A little while ago, I was on my way home from a bike ride. I went along the bike path to the only major intersection on the way home. I pressed the crosswalk button and got the walk signal immediately. If I remember right, the only cars were an approaching right-turning car and a distant pickup truck. I watched the right-turning car- which had slowed almost to a stop - for a moment, and the driver appeared to be looking at me. I assumed that she was letting me cross, so I started crossing. Whil I was in front of her, she suddenly sped up and hit my seat and back tire. I was pretty shocked, of course, so I stopped and talked to her for a second. Besides a scrape on my ankle and some scratches on my bike, nothing and nobody was harmed. After I crossed the street, I looked back - she still hadn't turned, but she had gone forward so that the front of her car was covering the crosswalk.
In your opinion, was this primarily my fault? I can't help but feel like I was the one who caused it by crossing at the wrong time or something. Also, how can I prevent this kind of thing from happening again?
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From your description, I don't feel you were at fault at all. It's the driver's responsibility to not only look both ways but to confirm that there is nothing in their intended direction of travel.
Now, generally I wouldn't be putting myself in a position where I'm negotiating a crosswalk while on my bicycle - I stick to the roads and follow the same conventions as cars, but from the sound of it, you were probably trying to get to the other side of a proper bike path (not a sidewalk), so I guess an exception must be made here.
At any rate, when I'm in pedestrian-mode, I see this kind of thing all the time. I always work on the assumption that the driver doesn't see me and I make every effort to make eye contact with the driver and show - even just by body language - that I intend to either cross or wait. The key is making sure the driver understands your intentions.
(锕侊箒)~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------
if you were on foot, she would be at fault, but if you were riding, I can't say for sure, since you would have lost your status of being a pedestrian in a pedestrian right of way. I probably would have called the cops, at least got her plate number, etc.
(锕侊箒)~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------
The driver was at fault. You were going straight through an intersection and she was turning. She has to yield to you for that reason and because you were also in a crosswalk. Just my take on it.
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There used to be quite a few cars in Dallas with my hip-prints in the hood. Seems I just lose all sense of balance when somebody pulls their car into my crosswalk. (锕侊箒)~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you asking about legal responsibility for the accident or are you asking about personal responsibility?
Legally, I think the driver probably bears the brunt of the fault. Personally, you've got to be really careful when in that middle ground between riding the bike on the road and coming off bike paths, sidewalks and using crosswalks. It's something many of us do all the time but it requires extra caution and that you expect the unexpected. An incident like this is not all that unusual and can be avoided by knowing that drivers can and will do something stupid and need to be given plenty of room for error.
(锕侊箒)~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado law states:
Section 42-4-1412
10. b. A person shall not ride a bicycle or electrical assisted bicycle upon and along a sidewalk or pathway or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk where such use of bicycles or electrical assisted bicycles is prohibited by official traffic control devices or local ordinances. A person riding a bicycle or electrical assisted bicycle shall dismount before entering any crosswalk where required by official traffic control devices or local ordinances.
10. c. A person riding or walking a bicycle or electrical assisted bicycle upon and along a sidewalk or pathway or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk shall have all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances, including, but not limited to, the rights and duties granted and required by section 42-4-802.
If not prohibited from riding a bike through that particular crosswalk by signage or local ordinance, one has the same rights and duties as a pedestrian. So, the automobile driver is likely at fault in this instance. If Colorado officials consider a walk light signal to mean literally "walk", then that would suggest the bicyclist bears some responsibility as they should have dismounted to cross. However, I think that is highly unlikely given the nature of the two parties in such an encounter, someone riding a bike and someone driving a 4000 lbs. vehicle.
