You bet. If this bicyclist had been doing that, he very possibly could have seen them coming and avoided being killed. He never saw them coming because he back was to the traffic.
Being a pedestrian or bicyclist alongside fast moving traffic can cause instant death. Even on residential streets I'll walk on the side facing traffic. It's so dangerous being alongside fast moving traffic, it's why agencies like CHP during traffic stops will deal with the driver from the PASSENGER side of the vehicle.
The closest i have ever come to hitting a cyclist with my car was one who was riding against traffic. I was at an intersection waiting to turn right. Visbility up the road I was turning right on was somewhat obscured by vehicles parallel parked. Cyclist moving pretty fast flies through the intersection just as I started to turn. Wouldn’t have been a problem if he had been on the other side of the road, riding with instead of against traffic. He was very lucky my reaction time was quick. I AM a cyclist. Riding against traffic is extremely dangerous.