Merging car vs. Motorcycle Lane Change : Who's at fault?
I was just on the DVP southbound right where cars coming off the 401 East merge onto the DVP.
I'm driving in the far right lane which was slow of course as cars merged.
This car merges right in front of me (within a safe distance though) while a woman on a motorcycle proceeds to merge onto the same lane right where the merging lane ends and cars either have to stop or get over. The biker was driving faster than those merging for sure and car drivers know how hard it can be to catch these motorcyclists zipping through traffic.
The woman on the bike honks at the merging car while shaking her head even though she came up on the car's blind spot area AND it's the merging lane. The woman on the bike simply zips up ahead anyway, using the small size of her vehicle to maneuver ahead. The woman on the bike knew that was the spot that cars were merging into yet though that she should have the right away? Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to just wait a few more feet and then change lanes? You know, when the merging cars could see her?
She exited at the next exit (Lawrence west) and I could see the lady in the van cursing her head off.
Now, I'd like to think that had there been a crash it would be 50/50 but I'm thinking the biker girl was wrong. Sure, we're supposed to merge safely but as far as the van was concerned, I was letting her in when the female on the bike came zipping through.
I've seen a lot of this happen (usually in the middle lane; 2 cars on each side coming over) and one sees the other and swerves back into their original lane...or they both do.
What if they made it so that people couldn't drive over to the far right lane along the merging portions of the highway (at problem spots)?
My question is, who would have been at fault?
I'm driving in the far right lane which was slow of course as cars merged.
This car merges right in front of me (within a safe distance though) while a woman on a motorcycle proceeds to merge onto the same lane right where the merging lane ends and cars either have to stop or get over. The biker was driving faster than those merging for sure and car drivers know how hard it can be to catch these motorcyclists zipping through traffic.
The woman on the bike honks at the merging car while shaking her head even though she came up on the car's blind spot area AND it's the merging lane. The woman on the bike simply zips up ahead anyway, using the small size of her vehicle to maneuver ahead. The woman on the bike knew that was the spot that cars were merging into yet though that she should have the right away? Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to just wait a few more feet and then change lanes? You know, when the merging cars could see her?
She exited at the next exit (Lawrence west) and I could see the lady in the van cursing her head off.
Now, I'd like to think that had there been a crash it would be 50/50 but I'm thinking the biker girl was wrong. Sure, we're supposed to merge safely but as far as the van was concerned, I was letting her in when the female on the bike came zipping through.
I've seen a lot of this happen (usually in the middle lane; 2 cars on each side coming over) and one sees the other and swerves back into their original lane...or they both do.
What if they made it so that people couldn't drive over to the far right lane along the merging portions of the highway (at problem spots)?
My question is, who would have been at fault?