“I told her, ‘I was just there. I got it on my dash camera.’ And she was just like, “I do not believe you.” And she’s gone, ‘says Cam Pursel.
Pursel’s dashcam video touched a car and bicycle on Spring Garden Bridge on Thursday morning, but the driver stopped and left the cyclist on the ground.
“I drove along, and I see on the side of me that this guy flips over when this car drives past, and I think it’s weird that he could have broken just like a whole bunch of legs,” Pursel said.
Purse hit the gas and followed the driver on I-76 while his dashcam was still rolling. Eventually the woman pulls off behind the steering wheel.
“She’s like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Why are you following me?’ And I’m like, ‘You just hit someone. You should probably go back and see if it’s okay with them.’ And she’s like, ‘I didn’t hit anyone,’ Pursel said.
Philadelphia police said the video was clear the two made contact with, adding that the woman’s right mirror was pressed. Police also said the cyclist is happy to be alive.
“It is possible that the driver did not know immediately, but if you look closely at the video, you can see that the driver almost comes to a halt before going to the driveway and then starting again,” said Captain Mark. Excessive, with the Philadelphia Accident Investigation Division.
This is why cyclists like Joe Cox, a manager of bicycle food deliveries, have a bold sign on his bike for cars to keep a distance of four feet from him. If you are driving a car in Pennsylvania and want to overtake a cyclist on the street, you must give four feet according to state law.
Bike Coalition of Greater Philadelphia told Action News as streets emptied due to the pandemic, the speed increased, leading to an increase in bicycle deaths in 2020.
“You have to drive very aggressively and defensively in Philadelphia because you do not know how the driver is going to act,” Cox said.
Police said the cyclist should come forward and make a report and hold the driver responsible.
Police said the cyclist did nothing wrong in terms of where he rode as he was in a bike lane.
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