I am after peoples opinion on who is at fault. So I hit this construction sign on my morning commute to work.
I Hit a Sign While Commuting
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Damn people, always not looking out and attacking innocent signs.
Sign: I was just standing there minding my own business, when some random knocks me over and not even an apology. I'll ask my buddy sign "Watch where you are going".
Watch where you are going sign: Same thing has happened to me.
Said every gun sitting on a porch :/
Sign lives matter!
Sign, sign
Everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
Breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?An oldie but a goodie!
Not much different to drivers complaining about potholes tbh
Haha, agreed. Unfortunately, when you hit inanimate objects, it's always your fault lol.
You can't fix stupid..
I am a commuter myself and while I can agree that the sign can be placed a bit better, it is on the rider to avoid all obstacles.
It has since been fixed/repositioned more appropriately.
because you knocked it over?
Not true. Council and road authorities have an obligation to provide a safe environment within the road reserve. We grind our footpaths back to prevent people from tripping over and suing us for damages. If we could pass the blame on to the person who tripped we wouldn't have to spend nearly as much money on footpath maintenance. We even had a case where we had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone who tripped over a drainage pit in a drainage reserve. The pit was not in a dedicated walking area yet we were still held responsible.
Yeah, fair enough, but in this case, the sign is on the footpath and there's still enough space to easily walk past it without hitting it.
Clearly you do not work for Byron Shire Council.
It is standard to provide an offset from the path of travel for all temporary signage, precisely to avoid creating a hazard for pedestrians and cyclists (or vehicles for roads). The sign as shown does not meet the requirements of normal traffic control training, it is poorly positioned and could easily have been offset 300 mm to avoid creating a hazard.
Some footpath around my area look like hurdles. During rainy period there was a large part of the footpath covered in mud, in the dark, invisible to see, because light from road blocked by a plant ( on the green strip ), I slipped and almost fell. Wrote to council and a few days later path was clean
Yeah but that would be very difficult to see at night
How the F…. go get your eyes checked.
I've commuted to work for 5 years, same path every day, I think I was doing it blind that morning…
I think I was doing it blind that morning…
There's your answer.
It looks like it was dark and the item is black.
Looks well lid in the photos.
love a good lid
yeah 6am
Perhaps they need another sign to tell you that there is a sign ahead?
and another one for that sign
A sign of the times.
If you were riding on the road like most cyclists, you would have avoided it.
If you had been walking on the footpath like most pedestrians, you would have avoided it.
100% your fault.
Come now, we don't need to be encouraging more cyclists onto the roads.
As someone who walks everywhere, yes we do. At least encouraging them to ride where they're legally supposed to ride.
edit: Just read the comments that OP was legally doing the right thing. Still seems nuts to me here in Melbourne, cyclists on the footpath are a menace.
Tassie doesn't have crowded footpaths like the big cities, people riding on them here doesn't seem to cause much of an issue… (Some arrogant cyclists on the roads are a bit of an issue though, lol)
When I lived in the burbs, I would ride on the footpath, but if there were any humans walking on it, I would ride around them on the nature strip.
In the Cranberry we can ride on the footpath under certain conditions and with certain restrictions. I've never had any issues on either side. My experience and circumstances are very different to Melbourne so I will not have an opinion on what Melbourne should and should not allow.
Cyclists on footpaths are insanity, it makes zero sense to have bicycles on a footpath alongside a busy road, where you can hardly hear anything because of the cars, and you're supposed to be constantly watching over your shoulder for some idiot on a bike not using the road.
If it's a shared path then sure, if there's a bike lane great (in NSW bikes can use bus lanes, they can also ride to the left of the road where a solid line is marked sometimes), but if it's a quiet or busy road (99% of the time) stay on the road please.
Cyclist want it both ways. To be treated like a car on the road, but also be able to ride up on the footpath and run red lights when there’s no traffic.
No, there's just more than 1
It's because traffic lights are prioritised for cars. Even when it's safe to cross, for pedestrians/cyclists it'll remain a red light until the buzzer is pressed, then we have to wait for the next cycle for the light to turn green to cross - I'm not waiting this long when I know it's perfectly safe to cross. I wish we used smart trafflic lights like the Netherlands.
Well if it is legal for OP to ride on the footpath then they should be able to without having to worry about obstacles protruding in their path.
Under no circumstances will I ride on the road. I mainly stick to shared paths, but if there aren't any then I'm riding on the footpath (unless its a quiet residential street). No way will I risk my life for a measly fine. However when I see pedestrians, I do slow down immediately (if there're children then I reduce my velocity to walking speed) and go around them with a safe distance.
I always ring my bell just so pedestrians are aware that I am behind and will overtake them although I may need to get a horn as many people are using noise cancelling headphone/earphones nowadays.
Cyclists don't belong on the roads as cars and bicycles due to safety. At the same time Bicycles and Pedestrians don't make a safe combination as well, and ideally cyclists shouldn't be using the footpaths (unless it's a shared path) but it's safer to mix cyclists with pedestrians than cars. Just ride safely!
I feel like bells are actually less safe than just slowing down to jogging pace and going around people as it may make people jump sideways into your path (and cause a collision of you are still going at speed and don't have time to change direction). But if they don't know you're there they are unlikely to make sudden movements which surprise you.
How did you hit that when it is not on the road? Were you walking or riding your bike?
It took me way too long to realise that OP was riding his bike. I got about halfway down the comments before my midwit mind finally figured out why nobody was calling OP out for jumping the curb.
They might have, if he was jumping the KERB
Twoshay, sir.
OMG!!!
(How is the Sign?)
But OP didn't.
Who rides that close to the fence?
Initially I thought it was sticking out. however It's 2cm at most over the yellow fence base. Seems fine to me.
- i hope op is okay
- i totally agree with this - yellow hi vis fence base is within line of it. i say its fine.
Bikes are not rectangular
I am after peoples opinion on who is at fault.
What kind of question is that???
Did you hit the sign or did the sign hit you? lol
Wait,
you rode over the fence support and into the sign?Unfortunately the signage company has done a fairly good job, there's not really any recourse here
I should clarify it, my handle bar clipped the sign.
Why are you riding your bike on the footpath? you are meant to be riding on the road.
It is legal in my state.
@shap08: I also wouldn't be riding on the road in the dark alongside people who have just woken up and are likely in a rush to get to work. You ride on that footpath OP. It's safer.
Well…it's usually safer.@Some Human: hmm - lemme see now - is there some general principle about you should look where you're far kin going - so you don't lose your life hitting or getting hit by something … ? I know it's a difficult question for small screen starers … ;-)
@Hangryuman: What a ridiculous comment.
You can be as cautious as possible and still be hit by some idiot who got up too late and is in a hurry to get to work. I used to drive in peak hour. Some motorists have absolutely no concern for anyone else's safety and will put many others at risk of injury or death just to get 2 car lengths ahead. I've seen people drive in bike lanes, cut across 3 lanes of traffic narrowly missing the other cars and various other acts of life threatening stupidity. If you think OP is safe on the road in the dark, then I encourage you to go for a ride on a busy road at 6 in the morning and see for yourself how dangerous it is.@Some Human: 'You can be as cautious as possible and still be hit by some idiot'
I rode motorbikes for 10 years – I now advise riders to assume everyone else is trying to kill you, and your job is to avoid that.
'If you think OP is safe on the road in the dark'
I don't think they were safe in the dark - that was their reason to take extra care - I believe they admitted they weren't paying attention - whose fault is that ?
'then I encourage you to go for a ride on a busy road at 6 in the morning and see for yourself how dangerous it is'
which I won't ever do, because risking my life on an unprotected bicycle against careless small-screen-thumbing heavy vehicle drivers in peak hour traffic is something I regard as foolish, so I won't ever do that.
I've had my major motorbike crash decades ago, caused by a woman doing a totally illegal u-turn over the blind crest of a hill in an 80kph zone, to drop her husband off at the bus stop - I hit the side of the car fully blocking my lane at maybe 60kph after last-second braking, and woke up in hospital in traction with multiple broken bones, permanent spinal and wrist injury, and rearranged teeth. My girlfriend on pillion did a flip and landed on her back some distance down the road - with no reportable injuries, but complained of years of pain afterwards.
So riding a bicycle in peak hour vehicular traffic - is something I simply don't do.
Tassie Law:
Bicycle riders are allowed to use the whole lane on roads with lane markings and ride two
abreast (side by side). They are also allowed to ride on footpaths and across pedestrian
crossingsIt's also a local sport to run over tourists but we try to keep that quiet, shhhh…
'my handle bar clipped the sign' - oh well that's alright then ! - onyer way good man … ;-)
lucky you didn't hit the light pole, that would have really hurt …
I love how it looks like a shadow on the bitumen.
yeah - grey cyclone fencing against grey concrete - no contrast - blind smartphone watchers just won't see it !
I'm talking about the black framed sign from behind in the first picture.
I think there is some shared blame here.
The sign is clearly protruding into the path and forming a hazard - but you should have been more alert for potential obstructions.
Contributory negligence.aprox. 1200mm to the curb, handlebars are 950mm including mirror not leaving much playroom.
This is why you buy comprehensive insurance!!!
Must be looking down at the phone…
Go to spec savers
I had a keep left sign jump out and hit my car once. I was just turning a corner on a cold wet morning and suddenly it jumped out of the dividing island, hit my car and then jumped back into the island before I knew what had happened.
lol… I killed one like that one time as well.
But did it indicate?
must have been that one that was bent at a 90 degree angle, flat against the ground, that i saw on my midnight maccas run. you killed the poor bastard
I am after peoples opinion on who is at fault.
What did the sign say when you asked it?
Sign is at fault. It is only time until someone who is partially blind hits it and damages their eyes permanently… The good part of it.
The threshold for negligence is lower when it is foreseeable that someone can hit the sign.
This is just looking for a lawsuit.
That's a very specific injury. I would have thought other body parts were more likely to be injured than eyes from this sign.
It’s pretty poor placement of the sign. It probably should have had some reflective tape or something on the black frame.
However, you should take additional care around construction sites because some workers don’t think too hard when putting out signs etc.
Also why were you riding so close to the right of the path? What if a pedestrian had been keeping left and then stepped around the blind corner into you?
This is an already narrow path, however with the construction fence it is only 1200mm to the curb and on coming traffic.
Is it even legal to ride on the footpath in your state?
Yes
I dont know why people think negligence is 100% one or the other. If this was a court case, say OP had hit the sign and fallen off and broken an arm or into the path of a car and suffered extensive injuries, I have no doubt the builder would be liable and the OP would be found to have been contributorily negligent. Maybe 40-50%, but probably less.
You cant have a dark metal frame sticking out into the footpath like that, blocking the path and there is no reason why OP should be expecting it to be there. Its an easy negligence case to win.
edit: in a previous life I was a defendant insurance lawyer and did quite a few personal injury cases. I dont know the legislation anymore or what type of damages etc the OP could potentially claim. But I have no hesitation in saying I would advise the insurer it was liable - from a liability perspective we are only arguing over the level of contributory negligence
'I have no hesitation in saying I would advise the insurer it was liable'
sorry - who would be 'it' in your understanding … ?
sorry - who would be 'it' in your understanding … ?
The insurer. Yes, technically the insured but the insurer is the one paying the money
Further to this, the builder through his site fencing contractor has omitted the fundamental requirement of installing, what is known as a 'handrail'.
Refer: https://temporaryfencing.com.au/temporary-fencing/temporary-… If you intend to put up temp fences in high traffic or pedestrian areas, installing handrails on your panels is highly recommended. Handrails can help to make the area around your panels safer, minimise the likelihood of accidents and make the vicinity much easier to navigate. In particular, handrails can alleviate the danger of pedestrians tripping over the bases of your temporary fences.
I know for a fact that the Builder in this case would be held more around 80%+ contributorily negligent.
The sign said the footpath is closed, no access so not high traffic, no point of having a handrail in a closed off area.
ok… you hit a sign,
apart from apologising to it, what else do you want to do? what is the end goal here?
for a bunch of strangers to tell you to be careful next time, or are you seeking validation that you should seek some sort of compensation for poor placement of a sign. ?Typical confirmation bias, an OP ran into something, but really looking for “Something else’s Fault”.
There are “rules” of how things should be, but our human instincts tells us if situation seem unsafe, don’t just adhere to “rules” blindly.
The event was more humbling than anything, I've come to the conclusion you need a crash every few years to keep you on your toes.
I don't think hitting the sign kept you on your toes… Quite the opposite I'm sure
@spackbace: If he's doing it right he would have been on the balls of his feet rather than on his toes.
or are you seeking validation that you should seek some sort of compensation for poor placement of a sign. ?
If this was America that seems likely.
Lol… Well, that's a new spin on the usual.
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Damn signs, always jumping out and attacking innocent people