Idiot was keeping his eye on the green. He couldn’t imagine anyone else in “his” lane. The worst are the black kids riding at night with no lights on a dark bicycle with dark clothes on. Nothing to see until suddenly there is a bicycle crossing twelve feet in front of you.
I ride my bike a lot around town (and have my head on a swivel at all times) - worse are people who walk in the bike lanes wearing dark clothing, especially around dusk or after dark - including with little kids - when the lanes are clearly marked, have signs that say no pedestrians or a pedestrian outline on the pavement with a large circle and cross through it. There is a sidewalk and median right next to the bike path but people still insist on walking on it. I’ve almost hit several.
I’ve had people in cars look me straight in the eye and illegally proceed in front of me, pull out of curb side parking without looking and come out of alleys without stopping. I’ve seen it all. There are now more cyclists killed than pedestrians.
I was on my bike in San Francisco recently, turned around and there were two motorcycles, large Harleys, coming down the bike path straight at me - I managed to get up on the sidewalk as they passed. Guess they didn’t consider themselves motorized vehicles.
Yep just not paying attention. Another factor - on a conentional road bicycle you’ve got to strain to tilt your head up due to the unnatural riding position that is used to minimize drag. That - much more than the ass-hatchet seat - is what drove me to recumbents, and when you sit on a recumbent bike you’re in the same position as when you sit on a Lazy-Boy ;-) Your head is vertical with a full field of view without strain, in fact the great joy of riding a ‘bent is to just pedal along while enjoying the view. An accident like this would never happen on a recumbent (which also minimizes drag and maximizes muscle power).
Leaving almost no time to accelerate.