Originally Posted by
mcours2006
Whenever a cyclist dies from a collision with a vehicle, often when it is reported in the news they will say things like the cyclist wasn't wearing a helmet, or that he was wearing dark clothing, or he did not have adequate lighting. This is wholly ridiculous of course, because it implies that had the cyclist been wearing a helmet, or had lights and hi-vis clothing he would have not have died. When news is reported this way it takes the responsibility off of the driver and places it squarely on the cyclists' shoulders, which is ridiculous.
So the guy/gal who exercises free choice (no one is forcing them) to (basically) stand on a busy roadway and NOT try to be as visible as possible and wear some sort of protective gear is 100% absolved from ANY responsibility whatsoever if they get smacked? Anyone who understands how eyes and brains work "in harmony" together know that it is a vastly imperfect system for seeing and digesting information, or concentrating like a fighter pilot 100% of the time.
So KNOWING that human perception is imperfect, motorists are distracted and stupid, darkness and rising/setting suns are blinding, road surfaces and markings vary greatly, and by the way - cyclists are imperfect humans as well. Knowing all of this and someone still decides to camp out on a busy highway of their own free will and gets clobbered - they bear ZERO responsibility. Hmmm I ain't buying that.