[drcoastline]

I ride as well, I'm with the SUV owner on this one based on your telling of the story. He did stop let another rider go, didn't see you and began to move but when he did see you he stopped again. You approached the intersection at an unsafe speed. You put your life in danger.

Whether he stopped or not you have a level of responsibility just like in a car. When driving just because you have a right of away that does not give you the right to intentionally cause an accident in the US can't speak for Canada but I assume it's similar.

Yes you inflamed the situation by yelling. Had you not he may have said sorry didn't see you. You put your life massively at risk by approaching that road at an unsafe speed. You chose to be on the bike entering the intersection at an unsafe speed. Don't blame him for sitting in his air conditioned vehicle listening at his choice of music because you decided to enter the intersection at an unsafe speed.

What would you say if crossing the intersection was another cyclist or an elderly person with a walker or a mother pushing a baby carriage and you hit them?

I observed a similar incident just last week while riding. I was on a causeway two lanes each direction riding at a steady clip prepping for an upcoming Triathlon. Not supper fast but not slow. Two guys riding together passed me abut a half mile from a small bridge with a moderate incline. A sped up and trailed them slightly behind. As we approached the crest of the bridge several cars passed us. on the down side of the bridge to the right is a jug handle that then crosses the road we were on. The intersection is managed by a traffic light. The cars crossing the road at the light have a blind spot of approaching traffic due to shrubbery, you must pull forward into the shoulder of the crossing road before you can see approaching traffic. The two or three cars that passed went into the jug handle and stopped at the red light. I am the third bike in line about thirty feet behind the second cyclist and can clearly see these cars go into the jug handle. As we approach the light maybe fifty or so yards out our green light turns yellow. I can not see the cars sitting at the light at this point due to the shrubbery that is also obscuring their view, but, I know they are there so I stop peddling and begin to slow the other two cyclists keep going. At about twenty five or so feet our light changes red the cyclist make no attempt to stop. Sure enough the car at the light rolls forward into the shoulder when they see the cyclists and stops.

The two cyclists slam on the brakes and run into each other. They both start yelling at the driver. In my opinion the cyclist were at fault. They could easily observe the cars go into the jug handle, saw the light turn from green to yellow to red ample time to slow and or stop. The driver in the car had a green light and the right of way.

Way to many cyclists have your attitude that you are entitled to the road and everyone yield to you. You may be right but what good does it do you if you loose the battle with a truck and you are dead?

Here in NJ we also have a law that pedestrians in a crosswalk have right of way even if traffic has the green light. It is mind boggling how many people will walk right off a curb into traffic moving at 25, 30, sometimes 50 MPH with out looking or stopping. I may have the right of way but I am not taking on the battle of me and my carbon fiber Trek with my little foam helmet against a dump truck.

Sorry you were wrong from one rider to another.