Bike spill, who is at fault?

Triathlon Forum
1

I had a minor crash yesterday and I wanted to get some opinions. Here is the scenario, I’m tooling along the main drag in Avalon, NJ about 8AM Tuesday morning. This road is fairly low vehicle traffic at this time on a weekday, although bike and runner traffic is pretty high. The road has a very wide median and each lane is wide enough to support 2 lanes of traffic and a verywide shoulder for running/cycling. There are no lane markings so cyclists and runners tend to take up the right half of the road in the morning.

I’m catching a little tail wind so I’m moving along at 25 mph or so and passing runners and cyclists very frequently. I’m NOT saying “on your left”, 1) because I’m lazy, and 2) for all of the reasons that have been brought up in the “on your left” threads (scares people, people swerve into you, etc.) I’m passing people well to their left, not even coming close. Well I’m coming up on an older gentleman on a mountain bike, he’s holding his line and not swerving (unlike a lot of people, who are just out for a ride), so I stay in my bars and again plan to pass him wide on his left. All of a sudden he makes a sharp left hand turn, directly into my path, I yell … he stops. I put on the brakes and attempt to swerve behind him at the last minute but just clip his back wheel and go down pretty hard.

Bike was fine, I got some scrapes, scratches and bruises and am sore today, but other than that am fine. The other guy was completely OK, seeing as he had stopped and had both feet planted firmly on the ground at the time of the minimal impact. He was very kind and apologetic, and observed “you sure were going pretty fast there”. I was glad that I wasn’t hurt too bad and once I made sure that the both of us and our bikes were OK I told him not to worry about it and to go on about his ride.

In retrospect, now that I’ve thought about it a little, I think we probably were both at fault, but him a little more than I. For my part I could have, given warning as I came close, but the speed differential being 15-20 mph I don’t know that this would have done too much. Also I could have come out of the aerobars every time I passed someone, but I think I would have hit this guy regardless. For his part, he could have looked over his shoulder before turning left (if I had been a car instead of a cyclist he could have been seriously hurt), also it turned out not to matter but he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

So who should I be mad at? Him, myself or neither?

2

It’s a road, not a bike path, so he seems to be clearly at fault. You don’t stop in the middle of the road. Period.

If you weren’t breaking a posted speed limit, there is no reason why you should be at fault.

3

His fault. I NEVER deviate from my direction of travel (when I am riding alone and not on a set course) with out looking behind me for cars, bikes, rollerbladers, sail boats or what ever. You never ever turn left with out looking.

4

Oh…and dont ride your aero bars on bike paths if people are out.

5

His fault, and he’s damn lucky you aren’t a truck.

6

Yeah I’m never in the bars if I know I only have 5 or 6 feet to maneuver in for bi-directional travel
.

7

Yes it’s his fault, but also, you should know better than that. Announce your presence or take a HUGE berth around other riders/runners. I assume EVERYONE out there is trying to kill me. Paranoid? Yes. But you avoid situations like this.

8

You should be pissed at yourself. Old dudes on mountain bikes swerve - its their nature. You should have known this and taken evasive action well in advance.

9

Anyone who runs into the back of someone is usually at fault.

10

Nope, not always…most times, and these are not cars. Case in point…a guy I work with was passing a VERY slow moving car in a passing zone…car with out ever using a blinker turns left and into the path of my co-worker…though he claimed it was not his fault as he was hit from behind…the police did not see it that way…it is your obligation to SIGNAL and give clear intentions to those behind you…thus cars have brake lights…bikes and runners dont.

11

His fault, totally.

Was he coming home from the Princeton? Maybe he was drunk?

12

I didn’t say always - just usually - read it correctly
.

13

Nope, not always…most times, and these are not cars. Case in point…a guy I work with was passing a VERY slow moving car in a passing zone…car with out ever using a blinker turns left and into the path of my co-worker…though he claimed it was not his fault as he was hit from behind…the police did not see it that way…it is your obligation to SIGNAL and give clear intentions to those behind you…thus cars have brake lights…bikes and runners dont.

I was going to ask – Did the guy signal??? He should have signaled.

If you are out riding – signal your intentions.

14

Actually I ran into the side of his back wheel
.

15

Nope no signal of any kind. If he had even glanced over his shoulder and not seen me or been doing anything except holding his line I would have taken preventative measures

16

Although it is his fault, you have not excerted due caution . If push comes to shove, you gonna get part of the blame.

I would be angry at myself for 2 reasons:

A: I did not let people know that I am coming up. Yelling: “Passing” about 50 yards back works wonders - despite all the nay-sayers who probably never tried it. I rather be called a prick than getting nailed like you.

B: I did not excert enough caution, even so I did know that most recreational riders do not have the proper training/experience.

I hope you are healing well and I congratulate you for not lashing out at him with a lawsuit.

17

Hey Strider

This may fall under the same rule as in down hill skiing, the over taking person has the responsibility to avoid people he/she are overtaking.

If you don’t like saying, “Left” because it startles people your waiting to long to say it.

My 2 cents

Dan…