Clipped by a Pickup
 

I went to Texas from California last week to visit my daughter and new grandson. We took our motorhome and I always take the bike. Depending on time available and the weather I will either ride or run daily. On Sunday 7/13 I chose to do a little run on the road in front of the RV park. It's a wide 4 lane road with a grass center median and wide shoulders. I saw several bikes riding that day and it looked like a great place to ride. On Monday I got my cycling gear on and grabbed the Madone and headed out for what I thought was going to be a 20-25 miles ride. I scouted the area on Strava and other places to see if this is where the locals like to ride as well. I got about a mile into the ride when I got clipped by a passing pickup. I remember nothing after riding up the bridge until about 2 hours later in the ER even though I was conscious. I ride with a rear facing GoPro and a forward facing VIRB Elite mostly to catch anything cool that might happen...and sometimes something horrendous happens.

Also, the injury list is a broken scapula, 5 broken ribs, collapsed lung, a gash to the back of my head and minor road rash.

holy ****... you are lucky to be alive


so was it hit n run ? seemed like it took awhile for whomever to reach you

I am VERY fortunate to be walking and talking. The driver DID stop and took responsibility for the incident.

I am so glad you survived that crash, you are very lucky to be alive. I know how bad five rib fractures can feel.. I hope you recover quickly and fully.

Looks deliberate in the video, but let's give the driver the benefit of the doubt and call it criminal negligence. Hope you get a just settlement from his insurance company.

I'm giving him the benefit right now. A local cyclist from Tyler saw me on the ground and posted on their club Facebook page is everyone OK? There was a rider down on Hwy 69 and 344. They started searching the area hospitals etc. and found me. Within 24 hours of the accident they had members visiting me...great people. Anyway, when I posted the video after I got out of the hospital a couple of folks mentioned that they thought they recognize the truck as a local "buzzer", but as of this time I'm not accusing him yet. He is a local custom home builder and fairly well known in the area. I almost got the feeling the police and local paper were trying to cover for him some way. I'm having my attorney look things over and see if a civil case might be prudent.

probably on his cell.. he just kept drifting.

Holy crap, I just crapped my pants!

Sorry to hear about your accident, I hope you heal up fast. I have to agree with the other poster. It looks like he was trying to get you. I hope it turns out well for you. Good luck.

Metric Man,

Heal well, and soon.

I am 100% behind you and pulling for a complete recovery.

If your attorney suggested disabling comments on the youtube video perhaps caution on these threads is also a good idea. We like talking about it, speculating, ranting, but for your legal interests it may not be helpful to indulge us.

Clipped by a Pickup
 

Whoa. Gulp.

SAY and PRINT nothing else!

Made my stomach turn. Rest and heal up.

Lawyer should have cell phone use checked.

Yikes! That's awful. Glad you are able to post about it. And very coherently, too.
Based on advice in previous threads from knowledgeable folks - ask your attorney about whether you should be posting anything about the incident online.

Good luck!

This is terrible. I'm glad you are still here to tell us about it. I am a little confused though. You had the Go Pro facing backward?

I am so sick that this happened. That just looks and sounds awful. I am glad you are recovering. Let's hope the driver learns a lesson. It does look deliberate or at least negligent.

Agreed. Either deliberate or negligent. In either case he needs to get his ass kicked. Just absurd that this happened. Makes me sick and angry.

You are so lucky to be alive. I hope you have a full recovery.

One of the cycling pages on facebook posted this. Wow. Quite a miracle you are still with us.

That was brutal.

How the hell does that even happen? Driver texting?

I wish you a full and speedy recovery.

How exactly would a lawyer do that?

Too late.

I started riding with 2 cameras a couple of months ago during a club ride. Got some great pace line shots. Since then I realized if I ever got hit the front camera would be almost useless in determining the car etc. I had no idea how prophetic I was.

Not sure how posting a public accident would change any of the actual facts. In fact his insurance company was told by the police that reviewed the video it was pretty cut and dry to the guilt of their client.