By Cheri Sicard
The video below from Arizona’s Family YouTube channel covers an old news story showing a bicyclist being struck by a motorhome. [We have posted this video before, but the important lesson learned from it bears repeating.]
The video illustrates two essential important points:
- You must always be aware of the width of your rig.
- Slow down and pay extra attention whenever there are pedestrians or cyclists on the road!
Well, those are the main points. There is more to learn from this news video clip. It sure appeared the motorhome driver was driving too quickly. And he or she was certainly NOT paying attention.
One RV driver’s careless moment resulted in a chain reaction affecting all of those cyclists. The one redeeming factor is it could have been far worse than it was.
Stay sharp and pay attention out there, folks. You don’t want to be featured in a future YouTube video!
##RVDT2400
While I understand that the RV Driver is totally responsible for the accident, I also have to say that there have been numerous times when we were forced to follow cyclists that were riding 3 and 4 wide on the road. One would think that they would want to be on the safe side and stay single file on a one lane road. Not only for their own safety but to be courteous to those in motorized vehicles. Just my opinion!
As a cyclist and an rv’er, I have to lay most of the blame for this accident on the cyclist who was clearly riding well into the vehicle traffic lane. Road cyclists like to push the limits, and some seem to even dare vehicles to hit them. This guy lost his dare. Fortunately for all involved, he did not lose his life. Cyclists .. for their own safety .. must obey the rules of the road, and ALWAYS keep a sharp eye out for hazards they can easily avoid. That includes hazards in the rear view mirror. The cyclist could have easily avoided this accident. Playing chicken with larger vehicles is just dumb.
I agree with you Ed, except for your comment that “the RV driver is totally responsible for the accident”. He/she is not!
I understand what you are saying but just because the cyclist was inconsiderate and ignorant to be outside of the line like he was, the Motorhome driver still has an obligation to keep his/her vehicle under control. You just don’t have the right to hit someone because of where they are positioned in the road. So I still maintain that the Motorhome driver was responsible for initiating the contact. Thus, the driver bears the bulk of the blame in my book.
I have watched the video several times. And if I’m seeing things right it appears they were not all riding in the bike lane and yes they should have been riding single file too. I always cringe when I see I have to pass a bicycle even when I’m just driving my car. All that bicyclist has to do is run over a rock or hit a hole in the road and they could lose their balance and hit me.
Or fall down in front of you, with not enough time for you to stop.
Idiot bicyclists were riding next to each other, clearly over the line. No sympathy for stupid people. @@
Obviously these cyclists go by “Rule’s for thee, Not for me”. There are laws for cyclists, same as there are laws for motorists. When you don’t obey the law, accidents will happen. Luckily, no one was killed.
I understand the frustration about cyclists not riding legally. As a cyclist that was one of my major efforts, with many riders saying they were legally allowed to ride like that if it was unsafe to stay to the right of the white line. That does NOT mean it is legal to ride side-by-side, blocking traffic. Cyclists are no different than others using the road, with some being arrogant a**holes and others following the rules. Accidents happen, many caused by driver/rider attitude and lack of courtesy.
Based on Arizona law, the cyclist must keep to the right whenever possible. In this case, it looks he was not where he should have been. It is a shame it happened but the cyclist bears some responsibility.
The video does not show if the cyclist swerved into the traffic lane. Yes the MH driver should have been paying attention and slowed down, but the previous part of the video is missing.
I have seen many instances of cyclists not obeying the rules of the road. Running stop signs and red lights and not being aware of traffic behind or in front of them.
Glad the cyclists are all OK, but common sense also comes into play here.
Gave up road biking because of too many near misses. Inattentive drivers are everywhere these days, and cyclists will always pay a terrible toll when there’s a collision. Just not worth it to me anymore.
I feel bad for the cyclist group but they are literally three wide and way past the fog line. If the MH had someone in the lane next to him and he couldn’t stop, where was he supposed to go? I’m sorry, but many cycle groups don’t ride single file…and should.
In the rules of the road, bicycles and pedestrians have priority. While I agree, it wasn’t smart to ride 3 across, they do have a right to be on the main road. It is a vehicles responsibility to maintain the safest driving conditions. The RV driver didn’t even slow down. Even if there was oncoming traffic, picture your broken down vehicle sticking out on the RV side of the road and you’re walking around it. We all would find fault for the RV plowing through just like he did to the bicyclists in this video. It’s the RV driver’s responsibility to drive at the speed that’s appropriate for the existing conditions … they had plenty of time to see there were bicyclists ahead.
From the video, we don’t know if the RV had already slowed down from whatever the speed limit was. Some serious bicyclists think they have the right to take up a whole lane and everyone else has to sit back for long distances because there is a double yellow preventing anyone from going around. I used to be one of those ‘privileged’ bikers back in my 30s. I’m glad (and lucky!) to have survived that mindset and made it to my 70s.
If a car was driving in the lane, and was moving at a slower pace, it would be unacceptable for RV to plow in to the back of the car. It’s no different that it’s a bicycle. This had nothing to do with the RV following a long distance. I agree with you there about bicyclists slowing down traffic for long distances. Common courtesy would be to move over to let traffic by, even for a vehicle.
Thank you, Cheri! 🙂 A complicated topic and one that I am too tired to undertake today. Shear luxury, huh?!?!? Have a great weekend and safe travels! 🙂
I hope the motor home stopped and got the driver a giant ticket and picked the hospital bill.
The bike rider was clearly 3 feet onto the roadway. What we don’t see is that there may have been oncoming traffic in the other lane. There are a lot of entitled bike riders who flaunt not only the traffic laws but also common sense. I am a bike rider but respect the laws of the road and physics.
Maybe, it’s just me. But why is the bicyclist that is moving along on the right side of the white line, not at fault? Yes, the RV driver needs to be aware. But survival instinct alone, should have been enough to tell the bicyclist to move left, where he should have been, in the 1st place.
We live in an area that has an annual ride. There are many arrogant riders out there that feel that the road only belongs to them.
My wife was out walking the dogs on the road, rural country road. And a bicyclist came along and just about made them have to jump into the ditch to avoid being hit.
Many natives just write the weekend off and stay off the roads.
This is just crazy!
The cyclist was WILLFULLY outside of “His Lane”! I guess riding single file on the right side of that solid line was too much trouble.
Can cars go three abreast and spill outside of “their lane”?
I’ll never understand how the Bike Lobby got that “Bicycle May Use Full Lane” law passed. License for abuse, arrogance and stupidity.
”Share the Road” was doable and practical.
I can get a ticket for just driving without a seatbelt , but a Bike rider , with infinitely less protection, no tail lights , no rear view mirrors, wearing dark clothes, can apparently do whatever they want on the same road I’m on. And I’M RESPONSIBLE for maintaining a 3 foot distance.
When you stand at the gates of Saint Peter, “I had the right of way” is a meager argument.
Another cyclist who thinks they are above the law and entitled to use the vehicle lane. That idiot was 2 1/2 feet outside the bike lane and into the car lane on a narrow mountain road. He needs to be apologizing to his friends whose injuries he caused.