Judge rules cyclist’s lack of helmet “of no relevance” as taxi driver fined €1,000 for breaking rider’s leg in roundabout crash – after police noted cyclist’s dark clothes and earphones
Judge rules cyclist’s lack of helmet “of no relevance” as taxi driver fined €1,000 for breaking rider’s leg in roundabout crash – after police noted cyclist’s dark clothes and earphones
The judge concluded that the motorist’s actions, which saw him strike the cyclist from behind, were “at the lower end of carelessness” after his vision was “significantly obstructed” approaching the roundabout
The dildo of consequences rarely arrives lubed.
I'm really not a fan of the cops arguing that the cyclist was partly to blame, though, and a €1000 fine is pretty damn low for breaking someone's leg and wrecking a good six months of their life.
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To be fair, I also fail to see how wearing a helmet would've prevented his leg from being broken as well
Yeah, the helmet is a bit much.
Not wearing appropriate clothing and headphones while on the road is a fair point though.
What's clothing that allows me to not be at fault for being run over?
I thought traffic laws are only about having two breaks, lights at night etc
I'm not talking about being at fault.
I don't care about court, I'd rather not be run over.
This case seems like an honest accident, I don't think the driver is too blame too much here. The cyclist got into a blind spot (which is why I hate roundabouts for cyclists) and got hit.
Nobody seems truly at fault here, but making others more aware of yourself, and being more aware yourself might have made this avoidable.
Bad road design is yet again the biggest party to blame here.
You have to drive in a way that accounts for bad road design though. if you have to crawl around a corner you can't see well then you have to do that.
It is your responsibility as a driver to make sure that you can safely stop within the distance you can see, at all times.
If you can only see 10cm around the corner, then you have to drive at 5cm/s
If the cyclist got in that bad of a blind spot, then the taxi must have been HUGE. We have boatloads of roundabouts in NL and they are just fine.
I’m with you on that. Where I live some roafs in the city are not lit and people will wear dark clothes and bike at night without lights. Sometimes you don’t even see them until you’re right on top of them.
It can be kind of scary and even when being careful, there is a risk of hitting someone.
Something reasonably reflective and visible in low light.
Don't dress like a fucking ninja in all black that you are only visible when you're looking at me through a windshield while being on my car's hood. That's how. If anything pisses me off is people like this with lights that have battery from 5 years ago that barely makes them working. Or preferably no lights at all riding a bicycle at dawn. It's like fucks have a death wish or something.
The difference between black shirt and a fluorescent red/orange/yellow/green/blue shirt is MASSIVE. You can spot a cyclist wearing these from kilometer away. Black one, few hundred meters or even less if it's road through shade/forest. I'm a cyclist too and all my shirts are such bright colors because I want to be sure I'm visible to others on the roads.
No its not. The driver is at fault.
Do not blame the victim.
The driver was at fault.
Not wearing appropriate clothing and headphones while on the road is a fair point though.
I've nearly been hit several times (like tires screaching to a halt) while wearing high-viz clothing with the right of way.
It makes no difference when the driver isn't paying attention.
It makes a huge difference if you yourself are paying attention, which seems hard wearing headphones.
And honestly, you said it yourself. "Nearly" hit. Could've been worse if you weren't wearing high-viz clothing.
I cycle daily and just notice how little people are aware of blind spots, cyclists and drivers alike. No harm in driving a little slower, even when you have right of way.
It makes a huge difference if you yourself are paying attention, which seems hard wearing headphones.
What about the driver? Did he listen to the radio? If it seems so hard to pay attention while wearing headphones, why is it still allowed to sell car radios?
wearing high-viz clothing [...] how little people are aware of blind spots
How does wearing high-viz clothing help you when you are in a blind spot? And why does no one ask which colour the taxi was? Was it high-viz or maybe gray or black like most cars?
Drivers also aren’t allowed headphones where I’m from. If the cyclist had a boombox strapped to his bike, that would be comparable to a car radio, but headphones block your perception of external sound a lot more than music from a speaker
Where I'm from, drivers are sitting in sound proofed boxes called cars. The newer the car, the better the sound isolation. So unless the taxi was a convertible, the comparison is invalid.
When I'm wearing my headphones I can easily understand someone talking to me. When I'm sitting in my car I don't hear a word when someone is talking outside the door.
That’s also a huge problem. Cars should not be so soundproof as to block out people shouting or bike bells.
I do agree that it's better to be more visible, but that still shifts the responsibility away from the driver.
Wearing headphones is a pet peeve of mine, and I encounter pedestrians on trails all the time (multiple times per ride) who wear them. But it's still my responsibility as a cyclist to pass with caution.
And honestly, you said it yourself. "Nearly" hit. Could've been worse if you weren't wearing high-viz clothing.
Nope. These were inattentive drivers who should have noticed me (as a pedestrian or cyclist) well before making their turns.
I wear high viz, ride with lights day and night, added additional reflectors, have tires with sidewall reflectors, and even have one bike that's high viz yellow! But I do it mostly so I could never be blamed for being invisible, and I sure as hell know that someone looking down at their phone while driving will still miss me.
You can wear whatever clothes you like if you’re on a bike. Just like you don’t have to paint your car a specific colour to be allowed to drive.
And drivers are allowed to blast music so cyclists should as well. All the safety shouldn’t fall on cyclist double standards.
I’m obnoxious and usually just blast it out loud through my phone like I would if I were driving - I would have headphones in while driving either, so definitely not cycling. Maybe bone-conductors but even then I wouldn’t want magic drowning out any part of my awareness.
I've had drivers not see me and pull out in front of me in broad daylight when I've been wearing a luminous orange top, while riding a bike with a bright flashing front light. What more should I have done to not make it my fault? Set off fireworks?
Set off fireworks?
Yes. Preferably directly at the vehicles. The big boomy ones so they really take notice. 🙃