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Chilean rider captures moment he collides with pedestrian in heavy traffic on helmetcam

Both cyclist and pedestrian were navigating gridlock

A cyclist who was weaving through traffic in Chile has posted a video to YouTube of the moment he collided with a pedestrian who was doing the same.

Ricardo Escobar caught the moment he tried to push between two slow moving buses and hit a young woman who was crossing the road on helmet cam.

 

He hits the ground face first, and comments on his video: “Paf! to the ground. The most painful thing was to lose my great front light smashed by cars.”

He turns around to film the woman being led away by a friend as she holds her stomach.

Escobar has clearly learnt a lesson, adding: “I used to ride my bike in the city like an a******, this is the result. No need to say that we’re in Chile.

"No bicycle lanes, laws, nothing.”

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21 comments

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Recumbenteer | 9 years ago
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The wide-angle / fisheye lenses normally used on these video cameras exaggerate the fall-off of angular size with distance and therefore exaggerate apparent speed. It looks fast, but like distance estimation, speed estimation is very difficult and I suspect that the speed was substantially lower than it appears.

Sorry, but like many things the reality is far more complex than it looks.
I would reserve judgement.

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J90 | 9 years ago
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Why was she almost smiling at one point? I'd be slightly more angry that some prick that was riding like an idiot hit me (on a MTB too, sigh).

All the fixie city riders seem to ride like that, especially when doing the alleycats or whatever they're called.

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Psychalist replied to J90 | 9 years ago
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Why was she almost smiling at one point? - 'By the way that's not a smile, that's a grimace of pain' - Paul Sherwen (in nearly every commentary).

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fret | 9 years ago
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He is/was an idiot for riding that quickly. You should expect pedestrians to cross in city traffic as well.

Luckily nothing serious happened, hopefully.

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Guyz2010 | 9 years ago
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Riding like a tit giving cyclists a bad name, she could have used a crossing though possibly?

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ColT | 9 years ago
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Sorry, being a bit thick. Why is this story on here? (I'm guessing there must be dozens of such things posted on YT, so is this exceptional in any way?)

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glynr36 | 9 years ago
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Cycling isn't that bad really.
You can't get a full perspective from that video of what he could see, considering his eyes are higher and he is no doubt turning his head.
Real issue is pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't.

Jay walking is the same as RLJ, you put yourself in harms way...

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teaboy replied to glynr36 | 9 years ago
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glynr36 wrote:

Cycling isn't that bad really.
You can't get a full perspective from that video of what he could see, considering his eyes are higher and he is no doubt turning his head.
Real issue is pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't.

Jay walking is the same as RLJ, you put yourself in harms way...

What?! Pedestrians are ALLOWED to cross roads not at crossings. Other road users have a responsibility not to drive or ride into them. Filtering too fast was the cause. Victim-blaming isn't cool.

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PhilRuss replied to teaboy | 9 years ago
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teaboy wrote:

[quote=glynr36

What?! Pedestrians are ALLOWED to cross roads not at crossings. Other road users have a responsibility not to drive or ride into them. Filtering too fast was the cause. Victim-blaming isn't cool.

[[[[[ Nah---they are both "victims" (victims of each other) but he's as crazy as three mice dancing.

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MamilYG-UK replied to glynr36 | 9 years ago
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The rule of the road is(or was when I trained to be a fireman) to go at a speed you can stop if a hazard comes forward unexpectedly. The comment about Jay walking just shows lack of road awareness or knowledge when it comes to road safety. As we fight for the vulnerable road users to be implemented the pedestrian is the bottom of the food chain.

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Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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Leave it to me to bring the tone down......AIRBAGS  19

But his cycling is awful, I really hope he does improve now.

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banzicyclist2 | 9 years ago
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This is guy is mad as a box of frogs  35

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darrenleroy | 9 years ago
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If you can't see what's behind the gap slow down and assume something is there.

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waveydavey | 9 years ago
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Whoa nelly whoa... slow down dude.

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MaxP | 9 years ago
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He was going to fast for his surroundings

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turvy replied to MaxP | 9 years ago
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MaxP wrote:

He was going to fast for his surroundings

Absolutely. Looked like the guy has a death wish the way he seemed to be oblivious to all the traffic and pedestrians. The end of the clip shows him continuing on his way with the same disregard for life - his own and others!  29

The young lady would be well advised to go for a check-up. Possibly rib fracture or blunt trauma to the liver.

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Cyclist | 9 years ago
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I'd have asked if they fancied a coffee.......

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harrybav | 9 years ago
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Surprised none of the newspapers are covering this world news story.

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pedalpowerDC | 9 years ago
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Love his quote. His speeds in the dense traffic were making me a bit nervous, but I'm not sure if the helmet cam gave the best perspective of speed and space.

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kie7077 replied to pedalpowerDC | 9 years ago
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pedalpowerDC wrote:

Love his quote. His speeds in the dense traffic were making me a bit nervous, but I'm not sure if the helmet cam gave the best perspective of speed and space.

Having recorded lots of cycle footage, I can easily say his cycling was an accident waiting to happen.

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benjaminooooooo | 9 years ago
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Just spent 6 months living in Santiago, not far from where this crash took place. Despite the heavy traffic, the city administration has done great things for cyclists, including wider pavements incorporating two-way cycle paths and closing large segments of roads on Sundays to allow cycle only routes through the city

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