There's an inherent inconsistency with road safety figures; although cars have been getting safer and safer with advances in structural and radar technology, road tolls nationwide have remained high.
An easy scapegoat could be the advent of the mobile phone.
Most of us have done it of course; used phones while driving to read messages, make calls, scroll through songs, or even sent cheeky pictures. And even the best aren't immune from such things, as evidenced by the above fresh video from Peculiar, Missouri — be advised that it's inevitably laced with swear words.
Waiting at an intersection, the cyclist (Joseph Fasanello) watches as a police cruiser Ford Explorer turns left with a rather generous 'cut' right into the opposing lane and into the awaiting cyclist.
The cause? Distraction, via the officer (Charles Wallace) looking down at a phone at the time.
The subsequent contact is thankfully relatively minor, resulting in a few bumps and scrapes as well as a munted bike. The cyclist's initial vitriol fades as the video goes, as he realises how lucky he was and as the cop admitted fault nearly straight away.
"It was my bad ... I wasn't paying attention," says Wallace, before calling in another officer to do a report on the incident.
Of course, being a modern cop means using a lot of screens a lot of the time, as well as an added requirement to maintain communication with other members of your department. On top of that, many online have come to the defence of the policeman in question
Nonetheless, after going through the traditional tests for alcohol in his bloodstream, Wallace was reportedly suspended with pay while the Misouri State Highway Patrol perform their own investigation.