I want the ST collective:
A cyclist is traveling as the fourth “vehicle” in a designated bike lane, roughly five feet behind the third car in line going around 20 mph. Third car wants to take a right hand turn, slows, and cuts off cyclist, striking cyclist’s rear wheel subsequently catapulting cyclist. Is/could the cyclist (be) at fault?
I’ll probably get flogged for saying so but I think so. As the trailing vehicle, likely in a blind spot, the cyclist should have slowed down to let the vehicle in front make a turn.
Cyclist didn’t know the car was making a right turn – no blinker and it is word against word whether driver used a blinker.
A cyclist is traveling as the fourth “vehicle” in a designated bike lane, roughly five feet behind the third car in line going around 20 mph. Third car wants to take a right hand turn, slows, and cuts off cyclist, striking cyclist’s rear wheel subsequently catapulting cyclist. Is/could the cyclist (be) at fault?
Separate lane. Car must merge into it after letting the cyclist pass before making the right hand turn.
No designated bike lane? Totally different story.
dp
.
A cyclist is traveling as the fourth “vehicle” in a designated bike lane, roughly five feet behind the third car in line going around 20 mph. Third car wants to take a right hand turn, slows, and cuts off cyclist, striking cyclist’s rear wheel subsequently catapulting cyclist. Is/could the cyclist (be) at fault?
Separate lane. Car must merge into it after letting the cyclist pass before making the right hand turn.
No designated bike lane? Totally different story.
x2
A bike lane is really no different than a car lane. Most times the bike lane will turn striped just before intersections indicating where it is legal for a car to merge right into the bike lane in order to make the right turn. I know during my drivers road test, it was one of the things they tested for. They tell you to make a right turn, but if you cross the solid white line of the bike lane, you lose points. You are required to turn on your blinker, wait till the bike lane turns striped, yield to any bikers in that lane, then merge into the bike lane…THEN make the right turn. If you make the right turn from the vehicle lane of traffic and cut across the bike lane in one movement, you will fail. The most common error made in this scenario is the driver simply merging into the bike lane prior to it turning striped.
I’m not sure how this is handled if you are turning into a driveway where the bike lane stays solid though.
I can tell you how it went when I was pushed to the curb from a motorist. They were at fault because, as you said, it was a bike lane and she had to check for traffic before making the turn. Luckily I only slid not he grass and wreck my RD and no physical damage so the cop didn’t issue a ticket but took down the accident report and told the lady she was at fault and because the damage was under $1200 (?), or something legally, and there was no medical needed he told her to pay to fix my bike and she agree. Now if it was worse and we had to go to court I would hope it would be the same since a bike lane is a lane. And this happened in the opening of the driveway at her “retirement” community.
Well, said “third car” was a 2014 Porsche Carrera 911 S piloted by some 20yo… Kind of gets me a little bent out of shape now when the officer told me, after not asking for my side, that I was at fault, but he wouldn’t issue me a ticket…
A cyclist is traveling as the fourth “vehicle” in a designated bike lane, roughly five feet behind the third car in line going around 20 mph. Third car wants to take a right hand turn, slows, and cuts off cyclist, striking cyclist’s rear wheel subsequently catapulting cyclist. Is/could the cyclist (be) at fault?
Separate lane. Car must merge into it after letting the cyclist pass before making the right hand turn.
No designated bike lane? Totally different story.
That. You got a lane to yourself. Car merged into your lane.
No bike lane? Don’t be passing stopped cars on the right. Get behind the last car and go when they go. Or else, someone will right hook you because they will not expect anyone to the right, and then you’ll get to pay all the medical bills and pay for a new bike because the driver won’t be at fault.