Bicyclist Hit from Behind, Then Stabbed in the Back by Police/Media

[XLFD]

On the evening of May 21, 2024, the Mason County Press reported the following car/bicycle collision which resulted in serious injury to the cyclist:

AMBER TOWNSHIP — A male bicyclist was seriously injured Tuesday evening after he allegedly pulled out in the path of a pickup truck. The crash occurred in the 1600 block of North Victory Corner Road, between Hansen and Decker roads. According to personnel on scene, the Ford F-150 pickup and the bicyclist were both northbound on Victory Corner Road when the bicyclist pulled into the path of the truck in an attempt to pull into a driveway.

Emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene at 8:11 p.m. Those personnel included units from Michigan State Police, Mason County Sheriff’s Office, Scottville Fire Department, Ludington Fire Department, and Life EMS.  The bicyclist was transported by ambulance to Corewell Health Ludington Hospital. A helicopter was dispatched to Ludington hospital from Traverse City to transport the man to a trauma center.

BUMPS has catalogued a lot of bicycle and motorcycle accidents locally, along with several in West Michigan, and you never see them being protected by police agencies who generally assume an accident is the fault of the bike operator and not the vehicle that either turned in front of them, turned into them, or did not safely pass them, which it should be fairly obvious in this case that the latter didn't happen here.  

A bit of forensic work, one should be able to take a look at the bike shown above and figure out that the impact damage appears to be on the back wheel rather than the front wheel.  Assuming the bicyclist wasn't driving on the wrong side of the road, which is never indicated, this presents a problem presuming that he wasn't making a left turn (in which case the bicyclist may have some fault if he didn't signal).

This refutes the witness driver's version of events which says the bicyclist 'pulled into the path' of the pickup.  If that was the case, and the driver hit the back tire, the front would have been quite damaged, being more towards the center of the front of the truck.  A bicyclist leads with their front wheel, to have the impact damage on the back of the bike indicates the bicycle was already in the process of turning right when it was hit.  If it had veered into the road, the pickup should have had plenty of time to compensate and should have already compensated as their duty under law.  

MCL 257.636(2) states that:  "The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction shall pass at a safe distance of at least 3 feet to the left of that bicycle or, if it is impracticable to pass the bicycle at a distance of 3 feet to the left, at a safe distance to the left of that bicycle at a safe speed, and when safely clear of the overtaken bicycle shall take up a position as near the right-hand edge of the main traveled portion of the highway as is practicable."

A truck travelling at a safe speed and at safe distance would never have hit this bicycle from behind when it is in the process of turning into a driveway.  This pickup driver appears to be at fault for this incident that should have never happened, but our sheriff's office relates that it appears to be the bicyclist turning off the road and hit from behind who is at fault.  And our fellow reporter takes some pictures and relates the fallacy, but at least they used the word alleged.  

The Ludington Torch will be getting a copy of the incident and investigation report for this avoidable accident and check out whether the investigation is as wanting as the initial report.  Whoever the bicyclist is, they deserve justice and the whole truth to come out

Update: May 22 7 PM:  The LT went to the accident site today and got some pictures of the accident scene, the first looking north where you see some of the tire treads from the braking which appears to only be going on in earnest very near the driveway entrance:

This indicates better that both vehicles were going north, the pickup moving over the lines to pass the bike on the left, and the bicycle making their own left turn into the driveway.  We are unaware whether there were any clear indications of the bike rider's intentions, but it seems as if the inability of the driver to brake in time for a child on a bike was a sign that they were going too fast, and when we look at the topography, we get a better idea of why there were double yellow lines in this area of road looking south.

The state puts out a booklet for studying for your driver's test called "What every Driver Must Know", the latest version reminds us in Chapter 5, right along the same pavement markings that affect bicycles that double yellow lines indicate that except in very limited conditions (turning left into a driveway, intersection, or parking space).

Another section of state law, which establishes that motorists must give bicyclists at least three-foot separation when passing, also allows for vehicles passing in no-passing zones if it can be done in safety.  This pass was not done in safety; personally, in a similar situation, I would not have passed this young bicyclist without slowing to a point that would have allowed for braking safely even if they suddenly turned left.  If even I can do that, other people can too, but I have seen (and experienced as a bicyclist) those motorists who carelessly pass bicyclists, and a large portion of those are pickup drivers who seem more divorced of their driving responsibilities.