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Near miss for cyclist's head after crossroads encounter with SUV

Incident took place at unmarked crossroads

Footage caught on a security camera shows the moment when a cyclist narrowly avoided falling under the wheels of an SUV which was travelling across his path at a junction in West Woodland, Seattle, Washington, USA.

The cyclist approaches the crossroads and turning his head sees that a black SUV is about to drive straight across in front of him. Slamming on the brakes, he skids, turns sideways and topples over just as the car is passing, the vehicle’s rear wheel seemingly inches away from his tumbling body.

Picking himself up afterwards, he limps back towards his bike. The driver stops, gets out and approaches. We’re no experts on body language, but the person looks to be checking that he is okay. The cyclist then walks his bike to the side of the road.

Susan Pierce, whose camera caught the incident, told The Daily Mirror:

"The cyclist was so lucky not to be squashed. I watched the incident live. I saw him ride off on his bicycle and he appeared to be shaken. He didn't have any major injuries but I assume he is very bruised today.

Pierce said there were accidents and near misses at the junction daily.

"It's an uncontrolled crossroads, which means there are no stop signs. That is one of the reasons we installed security cameras so we can provide video to those involved in accidents and police if needed."

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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25 comments

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fixit | 7 years ago
0 likes

I will say this once: NEVER EVER trust anyone at crossroads even if you have green light, even if they have a stop sign even even even.. NEVER EVER!! they see the bike and they step on the pedal, the GAS pedal, especially arrogant people in SUV's!! NEVER underestimate the arogance of an SUV driver. YOU SEE A CROSS ROAD, STOP NO MATER WHAT!!

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Edgeley | 7 years ago
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In the USA, on such crossings, which are usually marked, you have to stop (and that does mean stop on pain of a fine)  and priority goes to the vehicle which arrived first. 

Bizarrely it does seem to work, although people end up using a whole load of fuel by stopping where we would just give priority to the left (in the UK).

 

Don't think I have ever seen one without any signs though.

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Gus T | 7 years ago
1 like

Thanks to everyone that replied, even those who disagreed. angel Happy cycling all.

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gmac101 | 7 years ago
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When I lived in Nova Scotia - the province had two roundabouts, the Armdale and Pictou Rotaries.  They were about 200 miles apart, fortunatly, as they had different rules.  The Pictou rotary followed a UK style system but the Armdale rotary used "Yield and Proceed".  As you entered the rotary you faced a traffic light with the red lamp and  green arrow illuminated. You were supposed to wait for 1 vehicle to pass then proceed, once on the rotary you were supposed to stop at every "junction" let one vehicle on then proceed.  The first time I drove on it I was somewhat traumatised as none of this was explained.  I had to seek out a friendly local to explain it all.  If my explanation isn't helpful, this website uses Haiku's to explain it:

 

http://www.thegreatness.com/old/rotary.html

 

 

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WolfieSmith | 7 years ago
1 like

The USA doesn't have roundabouts. Well, they have a little one in Venice Beach that I've used and I'vd heard they have one somewhere in Chicago?

Instead they use traffic lights or 4 way stop signs on quieter roads. As the name suggests you have to actually stop. Then feed into traffic. At cross roads busy enough for the UK to install traffic lights Americans actually have the maturity to decide who was there first and let them cross first. In the Uk there would be a mass brawl in the centre to decide who was in the biggest hurry.

I love the quote about the camera being there because people keep crashing due to the lack of markings. Maybe they should ditch the cctv and put some frickin markings down instead... 

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wycombewheeler replied to WolfieSmith | 7 years ago
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WolfieSmith wrote:

The USA doesn't have roundabouts. Well, they have a little one in Venice Beach that I've used and I'vd heard they have one somewhere in Chicago?

Instead they use traffic lights or 4 way stop signs on quieter roads. As the name suggests you have to actually stop. Then feed into traffic. At cross roads busy enough for the UK to install traffic lights Americans actually have the maturity to decide who was there first and let them cross first. In the Uk there would be a mass brawl in the centre to decide who was in the biggest hurry.

I love the quote about the camera being there because people keep crashing due to the lack of markings. Maybe they should ditch the cctv and put some frickin markings down instead... 

Private individuals Are allowed to put markings on the road? Good news for me I can't paint markings to stop ass holes encroaching on my drive and double yellow lines opposite to stop people trying to park on both sides of s road that is only 2.5 cars wide by annexing the pavement.

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riotgibbon replied to WolfieSmith | 7 years ago
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WolfieSmith wrote:

At cross roads busy enough for the UK to install traffic lights Americans actually have the maturity to decide who was there first and let them cross first. In the Uk there would be a mass brawl in the centre to decide who was in the biggest hurry.

 

 

are you sure that wouldn't be a mass shooting in the US?  1

 

http://99percentinvisible.org/article/magic-roundabout-circumnavigating-...

 

 

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BobGently | 7 years ago
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In the UK no-one has priority - ie everyone has to slow and stop and 'agree' who goes first.

I believe in most states in the US they have priority to the right, so the cyclist was potentially most at fault.

http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/answers/who-has-priority-at-an-unmarked-c...

 

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efail | 7 years ago
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It's similar, I think, to when a set of traffic lights stops working. Who has right of way? The answer is nobody! Everyone should slow down or stop to check before crossing.

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wycombewheeler replied to efail | 7 years ago
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efail wrote:

It's similar, I think, to when a set of traffic lights stops working. Who has right of way? The answer is nobody! Everyone should slow down or stop to check before crossing.

Except the non functioning traffic lights are a huge clue there is a junction where you do not have automatic priority. Whereas no signs or markings do not imply that.

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wycombewheeler | 7 years ago
2 likes

I have to blame equally a) the cyclist b) the driver and c) the junction design.

With no markings on any of the roads it's easy to see how someone unfamiliar with the junction could assume they have priority and so not slow down.

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Gus T | 7 years ago
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In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations because we drive on the left hand side of the road so does the US not have a similar give way to the left laws. Can any of our transatlantic cousins enlighten me?

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gmac101 replied to Gus T | 7 years ago
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Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations because we drive on the left hand side of the road so does the US not have a similar give way to the left laws. Can any of our transatlantic cousins enlighten me?

 

I not a transatlantic cousin but having lived in North America, these kind of junctions are often 4 way stops, which work a bit like a mini roundabout.  I think the problem with this junction is the lack of warning that it is a junction, If you're not familiar with the area and the view of the road edge is obscured by parked cars its probably not easy to spot

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Condor Andy replied to gmac101 | 7 years ago
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gmac101 wrote:

Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations because we drive on the left hand side of the road so does the US not have a similar give way to the left laws. Can any of our transatlantic cousins enlighten me?

 

I not a transatlantic cousin but having lived in North America, these kind of junctions are often 4 way stops, which work a bit like a mini roundabout.  I think the problem with this junction is the lack of warning that it is a junction, If you're not familiar with the area and the view of the road edge is obscured by parked cars its probably not easy to spot

I swa this kind of junction all over the place in Houston, but there were always ample stop signs and usually no parked cars on the approach.

I agree, there needs to be more signage here especially with the park cars blocking visability.

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wycombewheeler replied to Gus T | 7 years ago
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Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations because we drive on the left hand side of the road so does the US not have a similar give way to the left laws. Can any of our transatlantic cousins enlighten me?

That's a new one on me. This is not a mini roundabout. I am not aware of ANY crossroad junctions in ghe UK with no markings or give way signs.

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mike the bike replied to Gus T | 7 years ago
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Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations .....

 

Oh no we don't.

 

 

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brooksby replied to mike the bike | 7 years ago
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mike the bike wrote:

Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations .....

Oh no we don't.

We give way on a roundabout to traffic coming from the right*

 

(*Except if we are in a car and the traffic from the right is a bicycle: in that situation we can just pull out...)

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wycombewheeler replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

mike the bike wrote:

Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations .....

Oh no we don't.

We give way on a roundabout to traffic coming from the right*

 

(*Except if we are in a car and the traffic from the right is a bicycle: in that situation we can just pull out...)

 

But this situation is not a roundabout.

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brooksby replied to wycombewheeler | 7 years ago
0 likes

wycombewheeler wrote:

brooksby wrote:

mike the bike wrote:

Gus T wrote:

In the UK we have give way to the right in these situations .....

Oh no we don't.

We give way on a roundabout to traffic coming from the right*

(*Except if we are in a car and the traffic from the right is a bicycle: in that situation we can just pull out...)

But this situation is not a roundabout.

I know.  I was clarifying (hopefully) the comment by Mike the Bike.   Personally, if I came up to an unmarked crossroads like this one then I would approach it [cue an Elmer Fudd voice] very carefully...

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STiG911 | 7 years ago
1 like

I have a question - why the hell didn't either of them slow down a littleon the approach?

It's a crossroads with no control markings, so why not take even a tiny bit of care?!

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rich22222 replied to STiG911 | 7 years ago
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STiG911 wrote:

It's a crossroads with no control markings, so why not take even a tiny bit of care?!

Perhaps because it's not marked.

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STiG911 replied to rich22222 | 7 years ago
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rich22222 wrote:

Perhaps because it's not marked.

Well that's where looking, slowing down and assessing potential danger would come in then, No? Just because it's  not marked doesn't mean your eyes stop working.

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riotgibbon replied to STiG911 | 7 years ago
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STiG911 wrote:

rich22222 wrote:

Perhaps because it's not marked.

Well that's where looking, slowing down and assessing potential danger would come in then, No? Just because it's  not marked doesn't mean your eyes stop working.

 

sure, but that's why we have road markings, paint, signs, rumble strips, all of that, because we're all moving at speeds unprecedented in our evolution, so we need all the help we get (except for STiG911, who we  obviously can all learn from)

it's bad enough when the markings are there - less than hour ago, someone pulled out from a properly marked junction right in front of me, because "the car is new and I'm having trouble seeing out of it". As usual, the exchange ended warmly, with both parties suggesting the other is more careful in the future ....

 

 

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STiG911 replied to riotgibbon | 7 years ago
1 like

riotgibbon wrote:

 "the car is new and I'm having trouble seeing out of it".

Well, that makes a change from 'Sorry I killed you, but the Sun was in My eyes'

 

Anyway, was the driver suggesting that once it's run in a bit they'll be able to see better?

Jesus.

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I love my bike replied to STiG911 | 7 years ago
0 likes

STiG911 wrote:

riotgibbon wrote:

 "the car is new and I'm having trouble seeing out of it".

Well, that makes a change from 'Sorry I killed you, but the Sun was in My eyes'

 

Anyway, was the driver suggesting that once it's run in a bit they'll be able to see better?

Jesus.

Probably meant that they needed to adjust the seat!

Or that they were setting the steering wheel, heater, mirrors, stereo etc

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