Posted on 05/18/2010 12:56:10 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Cyclist is suing Miami-Dade County over accident Most people know that being a cyclist in Miami isn't the healthiest choice you can make.
But now there is video proof. A Youtube video has surfaced which allegedly shows an incident in January where a Miami-Dade transit bus mows down a cyclist on Biscayne Boulevard. The footage comes from the on board camera on the bus.
Watch the video here.
Cyclist Pier Raccuglia is suing the county over the accident, claiming the bus driver tried to run him off the road. He suffered a broken foot in the accident. "It was pain like you've never felt," Raccuglia told the New Times. "What pissed me off -- pardon my French -- is that the driver didn't get out of the bus to help me. And she never apologized." In the video, the unnamed bus driver sounds less than concerned for the cyclist's well-being after she hits him.
"He came into this bus. I didn't hit him. He did that sh-- on purpose," the driver is overheard telling concerned passengers on the bus. "He was looking for an accident. He is OK. I'm not nervous and I'm not scared."
Earlier in the video, the bus driver honks at the cyclist after the both make a left turn. They travel in the same direction for a few blocks before the bus sends Raccuglia into the gutter.
It probably isn't "rage" from the bus driver directed at cyclists in particular. In Houston, Metro bus drivers routinely try to run cars out of their lanes. They regularly run red lights too and lately have been hitting our street grade rail line.
The one thing I learned from cycling to work, those big metal things around you will kill you if they hit you. Give them right of way.
The woman was a smarmy idiot. I was always afraid of drivers like her.
If I were a cop I’d arrest her for attempted murder.
Was the bicyclist a member of CriticalAss?
Lessee, who here do I have less sympathy for? lol
However, this does appear to be an accident. It's much safer to ride on the sidewalks in the city and take one's chances against the pedestrians, vs. heavy vehicles made of steel.
notice how the bus driver tries to convince the passengers what the cyclists did? She had it in for him from the beginning.....and a cyclist isn’t going to risk getting hit by a freaking bus......she couldn’t wait long enough to get through those lights....
As a bicyclist, I recognize that I don’t want to be dead right and stay out of the way of big vehicles, especially in cities.
It’s always Whitey’s fault when the diverse crowd is behind the wheel!
Of course Ive had thoughts of running them over too but just thoughts. The driver was clearly wrong. But as a public unionized scumbag she will probably just get a letter in her file. This is Miami after all.
Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is illegal. It is also dangerous because you can get killed by someone backing out of a driveway. Drivers don’t expect other vehicles to be on the sidewalk. Bikes belong in the street.
Sorry, in urban areas, I find that riding on the sidewalks is much less dangerous than riding in the street. YMMV.
Unless you’re going very slow (walking speed) — stick to the street.
BTW, around here it’s illegal to ride on sidewalks, or across crosswalks. If that’s the case where you ride, you could be asking for some hefty fines.
http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/risks.htm (scroll down)
Riding on the sidewalks in urban areas , it is a given that one doesn't try to go > 1.5x mean pedestrian speed. Besides, collisions with pedestrians are not lethal to bikers.
As a bike commuter I was hit by four cars. Every single case was someone taking a right turn in front of me. In every case I didn’t go down but I scratched the car up badly (one was a beautiful bright red Porsche SC).
I just rode the cars around the corner.
Weirdly, although I telecommuted for two decades and did every Seattle to Portland bike ride since 1991, and all the recreational riding that implies, the last time I went down was in 1966 when I was jumping dirt mounds on my paperboy special in Moses Lake in 6th grade.
>>As a bicyclist, I recognize that I don’t want to be dead right and stay out of the way of big vehicles, especially in cities.<<
Speed is what concerns me. In the city I am usually going faster than the cars. That said, my stepson was a bike messenger in downtown Seattle for a few years and attended two funerals for friends. Both involved the bike rider getting taken out by someone running a red light. In one case it was the car that ran the light. In the other it was the cyclist that did. For me, it’s about relative speed, coupled with the speed at which I am at risk of hitting the ground.
‘Course, I’m 56 and things under my skin may break easier than they would have when I was made out of rubber.
>>Sorry, in urban areas, I find that riding on the sidewalks is much less dangerous than riding in the street. YMMV.<<
I ride in downtown Seattle a lot. I much prefer the streets. Way too many pedestrians on the sidewalk. I’m usually like the rider in the video, going the same speed as the traffic.
The Laws of Physics are not just a good idea, they are THE LAW.
Stay out of the way of large objects moving at relatively high speeds.
QED.
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