A woman in Taiwan had a very lucky escape when a motorist drove through a pedestrian crossing as she rode across it. The car struck her bike, but missed the cyclist, who landed on her feet, by inches with the driver swerving an instant before the collision.
The incident was caught by a dashcam in another vehicle, with the timestamp revealing the footage was captured on the morning of 16 January.
The bicycle, which the woman retrieves calmly before continuing her journey on foot, apparently unperturbed, belongs to capital city Taipei’s Ubike cycle hire scheme, run by a subsidiary of Giant.
In common with other major hire scheme bikes around the world, the frame has a step through design – if the bicycle had a crossbar, the outcome could have been less fortunate for the rider.
19 thoughts on “Video: Lucky escape of cyclist in Taiwan caught on film”
Amazing, and nobody checks to
Amazing, and nobody checks to see if she’s ok ! you know, suffering from shock at nearly being killed. But at least the cab driver checks his car – I think thats cab driver standard wherever you are.
Fair play – astonishing.
Fair play – astonishing.
had she not had a step
had she not had a step through bike she would not have been so lucky. I hope the driver got his/ her comeuppance.
stealfwayne wrote:had she not
Why? S/he was doing nothing wrong. The cyclist was crossing on red.
Another slice of normality out here.
Thats nuts!!! Shes just goes
Thats nuts!!! Shes just goes about like its an everyday occurrence, lol.
Das wrote:Thats nuts!!! Shes
It is.
Taxi drivers! They can’t ALL
Taxi drivers! They can’t ALL be arseholes, surely?
nowasps wrote:Taxi drivers!
I don’t think so, the one in the video seemed quite reasonable.
One lucky lady.
No we aren’t, have been
No we aren’t, have been driving a taxi for 40 years and returned to cycling 4 years ago. But have always given cyclists sufficient space.
Lucky lucky lady
OT.
Lucky lucky lady
OT. Disappointed that there are perhaps no controls over what other videos appear after this original one played. Was going to show it my 8 yr old but glad now I didn’t! Saves having “a conversation” with him for a bit longer…
Wheres the decency of
Wheres the decency of checking how she was?
Imagine if that was a Boris bike, the cars would have been a write-off.
That is the Boris bike of
That is the Boris bike of Taiwan.
I believe the car stopped and everyone didn’t come out because they saw that she is absolutely fine. Narrow escape but she was very lucky but stupid trying to cross while it is green light on the other lane and she actually knew that and saw that coming.
cyclingdave70 wrote:Wheres
Your concept of decency may not be* the same as that of your average Taiwanese.
Having said that, it’s quite common following scooter collisions for other members of the public to rush to prevent riders from moving their scooters from the site (i.e. to preserve evidence for when plod turns up).
*Edit: certainly won’t be
Not entirely sure about that
Not entirely sure about that one- the reactions don’t look real to me. Set up?
rjfrussell wrote:Not entirely
So, you’re suggesting she was a stunt-woman? Really?
Erm…
… have you been to Taiwan?
I witnessed an old fella on a scooter narrowly missed (and I’m talking inches) being taken out by a car at a T-junction just the other day. He didn’t bat an eyelid, while I nearly shat myself. It’s part of everyday life. (The close shaves, not me nearly soiling myself. Yet. 😉 )
There are countless collisions every day here, and yet nobody seems in the least bit bothered by the often diabolical driving behaviour. I’ve been writing about it here: https://fiftyyearsandcounting.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/an-open-letter-probably-the-first-of-many/
The first comment at the end of my blog post is quite revealing, too.
I have no knowledge of
I have no knowledge of Taiwan, but it does seem to me that pedestrian crossings are for pedestrians rather than cyclists.
Grizzerly wrote:I have no
I suggest your understanding of ‘pedestrian crossings’ doesn’t quite conform to that of the Taiwanese. 😉 The crossings here are predominantly used by scooters (and some cyclists, and even cars/taxis/vans) wishing to avoid having to wait to cross the road in the normal fashion.
I use the word ‘normal’ with some trepidation.
I’ve been to Taiwan many
I’ve been to Taiwan many times and I have to say the traffic lights are seen more as guidelines and if you can fit through the traffic you can go.
I’ve actually been in an accident on a scooter where the car backed out into us on a busy road and people rushed to help us clear the road though the driver did seem much to concerned about the mark in his car than us
Anyone who thinks she’s
Anyone who thinks she’s ‘cool’ has obviously never been in shock. You do most actions automatically, so her brain was probably thinking, ‘Oh, must collect my stuff from the road.’
I’m not saying she definitely was in shock, but a short time later, when the possible repercussions of the close call hit her, she won’t have been feeling so great.