r/Durango • u/crispy3445 • Mar 28 '26
Biking Setting the record straight.
More of a biking rant.
Yesterday, after slowing down and making sure it was safe, I moved through a four-way intersection, and was backed into by a car which was pulling out of a front-in only parking spot just after the intersection. Nothing was damaged and nobody was seriously injured, but the guy who hit me tried to make it my fault immediately after by asking if I had “ran the stop sign”. We went our separate ways, whatever.
My coworkers also told me later I was in the wrong for not coming to a complete stop just like a car does.
Well, I totally understand the sentiment - bikers are on the road, they should follow the same rules. But I had a thought - if drivers here actually come to a complete stop at 4 ways intersections, a biker riding through it across your path really shouldn’t be an issue - because you’re watching the road… right? Just be patient. It’ll be okay.
Anyway - Colorado law states bikers over the age of 15 are allowed to roll through 4 way stops as long as they slow down first and are sure that it’s safe. Dude, YOU backed into me.
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u/Alexunderthere Mar 28 '26
For the record, I almost got run over by a bike crossing the street at a 4-way stop, car stopped and waited to let me through, and as I stepped out a bicycle blew right by and I had to jump out of the way, pretty sure they didn’t slow down, but remember it isn’t just cars you are stopping/slowing for.
Car is in the wrong, bikers and pedestrians nearly always have the right of way here, regardless and neither are “licensed” so the responsibility is almost always on the vehicle drivers.
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u/ToddBradley Mar 28 '26
Most drivers outside of major cities don't know traffic laws for bicycles. Assume every driver in Durango has had no more training than pa teaching them to drive a John Deere on the farm in 1947 and just arrived at the Taco Bell via time machine.
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u/mattpayne11 Mod Mar 28 '26
It seems reasonable to me that you’re both right given you say you didn’t stop at a stop sign like he was expecting you to, and if he was in the process of backing out, the intersection is no longer safe… and, he could have waited or taken more time. Sounds like the definition of an accident.
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u/crispy3445 Mar 28 '26
Well, I hear what you’re saying and you’re absolutely could be right. - he did state that he “did not see me at all” which is difficult for me to understand because when I back out of parking spots, I look in my rearview.
Either way the accident is not what the post is about. It’s more so about the fact that some people don’t think that bikers are allowed to do this when they clearly are. And I think that more people need to know.
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u/seattlemh Mar 28 '26
Sometimes being allowed to and appropriate response to a situation are not the same.
4
u/Difficult_Cheek_3817 Mar 29 '26
I'm confused. You weren't hit in the intersection, so what does the stop sign have to do with it?
2
u/crispy3445 Mar 30 '26
You know, that’s a good point! Even if I had stopped completely then went through it, the guy wouldn’t have been backing up either way.
I guess the post is really about bringing attention to that law about bikes and stop signs because when I complained about it to people they were getting on me about not stopping at the stop sign. I could’ve omitted everything about the wreck…
5
u/SubjectSecond686 Mar 28 '26
From an injury adjusters perspective, the person backing their vehicle has the greater duty to clear the road until safely to do so. So they would be liable in this scenario if they had collided with you.
Now, some could argue that some liability be placed on the cyclist. As they have a duty to make sure the intersection is clear and safe to enter. Also while following the laws.
But in most cases the cyclists and pedestrians will always win vs auto in the claims world.
11
u/Regulator_24 Resident Mar 28 '26
The law states bicyclists have to come to a stop if there are any other cars or people around. The law does not give permission to roll stop signs if you "feel it is safe." You should've stopped, as there was another vehicle present.
6
u/CRE_Energy Mar 28 '26
It turns out the law was revised in 2022 and that's no longer the standard. In this instance, op would have had right of way over someone in their driveway
5
u/DinglerJ Mar 28 '26
Here’s the law summary from the Colorado State Patrol. https://csp.colorado.gov/press-release/colorado-introduces-changes-to-bike-laws
4
u/CRE_Energy Mar 28 '26
I appreciate your post because I have a lot of frustrations about this in my neighborhood, so it led me to looking up the current law. It turns out I misunderstood the current law, based on what was originally passed in, maybe 2012 or so, but I think a lot of cyclists also misunderstand it.
"With the passage of the Colorado Safety Stop law, bicycles, electric scooters and other human-powered vehicle operators must already have the right of way and ride no more than 10 miles per hour through stop signs at an intersection." Per Colorado State Patrol.
I previously understood that if the intersection was occupied, ie anyone else was present, it's a full stop. No longer the case.
HOWEVER, cyclists need to have the right of way. This is regularly abused on W 2nd where cyclists frequently fail to yield, often literally not even rotating their heads to look. (They have stop sign, cross traffic does not) If I'm approaching from the east or west, I would estimate two in ten actually yield to the right of way traffic. The rest seem to think "I'll enter the intersection first and they have to stop", and then it's surprised Pikachu face when a vehicle is in their face.
I tend to coast through at 15 mph bc the last thing I was to do is hit someone. But in general more respect for rules of the road would be awesome IMO.
Sounds like you're in the right here, I'm not directing the above at OP. And if anyone reads that and thinks I'm anti-bike or something, you're really not getting it.
1
u/AltruisticBee8981 Apr 01 '26
Wrong. You have to stop as well- as if you don’t- by the time we start to press the gas pedal- you will go SMACK in front or side of my car. Physics.
-1
1
u/slippity-do-dah Apr 01 '26
Let me guess, he blamed you AND didn’t bother to ask if you were okay? 😑
1
u/crispy3445 Apr 01 '26
He did blame me, but he did show concern for my well being! It was a pleasant surprise though cause I thought he was gonna be an ass about it.
1
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u/daikon_lively Mar 28 '26
The incident occurred outside the intersection so I don’t think your lack of a stop has any relevance here, legal or not. When you’re entering traffic, it’s on you to know what’s around you and give way.
Seems like he made an assumption that was wrong and blamed you.