Cyclist rushed to the hospital

[spooker]

It was a great day to ride today ... but now it's gone sad ...

http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/17 ... o-hospital

Just yesterday a friend of mine posted a video of being right-hooked going north on Richter at Cadder by a vehicle that had just passed him moments before ...

If this had been car-on-car there would be little to report ... what do we have to do to get people to take care on the roads?

[whatwhat]

I drove by this accident on my way to work this AM. It looked pretty bad from what I saw, but I am glad to hear it wasn't life threatening.

Accidents happen, and sadly some people will accidently not see a cyclist. Sometimes it will be the drivers fault, sometimes it will be the cyclists fault. No matter how careful people are, accidents will always happen.

[spooker]

I drove by this accident on my way to work this AM. It looked pretty bad from what I saw, but I am glad to hear it wasn't life threatening.

Accidents happen, and sadly some people will accidently not see a cyclist. Sometimes it will be the drivers fault, sometimes it will be the cyclists fault. No matter how careful people are, accidents will always happen.

Unfortunately I've heard that while the cyclist is still alive he has had a catastrophic injury ... can't confirm it yet but it sounds bad ...

Using the word "accident" makes it sound like there's nothing we could do about it ... it was a "crash" and as you said someone wasn't paying attention ... we see crashes all the time in this town but do we try to drive better? do we slow down so that we can be more attentive?

What does it take to get someone to "see" a cyclist?

The city has designed a bi-directional bike lane for Sutherland and then drivers would have to remember to look back over their left shoulder to check for a cyclist coming from behind as they made a left turn ... how do you feel about that?

We don't have "accidents", we make preventable mistakes ... I've had close calls when driving and cycling and I try to learn ...

[Dizzy1]

What does it take to get someone to "see" a cyclist?

In an urban environment, its not difficult to oversee a cyclist, pedestrian or other small objects.

[Steve-O]

Not sure if you should stop trolling or stop driving Diz. LOL.

[Dizzy1]

Not sure if you should stop trolling or stop driving Diz. LOL.

Excuse me? If you have nothing constructive to bring to the discussion perhaps you should simply not post and move on. No need to question my driving skills, you don't need to worry about that. And don't ever accuse me of "trolling" whenI post a relevant comment to a discussion.

Urban driving presents many different hazards compared to other driving environments. One of those hazards are the visibility cyclists - they are small objects compared to other hazards in the urban environment. Cyclists and pedestrians can easily blend in with their backgrounds (parked cars, greenery, buildings, other objects) and require extra caution with an extra vigilante eye out for them. If you don't understand that, then its not my driving skills you should be questioning.

[ferri]

HEY! get back on topic! thank you!

[Donald G]

Thee is something wrong with a cyclist having the right to proceed directly through the intersection on a green light and a vehicle having the right to make a right turn at the same intersection.

The problem is compounded by the fact that the cyclist has the right to approach the vehicle from the right rear at 50 KMH. There will continue to be "crashes" until drivers learn to recognize the possibility that a cyclist may be approaching and passing them from the right rear and cyclists learn NOT to pass a vehicle signalling a right turn at the green light intersection.

Defensive driving would eliminate all such crashes. I wonder how many cyclists and MV drivers know whether the cyclist or the vehicle have the right of way in such situations ??

[Dizzy1]

Thee is something wrong with a cyclist having the right to proceed directly through the intersection on a green light and a vehicle having the right to make a right turn at the same intersection. The problem is compounded by the fact that the cyclist has the right to approach the vehicle from the right rear at 50 KMH. There will continue to be "crashes" until drivers learn to recognize the possibility that a cyclist may be approaching and passing them from the right rear and cyclists learn NOT to pass a vehicle signalling a right turn at the green light intersection.

Defensive driving would eliminate all such crashes.

Mirrors, shoulder checks and pay attention and keep an extra eye out for cyclists/pedestrians as you are approaching an intersection.

[whatwhat]

Unfortunately I've heard that while the cyclist is still alive he has had a catastrophic injury ... can't confirm it yet but it sounds bad ...

Using the word "accident" makes it sound like there's nothing we could do about it ... it was a "crash" and as you said someone wasn't paying attention ... we see crashes all the time in this town but do we try to drive better? do we slow down so that we can be more attentive?

What does it take to get someone to "see" a cyclist?

The city has designed a bi-directional bike lane for Sutherland and then drivers would have to remember to look back over their left shoulder to check for a cyclist coming from behind as they made a left turn ... how do you feel about that?

We don't have "accidents", we make preventable mistakes ... I've had close calls when driving and cycling and I try to learn ...

I would love to see the RCMP giving more tickets to drivers and cyclists for things like running stop signs and lights, speeding, not wearing helmets etc in hopes that people may be more conscious if they know there is a negative consequence for doing so.

But honestly mistakes and accidents happen, as Dizzy pointed out in a city setting it can be difficult pay attention to every little thing. No matter how good of a driver you are, we are all still people and mistakes do happen. I almost hit my neighbour on his bike the other day as I was reversing out of my driveway. I was shoulder checking, using my mirrors and have a rearview camera and still almost hit him, even though I was being very aware, he just snuck in at the right angle.

Just like you said, we have all had close calls and try and be more conscious and learn from them. But close calls can become accidents very quickly.

What do you think the city, RCMP, people of Kelowna should do to make drivers (and cyclists) more aware?

[Donald G]

I am not sure that an intensive awareness program would help if it has not yet been identified whether the bicycle or vehicle has the right of way at a green light where the bicycle is heading straight through the intersection and the vehicle is turning right and the bicycle lane is to the right of the vehicle right turn lane.

I do not think that we can rely on all drivers and cyclists to use "good judgement" without clearly identifying what the movement expectations are in such situations.

[spooker]

In this case the bicycle had the right of way since he was going straight on a green while the driver was making a left on the green ...

This was not a case of being "right-hooked" ... I always try to explain to other cyclists that when passing vehicles on the right before an intersection you have to be paranoid for the driver who is going to turn right ... if you can't clear the front fender of the car before they get into position to turn, do not try and pass the car ... I'll gladly stop behind a car that has their turn signal on if they are second or third car in line ...

As for the difficulty of seeing cyclists and pedestrians in the urban environment ... most all of the accidents that have been reported lately are coming from places where visibility is pretty darn clear and during the day so I'm at a loss to understand how it is so easy ... it's hard for me to accept "accidents just happen" ... that's too fatalistic ... that's a rationalization that let's us continue texting while driving ... I'd like to really think we're better than that ... (yes, people tell me I give society too much credit)

[Roz1979]

Jeez for a second I thought it was the one I saw yesterday, but thought they had reported it incorrectly. There was an old man knocked off his bike on Ethel and Laurier yesterday morning around the same time. You can see the spot from today's location. He looked pretty beat up and must have been about 80. Accidents happen but this is just downright careless driving.

[Donald G]

IMO where the bicycle is going straight through the intersection and a vehicle approaching the intersection from the opposite direction is making a left turn the bicycle has the right of way. The same as if the bicycle was a motor vehicle.

Where I think that there is a lot of confusion is when the bicycle and vehicle approach the intersection from the same direction and the bicycle wishes to proceed straight through the intersection while the vehicle intends on making a right turn. Who has the right of way given that the bicycle is in the bicycle lane on the right hand side of the vehicle which is in the right hand turning lane ??

[Dizzy1]

Where I think that there is a lot of confusion is when the bicycle and vehicle approach the intersection from the same direction and the bicycle wishes to proceed straight through the intersection while the vehicle intends on making a right turn. Who has the right of way given that the bicycle is in the bicycle lane on the right hand side of the vehicle which is in the right hand turning lane ??

Going straight through an intersection

To go straight through an intersection, ride in the lane that is closest to the right side of the road. Enter the intersection either ahead of or behind the vehicle in your lane. Do not approach or enter an intersection beside another vehicle. This way, cars in your lane cannot turn right across your path.

http://www.bikesense.bc.ca/bikesense/ch4.htm