Happy Friday!
Russian dashcam catches a driver veering right into a cyclist. Incredibly, one of my Twitter followers, an avid cyclist who lived in Russia blamed this on the cyclist, explaining to me that “cyclists are super dangerous and create problems for law abiding motorists”!!
And then check this out from Ted in the Southland: Two police officers witnessed a right hook. They gave their statement to the traffic cop who arrived to investigate the injury crash and clearly acknowledged the driver was at fault. The traffic cop, however, failed to cite the driver because — get this — “It is not a crime to hit a pedestrian.”
Gah.
Finally, I’m hearing from my friends in San Diego that they’re getting hassled by the gate guards at Camp Pendleton in the wake of the cyclist fatality there. You might recall the video evidence showing the bus driver who plowed right into the back of a group of cyclists. Although the bus driver initially claimed the cyclists swerved in front of him, video shows the cyclists held their line riding as far right as practicable (and then some — they’re right up against the road edge) as the bus driver rear ended the group.
In spite of the evidence, the Marine base guards are clearly blaming the cyclists, ordering them to ride against the edge of the road, which goes against the advice of every bike safety expert in the nation.
WHERE in “the Southland” are pedestrians fair game? That’s awful.
At least the motorist STOPPED! which is a lot better than many similar USA incidents.
“In spite of the evidence, the Marine base guards are clearly blaming the cyclists, ordering them to ride against the edge of the road, which goes against the advice of every bike safety expert in the nation.”
I’m confused. Is he telling them to ride in the gutter? What exactly is the advice of the bike safety experts?
Sorry – I meant to spell it out but ran out of time. The gate guards are telling cyclists to ride on the fog line on the narrow road through Pendleton. For substandard width roads, cyclists should ride more towards the middle of the road to (1) improve visibility and (2) show following road users that there’s insufficient space to pass without changing lanes.