@GuyContinental 22838 wrote:
http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2012/04/27/berkeley-bicyclist-hit-run-video/#.T5qxG95JZUA.facebook
but it is pretty interesting how many laws they broke in the minutes leading up to the crash- lots of blown stop signs without so much as a brake tap. .
I only saw two stop signs in the video. On the first one, you can’t see the lead rider until the second guy makes the left (he is out of frame on the left) so its possible he had stopped and been waved through by the car stopped on the sign on the intersecting road, and 2nd guy just followed (granted, I doubt it). Clearly they blow the second sign despite merging into high speed traffic. Beyond that, I didnt see any glaring misbehavior.
It does go to show that obeyiing traffic laws is a good idea if for no other reason that should something happen through no fault of cyclist, the person at fault doesnt get off because cyclist is deemed a scofflaw generally because he/she was seen violating law earlier on.
Reminds me of an incident I experienced on Rock Creek Pkwy this weekend. A group of us were riding on the pkwy early Sunday just below Mass Ave (so still open to traffic). Some of us were riding two abreast, which is, I think, illegal, in the park. So I could understand if cars heading same way we were got annoyed. But it was before 6:30 so there were no cars headed in our direction (so no traffic to impede — not an excuse, just setting scene). However, a car heading in opposite direction was irritated enough by the sight of us to cross centerline, swerv toward us to buzz the group before vering back on correct side of the double yellow. I wonder, had the car that buzzed us taken some of us out, the degree to which we would have been held accountable for violating the 2 abreast rule even though we weren’t impeding traffic and the car in question vered onto wrong side of road to send his message.
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