Originally Posted by canklecat

Nothing will change until we completely overhaul the current paradigm and use words like "negligence" instead of "accident," "crash" or "collision" to describe drivers who are indifferent, incompetent or outright hostile toward other people who are lawfully using shared public infrastructure.

The easiest way to get away with mayhem, assault and murder in the US is to hit a pedestrian or cyclist with a car, then invoke the magic words, "They came out of nowhere! I never saw them! The sun was in my eyes! I feared for my life and was just trying to escape!"

If you survive being hit, you'll be lucky if the cop doesn't write up the citation implying that the pedestrian or cyclist was partially at fault for failing to dodge the Dodge. Been there. Despite having the green light, pedestrian walk signal, and being established in the crosswalk, the cop implied I was partially at fault for not jumping out of the way of the driver who ignored the flashing yellow yield signal and was looking down rather than up.

I never ride a bike now without running video, usually front and rear facing.