09-24-2022, 10:21 AM
(09-24-2022, 09:13 AM)ijmorlan Wrote:(09-23-2022, 05:56 PM)ac3r Wrote: I'm gonna guess something like: "Oi bruv...yeah just hop the next car that comes by on your bike bruv...I've done it a million times...me and Callum will get it on video bruv...trust me it'll blow up on TikTok we'll go viral."
If the context were “we can’t see the stop sign the car is supposed to be stopped at”, then that is the kind of thing that could make a difference. But on re-watching a couple of times, I’m finding it hard to imagine any hidden context mattering in this particular case: the car makes a left turn at what seems to be a reasonable speed, then is unable to stop in time when the rider comes literally jumping out of the bushes. Even if the car could, in principle, stop in time, it’s unreasonable and more to the point unfair to expect motor vehicles to jam on their brakes wherever and whenever a rider wants to cross the road: there has to be some concept of taking turns and allowing people to complete turns they’ve already started. How does that rider behave around pedestrians and other riders? What if he had hit a child walking on the sidewalk?
One of the comments asserts that “In the Netherlands, that is 100% the car drivers fault”. If that is true, then their rules have gone overboard and are no longer protecting cyclists at large but rather oppressing others for the benefit of those few cyclists who behave irresponsibly.
Everyone is so caught up with fault...I am not saying that some hidden piece of context makes the driver at fault.
But was this cyclist recklessly jumping their bikes through the trees onto an active roadway? Maybe. Were they swerving into the trees to avoid some other obstacle that appeared on the other side of the hedge? Maybe that too.
The point is, I don't know what's happening there, so I'm not going to claim to understand the motivations and decision making of everyone involved.
As for the Netherlands, people talk a lot about this, and again, it comes from a North American obsession with fault...I have only theories about why we are so obsessed.
FWIW...I am not a legal scholar in the Netherlands, I know they hold drivers to a higher standard than other road users, but the reason why the Netherlands is safe isn't because their drivers are better. Believe me I know....the main route I take to the city centre is closed right now, and detoured onto a road without bike infra. Most of the time this road is fine, but it serves a business park, so at rush hour, there are a fair number of cars. Many of the drivers who are anxious to get home are aggressive and pushy as they would be in North America. The only difference is that they are surrounded by thousands of cyclists, so they really don't get very far, but I've had plenty enough close passes and drivers honking at cyclists, that I take a different route home when I have my daughter on the bike. (And the fact that I can take a different route is nice.)