Why isn't there a separate path for cars to drive without interrupting urban traffic?

Good thing she was riding a girls bike.

how the hell?

There's a lot of fail all around. Even though the woman operating her bicycle foolishly is the root of everything, I also see a failure of signage and a failure of adequate caution on the part of the oncoming driver.

Does Taiwan have those?

*asia *eia

Adding video to channels (Asia, Eia) - requested by ant.

Watch it slowed down to quarter speed on YouTube starting at the 9 second mark.
Lucky doesn't even describe it.

Just watched it slower and HOLY CRAP! The bike is pulled forward through her legs by the car and then flips around!!!! AMAZING! And then she calmly collects her things and the bike which looks ride-able still!

I disagree. The oncoming driver reacts quickly and swerves to the side. He/she's the reason the cyclist walked away from it instead of being hospitalised.

Also, she's cycling in an urban area (i.e. interacting with cars) without a helmet. She's an idiot.

Oh, I agree that what the woman on the bicycle did was profoundly stupid and she should have waited for the signal or at least recognized the dangerous situation she was in re: oncoming traffic. She put everyone else in a dangerous and easily avoidable situation. At the same time though, were I driving the oncoming car, I would be slowing down and covering my brakes at the crosswalks, anticipating that a pedestrian might dash out from between the cars (happens a lot, though they usually stop short right after freaking me the hell out). In many places, hitting a pedestrian on a crosswalk is your fault regardless of the signals.

I'll certainly also grant you that a collision in the situation was probably unavoidable given how fast bike lady was going, but I also can't approve of the oncoming driver. Of course, speed is hard to gauge in the video, but they seemed to be just driving along at a constant high-ish speed assuming having the right of way means you don't have to watch out for idiots doing foolish thing.

Also, I see it as a reasonable (though stretched in this instance) rule of thumb that in a dense urban environment, if you have to swerve to avoid a pedestrian rather than just braking, you weren't driving carefully enough.

Speed limit in most urban areas is 50km/h (30mph). Braking distance at that speed is ~23m(70ft). There's no way he could have stopped.

Even at a more conservative 30km/h (~20mph) braking distance is still 12m(~40ft).

True, but at 20mph (about what I do in tight situations like that, maybe coasting to 15 for crosswalks), I would have had more time to see her between the cars--and I would have been looking for just that sort of thing. This isn't to say I wouldn't have hit her, because she was probably going too fast to see (my closest calls, have been with kids on longboards, facing away from oncoming traffic, wearing headphones).

Strange compared to what I'm used to... In the UK if you set a single foot (or wheel of a bike or push buggy) onto a zebra crossing then all traffic must stop for you. It looks like a zebra crossing but different place, different rules!

I lived for a while in a city where pedestrians had the right of way all the time, no matter what. Most people were cool about that, but some felt it was their right to just cross the street wherever and whenever they felt like it. Where I live now, you're obligated to stop for pedestrians at uncontrolled crosswalks, but when there are signals, they determine the right of way.

This video illustrates a problem I've have lately with the uncontrolled crosswalks: I no longer stop for kids anymore unless the driver in the oncoming lane has stopped as well or is obviously aware of the situation. On multiple occasions I've stopped for children, and they took this as an indication that it was safe to cross the street and then rushed right across. This has resulted in some close calls (typically involving the elderly playing the role of the oncoming driver--and these are well marked crosswalks, with flashing yellow lights and big neon signs and everything). Once, some twit behind me in my lane even tried to pull around me as though I were turning or something.

I kind of feel like a dick about it, but no combination of waving or pointing towards the oncoming traffic seems to get the message across. I guess it's their parents job to teach them how it works, and probably the majority of parents do. The bottom line is that I would feel really, really bad if I waved some kid across a crosswalk right into an oncoming powder blue Buick LeSabre.

I figure it's safer if they just wait until there aren't any cars coming at all.