Why is the Driver Automatically the Bad Guy?

In article >,
says...
>Earlier this month, a Yellow Hummer H2 struck and seriously injured a
>pedalcyclist. The full story is he
>http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/...ev/02-23-06-84
1046.html
>The pedalcyclists have an ironic spin on the incident. They claim that
>the Hummer driver "ignored a stop sign" and struck the pedalcyclist.
>Odd - the newspaper report does not mention that the H2 driver ran a
>stop sign. Sloppy journalism? Perhaps...
>Here's a photograph of the intersection, looking to the northeast:
>http://i1.tinypic.com/ojeb2e.jpg
>Notice the 4-way stop. This means that the pedalcyclist, who was
>riding from right to left in the picture, would also have had a stop
>sign. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where a pedalcyclist,
>starting from a complete stop, could fail to see a "Safety Yellow"
>Hummer coming down the cross street in broad daylight; if she had been
>stopped, she would have been moving slowly and it would have been easy
>for her to stop before moving into the path of the oncoming truck.
>OTOH, if the pedalcyclist ignored her own stop sign, and rode right
>out in front of an oncoming vehicle, then whose fault is that?
>Oh, but a pedalcyclist would NEVER ignore a stop sign. Right?
>Note that there is no excuse for the H2 driver's failure to stop. I
>just find it fascinating the way the pedalcyclists automatically blame
>the vehicle driver for ignoring a stop sign, something they do as a
>matter of course. A little projection, perhaps? It's also fascinating
>how Tommy Nevin's Pub is a more recognizable landmark among
>pedalcyclists than the 12-story Best Western motel sitting on the
>opposite corner.
>Here's the press release:
>http://www.biketraffic.org/content.php?id=728_0_15_0_C

In this instance the driver is automatically the bad guy simply because they
left the scene of the accident. You paint a possible scenario that the cyclist
rant the stop sign. Most likely, the Hummer driver ignored the rules of the
road. More likely the bicycle was stopped and the hummer driver thought they
would blow the stop sign instead of waiting for the cyclist to get through the
intersection. It happens all the time.
---------------
Alex

In article >,
Alex Rodriguez > wrote:
>
>In this instance the driver is automatically the bad guy simply because they
>left the scene of the accident. You paint a possible scenario that the cyclist
>rant the stop sign. Most likely, the Hummer driver ignored the rules of the
>road. More likely the bicycle was stopped and the hummer driver thought they
>would blow the stop sign instead of waiting for the cyclist to get through the
>intersection. It happens all the time.

The chance of the bicyclist stopping for the stop sign, looking, not
seeing the Hummer (or seeing it and seriously mis-estimating its
speed), and proceeding directly into its path are damn small. First
you have the already small chance of the bicyclist actually stopping,
then you have the even smaller chance of him not noticing a Hummer if
he were looking for it.

The chances of the bicyclist blowing through the stop sign like it
wasn't there and not seeing the Humvee as its driver did the same are
a heck of a lot better.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

In article >,
says...
>
>
>On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 13:08:07 -0500, Alex Rodriguez >
>wrote:
>
>>In this instance the driver is automatically the bad guy simply because they
>>left the scene of the accident.
>
>That's ridiculous. Striking the pedalcyclist and leaving the scene
>afterwards are two separate things; guilt for one has no bearing on
>guilt for the other.

Who said anything about guilt? The driver is an idiot for leaving even if
the accident was the cyclists fault.


>>More likely the bicycle was stopped and the hummer driver thought they
>>would blow the stop sign instead of waiting for the cyclist to get through
the
>>intersection.
>
>Once again I ask for your scientific data on how you determined these
>probabilities. Hint: pulling such statements out of your biased ass
>doesn't make them scientifically valid.

First hand experience. I've had it happen to me enough times that I am
extra careful at 4 way stop intersections. It's funny but you usually get
complete opposites at intersections. Some folks assume you will run the stop
sign and will wave you on. Others pretend to not see you and jump out in front
of you.
--------------
Alex