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Just saw the most amazing thing... (bike vs. car in intersection)

stonyc

stonyc

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 15, 2005
1,259
1
Michigan
on my way home from work. I was stopped maybe two or three cars back from the intersection, the green light had only just turned green. There's usually a second or two delay before the first person gets going, normal. Out of the corner of my eye I see something moving really fast... a biker is flying through, trying to make his way across the intersection... this guy, is no joke, trying to make an intersection 4-5 seconds after our green came. There are three lanes going in my direction, the left turn lane, a straight lane, and a straight/right-turn lane. There's noone in that straight/right-turn lane at the time. Then, I see a blue Jeep come flying up that lane... the biker does NOT see this. Biker is still flying in front of us, trying to cross the intersection and I'm sitting there thinking that only one thing can come of this... a dead biker.

I'm sitting there in my car, just stunned, too frozen to think to do anything, honk, whatever... just waiting for the inevitable happen. Time seems to slow down, and my vision is blocked by the car at the front of my line... I see the Blue jeep slam on the brakes and swerve. No crashing noise. Then I see the biker picking himself and his bike off the ground, the Jeep actually missed him! The biker is holding his arm, brushing himself off and looking up the street to where the Jeep had gone, glaring. I didn't know whether or not to yell at the biker, "You ****ing idiot, what the hell were you thinking trying to make that intersection?!"

Instead, I yell out "Are you OK?"... guy nods and gets on his bike. Meanwhile, I look ahead... the Jeep hasn't stopped, the driver just kept going! :confused: I mean, fine... the biker was an idiot... but you almost ****ing killed a fellow human being! Wouldn't you at least stop, turn around and look to see that the guy is okay? Fine, blame the biker... but what if he had died? Suddenly you go from callousness towards another human being to criminal charges and jail time.

I was just stunned by it all... the sheer stupidity of that biker... the appalling disrespect to someone you almost killed. Both of those people are incredibly fortunate and I would hope they both learned something from it... but jeez! :mad:
 
I bike a lot, and I always stop at intersections because I have seen something like what you described happen so many times. Bikers die here in Portland all the time. My problem is that these stupid bikers who run red lights give ALL bikers a bad name, and I can't tell you how many times I have had waterbottles, trash, food, and ciggarette butts thrown at me...all for just biking. I've been cut off and sworn at for doing nothing. It is out of control. Drivers do not realize that bikes are legal recognized as cars, meaning that cars must share the road with bikers as if they were just another slow moving car, and bikers do not realize that they are legally cars as well, meaning that they can't run red lights or speed.
 
welshandrew said:
This is where Darwin's theory of natural selection usually intercedes!
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Are you sure? The guy was in a Jeep. Even if his genes were weaker, the biker still would've been the guy who died, fo' sho'. :D

Unless there is a God and the Jeep exploded as soon as it hit the bike. But then again God would never agree with Darwin.
 
Felldownthewell said:
I bike a lot, and I always stop at intersections because I have seen something like what you described happen so many times. Bikers die here in Portland all the time. My problem is that these stupid bikers who run red lights give ALL bikers a bad name, and I can't tell you how many times I have had waterbottles, trash, food, and ciggarette butts thrown at me...all for just biking. I've been cut off and sworn at for doing nothing. It is out of control. Drivers do not realize that bikes are legal recognized as cars, meaning that cars must share the road with bikers as if they were just another slow moving car, and bikers do not realize that they are legally cars as well, meaning that they can't run red lights or speed.
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I bike everywhere too, and have had the same crap happen to me week after week. Lots of profanity and swerving, and thrown food. My girlfriend even got called a"whore" and a "slut" by some guy when she was biking, and all of this in front of his girlfriend who was in the passenger seat. And she hadn't said anything, she was just biking along with traffic. He then threw some drink on her. Nice guy.

But yeah, I've seen lots of bikers go the wrong way on streets, or run lights and stop signs. Almost always its a weekend rider, or some poor dumb college kid that has no idea what he/she is doing. They really make commuter bikers look bad, lemme tell ya.
 
God was rootin' for the Jeep to hit that idiot biker. ;)


I put the blame entirely on the biker. It was his fault for crossing the intersection, for almost causing an accident, for almost getting hit, and if he had actually BEEN hit and killed, then I'd blame the biker for emotionally scarring the driver of the Jeep for life. After all, the biker would not have been hit because of poor and careless driving, and yet she's going to get all the blame and guilt poured on him/her.

I know the driver would feel guilty regardless of who's fault it is. I would feel bad if I was driving and hit a biker with my car too, even if it was the biker's fault. However, from an outside perspective, why should the driver feel bad other than human nature?

I'd hope that the driver wouldn't get any blame for careless driving or manslaughter.
 
Wow, talk about a close call. :eek:

Glad that no one was hurt, although the driver of the jeep should have at least checked to make sure the biker was okay. :eek:
 
dmw007 said:
Wow, talk about a close call. :eek:

Glad that no one was hurt, although the driver of the jeep should have at least checked to make sure the biker was okay. :eek:
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Why? If it was the bikers fault and there was no collision, why should the Jeep have stopped? When two cars almost collide they don't stop and talk about it, they just move on.
 
asxtb said:
Why? If it was the bikers fault and there was no collision, why should the Jeep have stopped? When two cars almost collide they don't stop and talk about it, they just move on.
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For that exact reason, I often wish there was a way that I could send messages to any car within a certain range. Sort of like WiFi between cars. I hate seeing people drive like f*cking idiots. I don't care about them, but it's the poor soul they run into and kill I'm scared for.
 
asxtb said:
Why? If it was the bikers fault and there was no collision, why should the Jeep have stopped? When two cars almost collide they don't stop and talk about it, they just move on.
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Last time i had a close call was last month at 3 am some guy pulls in front of me from an intersection into the left lane of the highway. no other traffic, just pulls right in front of me. im goin 55 mph in the left lane and i had to swerve into the grassy median. I WAS PISSED!! I didn't continue with my life, caught up with him and his buddy, he turned into a wal-mart, i pulled next to him and asked what the hell their problem was. the driver was going fo the door to get out and whoop my ass i guess, his friend holds him back and says that they apologize. close call twice, lol. they were prolly were drunk, coulda called the cops on em.
 
Bobdude161 said:
Last time i had a close call was last month at 3 am some guy pulls in front of me from an intersection into the left lane of the highway. no other traffic, just pulls right in front of me. im goin 55 mph in the left lane and i had to swerve into the grassy median. I WAS PISSED!! I didn't continue with my life, caught up with him and his buddy, he turned into a wal-mart, i pulled next to him and asked what the hell their problem was. the driver was going fo the door to get out and whoop my ass i guess, his friend holds him back and says that they apologize. close call twice, lol. they were prolly were drunk, coulda called the cops on em.
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But this is the opposite of what happened. Above, it was the bikers fault, the Jeep did nothing wrong. Therefore, I feel the Jeep has no obligation to stop. In your example, it was the other car's fault, so he should have stopped. If the Jeep ran the red light, then I would say, yes, the Jeep should have stopped.
 
Well, even if it wasn't his fault, if you almost hit a guy, then see him lying on the ground, wouldn't you feel some obligation to stop and see if he's ok?
 
He coulda been totally unaware. People can be so involved in something else while they're driving (make-up, eating, cellphone, adjusting their package :cool: ).

I witnessed an old guy accidently backup his car into a motorist and just popped back into drive and drove off. the lady victim was stunned and I followed the geezer for 5 miles honking at him while I got his plate number. He was completely clueless. He thought I was stalking him for no reason. Old ppl need to have re-evaluations. :eek:
 
Bobdude161 said:
He coulda been totally unaware. People can be so involved in something else while they're driving (make-up, eating, cellphone, adjusting their package :cool: ).
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The driver of the Jeep definitely was not unaware... they slammed on their brakes and swerved away from the biker. So they had to have known that they almost hit the guy.
 
Phat Elvis said:
I say the jeep should have stopped to see if they hit the biker. It's not always that obvious. Hell, some woman in Delaware recently drove for miles with a dead pedestrian on her hood http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/15097948.htm
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Wow, that article is ridiculous - I just don't have the words...and the fathers comments at the end?

Driving is not a right - and i hate people who think it is. The woman in the article should go away (to prison) for a very long time.

Back to the original post - the biker is an idiot. And he probably thinks he is in no way at fault.

All drivers (car, truck, bus, bike) should be re-examined every 5 years up to the age of 50 then every 3 years from then on - and dare I say it as many will disagre - but no-one over the age of 70 should drive at all (some taxi transportation benifit for those who need to get around) I have seen way too many accidents caused by elderly drivers and the cost in damage and life is too high.
 
I was almost hit by a car while crossing a crosswalk on a skateboard, although it would have been prudent for me to get off my skateboard and walk across it like I usually do I saw people crossing so I figured that the cars are stopped and I would be able to cross.

For whatever reason one guy started driving and I put my hand on his hood and jumped forward onto the grass.

He didn't stop, and the rest of the people around me were kind of confused.
 
iAlan said:
All drivers (car, truck, bus, bike) should be re-examined every 5 years up to the age of 50 then every 3 years from then on -cost in damage and life is too high.
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Dude, have u gone bananas? I just realized that 50 ain't a long way off for me....

FYI, I ride a bike, dive regularly, hang around the Grasshopper in Amsterdam and still go to rock concerts

But, if you want to yank drivers licenses to older folks, I would not disagree, provided in Europe we get an extra 20 yrs on the grounds that those who made it to 70 here deserve a bousus...:p

They can take my car as long as they leave me my Duc....:D
 
ScubaDuc said:
FYI, I ride a bike, dive regularly, hang around the Grasshopper in Amsterdam and still go to rock concerts
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Riding bikes in Holland is a ton of fun; way safer, no hills, and just plain enjoyable. One of the top reasons I want to move there.

I do think that after a certain age drivers should have to re-take their drivers test, not only to re-examine their actual abilities but to remind them of the new and changed laws. It may be a good idea to have the test be mandatory every 10 years or so so that it is not an ageist thing.
 
livingfortoday said:
I bike everywhere too, and have had the same crap happen to me week after week. Lots of profanity and swerving, and thrown food. My girlfriend even got called a"whore" and a "slut" by some guy when she was biking, and all of this in front of his girlfriend who was in the passenger seat. And she hadn't said anything, she was just biking along with traffic. He then threw some drink on her. Nice guy.

But yeah, I've seen lots of bikers go the wrong way on streets, or run lights and stop signs. Almost always its a weekend rider, or some poor dumb college kid that has no idea what he/she is doing. They really make commuter bikers look bad, lemme tell ya.
Click to expand...

I bike a lot too and try to follow the rules of the road, but it seems most cars just ignore bikers. I am always getting honked at and cut off when I am on the road, but there really is no other place to ride. Drivers around here are also known to not signal, pull out of intersections without looking, etc.

The worst I had was a bunch of kids try to hit me with rocks and call me "whitey" and "cracker" (luckily they missed with the rocks!).
 
Most bikers in my area are idiots. They have these crotch rocks that can travel at high speeds so they think they are king of the roads. I love the bikers who wear shorts and a tank top on a bike. The evil part of me wishes they would have to lay the bike and learn a lesson. I told a guy on a bike once that he was only human and he should wear some sort of gear, he only laughed at me and took off going about 80 in 2 seconds.
 
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