Cyclist intentionally hit by car caught on GoPro camera

Star wrote:

Looks like full justice all around.

The cyclist wasn't riding safely and was hogging the lane and making it difficult for cars to pass.

He got what was coming to him.

The driver did not pass safely and is at fault for the accident and will get cited as such.

There can be two bad guys in one scenario.

Die painfully and soon, axxwipe. Thank you :)!

Nashville Local wrote:

Ya'll should go ride the Trace before you talk about whats right and whats wrong. It sees way more bikes than cars in this area everyday. Just getting on the trace is a chore. There's only 4 on ramps in ~25 miles. You definitely don't use the Trace if you're trying to get anywhere quick in a car.

X1000

Working Harder wrote:

Believe it or not, it's often safer to "take the lane" when riding on a road that does not have a shoulder or dedicated bike lane. If you ride to the right on such a road most vehicles believe they can pass even with oncoming traffic, as they can "squeeze by" which often puts them far less than three feet away from the cyclist. This leaves no room for any error. At least by taking the lane you force the passing vehicle to possibly display a little more caution when overtaking. A psycho like this kind of throws a wrench into that though. One of the many reasons I quit cycling a long time ago.

OK, that was well put.

I see the point of encouraging unsafe passing if you ride to the right and will retract some of my venom against cyclists.

I do think it's a crazy thing to bike on a road with cars and should be avoided just as I avoid running on roads and dealing with cars as much as possible.

As a driver, it's not fun dealing with a bike on the road holding you up or making you gauge how to get by.

Biking is a risky thing.

So Karma is now a coward that assaults people with a motor vehicle?

People defending the motorist should not have a drivers license. So the cyclist is being a douche? Call him a douche! Dont run him over with your 4k lb SUV and drive off like a complete TWAT! BTW driver looks like a miserable alcoholic.

IF the logic that has been presented here applies to cars we should all be ready for daily collisions when driving in a manner that angers the person next to us in the least way possible. Oh that's right cowards are cowards and will only take shots at people on bikes when behind the wheel.

Star wrote:

The bicyclist may not have been cited with anything legally but he is being sighted with bruises and injuries for riding the way he did.

If you want to ride in the left side of the lane looking for a pay day go ahead.

I'd rather ride on the right side and not get hit.

Karma agrees with my assessment.

There's a reason they're increasingly using sharrows and "cyclists may use whole lane" signs on narrow roads like this.

If you hug the shoulder, many drivers will simply pass you at speed without waiting for oncoming traffic to clear. This leaves little room for error - if the driver misjudges or you come upon a pothole or debris you're fvcked. Riding in the lane forces drivers to wait for a safe passing opportunity. Since most people aren't murderous thugs everyone ends up being a bit safer, even if a few drivers get their panties in a bunch because they were delayed 15 seconds on their way to Wal-Mart.

Judge Wapner wrote:

Die painfully and soon, axxwipe. Thank you :)!

So I should ride a bike in traffic, then?

That's a good way to get killed.

Star wrote:

Looks like full justice all around.

The cyclist wasn't riding safely and was hogging the lane and making it difficult for cars to pass.

He got what was coming to him.

The driver did not pass safely and is at fault for the accident and will get cited as such.

There can be two bad guys in one scenario.

+10

Two parties can be wrong at the same time. I would agree with your point if one was arguing for mitigating circumstances and less of a punishment for the driver of the car. As if he had an excuse. He doesn't. Throw the book at him. But that doesn't mean the cyclist made a good decision by driving down the middle of the road.

Here's an interview with the two cyclists. I guess if it's his first bike ride, he might not be familiar with road etiquette of riding single file to allow cars to pass. Still, that doesn't excuse the driver in any way. I suspect he will go to jail, especially since there is video to show the incident.

Here's more background. I've ridden the Natchez Trace many times. The Trace speed limit is 45mph. As others have pointed, there are few exits and entrance ramps. It's basically a road to nowhere. Many cyclists park near Lovelace Cafe at the northernmost end and bike down 10-25 miles and then bike back. There's no gas stations or anything like that at the exits. Some of the uphills are over a mile long and double yellow the whole way. It's hard to go faster than 12-15mph up most of these hills unless you're a serious cyclist. It's easy to see how drivers could get frustrated... still, that comes with the territory when you're driving in a park. If you're in a hurry, you should be someplace else.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/35843685/bicyclists-involved-in-natchez-trace-hit-and-run-share-their-experience

The Natchez Trace Parkway is not a traditional public road. The National Park Service designates the whole parkway as a "designated bike route" and commercial traffic is prohibited. You don't drive a vehicle on it and expect clear roads. It's one of the few roads near Nashville that I consider to be relatively safe for cyclists, dozens of cyclists ride it every weekend, and they're legally allowed to use the whole lane. The guy driving the car is pathetic, has no control over his emotions, and is 100% at fault.

If a cyclist was driving down one of the main streets of a city and hogging the whole lane, that'd be a different story. Anyone who does that is just a dick. In this case, I don't fault the cyclist at all.

I watched the video and while the cyclist was obviously a total Fred, he's still a human! You don't run other humans over. I don't care if the cyclist is riding on the wrong side of the road or not, you don't run people over! Period.

That being said, I have a lot of time in the saddle and I would be pretty nervous riding that close to the center of the road. Generally I ride with about two feet of road to the right of my tires. When I hear a car approaching in the distance I increase that to about three feet and then as I can tell it's getting close I move a little to the right so I only have about 1 foot to the right of me. This tends to help create a wider berth.

The driver of this car has surely hit a low point in his life and I can only hope he gets his sh.t straightened out. We've all made stupid decisions when we're emotional and unhealthy, which it appears this guy is, but running someone is over is next-level for sure.

Exactly. Yes, this is how I ride too. I am close to white lines, widen a bit when car is approaching so they hopefully see me, then go back close to lines when they are very near me... but all of that is for my own safety. Someone who isn't as cautious doesn't deserve to be run over. The most i'll say is for his own safety the cyclist could have ridden slightly different but that has NOTHING to do with what the driver did.

asdfwe wrote:

Cyclists pay road taxes as much as anyone else when they drive. Just because someone is out on a bike doesn't mean he or she doesn't drive as well.

Of course, he should have been on the right. There is no shoulder in this case and so he'd have been in danger there as well, maybe from the same driver. If it was an accident, the driver would have stopped or at least reported it. And there are signs on that stretch saying riders can use the whole lane.

Maybe they should put up signs that say if you hit a cyclists, you should stop.

Star wrote:

The bicyclist may not have been cited with anything legally but he is being sighted with bruises and injuries for riding the way he did.

If you want to ride in the left side of the lane looking for a pay day go ahead.

I'd rather ride on the right side and not get hit.

Karma agrees with my assessment.

Oh, look, someone throwing out "karma". You shouldn't use words you don't understand.

Or post when you're too ignorant to have a dose of perspective.

Star wrote:

I do think it's a crazy thing to bike on a road with cars and should be avoided just as I avoid running on roads and dealing with cars as much as possible.

As a driver, it's not fun dealing with a bike on the road holding you up or making you gauge how to get by.

.

Ah, it's crazy to ride a road bike on roads. Of course it is. Because road bikes belong on the...

Well, crap. Another bozo statement from you.

Long Term Cyclist wrote:

I watched the video and while the cyclist was obviously a total Fred,

Again, this was his FIRST ride ever. FIRST one.

It's not like he's an expro just out sniping some Trace segments or something.

Freds gonna be Freds.

I always go out of my way not to hit a cyclist. Doesn't matter where he is in the lane. My goal is to not hit him.