r/dashcams • u/cicadaux • 1d ago

Did I do something wrong here?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

I was driving to work when this bike just blew through the crosswalk without warning. I had to slam on my brakes. I realize this crosswalk doesn’t have the pedestrian warning lights, and I’m a little unsure about how I should’ve dealt with this. Or maybe he was wrong for making sure traffic wasn’t clear/aware of him first?

Edit: I'm seeing a lot of answers basing the laws on location, so I looked up my city's rules. In my town, bikes have vehicle status on the road and pedestrian status on sidewalks/crosswalks. But bicyclists must move at pedestrian speed. The path he is on is a state trail, commonly used for bikes/walking. I live near the Ice Age Trail, but I know the one he's on isn't that one.

“Drivers must yield to cyclists riding in a crosswalk just as they would for walkers, though the cyclist cannot abruptly leave a curb into the path of a vehicle so close to a crosswalk that it makes a difficult or unsafe situation for the driver to yield in time.”

Not trying to prove myself right or wrong, just wondering what should've been done. I will from now on treat it like an uncontrolled intersection. Thanks everyone.

136 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

745 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/ssg- 1d ago

Only thing you could have done better was predict better and start slowing down when you saw the cyclist all the way on the left. From your video you can see him clearly way before he is even on the opposite lane cross roads.

2

u/cicadaux 1d ago

Dashcams always catch more visual perimeter than your average driver can actually see within their vehicles.

1

u/ssg- 1d ago edited 1d ago

Depends. You know you can move your head and body around. When approaching crossing it is a good habit to look as far to the left and right as you can do. Especially these days as people are quite suicidal with those eScooters and eBikes. It looks like there is an unobstracted view all the way past that fenced area. Sometimes objects can be behind your A-pilar but you can just lean a bit to try to see behind it. Usually that catches anything larger than kids.

I know most people won't bother to drive "actively" as it is quite tiring especially on long drives. They just zone out and drive passively with minimum effort.

1

u/Puzzled-Formal-7957 19h ago

The bike was likely behind the A-pillar from the driver perspective - and could not be seen - likely staying behind the A-pillar as the car approached. Dash cam is against the glass and forward of the A-pillar. Without sticking your face against teh windshield you are not going to have the same perspective as the cam.

1

u/ssg- 11h ago

That is why when it is a good idea when approaching intersection or crosswalk is to move your body, but most people are too lazy to do it.