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| Poor Kimberley Davis. The 21-year-old Australian woman was livid when she slammed into a bicyclist while texting late last year, putting dents in her car. The victim suffered a spinal fracture and would spend the next three months in a hospital, but Davis wasn't having any of it, The Standard reports. "I just don’t care because I’ve already been through a lot of bullshit and my car is, like, pretty expensive and now I have to fix it," she told a responding officer two days after the Sept. 20 collision. "I’m kind of pissed off that the cyclist has hit the side of my car. I don’t agree that people texting and driving could hit a cyclist. I wasn’t on my phone when I hit the cyclist." |
Link - ( New Window )
Just yesterday I was driving down West end Ave when out of a side street a bicycles comes screaming down and around the corner onto WEA without a care in the world. Didn't look to see oncoming traffic, just assumed right of way (on his red light!!!).
Every car on the road was affected. Southbound traffic slammed the brakes and northbound was interrupted as well to rubber neck. This is an absolute daily occurrence, not an isolated event.
A similar situation is when people come onto the street to cross between cars without giving drivers opportunity to see them, also seemingly always looking the wrong way down a one way street.
Bike lanes are not the answer because they are ignored and underused and just cut into the street that is used by motor vehicles. Bicyclists are the problem bc seldom are rules of the road followed. In NYC, as a driver, the best defense is a good offense and that's pretty accepted. When that method is interrupted, all hell breaks loose and people can get hurt.
Bicyclists and pedestrians interfering with the smooth flow of traffic, and putting the onus on drivers to watch out for them while bicycles and peds are ignoring their own safety and rules of the road is preposterous. Putting 100% of the liability and responsibility for safety on drivers otherwise following sop is not right. When will it be illegal to talk on a phone on a bike? Run a red? Wrong way down a one way. The bicycle inherently lends itself to ignoring traffic and road rules.
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So, if the girl was texting, it makes it far more likely that something like this would happen. My phone turns off in the car except for the Bluetooth and I have trouble enough with the different travelers on the road. Adding texting to the mix is a recipe for disaster.
So, therefore, my position is that bicycle riders in heavily trafficked areas be licensed like drivers and assessed points and be treated like motor vehicle operators. We have institutionalized rules of the road for drivers, now it's time to hold these bike riders accountable to the rest of us.
Plenty of places and ways for a bicycle rider to get where it needs to go while still being a responsible member of the community of drivers. Very sorry someone was injure but the last thing I am is surprised.
BTW, I discussed this with my students and a number of them said that it's the anti-texting laws that make it dangerous. If drivers were allowed to hold their phone above the steering wheel, they could look at both the road and the phone at the same time.
BTW, I discussed this with my students and a number of them said that it's the anti-texting laws that make it dangerous. If drivers were allowed to hold their phone above the steering wheel, they could look at both the road and the phone at the same time.
That is awesome... Kids are funny man... Why do you think that law went into effect? Because of all the accidents.
I never did find out what Australian law is like with respect to suing her ass (and/or her parents) for this behavior, followed by this attitude. The cyclist should end up rich, albeit a little worse for wear.
Ntw, there is nothing to prevent intoxicated people from DWT. I doubt that laws in many countries or states have caught up to that possibility.