The duty of care
Ok I’ll amend that a little – joggers can be ridiculously entitled, to the point of aggression. Joggers somehow think they have the right of way over everyone else, I guess because their hearts will explode if they slow down or stop for anyone.
A man who sued a young girl and her grandparents after he was injured when he jogged into the back wheel of her bike has lost his case in B.C. Supreme Court.
Like that. He jogged into her but he tried to sue her and her grandparents.
According to the judgment, the girl was cycling alongside two friends on Robson Street when the accident occurred.
Her friends were on the sidewalk and she was on the road. All three were riding against traffic, on the only side of the road with a sidewalk.
Perilli was jogging behind the trio when he caught up with them and tried to pass the girl on the right. The girl testified that she had moved closer to the sidewalk after she looked back and saw Perilli about to pass.
The girl also testified that when she looked back again, the jogger had fallen behind. No longer expecting him to overtake them, she moved back into her spot farther from the sidewalk.
That’s when Perilli struck her back wheel, causing him to fall and injure his shoulder severely enough that he later required surgery.
And he considered that her fault. She was in the road, where bicycles belong, and he too was in the road, where pedestrians do not belong except to cross. He didn’t have to “strike her back wheel”; he could have just stopped, or slowed down, or moved to the sidewalk.
Perilli alleges that the girl breached the duty of care by contravening Motor Vehicle Act laws governing cyclists on the road — including cycling without due care and attention, changing direction or speed without signalling and cycling on a sidewalk while riding abreast with other cyclists.
He also alleged that she failed to “maintain an adequate lookout” and failed to “take any or adequate steps to avoid colliding with the plaintiff.”
But as the judge pointed out – he was behind her, so it was easier for him to “maintain an adequate lookout.”
Joggers; they’re nuts, I tell you. I’ve had them grab me and shove me aside on sidewalks and trails, including trails that are signposted No Joggers.
Maybe this is the same guy who tried to push the woman under the bus.
I keep promising myself that I’m not going to hit the brakes the next time an earphone-deafened jogger runs (or a lycra-clad cyclist rides) straight out in front of my car, but apparently reflexes trump all. Then, the cheeky bastards get angry and shout at me, the person whose quick reflexes just saved them from a serious injury.
Next time, I swear….next time!
Ugh, god, people lost in their phones wandering in front of cars – that’s a whole other rant.
As a runner I feel the need to apologize on our behalf. Unfortunately we don’t need a license or any training on how to negotiate around other pedestrians. I do wish less of us would run with headphones-it’s dangerous for everyone else, and also a bit nervewracking when I attempt to move past a fellow runner who has no awareness of the surrounding environment. Even yelling ‘on your left’ doesn’t seem to completely remove the danger of getting socked once you enter their peripheral vision.
When I was 20, a jogger ran out in front of my car and hit the car. I had the right of way, and he didn’t. I could not see him because he was behind another car right before he ran across a busy street without stopping. The police verified from my skid marks that I was not speeding; I was on a through street that did not have a stop sign, while he was on a side street that did, but he didn’t want to stop. He assured the officers at the scene that it was his fault, don’t blame the “girl” (Note: I was 20, not a “girl”).
Then he sued me. My insurance would not fight it, because they said it is nearly impossible for a driver to win a case against a pedestrian, no matter what the facts, no matter what the police report says, no matter how much in the right the driver had been. So they paid. Then they raised my insurance rates.
The story reminds me about this cyclist shooing people from the bike lane in an amusing manner.
As a bike commuter for over 20 years I can attest that there is very little one can do about someone approaching from behind. Cars, I can hear. Cyclists and runners, no. That being said no jogger or very few runners could manage to hit me from behind.
I live in a community with a very rare law that says cyclists can ride on the sidewalk. This is insane. At the speed I would ride I could easily kill a pedestrian. In most communities it is illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk…as it should be.
I’ve seen all three types of jerks: drivers, cyclists, pedestrians. Each of them thinking they are superior to all else. That is insane. Most cyclists are also drivers. Most drivers become pedestrians at some point. This is just a disconnect from empathy.
Iknklast – that’s unfair. UBER will probably get off with their recent death, but I saw the video and I do not think that any human could have avoided that person. Maybe if you had video showing it was not your fault. Still the jogger said it was not your fault…you might expect him not to sue your insurance.
I did expect that…but then, I was 20 and still able to believe in the inherent good of all people (well, most people. I had already exempted much of my family and many of my schoolmates from that, but still….). And then, with all that, for my insurance company to just roll over…
I guess when you have a poverty-class young woman, the incentives to fight back aren’t there. Cave, and tell her to suck up. When you have UBER, things are different. They are big enough, and male enough, to matter.