Motorbike rider lands in hospital after road crash
(CNS) A pick-up truck and a motorbike collided on Lawrence Boulevard Thursday at around 1:20pm, the RCIPS reported. No details were given about how the crash happened but the motorbike rider sustained non-life threatening back injuries. He was taken to George Town Hospital but later released, police said. The accident, which is now under investigation, comes less than a week after Matthew Owens was killed when he was knocked of his motorbike in the early morning hours of 5 September on the Linford Pierson Highway.
Category: Local News
From what my observations of the scene, the truck was making a right hand turn probably exiting out of Harquail Drive, onto Lawrence Boulevard.
The biker was traveling towards West Bay Road on Lawrence Boulevard.
While I didn’t see the actual impact, judging from the position of the truck, and the cars lined up next to the road, since the truck is definitely a left hand drive vehicle, (which by the way is really unsuitable for Caymans roads to begin with), Being left hand drive, looking to the right for on coming traffic you’ll end up having to deal with a huge blind spot, especially if the oncoming vehicle is very small, such as a small car, or a bike. lets not forget that vision was further obstructed by vehicles also parked on the right side of the road.
So in this case I believe the truck clearly did not see the biker approaching and thereby thought it was clear and pulled out in front of the biker.
As for who’s fault it could be, in my personal opinion, I believe the truck driver has the majority of the fault here, primarily due to the fact that traffic from the right has the right of way, but personally I believe BOTH are just as at fault here.
Here are my reasons why I came to this conclusion, however please keep in mind this is my own personal speculation of the matter, based on what I have seen, only the two people involved and true witnesses really know what happened that day.
1. There is probably a chance the biker probably going the typical 40 mph just like everyone else does on this road and not expecting a truck to pull out suddenly in front of him.
2. The driver of the truck for not taking proper care by pulling out of the road without actually checking to make sure it is actually safe and clear to do so, knowing there may be a chance of an oncoming vehicle he cannot see. (left hand drive, huge blind spot when looking to the right)
This is my best personal analysis of the situation based on the accident scene I saw.
As for speed involved, I don’t know, because I never actually saw the incident take place but I do know you don’t really have to be going quickly to get into an accident.
And also, while Lawrence Boulevard, is speed limited to 25 mph, I do know for a fact that through my observations hardly anyone drives 25 mph on that road, it’s usually closer to 40 mph.
I personally really wish we were driving on the right side of the road in Cayman instead of the left.
The majority of the large vehicles on island are left hand drive. Which are really built for driving on the right side of the road.
I’ve driven Left Hand Drive vehicles, and I personally do not prefer them due to the fact that its really difficult to see especially when looking to the right to the direction of oncoming traffic.
True that some motorcycle riders are reckless but in fairness, many drivers of larger vehicles do not respect riders of two-wheeled vehicles and pose the real hazard. Add to that, poor road conditions such as four-inch “drop-off” pavement edges, slick roads and poor markings.
Have you visited any other part of the world besides Florida? Many countries have narrower roads, with blind spots, no pedestrian walkways/sidewalks and don’t have these type of accidents on a regular basis.
I really do think the traffic laws and motorcycle licensing should be strengthened and enforced. When ppl are doing silly things on the road and they know they can get away with it, they will continue to push the limit.
A lot of this is predictable. I regularly see insane driving by motorbikes and trucks and wonder when they will crash. Not surprising.
We have too many juvenile brains in charge of high powered bikes.
Let me guess? Both drove within the speed limit and neither did anything wrong?