# Near-miss with a bicycle: my fault? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2010, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775 "2010-08-28T08:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775/41 "2010-09-01T13:28:30Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Jeez, forget about the bike. You walked out knowing there was a car coming from the right that was going to have to stop for you? Minus 100 points right off the top. You just don’t put your life in the hands of others like that, expecting them to see you and hit the brakes and grant you the right of way whether or not the traffic laws back you up. This. Which reminds me of local tragic “accident” - On a private road recently near sunset, a family was taking a walk. They saw their brother returing from an errand in his truck. They waved at him and assumed he would go around them in the road. What they did not know was that the sun angle created glare and the brother did not see his family in the road and hit them all and killed his sister. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775/42 "2010-09-01T19:49:39Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Jeez, forget about the bike. You walked out knowing there was a car coming from the right that was going to have to stop for you? Minus 100 points right off the top. You just don’t put your life in the hands of others like that, expecting them to see you and hit the brakes and grant you the right of way whether or not the traffic laws back you up. Well, I stopped when I reached the center turning lane (where there was no one). I didn’t just blithely set out assuming I wouldn’t have to stop walking at all. If I waited until I couldn’t see anyone coming from either direction, I would’ve been there all day. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775/43 "2010-09-01T20:00:05Z")
It’s not about not seeing any cars, it’s about not putting yourself in a place where they have to hit the brakes in order not to hit you. But perhaps I misunderstood the geometry. Was the car on a collision course with you, or would the car have passed in front of you but stopped to allow you to go first? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775/44 "2010-09-01T20:48:13Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > But perhaps I misunderstood the geometry. Was the car on a collision course with you, or would the car have passed in front of you but stopped to allow you to go first? Had the car not stopped, he would not have walked in front of it. I do this manuever all the time. I hope drivers will stop, but I don’t trust a one of them. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775/45 "2010-09-01T20:57:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > When I’m a pedestrian (which is quite often - I walk A LOT), I walk past cars that are blocking my view very cautiously. Walking in front of a bus who had stopped for me once, I peeked carefully around him to make sure the rest of the traffic had stopped, and the asshole honked at me. I should have reported his impatient ass. After nearly getting hit by two cyclists (and god knows how many cars), this is my standard practice. Years ago I was trying to cross a 4 lane road. I crossed the first two lanes easily and was standing on the median. The guy in the (left traveling) outside lane was kind enough to stop and wave me through. Nice, except the cars in the inside lane were not only not stopping, but in some cases accelerating. Damn the crosswalk and flashing yellow light. The guy who stopped for me started to get pissed that I wasn’t crossing in front of him. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775/46 "2010-09-01T20:58:40Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > It’s not about not seeing any cars, it’s about not putting yourself in a place where they have to hit the brakes in order not to hit you. > > But perhaps I misunderstood the geometry. Was the car on a collision course with you, or would the car have passed in front of you but stopped to allow you to go first? The car on the right was some distance away, coming from the right. Nothing was coming from the left. I walked out to the center of the crosswalk, where it meets the center turning lane, then stopped walking. The car stopped, so I went ahead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/near-miss-with-a-bicycle-my-fault/551775.md?page=2)