A presumed MSU student biking without a helmet made the unfortunate mistake of entering a crosswalk at the wrong time resulting in him getting hit.
Michigander and Redditor /u/Reddit-Romantic shared unfortunate dashcam footage to the /r/RoadCam subreddit from earlier this week (Sept 16, 2024) showing what’s presumed to be an MSU student riding a bike getting hit by a car after they entered the crosswalk at the wrong time.
/u/Reddit-Romantic’s dashcam footage is below.
[USA] Oblivious College Student Obliterated
byu/reddit-romantic inRoadcam
The incident happened near the Michigan State University Campus at the intersection of Grand River Ave. and M.A.C. Ave (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As /u/Reddit-Romantic’s dashcam footage shows, he’s driving along Grand River Ave and is approaching the intersection with M.A.C. Ave.
It’s worth noting the sun is directly in their line of vision.
A driver in another car, in what looks like a Pontiac G5, is in the lane next to OP.
About 60 feet before they reach the intersection, their light turns green.
Both OP and the driver in the Pontiac proceed through the intersection.
Unbeknownst to the driver in the Pontiac, a man on their bike is halfway through the crosswalk and, instead of stopping midway to let traffic, now with a green light, through, the cyclist accelerates forward and tries to come to a stop before getting hit.
Blinded by the sun, the driver in the Pontiac hits the cyclist, sending the man flying onto the hood of his car and off onto the concrete.
The man can be seen hitting his head.
Shocked but seemingly able to gather himself, the man gets up.
As the dashcam video ends, we see OP drive off to the side of Grand River Ave.
“Thankfully everyone was okay. Both the driver and the bike rider hugged it out after,” OP clarified.
“(I) dropped it off with the local police department.”
In Michigan, bicycle riders who are riding on sidewalks and crosswalks have the same rights and duties as pedestrians.
While vehicles must yield to pedestrians, pedestrians don’t always have the right of way.
According to Mike Morse Law Firm,
“…pedestrians must follow the traffic signals alerting them of when crossing is acceptable.”
As this screenshot shows, this pedestrian entered the crosswalk just as cross traffic’s light turned green.
By that point, the pedestrian crossing sign would’ve shown that it was not the right time to cross.
While the driver in the Pontiac must yield to pedestrians, the pedestrian put himself into a situation where, given the conditions (the sun,) it was almost impossible for the driver in the Pontiac to yield in time.
“…that bicyclist should have treated that like a yield. Maybe he was trying to use telekinesis to make a point …. for whatever reason … I picture him, like the scanners guy, finger, or maybe it’s Darth, but with the intent of “YOU. ARE. GOING. TO. STOP. NOW!” and … then .. they .. didn’t.,” /u/Beeemmvee commented.
“What is wrong with ppl have they lost their survival instincts?,” /u/FunkySausage69 added.
Hopefully, that student learned a valuable lesson.
A helmet from Amazon is probably in their future, too.