Rider responsibility on trails?

Okay, this one's been gnawing at me. Friday night I was hit by a
bicyclist while riding my bike on a bike/pedestrian trail. It was night,
there were street lamps, traffic was light, I had a front light and rear
reflectors, and noone had passe dme for about three miles. Riding
about 13 mph, looked to my left and saw a turnoff I should have taken.
With no oncoming traffic, I braked and swung to the left...

From behind, the guy who hit me had enough time to say "Oh **** I can't
believe you did that" before he hit me. I never detected him until I
heard "Oh sh..." I must weigh much more than him because he actually
bounced backward, and I just fell down. My front wheel was far out of
true, and his was tacoed.

Initially I felt really bad and thought I'd offer to get him a new
wheel. But the guy was REALLY MAD. He was trying to control his anger.
I was trying to offer help while being ready for a punch. He asked a
couple of accusatory questions about my bicycling and riding behavior.
Obviously he wasn't going to calm down so I picked up my bike and walked
away.

Then I thought about it for a moment. Isn't it your responsibility to
read the road in front of you? If we were cars, he would have been
guilty. No doubts at all. What about a bike path? He had no lights,
so we was visually limited and probably had a delayed reaction time. I
have to admit I did a stupid thing, because I know from experience other
people are like him - not paying attention to the road in front of them.
And he put all of his thought into "Oh **** I can't believe you did
that" instead of steering out of it.

So, for you experienced road cyclists out there, what do you consider
proper riding? Is the cyclist responsible for what's behind as much as
what's in front?

Collin wrote:

So, for you experienced road cyclists out there, what do you consider
proper riding? Is the cyclist responsible for what's behind as much as
what's in front?

You should hold your line while riding. If you're going to pull out
of line or make a turn, do a left shoulder check first and indicate
your turns with a hand signal. Someone may be overtaking you, or (on
roads) there may be a car approaching from behind.

I've had a few scary moments on century rides when passing slow,
inexperienced groups of riders who weaved suddenly instead of
holding their lines. Now I'm always very cautious when passing a
rider I don't know.

But yes, the overtaking rider is responsible to avoid collisions. It
can be hard when the rider in front does dumb things, though, like
braking hard and swerving.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Collin wrote:

So, for you experienced road cyclists out there, what do you consider
proper riding? Is the cyclist responsible for what's behind as much as
what's in front?

You should hold your line while riding. If you're going to pull out
of line or make a turn, do a left shoulder check first and indicate
your turns with a hand signal. Someone may be overtaking you, or (on
roads) there may be a car approaching from behind.

I've had a few scary moments on century rides when passing slow,
inexperienced groups of riders who weaved suddenly instead of
holding their lines. Now I'm always very cautious when passing a
rider I don't know.

But yes, the overtaking rider is responsible to avoid collisions. It
can be hard when the rider in front does dumb things, though, like
braking hard and swerving.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

1. Overtaking vehicle is responsible, it's up to him to inform you of his
intent to pass ("on your left, please", etc.).
2. Had he been using a light, you may have seen the beam of his light and
known he was going to pass you.
3. If he had time to say "Oh ****, I can't believe you did that" before he
hit you, he had time to hit the brakes hard before he made contact, or
maneuver around you, or both. Doesn't sound like he did.
4. Always, always check behind you before turning left on a bike path, or a
street, or before moving into the left turn lane on a street. #1 still
applies, but there's no sense getting hit if you can avoid it.

IMHO, you might have been able to avoid the incident, but it was still
mostly the other guy's stupidity that caused it. Whatever mistakes you made
certainly don't seem to warrant the reaction you describe.

There's a certain type of fairly athletic cyclist around my home that seem
to regard shared use paths as their own personal training facility. This is
yet another reason why I find myself cycling on the roads more and more,
even though we've got a really wonderful network of shared use paths where I
live.
Just my $.02 worth,
--
mark

1. Overtaking vehicle is responsible, it's up to him to inform you of his
intent to pass ("on your left, please", etc.).
2. Had he been using a light, you may have seen the beam of his light and
known he was going to pass you.
3. If he had time to say "Oh ****, I can't believe you did that" before he
hit you, he had time to hit the brakes hard before he made contact, or
maneuver around you, or both. Doesn't sound like he did.
4. Always, always check behind you before turning left on a bike path, or a
street, or before moving into the left turn lane on a street. #1 still
applies, but there's no sense getting hit if you can avoid it.

IMHO, you might have been able to avoid the incident, but it was still
mostly the other guy's stupidity that caused it. Whatever mistakes you made
certainly don't seem to warrant the reaction you describe.

There's a certain type of fairly athletic cyclist around my home that seem
to regard shared use paths as their own personal training facility. This is
yet another reason why I find myself cycling on the roads more and more,
even though we've got a really wonderful network of shared use paths where I
live.
Just my $.02 worth,
--
mark

From the way I just read this, a couple of thoughts come to mind.

It was entirely his fault and he probably knew it. Which is why he had
the 'tude.

With a few exceptional cicumstances, and this doesn't read to be one,
be it vehicle, vessel or pedestrian, the overtaking must yield
right-of-way. The overtaken has right-of-way.

If he had time to say all that, he had time to get on the brakes and
execute evasive maneuvers.

Glad nobody got hurt.


--
SpearSlinger1

From the way I just read this, a couple of thoughts come to mind.

It was entirely his fault and he probably knew it. Which is why he had
the 'tude.

With a few exceptional cicumstances, and this doesn't read to be one,
be it vehicle, vessel or pedestrian, the overtaking must yield
right-of-way. The overtaken has right-of-way.

If he had time to say all that, he had time to get on the brakes and
execute evasive maneuvers.

Glad nobody got hurt.


--
SpearSlinger1

"Collin" wrote in message
m...
Okay, this one's been gnawing at me. Friday night I was hit by a
bicyclist while riding my bike on a bike/pedestrian trail. It was night,
there were street lamps, traffic was light, I had a front light and rear
reflectors, and noone had passe dme for about three miles. Riding
about 13 mph, looked to my left and saw a turnoff I should have taken.
With no oncoming traffic, I braked and swung to the left...

From behind, the guy who hit me had enough time to say "Oh **** I can't
believe you did that" before he hit me. I never detected him until I
heard "Oh sh..." I must weigh much more than him because he actually
bounced backward, and I just fell down. My front wheel was far out of
true, and his was tacoed.

Initially I felt really bad and thought I'd offer to get him a new
wheel. But the guy was REALLY MAD. He was trying to control his anger.
I was trying to offer help while being ready for a punch. He asked a
couple of accusatory questions about my bicycling and riding behavior.
Obviously he wasn't going to calm down so I picked up my bike and walked
away.

Then I thought about it for a moment. Isn't it your responsibility to
read the road in front of you? If we were cars, he would have been
guilty. No doubts at all. What about a bike path? He had no lights,
so we was visually limited and probably had a delayed reaction time. I
have to admit I did a stupid thing, because I know from experience other
people are like him - not paying attention to the road in front of them.
And he put all of his thought into "Oh **** I can't believe you did
that" instead of steering out of it.

So, for you experienced road cyclists out there, what do you consider
proper riding? Is the cyclist responsible for what's behind as much as
what's in front?

i agree that it's his fault for not warning of a pass AND not having lights!
but i really like having a good bar-end mirror-i can usually spot things
with no lights like cagers who forgot to turn them on.
-alan

"Collin" wrote in message
m...
Okay, this one's been gnawing at me. Friday night I was hit by a
bicyclist while riding my bike on a bike/pedestrian trail. It was night,
there were street lamps, traffic was light, I had a front light and rear
reflectors, and noone had passe dme for about three miles. Riding
about 13 mph, looked to my left and saw a turnoff I should have taken.
With no oncoming traffic, I braked and swung to the left...

From behind, the guy who hit me had enough time to say "Oh **** I can't
believe you did that" before he hit me. I never detected him until I
heard "Oh sh..." I must weigh much more than him because he actually
bounced backward, and I just fell down. My front wheel was far out of
true, and his was tacoed.

Initially I felt really bad and thought I'd offer to get him a new
wheel. But the guy was REALLY MAD. He was trying to control his anger.
I was trying to offer help while being ready for a punch. He asked a
couple of accusatory questions about my bicycling and riding behavior.
Obviously he wasn't going to calm down so I picked up my bike and walked
away.

Then I thought about it for a moment. Isn't it your responsibility to
read the road in front of you? If we were cars, he would have been
guilty. No doubts at all. What about a bike path? He had no lights,
so we was visually limited and probably had a delayed reaction time. I
have to admit I did a stupid thing, because I know from experience other
people are like him - not paying attention to the road in front of them.
And he put all of his thought into "Oh **** I can't believe you did
that" instead of steering out of it.

So, for you experienced road cyclists out there, what do you consider
proper riding? Is the cyclist responsible for what's behind as much as
what's in front?

i agree that it's his fault for not warning of a pass AND not having lights!
but i really like having a good bar-end mirror-i can usually spot things
with no lights like cagers who forgot to turn them on.
-alan

Okay, this one's been gnawing at me.

Thank goodness for another muddled case.

The following vehicle was at fault. The only possible defense he
would have is that you were not using an active tail light (if one
is required in your jurisdiction).

However "I can't believe you did that," argues that he was aware
that you were there.

If not required, was the following cyclist using a headlight, if
required.

Did you execute a signal (not a big point, but if I were the defense
I would raise it).

Generally speaking, IMHO, following too closely gets the big yawn,
because the duty of the person behind you is to exercise due care
and diligence in operation of a vehicle.

As I understand traffic law.


--

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