Took down a biker

[Forest]

Interesting situation tonight.

I was driving a van along a major single-land road in Melbourne. The oncoming traffic was stationary so I began turning across the road to enter a driveway on my right side.

Oncoming rider was splitting at ~40 km/h between the stationary traffic and parked cars on his left. I hate to say it, but he really was totally invisible. On seeing me turning he locked, dropped, and slid under the bumper of my van. No major injuries to rider or bike (though his crank cover looked a bit worse for wear).

Police were called. They declined to write any tickets for either parties.

The entire matter is now in the hands of the insurance companies.

As a rider, I have my own opinions on what happened. However I would be interested to know your thoughts.

[vtec]

When splitting you have to allow for people turning across. As a master splitter, my opinion is that cars turning across have the right of way. Survival first. You were not in the wrong.

[mujambee]

When splitting you have to allow for people turning across. As a master splitter, my opinion is that cars turning across have the right of way. Survival first. You were not in the wrong.

Totally agree. When you split you do it at your own risk.

[jrandom]

As a master splitter, my opinion is that cars turning across have the right of way. Survival first. You were not in the wrong.

Yeah, what the extremely humble gentleman said.

If the motorcyclist wasn't aware of the possibility that someone could be turning in front of him there, then he fucked up. Not your fault.

[CookMySock]

Oncoming rider was splitting at ~40 km/h between the stationary traffic and parked cars on his left. I hate to say it, but he really was totally invisible. On seeing me turning he locked, dropped, and slid under the bumper of my van.

His speed differential is too high. 40km/hr differential over any traffic, stationary or otherwise, is too quick. It removes all of his options when something goes wrong.

He is passing on the left. Not only illegal in NZ, but unsafe, as no cars have an 'out' to the kerb, and as you note invisible to all traffic other than the ones right next to him.

He has crossed the turning bay (that you used for your manoever) at speed without looking first. Perhaps he was legal doing this (and perhaps you were not) but whatever the case he assumed it would be clear (as did you) and now, houston, we have a problem.

Maybe he could have swerved if he had somewhere to go. Sounds like he was better to do what he did, rather than hit you full-on-frontal.

Sounds like a nasty fright and a harsh lesson for everyone. Thems the breaks.

Steve

[Grahameeboy]

How do you know he was doing 40kph?

Sorry but shared blame...the biker should have realised that traffic had stopped...if that was the case...and the driver should have checked..remember it is only the stopped drivers that are saying you can cross..not that it is necessarily safe to cross....

[Mikkel]

Hmmm, you could very well argue that if you are turning across the on-coming lane you have to give way to any and all oncoming traffic. The fact he was splitting wouldn't matter from a legal stand-point. Just because someone opens up a gap for you to turn through doesn't mean you don't have to look for people who doesn't stop...

My partner witnessed a somewhat similar situation a couple of days ago. One driver is coming out from a carpark to turn right. The lane she has to turn across is chocker with traffic but someone gives her a gap. In the meantime a guy further back down the line of traffic decides to head down the lane of oncoming traffic (empty ofc) to enter the right-hand turn lane at the lights about a 100 m further down. As she comes out between the stationary cars he clips her front - who's a fault? She has to give way to all traffic. Even if he was doing a rather impatient overtake... after all the road ahead of him was clear. It's not clear cut.

[Nasty]

Picture is he was going down your left - between you and parked cars ... am i right??? Cos I would say he is a twat ... that is not splitting ... that is going down the left beside parked cars. Splitting I thought was going down between two lines of moving traffic. Sounded to me like the rider was just lazy riding and not really wanting to account for it. I probably am wrong .. but that is what I read ...

[davereid]

If he fell off, and STILL managed to stop without crashing into you hard, he would have been able to stop completely, just by braking. Thats cos rubber o the road slows you down much faster than aluminium.

Its sounds like he was not a very good rider, and really managed to fall off mostly without assistance from you.

You must feel annoyed with yourself that you did not see him, but IMHO, you really didn't have a fair chance.

I lane split all the time, but I go very quietly, always expecting a door to open, pedestrian to appear, or car to attempt to turn or U-turn in front of me.

[awayatc]

Sounds to me Nasty is right, he wasn't splitting, he was undertaking!
so he was the wrongest........
However, you still have to give way to oncoming traffic when you turn....
You both have to share in allocation of blame....

[AllanB]

What they said.

I am constantly surprised when driving my car to work and back at the speed some riders lane-split at. Plus the noise often wakes me up out of my doze-drivin.

[Conquiztador]

Typical bloody cagers! "I did not see you". Just because they sit in a steel box they think they do not have to look. Where's your man with the red flag???

[Ms Piggy]

You know that old saying, "be alert, the country needs more lerts"? Sounds like he wasn't being that.

I have to agree with the majority here, as a rider who commutes most days I'm constantly scanning ahead for what the traffic is doing (probably my paranoia that someone is trying to take me out!). As we all know cagers often swap lanes with little or no indication and as far as giving way to incoming to turning traffic - being part of the traffic should mean obeying the road rules...surely?

I was interested in your comment

...he really was totally invisible.

No headlight on or anything?

[short-circuit]

Sounds to me Nasty is right, he wasn't splitting, he was undertaking!
so he was the wrongest........
However, you still have to give way to oncoming traffic when you turn....
You both have to share in allocation of blame....

Yep - agree with you about the underspliting comment but can't see how oncoming traffic comes into the equation. Biker was in the wrong place (overtaking on the left) and moving at a speed which didn't allow him time to react.

[gatch]

Bugger..

If all your details here are correct than sounds like the dude on the bike cocked up aye, I've done exactly what he did, undertaking and got smoked by a turning car, my fault, hope insurance sees it the same way yeah.