Bicyclists On A Witch Hunt

Nearly irrelevant, what is trailing you.

I move thru Boston & it's burbs (128, 28, 24, 3, I93, I95, I495) on the regular these days in a coffin cab KW & 53'. I'm a lane hog - mine, yours & half of theirs. There isn't any other way to make those corners without running over a parked car or knocking down a telephone pole. You have to be aggressive.... not reckless, but definitely aggressive. Massachusetts is the only place I know of, Boston imparticularly, where people SPEED UP when they see a blinker. Place needs to burn to the ground. IMO.

The video is shady, sure.
But someone always wants to blame someone else when #### goes afoul. Human nature: 'not my fault!' Each party could have done something different, but that moment has long since passed...... now we bicker about the dead. *shakes head* Sad, for all of us.

 

The only question I have is was his signal on before the bicycle caught up, if so, no contest because the cyclist was being an idiot.

If not, there is still no reason why the deceased felt it necessary to stay in the path of the trailer, although it would be the driver's fault for not watching his trailer.

 

"wow, so convenient. An open spot right at the corner where I'm going. Can't imagine why nobody took this spot."

 

Glad I dont haul in Boston. Also glad it wasnt me.

 

Blinker was on. Biker rode right into the truck. That said the driver also should of blocked all lanes as he made his turn. A big S turn. I use to haul 90 foot beams in similar town situations. I used all the lanes and the horn if needed. No winners here. Just anger, sad.

 

As both a cyclist and driver, my rule #1 is: avoid getting killed, or killing someone else. Unfortunately, both cyclist and driver made several errors which resulted in the death of the cyclist. There are also road and intersection design deficiencies which contributed to the accident.

The cycling advocates are making a big deal about the fact the truck passed the cyclist on the bridge before making his turn so he should have "known" she was there. Well, so what. There's lots of cars and other cyclists around too. Do they think the driver catalogued them all and knows whether they are going straight or turning?

The driver's first mistake was missing his left turn initially. That one simple thing would have completely eliminated the entire accident. Fate?

The lane next to the curb is actually the right-turn lane for that intersection and not part of the bike lane. You can very clearly see in the video that prior to the intersection the marked bike lane is in the centre and is a shared lane. IN the intersection the dashed lines designate a bike-only lane which lines up with the right-turn lane before the intersection. This is a poor design and can lead to confusion.

Right-turn arrows should be painted on the pavement in the right-turn lane.

Here, in Calgary, we generally follow the best-practise recommendations of a North American road design group. The bike lane would still be to the right, closest to the curb with all motor vehicles to the left. In the middle of the block the line designating the bike lane is solid and there are bike-lane icons painted on the pavement (as are shown in the shared lane in the video). If at all possible, the road designers will avoid mixing traffic at an intersection. So, in a best-case scenario, the motor vehicle traffic will remain to the left and cross the bike lane in the intersection, yielding to any bikes proceeding through the intersection--just the same as they would for pedestrians in the crosswalk. To help facilitate this interaction, the bike lane is painted green so that it stands out and the line designating the lane remains solid. There are also separate signals for the bikes which give them a slight head-start on motor vehicles, so they are safer and more visible. If they decide that the traffic must share the lane, the line designating the bike lane at the intersection will be dashed and the pavement painted green and with bike-lane icons. Motor vehicles must yield to bikes in the lane.

So, the cyclist was actually in the wrong lane and should have been behind the truck and not passing it on the right. You can see, just before the cyclist is hit, that it is clear she was intending to go straight through the intersection. The truck driver may have been aware of the cyclist before initiating his turn, but assumed she was turning right as well. The driver certainly had been signalling his intention to turn well before the intersection, so it is hard to imagine the cyclist could not have seen at least one of the lights on the truck or trailer.

Sadly, the driver is not blameless either. Clearly he had to make a wide turn, so it was impossible for him to use the right-turn lane. Of course we know how difficult it is to monitor all vehicles, pedestrians, poles, curbs, etc., as we are making such turns, but it is incumbent upon the driver to avoid an accident.