Calsun

I would view this section of highway and not something for a group ride where seldom are riders staying in a line and not riding side by side. RVs and truckers with trailers are often going outside the lane and this is to be expected. There are highways that are safe early in the morning before the truckers and RV drivers hit the road but not in the middle of the day or the afternoon or at dusk.

The hazards should be obvious to any adult and the question to ask is do your feel lucky.

wolfchild

I'll go with my feeling and intuition...the laws have some serious flaws and loopholes in it.

Mtracer

Just as we lock out doors to avoid the risk of being robbed, we can also choose our bike routes and techniques to reduce risks. But in the end, it's still 100% the burglar's fault for robbing my home and 100% a vehicle drivers fault for running into something they should easily see and avoid.

But who's fault it is, is little comfort if you get the crap end of the stick. Just because some possible event may be 100% someone else fault, if it happens, doesn't mean I'm not going to take measures to reduce my risk. But it also doesn't make my an idiot if I don't happen to do things the same way someone else might. Run this out to the the extreme, and the only safe way to ride our bikes is to not ride them at all. Which pretty much applies to anything we do in life.

In this case, I have no idea how much risk that rider was taking. We have a short video. Was this the first vehicle to pass in that last hour, or one of a dozen in the last few minutes? Obviously how busy a road is factors into our risk assessment and the decision we make while riding. I'm in no position to judge the risk this rider was taking. What I see is a rider, riding very predictably, not weaving or darting around. He's with a large group of other riders. This alone should cause any driver to slow and use extra caution while passing.

Obviously, had he not been there, he wouldn't have been hit. It's still the RV drivers fault. And yes, the rider could have reduced his risk by staying further to the right and also being more situationally aware.

Paul Barnard

That's right up there with some of your other high intellectual horsepower comments such as, "cars weigh more than bicycles." I doubt anyone here could have figured that out on their own.

JoeyBike

...🤷...

alcjphil

I am wondering if anyone else here took the time to look up this route on Google steetview. I did. At the time this route was shown, traffic was pretty light, and I found a speed limit sign: 45 MPH. At the time this video was shot, traffic was also light, no cars passed in the opposite direction. As well, this stretch of road is well known as a place where both cyclists and runners train. That RV that passed that group was speeding, no vehicle driving at the posted speed limit would have passed that group that fast. It is the responsibility for a passing vehicle to pass a slower moving vehicle safely no matter what that slower moving vehicle is doing. That RV did not do what it was supposed to do while passing a slower moving vehicle

Calsun

Most motorists are not sufficiently skilled to drive a motorhome but the laws in most states does not require a special license as is the case for commercial drivers of school buses and other large vehicles. Add in that most people do not take a hands free approach when driving and often have one hand holding the cell phone up to their face and are not looking at the road at all.

Times have changed and many roads that were safe before the advent of smartphones are no longer safe for pedestrians or bicyclists. One collision and the bicyclist is going to be seriously injured or killed and it will be the motorist that provides a statement to the local officers so it is a very one sided reporting that usually takes place.

I avoid roads now that I routinely bicycled 20 years ago. The risks outweigh the rewards. I bought two mountain bikes so I can ride more on dirt trails where there are no motorists of any kind.

alcjphil

I feel sorry for you. Where I live it has become safer to ride on the roads over the last 20 years. Of course there are roads here that are not ideal for riding your bike, but on balance there is a much better acceptance around Montreal for cyclists.

Bleu

This crap was clearly intentional, or at the very least the motorhome jockey was staring in his lap and never saw anything on the road ahead. But NO this was intentional as the motorhome was not wandering on the road at all before the assault. This should be prosecuted as multiple felony aggravated assaults, but it will not. The only reason the a*****e even stopped is because he left a chunk of his coach behind (evidence).

packitin

Two joyriding teens on purposely run over a retired policeman and kill him.

This is the worst I've ever seen. I'm never riding near a highway again.
,
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/2-l...-police-chief/

RCMoeur 

Several other BF threads are covering that killing in detail.

It is your choice. But in 40+ years of riding I've observed malicious and vicious drivers are very few in number. But incompetent and distracted, many, regrettably. But I have places I need and choose to go, and a bicycle is often an efficient way to get there, and sometimes the route is also used by other traffic. And I'll use my experience and skills as best I can to minimize my crash risk. Will it be effective against a truly homicidal person? Not sure. But I'll keep riding as long as I can.