I was bumped by a car for the first time tonight
 

I was heading straight, flashing lights were on, brand new bike (literally, my third ride on this bike) and someone starts pulling up to a stop sign to turn right. Stupid me, I assumed he was stopped to check for traffic, which would mean he would be looking straight at me...then I realized at the very last second, oh **** he’s still inching forward!! So I hit the brakes and swerve a little, he bumps my back tire. I immediately know my bike’s fine, and I’m fine.

He stops in the middle of the road to apologize, “omg did I hit you” (yeah of course you did, why else are you stopping) “I’m so sorry I didn’t see you,” then he holds up traffic, all these cars start honking at him. “Is my car okay” (I don’t really give a ****, he’s driving a jaguar so it’s nothing to him) and meanwhile he’s got a bunch of angry drivers telling him to move the **** over. I just said I’m fine and rode off

I kind of wish I didn’t do that, but I just had this thought pop into my mind that I can’t fix stupid so I just left, I guess. I was completely on edge for the remainder of my ride.

Anyway that’s my stupid story, I had to tell someone.

Glad you're OK.

Never assume they see you.

Ya... at least it was just a bump, I was hit once coming down a hill by a car that decided to take a left turn directly into me. Apparently "the sun was in my eyes" was their excuse... I ended up 30 feet from the point of impact with helmet, and bike completely destroyed, brightside though, got a new carbon bike out of it! I was also relatively unharmed, just getting some really scraped knees.

Now I don't trust any vehicle, ever, I treat every single one as the worst possible driver and always assume they will do something super dumb. I still remember what it was like to bike around pretty carefree, cars passing inches away, zooming past intersections with cars waiting to turn, good times...

You have to be part matador sometimes, in order to survive at this sport (i.e., riding in city traffic).

I'll take a guess that a mobile phone was nearby, and perhaps had the drivers attention.

I'm glad that you're ok. On January 11th one of the guys in my club was hit and wasn't so lucky. He was killed on the spot. Never assume we're seen.
Jon

This.
Glad you're OK.

I second this second. Glad you're ok.

Happened to me too many times, riding a motorcycle and bicycle. They always say the same bull*****: "Oh, I didn't see you!"

That's why I observe the Idaho Stop, as described by an actual Idaho bike patrolman.

If a stop sign intersection is clear, I'm slow rolling through.

If there's a car behind me and the rest of the way is clear, I'm not even slowing down. Even if there's another vehicle approaching from ahead or the sides I'll roll through after making a snap judgment about whether they'll reach the intersection before me. I always assume the driver behind me will hit me.

At red lights I stop and go as soon as the way is clear. If there's a vehicle approaching me from behind and doesn't seem to be slowing I'm going, or at least turning right.

Always minimize your time spent in any intersection, whether stop signs or traffic lights. Those places are kill zones.

Don't blast through heedlessly or recklessly. How you do it depends on your own reaction times, comfort zone and conditions. But it's never a good idea to linger at, in or near an intersection longer than absolutely necessary.

So you were going toward him. I assume you had a stop sign that you didn't stop at?

Either way as someone else said never assume they see you. I would go as far as say that assume you are invisible and nobody sees you even when you think you are making eye contact

As a fellow rider who was hit by a car about three months ago, you have my condolences. It's traumatic to get knocked off your bike. I also think it hurts, upon sharing the experience, to hear back a lot of advice on how to ride safely. (Don't assume... Pretend you're invisible... etc.)

In my case, I was on a bike path crossing a street with the green cycling signal, right behind another rider, and a car ran a red light and put me on the hood and then the ground. My bike was smashed, so was my helmet. It was winter, so I had a lot of clothes on, but still had road rash on my face and neck. My boot and clothes were torn.

No one honked -- in this case, people just started calling 911 I guess, because the police and fire were there right away. The driver stopped and was cited by the police.

If I had a functional bike, I might have ridden off right in that moment. It's disorienting, crazy adrenaline. Turned out I broke my thumb and had a separated shoulder joint, maybe a concussion, but in that moment, it's more like WHAT THE F HAPPENED! OH I'M STILL ALIVE!!!

Anyway, I hope you can take it easy, find some peaceful riding on the bike and get back into it. It's a big perspective shift to all of a sudden get knocked down when you're out enjoying your bike.

That sucks. Glad you are recovered.

As someone who rides in one of the most populated and car centric parts of the country I am constantly re-evaluating how important cycling is to me compared to my safety. We have tons of dedicated bike lanes here and laws that favor cyclists but we have 100x more drivers then cyclists and every time I look into a car when I'm riding I see people with their phones in their hands. The latest thing I see is people with phones sitting in mounts on the dashboard with Facetime calls or other video playing. Paying attention to the road has really become secondary to most drivers now.

I am still not clear how this happened. If an oncoming car were turning right and you were going straight your paths shouldn't have crossed. If the car was coming from your left and turning right your paths shouldn't have crosdsed, if the car was coming from tyour right and turning right your paths would have crossed only if you rode in front of him ... which is sort of what seems happened, but I am not sure.

I was confused too. The only way I can see a car turning right coming into your path if you are going head on is if you are riding on the sidewalk through a crosswalk on the street the car is turning onto

Glad you came out okay.

Dangerous sport these days.. Never crossed my mind growing up though I'm sure the risk was still there. Fearlessness and indestructible mindset of youth I suppose.

I took my new bike out Tuesday just to get a feel for the setup, a couple times up and down our neighborhood private drive. Just as I was returning to my driveway a truck driven by a lady that had been checking mole traps at my neighbors started backing out of the driveway at pace, strait into my path. I started waving my arms and yelling while moving quickly to the side of the road and the driver finally stopped and pulled forward. They rolled down their window and apologized while giving the often repeated comment, I never saw you, you were in my blind spot.

Glad you are OK. Glad I assumed the driver didn't see me.

Yeah, I can see how that could come across as unhelpful. Not my intention. I've been hit a few times, including last year, and the reality is that none of the usual advice for safe cycling makes any difference when drivers aren't paying attention.


Ditto. While I can't recommend the "Get back on the horse, pronto" advice to everyone, it worked for me. But I also noticed I was feeling road-ragey for awhile and had to do some mental prep before each ride. Get into character, to quote Jules from Pulp Fiction. And I'm much more wary of riding in groups alongside people I don't know. I'm not anxious to crash again. A couple of weeks ago I dropped out of a group ride after noticing too much half-wheeling, which led to a predictable crash. Fortunately I'd stayed a few bike lengths back and didn't get tangled up. But being hit by a car last year ground down my patience for fools.

A friend who was injured around the same time last year (knocked off her bike by an unleashed dog) needed a year to recover mentally and physically. For awhile she didn't even use her trainer. But toward the end of 2018 she got into some Zwift activities suitable to her fitness level and found a compatible virtual cycling club that she found supportive. And she's recently begun riding outdoors again, always in a group of compatible friends. Helped rebuild her confidence.

Agreed.

Intersections are the most likely place to have a collision.

This ^^. I always figure drivers never see me. After a long ride not only am I physically exhausted but mentally. Mentally from having to be 'on' all the time making sure no one hits me.

Glad you're ok.

"Oh shot their not going to stop" is a pretty traumatic young to realize, it kicks you into fight or flight mode. Like you said, you can't fix stupid, and you can't start a physical fight over it, which leaves flight. We're just primed that way. You said you regret leaving, no one can blame you. With no injury and no damage to the bike you wouldn't have been able to get a lawyer to work on contingency.

Glad you and the bike are ok.

Glad it was just a bump. I had a similar experience once, but quite a bit worse; the driver claimed that he had the right of way as he was turning left and I was going straight, and proceeded to cuss me out as I was laying in the street. The police officer did not agree with the driver's assessment.

Perhaps the OP is in a country that drives on the left :)

Take the full lane at intersections.

The only way I can picture it is that he was going straight on the main road and the car was coming from a side street on the right, had a stop sign and intended to turn in the direction of traffic that he was riding. So he had the right of way on the main road, but the car pulled out and clipped him as he went past (OP please feel free to correct me if that's wrong).

Either way, glad he's ok!

It seems to me, based on my personal experience, the OP was on an arterial or other major road & the car approached from a side street. As the OP passed in front of the parked car, the car then acellerated to make his turn. Catching the OP's rear tire as he passed. A classic case of the driver looking through the cyclist.

I'm man enough to admit when it happened to me, I was the driver & it was joggers that caught the blunt end of my stupidity.