Cars vs. bikes: Who's to blame for crashes?


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SALT LAKE CITY — A couple months ago, KSL Investigators got an email from an avid cyclist who was frustrated by what he experiences on the road each day. We've gotten emails like this before, but this one was a little different.

Instead of simply complaining about close calls and near misses, Jim Greene showed us exactly what he deals with, through a GoPro camera he wears on his body during his daily commute to work and back on his bike.

Greene's video shows dozens of incidents where drivers are turning directly in front of him or squeezing him off the road.

"I wouldn't say I'm constantly riding in fear, but I'm constantly vigilant," Greene said.

Greene is an experienced cyclist who says riding alongside many Utah drivers is a dangerous game of "Can you see me now?"

"Just last November I T-boned a car that pulled right across in front of me," Greene recalled. "I stood up, picked up my bike, looked at her and said 'Did you not see me?'"

The answer, simply put, was no. And it's not uncommon.

Numbers show, from 2010-2014, Utah roads have seen nearly 4,000 crashes between a motor vehicle and a bicycle. That's more than two per day, killing 29 cyclists and injuring 3,600 more.

"Everybody in the car walks away. Everybody's fine. You've got a couple thousand dollars' worth of damage," said Greene. "The bicyclist doesn't walk away."

Lisa Hardy is a cyclist who almost didn't walk away.

"I broke my shoulder blade. I broke my cheekbone. I had three breaks in my pelvis. I had a concussion. I had a huge tear in my leg," Hardy said.

She remembers her injuries very well, but if you ask her to think back on the moment that got her here, the only thing she recalls is cycling.

"They said I hit the windshield and then flew off," she said. "I flew off 30 feet from her car."

Police reports tell the rest of the story. Hardy was cycling on 118th South in Riverton around 7 p.m. The sun blinded the driver, who unknowingly turned into Hardy's path.

"I lose my memory about 10 or 15 minutes before I was hit," said Hardy.

Hardy hit the pavement and just like that, she became a statistic. A simple number, when combined with thousands of other numbers, reveals where the problems between drivers and cyclists lie.

KSL Investigators pulled those numbers, showing things like:

  • Cyclists are typically hit by cars on Tuesdays
  • They most often get hit between the hours of 4-6 p.m.
  • The average speed that a car hits a cyclist is 1-9 miles per hour
  • The average age of cyclists hit is between 10 and 24

Every year, there are hundreds of accidents involving cars and bikes. But who's breaking the law: drivers or cyclists? KSL Investigators hit the street to see who's at fault. (KSL TV)
Every year, there are hundreds of accidents involving cars and bikes. But who's breaking the law: drivers or cyclists? KSL Investigators hit the street to see who's at fault. (KSL TV)

But while it may often appear that drivers are primarily to blame, the fact is, cyclists often play a role when getting hit.

"It's constant. It's still happening out there," said detective Greg Wilking with the Salt Lake City Police Department. "It's those people that don't follow the rules that causes problems and put themselves in danger."

In a single afternoon, KSL Investigators found some of those people. Cyclists caught on camera casually blowing through red lights, riding on the wrong side of the road, crisscrossing through intersections and zipping by oncoming traffic.

Did any of these cyclists cause an accident? Not that we saw. The fact is drivers are overwhelmingly responsible in a majority of these crashes. But 43 percent of the accidents are partially, if not entirely, caused by the cyclist. The most dangerous factors: riding on the wrong side of the road, improper crossing and failure to obey traffic signals.

"If there's nobody coming, I'm going to go," admitted Greene. "To some drivers that's viewed as me blowing through the red light."

Greene believes both cyclists and drivers have their own "safety and risk" equation. Meaning drivers may go a few miles over the speed limit and think nothing of it. By the same token, many cyclists view running a red light at an empty intersection the same way. A minor infraction, often with no consequence.

Which begs the question: To what degree of bending the rules actually becomes breaking the law? For cyclists, is it riding on the sidewalk through a group of pedestrians or running a red light? And for motorists, is it not giving the required 3-feet buffer or nearly causing a T-bone accident?

"It's about the law ... but it's really about their safety," Wilking said.

Bottom line is this: A bicycle is considered a vehicle with the same rights and subject to the same provisions as any other vehicle. The only way the number of accidents will go down is for drivers and cyclists alike to obey the law.

The Utah laws regarding drivers can be found at http://roadrespect.utah.gov/drive_with_respect.php

The Utah laws regarding cyclists can be found at http://roadrespect.utah.gov/ride_with_respect.php.

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