Collisions between bike riders and car drivers are not uncommon. What is uncommon however, is the level of civility displayed by reader Ben Koker after he was thrown to the ground following a slow-speed collision with a man driving a Lexus SUV earlier this month.
Thankfully, Koker was not seriously hurt. And he also happened to capture the entire incident on video thanks to his helmet-mounted camera.
The collision happened in the intersection of Main Street and 10th in downtown Oregon City. Koker was heading southbound on Main toward the four-way stop at 10th. After stopping and thinking it was safe to go, Koker was hit by the SUV driver from his right. The driver failed to stop at the stop sign.
Here’s the video:
As you can hear in the video, after hitting Koker, the driver gets out of the car and says, “Sorry about that.” To which Koker replies, “That’s all right.”
Once they move to a nearby parking lot to exchange information, the driver — a 17-year-old — tells a cop who had just pulled up, “It was my fault. I accidentally ran the stop sign.”
Not surprisingly, the young driver’s insurance took full liability and Koker was reimbursed for his damaged wheel and a doctor visit.
Our takeaway from this incident? Beyond the surprising civility and level-headedness displayed by both parties (understandable expletives whispered by Koker under his breath notwithstanding), it’s another big endorsement of helmet cams. Koker not only recommends them, but now he’s thinking of getting a rear-view cam and a dash-cam for his car. “When the kid’s insurance agent called,” he wrote in a YouTube comment, “she actually referenced the kid’s comment at the end about fault. Hard to argue with that:)”