Originally Posted by
genec
Yeah... I kinda wonder why he didn't see her and start to make decisions about what could happen and how to avoid it...
But then I was in a car/bike collision once... where the car pulled out from a stop at a stop sign and I plowed right into the driver's side front fender. I was doing about 25MPH on a somewhat level road and was aligned on the 35MPH arterial road about where a bike lane stripe might be (if there were a bike lane there) and I looked and the motorist was well stopped. But just as I got to where the car was, it pulled out and I went smack onto the fender and hood.
Maybe I could have pulled left a bit before it happened... or slowed down before it happened... but I did neither as the driver had pulled up and clearly stopped. And when he moved, I was only scant feet away.
So I can kinda see how this can happen...
These days I'd be far more cautious... but even these days I am occasionally surprised by a car at the side of the road that doesn't appear to be occupied or running, and then suddenly pulls away from the curb. (I hate that)
Sorry to hear about your accident, I hope you are fully recovered!
The difference between your accident and the one in this post is the you the front of the vehicle. The vehicle in this post was pulling out (not backing out), the cyclist should have seen the front of this vehicle pulling out and begin to stop/ avoid the accident but for some reason he did not. When someone suddenly pulls out in front of you or doors you, you have less reactive time. Usually (almost always) when cars (vehicles) are involved in collisions the one doing the hitting from behind/ back side of vehicle is at fault, and or the one doing the hitting on the front half/ front of the other vehicle is at fault.