The leading causes of fatal or serious injuries to cyclists by motorists: - Failed to look properly - Failed to judge speed or direction - Recklessness or Impatience For the victim blamers “clothing choice” is rarely a factor. Staying safe requires you to do the thinking on a motorist’s behalf.
And even when you think you've made eye contact and you think they're going to stop, they may not. I'm still recovering after a driver decided to do a right turn across me; of course I ended up going over the bonnet and onto the road. I had no chance of stopping. 😭
Really sorry to hear and I hope you’re almost back to full recovery.
Got clipped a few years ago at a stoplight. Light had just turned green for me, motorist slowly started turning right (right on red legal here). She just got my rear tire. When she stopped and got out, she said, "I didn't see you. You gotta believe me!" I did believe her. Still do.
I still think it was partly my fault because I slowed down and considered stopping before I went ahead because I saw the car there.
Always worth contemplating whether you could have done anything that might have changed the outcome, but the blame lies absolutely with the motorist. The “I didn’t see you” is admitting they weren’t paying attention.
It's the same with motorbikes - you have to do the thinking for yourself and the cars.
Absolutely, any vulnerable road users finds themselves having to try anticipate driver actions in order to stay safe.