Usually it's the other way round

[bellinghman]

Cyclists often rightly complain that other road users don't always see them. This is a problem - a number of collisions occur when vehicles pull out or cut across in front of them.

But this case is different: Cyclist doesn't see stationary van.

nil nisi bonum and all that, but <cynical>I can only think that, the van being stopped at a pedestrian crossing, the cyclist was too intent on running the red light and knocking over a pedestrian or two ...</cynical>

Comments

[mobbsy.livejournal.com]

A few weeks ago, I was waiting on the road from Horningsea to turn onto the A14. There was one car stationary behind me, then a 16 year-old lad on a scooter drove straight into the back of that car. He seemed a bit bashed up, hurt his leg, but was still conscious (I hung around until I'd given details as a witness and the ambulance turned up). His bike was a wreck though.

I think the problem must have been inattention and the sun being straight in his eyes.

[artela.livejournal.com]

My younger sister once cycled into the back of a stationary bright red post office van... she didn't live it down for quite a while! In her defence, it was hammering down with rain so she was in "head down" mode, but even so *LOL*.

[knell.livejournal.com]

It's easier than you might think. Don't forget that cycling in towns is a very high-concentration exercise - if you're in a car, for instance, people generally don't pull out in front of you (too often), but if you're on a bike people will often do things like starting to pull out before you've gone past because "hey, a bike is only narrow", or pulling out of parking spaces, or whatever. This is very distracting, and while distracted by someone dicking around in a BMW and pulling out of a parking space I ran into the back of a Smart stopped at a zebra crossing a while ago. No damage done, but it can easily happen. People sometimes forget that a bike can be doing 30 or 40 kph quite easily, and assume they're able to stop within 1 metre.

And yes, I stop religiously at red lights. No, I don't ride on the pavement. No, I don't ride the wrong way down one way streets. Or do any of the other things drivers seem to use as an excuse to spread the hatin'.

[sierra-le-oli.livejournal.com]

I was tempted to make a smart remark about moonwalking bears, but then I clicked through and saw the cyclist had actually died, poor bastard.