The Blame Game: Who's at Fault?

[The Dude]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-975SMoN1fo]YouTube - ‪7-11 Truck block out - Motorcycle and car crash‬‏[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoYlsIuo4Jk"]YouTube - ‪Fatal Accident - Motorbike And Car Crash At Intersection.‬‏[/ame]

Poll above. Please explain your rationale.​

 

[dxh24]

Think scooter has right of way whether the trucks there or not... Truck is in the wrong for just being a dumba$$ and turning left on red...Cars in the wrong for not yielding right of way while making left hand turn....Safety wise the scooter is in the wrong for not changing lane positions, and speed... and ended up a victim. Ya always lose on two wheels, whether you're legally in the right or not.

Looks like the scooter got the bulk of the damage... hope the guys ok, scooter rider or not :spank:.

 

[Randomchaos]

Car for sure. Scooter had a green light, speed limit is unknown, so cant say he was going at an excessive speed. Can't be 100% sure the truck is in the wrong either without knowing the exact laws of the road there. Most areas have laws about having to yield when turning across traffic like that, so I find the car at fault for not yielding to the scooter.

Hope the rider was ok, that was a pretty bad accident.

 

[skyworm]

Scooter's fault.Even with view from camera (which is not as good as the real eye) you can see in the beginning of the video the intention of car driver to turn left.Before it is covered by truck.Every intersection of the road is possible accident.Especially when there is a moving vehicle in the middle of it.

 

[gpostarmy]

WOW, that was a soup sandwich. Lot of stuff went wrong there. I am however going to blame the scooter cause it was yellow like my bike but not as pretty.:ban:

 

[Erci]

Another brilliant example of rider not wanting to stay alive. Doesn't matter whose fault it was from legal perspective.. the rider was an absolute idiot to do what he did.

 

[Popeye70]

If this was in Norway, the car driver would get the legal blame as he/she should yield to oncoming traffic when crossing the oncoming lanes.

The scooter driver has the (Norwegian) law on his/hers side, but that does not make it very clever to drive straight into the intersection without a clear view of what's going on. Having the law on his/hers side does not make it any less painful.

The truck driver is not legally to blame for the accident (again, Norwegian law), but he/she should not have run a red light as I assume the truck driver did. If he/she entered the intersection on green and got stuck, that is bad judgement on the driver's side, as he/she should not have entered the intersection without having the room to exit it. The truck is simply an obstruction that both the car and scooter driver should take into consideration when entering the intersection, and not a party to be legally responsible for the accident.

 

[Motogiro]

It seems like there is a gas station and a road or driveway to the right in between the traffic lights and maybe the truck has entered the roadway from that area. I don't know if the truck had a red light. Kind of a weird intersection!

The driver in the car lacks experience and of course so does the scooter rider.
In my opinion it is totally upon me, my observations and skills to avoid this.
Fault and legality will never change what happens when you put hominids with slightly elevated sentient consciousness on wheels and hurl them down a roadway.
Scooter driver! You're going to Las Vegas! Sorry, the scooter should have been on his game! :spank:

 

[Evitzee]

The concept of 'right-of-way' and 'blame' are really two separate issues. It doesn't matter if the scooter had the right of way, he was not driving and adapting to the conditions on the road, nor was the car driver. (Nor was the car that was filming it .... he was going to blast right on through as soon as the truck passed.) The scooter rider was thinking, 'hey, I have the green and I'm going to go right on through, when he should have been thinking 'I wonder what is behind that truck and since I don't know I better slow down'' The car was to blame from a legal standpoint for turning without a clear shot of oncoming traffic, the scooter had the right of way but was at fault for not adapting. Scooter loses. This is a classic case of a rider not paying attention to what is unfolding before him, they just take for granted that green means go and since he was going straight he was going to do just that. I can honestly say in these type of situations (in car or on bike) I would at minimum reduce throttle and prepare to brake or take evasive action. The scooter had no such plan and suffered the consequences.

 

[QwickFliCk]

i say they were both at fault...the "left turners" are very scary = t-bone...the scooter should have slowed down for the intersection.

ATGATT

 

[Randomchaos]

Would anybody change their view if it was another car instead of a motorcycle? What if the scooter rider was actually slowing for the intersection, and maybe the speed limit was a fair bit higher than what he was going? =P

 

[The Dude]

Would anybody change their view if it was another car instead of a motorcycle? What if the scooter rider was actually slowing for the intersection, and maybe the speed limit was a fair bit higher than what he was going? =P

Forget posted limits. He was too fast for conditions. No matter what type of vehicle you're operating, you should always be able to come to a complete stop within your field of vision. The classic motorcycling example would be out-riding your headlight at night.

The only reason the vehicle type might change my view is if that was a lane of traffic was designated specifically for two-wheeled vehicles. I believe they get to ride on something similar to bike lanes in many Asian cities.

 

[Motogiro]

Would anybody change their view if it was another car instead of a motorcycle? What if the scooter rider was actually slowing for the intersection, and maybe the speed limit was a fair bit higher than what he was going? =P

No, I wouldn't change my view of this if the person were in a car.
If I were the same guy driving a car instead of the scooter the same standards apply.
Driving a vehicle is not a right. It is a privilege given to us provided we follow the rules of law and safety. Observation on any roadway today shows the public is far away from any consciousness close to what you would think it should be. This is a grave responsibility to life and limb but because a car driver is in a cage they don't experience the same vulnerability and most IMO are not really emotionally or mentally capable of being safe drivers. I doesn't seem there's a text or phone less important than the attention needed to operate a vehicle safely.

Make sure you are the best driver/rider you can be! :rockon:

 

[Randomchaos]

I agree with you guys . Legally I feel the car is at fault. If I had of personally been the scooter rider, I would have slowed for the intersection. My spidey senses tingle in those situations!

Quick edit, watching the video again, the car can clearly see the camera vehicle coming as they turn

 

[mukulu]

Common sense would tell me to slow down, had I been on that scooter(shudders)
However, I can't see how anyone but the driver of the car, was at fault. How can you blindly cross two lanes of oncoming traffic? The car was not even edging out from behind the truck to see if the way was clear.
The camera car didnt even look like it wanted to stop either.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

In the state of Florida, legally, the car is at fault (violation right of way) and the truck is a major contributing circumstance(further police investigation may tell where the truck came from, condition of the traffic light-did it just change?). As stated above, we don't know the truck ran the red light, if he was in the intersection already when the light turned red, he STILL had control (rt of way) of the intersection. The car shouldn't had turned until he saw no on-coming traffic was approaching. (This is speaking as a retired police officer with 25+ years experiance working traffic wrecks...)

As for the scooter, he's guilty of not driving defensivly (not illegal).

Again, as stated above, don't drive beyond your field of vision. He should have slowed prior to entering the intersection anticipating someone pulling a left turn in front of him...

With my share of wrecks under my belt in 35 years, I've learned to expect the UN-EXPECTED and ALWAYS HAVE A WAY OUT...

 

[MrMogensen]

Can't we just all agree on this being all 3's fault... and add that legally the car is in the ****ter!

 

[abraxas]

That's a very busy video.

The car was clearly at fault, he turned across traffic without checking, i'm guessing he was in a hurry, on a cellphone, distracted.

The scooter didn't slow, he should have, clearly.

What i find the MOST fascinating however, is if you look what happened, the scooter had an escape route a mile wide. He could have avoided the car, IF he hadn't frozen and tried to stop in time, the one thing he couldn't do.

Look again, that was avoidable IF he had slowed and shown caution.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

That's a very busy video.

The car was clearly at fault, he turned across traffic without checking, i'm guessing he was in a hurry, on a cellphone, distracted.

The scooter didn't slow, he should have, clearly.

What i find the MOST fascinating however, is if you look what happened, the scooter had an escape route a mile wide. He could have avoided the car, IF he hadn't frozen and tried to stop in time, the one thing he couldn't do.

Look again, that was avoidable IF he had slowed and shown caution.

Yep, +1 100%, just using applying some defensive driving skills...

 

[FIZZER6]

The car and the scooter are equally to blame...the truck could not move due to congestion...both the car and the scooter should NOT have entered the intersection without a clear line of sight. The scooter guy was plain stupid for traveling at that kind of speed through an intersection when a truck is blocking your vision. :spank:

Technically the car is at fault since the scooter had the right of way...the car was turning left on green which means "Yield to oncoming" in any country.

RIP.