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by Cockbrand 641 days ago
It’s similar in Germany, where truck drivers regularly kill cyclists on right turns and get away with a four figure fine and (if the judge has a bad day) a few months of license suspension.
3 comments

That is not similar at all. In the US they would not get the four-figure fine nor the license suspension.
Here in Norway, the one crossing lanes has the blame almost regardless. So with a bicycling lane on your inside, you have to be very, very careful.

However the exact limits to that are being tested. There's just been a case in front of the supreme courts here[1], where a e-cyclist in a bike lane got run over by a truck doing a right-hand turn in a busy intersection.

A similar case back in 2019 ended with 60 days of jail for the driver of the truck[2], though that one seems more cut and dry.

[1]: https://rett24.no/articles/dodsulykken-pa-st.hanshaugen-opp-...

[2]: https://www.aftenposten.no/oslo/i/XgJWg7/syklist-paakjoert-l...

Even if the cyclist has the right of way?
All the damn time. Here's a recent one: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Radfahrer-erfasst-Lkw...

2700 Euro and 1 month license suspension.

In Germany, you have to cycle extremely carefully if you want to survive.

It's often said that if you want to get away with killing an American, first give them a bicycle. Drivers just say "they came out of nowhere" or "the sun was in my eyes" and that's that.