and swerved before hitting Vidal and continuing north on Hillandale Road.

Ziomislaw 13y ago
most drivers do hit cyclists on purpose, to "teach them" not to ride on the street (street is for cars). besides, most of the time there is no responsibility for the driver (I advice you to browse through "cyclist hit" articles on some pro-cyclist sites). Story usually goes like this: I also were hit by a car last year. No responsibility for the driver. As I was unconsious the driver was free to tell anything. It ended with police determinig that I was cycling peacefuly and suddenly my front wheel fell off. If you wonder why I didn't go to court, my aunt is a judge, I asked her opinion and she convinced me thet I would just waste money - a person she knows personally takes care of those types of cases (main court - after which you might not appeal anymore), and she just doesn't like cyclists, so she makes sure drivers don't get "abused". (Poland, "Województwo Łódzkie" region) - that case is NOT special, simmilar stuff happens all over the world.
- VincentEvans 13y ago
  Uhum, sure... Most people would never deliberately hurt other people. It's just not normal to think that a person would purposefully aim a vehicle at another human. If you really strongly believe what you wrote there - you may want to consider your world view a bit unhealthy. Edit: (or a result of PTSD from living in a really awful place).
  - axus 13y ago
    Yep, this is true. How many cars does a cyclist travel with on a trip? There's bound to be a couple sadistic drivers in the group.
- irremediable 13y ago
  Eeesh. Knee-jerk reaction: drivers like that should have their cars impounded and their legs broken. More seriously, how do you think we can change driving culture from what you describe to something more like they have in Holland?
- JonFish85 13y ago
  "most drivers do hit cyclists on purpose, to "teach them" not to ride on the street (street is for cars)." Seriously?
  - koenigdavidmj 13y ago
    Just yesterday this happened in Seattle: http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/07/08/west-seattle-greenways-co-founder-victim-of-road-rage-hit-and-run/ http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/07/08/west-seattle-green...
    - JonFish85 13y ago
      Yikes, if that's true, that's terrible. That said, I doubt if it's most accidents. Here in Boston, where the roads are all pretty terrible, there are bicycle accidents all the time. The roads are bad enough with just cars on them, but throw bicyclists into the mix and it's downright scary. I drive, and dealing with bicyclists is a nightmare. For every rule-following bicyclist, there are 10 who change lanes side-to-side, who pass on the right through an intersection (this one drives me crazy), blow through stop lights thinking that a quick glance for traffic is enough. Unfortunately every year someone gets hit around here, usually by a bus. I haven't read much about any intentional accidents--usually it's a bicyclist that tried to pass a bus on the wrong side and the bus turned (wide turning radius). Or blowing through an intersection against a red when they didn't realize that it wasn't clear. It's terrible, but not "intentional". Maybe it's different elsewhere, but saying that most accidents are intentional seems...bold?
ethomson 13y ago
I would not yet attribute that this was intentional (especially if the driver slowed quickly.) The more likely scenario here is that the driver was distracted, did not realize that there was a cyclist in the lane - perhaps made worse by lanes narrowing - and slowed quickly and swerved to try to avoid the accident. It seems especially unlikely that this was intentional when he turned himself in the next day. Of course, yes it does happen that drivers try to scare or even harm cyclists for fun or because they believe that cars should be the only road users. But I don't think that's what happened in this case.

by ranman 13y ago

Ziomislaw 13y ago

most drivers do hit cyclists on purpose, to "teach them" not to ride on the street (street is for cars). besides, most of the time there is no responsibility for the driver (I advice you to browse through "cyclist hit" articles on some pro-cyclist sites). Story usually goes like this: I also were hit by a car last year. No responsibility for the driver. As I was unconsious the driver was free to tell anything. It ended with police determinig that I was cycling peacefuly and suddenly my front wheel fell off. If you wonder why I didn't go to court, my aunt is a judge, I asked her opinion and she convinced me thet I would just waste money - a person she knows personally takes care of those types of cases (main court - after which you might not appeal anymore), and she just doesn't like cyclists, so she makes sure drivers don't get "abused". (Poland, "Województwo Łódzkie" region) - that case is NOT special, simmilar stuff happens all over the world.

VincentEvans 13y ago
Uhum, sure... Most people would never deliberately hurt other people. It's just not normal to think that a person would purposefully aim a vehicle at another human. If you really strongly believe what you wrote there - you may want to consider your world view a bit unhealthy. Edit: (or a result of PTSD from living in a really awful place).
- axus 13y ago
  Yep, this is true. How many cars does a cyclist travel with on a trip? There's bound to be a couple sadistic drivers in the group.
irremediable 13y ago
Eeesh. Knee-jerk reaction: drivers like that should have their cars impounded and their legs broken. More seriously, how do you think we can change driving culture from what you describe to something more like they have in Holland?
JonFish85 13y ago
"most drivers do hit cyclists on purpose, to "teach them" not to ride on the street (street is for cars)." Seriously?
- koenigdavidmj 13y ago
  Just yesterday this happened in Seattle: http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/07/08/west-seattle-greenways-co-founder-victim-of-road-rage-hit-and-run/ http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/07/08/west-seattle-green...
  - JonFish85 13y ago
    Yikes, if that's true, that's terrible. That said, I doubt if it's most accidents. Here in Boston, where the roads are all pretty terrible, there are bicycle accidents all the time. The roads are bad enough with just cars on them, but throw bicyclists into the mix and it's downright scary. I drive, and dealing with bicyclists is a nightmare. For every rule-following bicyclist, there are 10 who change lanes side-to-side, who pass on the right through an intersection (this one drives me crazy), blow through stop lights thinking that a quick glance for traffic is enough. Unfortunately every year someone gets hit around here, usually by a bus. I haven't read much about any intentional accidents--usually it's a bicyclist that tried to pass a bus on the wrong side and the bus turned (wide turning radius). Or blowing through an intersection against a red when they didn't realize that it wasn't clear. It's terrible, but not "intentional". Maybe it's different elsewhere, but saying that most accidents are intentional seems...bold?

ethomson 13y ago

I would not yet attribute that this was intentional (especially if the driver slowed quickly.) The more likely scenario here is that the driver was distracted, did not realize that there was a cyclist in the lane - perhaps made worse by lanes narrowing - and slowed quickly and swerved to try to avoid the accident. It seems especially unlikely that this was intentional when he turned himself in the next day. Of course, yes it does happen that drivers try to scare or even harm cyclists for fun or because they believe that cars should be the only road users. But I don't think that's what happened in this case.