If You Walk, Run or Bike, Listen Up This is Important

Thermo1223 said:
I could say the same thing for bicyclist who think they are infallible to automobiles and it is always the drivers fault.

A long time back I opened my car door on a quiet city street, the door was open for at least 5 secs and by the bicycle guy's own admission he had his head down and wasn't paying attention. However I was still 100% at fault, go figure. :rolleyes:
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So you were parked and opened your door, and that was your fault? How does that work? Aren't you a pedestrian at that point, and the bicycle a vehicle?
 
Yeah, I try to do all my biking and running away from busy roads. We're in a rural area so there's not too much dumb stuff like bottle throwing as its pretty easy to figure out who is driving what. But also some people still stare at their phone and drive, so I try to avoid being collateral damage to their carelessness.
 
SC Maintenance said:
So you were parked and opened your door, and that was your fault? How does that work? Aren't you a pedestrian at that point, and the bicycle a vehicle?
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You can look at it different ways. Perhaps it was another vehicle instead of cyclist, who's fault would of been then? You should be looking before swinging any door regardless where you are. Cyclist try to stick to the right (law in most places) and it's more of problem. I try to watch for these situations but I've had a few close ones.
 
SC Maintenance said:
So you were parked and opened your door, and that was your fault? How does that work? Aren't you a pedestrian at that point, and the bicycle a vehicle?
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As per the insurance adjuster and PA Vehicle Code. I opened my vehicle into traffic and was at fault for not checking even though again I was not the one admitting fault. I was so angry after that conversation I almost dropped them and there was no police involved. Mind you as I stated previously...there was a 5 sec gap between door being fully open and the guy running into it.
 
Eric Smith said:
You can look at it different ways. Perhaps it was another vehicle instead of cyclist, who's fault would of been then? You should be looking before swinging any door regardless where you are. Cyclist try to stick to the right (law in most places) and it's more of problem. I try to watch for these situations but I've had a few close ones.
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If it was a vehicle they would have been at fault as PA is 100% at fault state usually when you hit something with the front of your vehicle. How again that doesn't translate to bicycles even though they will be the first ones to argue about "roads are for everyone" is beyond me.

To this day it still is the dumbest conversation I've ever had with someone on the phone.
 
Eric Smith said:
You can look at it different ways. Perhaps it was another vehicle instead of cyclist, who's fault would of been then? You should be looking before swinging any door regardless where you are. Cyclist try to stick to the right (law in most places) and it's more of problem. I try to watch for these situations but I've had a few close ones.
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Yes, I guess your right. Here is the South Carolina Law. However, at what point is it considered safe? Seems nebulous.

As a driver I never get that close to a parked car. If I have to at that point I will be going very, very slowly. Maybe thats just me.

Universal Citation: SC Code § 56-5-3822 (2012)

No person shall open any door of a motor vehicle unless it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 451 Section 2.
 
I've had the opposite experience. I got hit by a bicycle in my truck. I was turning, he ran a red and hit my door. I walk around 4 miles a day with my dog and only have almost got run over once or twice. You need to be aware of your surroundings if you want to live a long life these days. It's safer to stay inside but it's also miserable
 
Sorry to hear about your awful experience. It's a shame that our society is in such decline. Poor behaviors now seem commonplace.
Years ago when I used to ride my bicycle on the local roads....I had a bottle thrown at me (it missed). Various people would also find it somehow enjoyable to yell at me as they drove by....trying to startle me I suppose. And one time a school bus nearly hit me as they would not give me any space as they passed. After that and many other episodes, I gave up riding on the street and moved to the paved trails. Luckily we have plenty of those in our area. These days I don't ride at all anymore (bad knee and achilles tendon). I occasionally walk my dogs for exercise.
 
Yikes! I've experienced people yelling things at me when bike riding or driving the MG with the top down, but I haven't experienced having things thrown at me yet. It's would be nice if they were hollering "nice car!" while driving the MG, but no, they usually aren't compliments.
 
Something else I've seen the other day and on several videos.. the larger older diesel trucks, with their tail pipes right in harms way, literally stomped on it while a small sports car are behind or beside them leaving a dark plume of black smoke around the driver of that sports car. I'm sure bike riders get the same treatment.
 
These kids are savages nowadays. Their parents are partly to blame but modern western culture is cancerous and no fool can convince me otherwise. Not saying people were always perfect, they never were, but the number of occurrences like these have undoubtedly skyrocketed. The tik tock challenges like overdosing and dying on freaking medicine, stealing kias, doing extremely realistic "prank" robberies with a weapon as a "joke" and getting shot, and shoving things into electrical sockets are a few examples.
 
You can't go around in public in "condition white". It's never been safe, and never will be.

As for drivers, they are dangerous but they don't seem any worse overall than they were 40+ years ago. Just different. The fraction of drivers who are aware of cyclists and try to make room for them, has always been small but nowadays it's a bit bigger than it used to be. But also, the fraction of drivers who are inattentive is bigger than it used to be. The net effect seems to be a wash. Either way, the most important thing has not changed: maintain situational awareness. When riding, assume you are invisible and everyone is trying to kill you. When I see cyclists wearing earbuds and such, it makes me cringe. They'll get hurt due to not paying attention and blame it on someone else.
 
Thermo1223 said:
If it was a vehicle they would have been at fault as PA is 100% at fault state usually when you hit something with the front of your vehicle. How again that doesn't translate to bicycles even though they will be the first ones to argue about "roads are for everyone" is beyond me.
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Illinois law:

(625 ILCS 5/11-1407) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-1407)
Sec. 11-1407. Opening and closing vehicle doors. No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.


PA law:

§ 3705. Opening and closing vehicle doors.
No person shall open any door on a motor vehicle unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on a side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.
 
Pew said:
Illinois law:

(625 ILCS 5/11-1407) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-1407)
Sec. 11-1407. Opening and closing vehicle doors. No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.


PA law:

§ 3705. Opening and closing vehicle doors.
No person shall open any door on a motor vehicle unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on a side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.
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Point? It was reasonably safe and drivers or other people not paying attention isn't and should never be my problem. Especially when the door was open there was no traffic.
 
Thermo1223 said:
Point? It was reasonably safe and drivers or other people not paying attention isn't and should never be my problem. Especially when the door was open there was no traffic.
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I'm not saying you're in the wrong but legally you're still liable. The laws sometimes don't align with common sense.
 
Pew said:
I'm not saying you're in the wrong but legally you're still liable. The laws sometimes don't align with common sense.
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Understood, yes it does not. I was dumbfounded by still being held liable even after his admission of guilt with my insurance. 🤯
 
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When I would bicycle to work (22 miles in, 27 home) I would regularly get stuff thrown at me by a specific group that would travel the same roads I did. They missed most of the time. Water bottles do hurt a bit, but not terribly. Especially if you are on the aero bars on a bicycle, the bottle sort of makes a glancing blow. Wine bottles do hurt a bit more...

Today, one thing you should be ready to do is pull out your phone and start recording. Some phones can be configured to have the camera button on the lock screen, and then record video by holding down the shutter button.

If done correctly, and zoomed, you might be surprised to get enough information to be useful.
 
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