mocolotion

I'd ridden about 45 miles and was less than 5 miles from home when it happened. I was cruising along a relatively busy road in a commercial district and caught a glipmse of brake lights and a blinker as the car to my left and just ahead of me decided to turn right into a KFC. I was going close to 30 at this point on a slight downhill and tried to swerve to the right to avoid his front bumper as he turned but the car still managed to clip my rear wheel as I went by. That impact sent my rear end out a bit, at which point my rear tire went flat, followed almost immediately by my front tire going flat. They both sounded like gunshots or backfires, but the real damage happened when my left ass cheek met the pavement. I took the full force of the impact on that cheek and sort of feel like I was fortunate not to have hit either my tailbone or my hipbone in the process; the meat of my glute absorbed everything.

The driver of the car got out and immediately called 911 as I laid face down in the road. I was literally unable to move for about five minutes while I collected myself and the pain was like nothing I've ever experienced. Finally I had to get up and move myself because the 95 degree heat and beaming sunlight made the road surface way too hot for me to stay there. I had the guy help me stand, picked my bike up, and walked over to a spot in the shade where I laid down to wait for the ambulance. A lady who saw what happened ran into KFC and got me a large Coke because I was feeling like I was going to faint. The EMT's and police where there inside of three minutes and convinced me to go to the ER.

My bike appears to be fine with the exception of the two flats in that the frame didn't get hit and does not appear to have hit the deck. There are some serious scrapes on the toe of my left shoe and I have road rash on my left elbow and shin in addition to what is hands down the worst bruse/road rash I've ever had/seen on my left ass cheek. I have a hematoma on half the cheek and road rash on the other half; I have no idea how I'm going to go to work this week because I can barely move as I type this.

In terms of who was at fault I can't really say, but as much as I hate to admit it I think it was probably my own fault for not seeing the blinker. Either that or the guy decided at the very last minute that he wanted to turn in there and just pulled off the road with very little warning. The sun was directly behind us so the blinker didn't stand out regardless, but I'm really upset that I'm going to be laid up for a week or so and unable to ride. On the flip side, however, I'm ecstatic that my injuries were not more severe, because based on the speed I was traveling and the force with which I hit the deck things could have been much worse. I'd post a picture of my injuries but it's basically just my ass so I"m not sure that's acceptable here.

Moral of the story? Stick to roads I like to ride and stay away from that part of town.

njkayaker

What was the speed limit? (I probably would have been in the lane at that kind of speed.)

It doesn't seem like a great place to do those kinds of speeds.

In terms of a strategy you can use to keep yourself safe, you might have made poor choices before not seeing the blinker.

lovestoride

+1 and its good to hear that your injuries were not too bad.

bhchdh 

Heal well, and soon.

Terex

Great to hear you're relatively OK, and appear to have done a rational analysis of the potential causes of the accident. Good luck with the recovery.

Flatballer

sounds like he was definitely at fault. He right hooked you. Common accident. Did the cops write a report? You should definitely be able to sue for damages/lost wages/shoes/hospital bills, etc.

ptle

Depending on the road and speed limit, if I'm close to the speed limit I'll take the full road.

There's a place near campus called the strip, where all the bars, fast food, restaurants are. It's about a 3/4 mile stretch of road. I usually take the road even though I'm going about 5-10mph under. I'd rather take the lane and be seen then risk being passed closely or cut off. There's a lot of bad drivers on the strip.

The driver seemed nice about things though. At least they didn't drive off or get angry at you. Also, it's a good thing you went to the ER. I've heard, for insurance reasons, you're suppose to go to the ER even if you feel fine after an incident like that.

96WX3

Flatballer

I guess I interpreted it differently. It sounded to me like the guy either came from behind him and then across, or from a lane over or something, thinking he could sneak in front.

If the guy comes from behind and then slows down and turns in front, it's the car's fault. You can't pass and then pull in front like that. If the car was already in front, then that's another story.

Blackdays

Glad your alright. I would definitely take the bike into the LBS and have it inspected. There could be damage that could lead to catastrophic failure down the road.

If it helps, everything that happened after the crash was pretty ideal. I've gone down really hard in the past due to the fault of someone else (and a little bit of mine), and the guy just called me a "f@g" and left.

Hope you feel better, and hope this works out for you and you are compensated for any damages.

FlashUNC

Sounds like you dodged a bullet. Sounds like a recipe for a broken leg or hip, getting helicopter'd like that.

njkayaker

It appears the driver was cutting it too close. It appears in this case, the car should have let the cyclist pass and turn behind the cyclist.

Essentially, the driver crossed in front of a vehicle that had the right of way (it seems).

There is no indication that the cyclist "cut around" (moved laterally to the right to pass) the other car. He was just riding at the right side of the road. (The cyclist did move right to try to avoid the collision but that does not seem he was trying to pass the turning vehicle.)

halfspeed

I interpreted it as the cyclist passed the car on the right and got his rear wheel clipped. That's the cyclist's fault.

bostongarden

Sorry to hear this. Heal well and soon!!!

tagaproject6

Glad you're alive, dude. And the fact that you are able to post it on BF is a good sign ( I think)! Heal well!







...here come the internet lawyers

vw addict

"If the glove fits........"

tagaproject6

And where is this coming from?

mattm

If I had to guess I would say the O.J. trial.

Anyway, heal up OP!

MegaTom

"Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one final thing I want you to consider. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!"


"Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! Look at me. I'm a lawyer defending a guy on a bike, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberatin' and conjugatin' the Emancipation Proclamation, does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests."

Dean7

Bummer. Glad you're OK. That's a pretty fast speed to take a fall.

So, wait, there was no bike lane? As far as I knew, cars taking a right need to yield to you if you're in a bike lane, right??

Adrianinkc

Glad your alright. Heal up and jump back on.

jungovox

Ouch - that's sounds nasty - glad to hear you are ok !!!

njkayaker

They need to yield even if there is no bike lane. (Keep in mind that it appears that the OP was not behind the car.)

mocolotion

Hey everyone, thanks for all the replies.

The problem is that I'm not sure exactly what happened, i.e. he could have swooped past me and then put his blinker on and then turned really quickly or he could have suddenly decided that he wanted to get some KFC and put the blinker on, braked, and turned in rapid succession. I was riding along the right hand edge of the right lane, along the parked cars. I do move out and take most of that lane so that I'm not riding close enough to the parked cars to get hit if a door opens. I do think he was coming from the middle lane but I can't say for sure.

There were police there and they did file a report, so I'll put a call in to the station so that I can get a copy and see if there's any liability on the guys part. He did do the right thing by sticking around and calling 911, so I can't fault him for that, but by the same token he did completely turn in front of me. I wasn't trying to pass him on the right at all, I just swerved to the right in an attempt to avoid his rapidly approaching bumper. I almost made it, but he clipped me just a bit. His car never hit my person, per se, just the trailing edge of my rear wheel.

mocolotion

I agree with both of your points here. My typical rides here in Boston involve using Beacon Street for both egress and ingress to the city, however yesterday I got greedy and kept wanting to add additional miles. This decision resulted in my returning to the city via Blue Hill Ave and Columbia Road which are both south of the city in the Hyde Park/Dorchester part of town. There are no bike lanes there and the people are horrible in terms of buzzing me and just driving erractically in general. I went against my better judgment in choosing to ride that road and paid the price.