pharasz

I have a 30 mile commute. Because of the distance, I drive in on Monday with my bike in the car, and then I bike home. Tuesday I bike in, put the bike in the car, and drive home. Repeat for Wednesday and Thursday, and I get a 30 mile ride in each day.

Last night I was just 4 miles from home, on a four lane divided road, coasting and slowing as I approached a red light. The light turned green when I was about 30 meters away so I started pedaling, and was accelerating when I suddenly found the right front headlight of a Lexus pushing my left leg out from under me. Dude was going maybe 20 MPH or less and I was doing maybe 15, so the speed difference wasn't enough that the impact of the car was significant. What was significant was that damn 2000 LB piece of hardware just did not yield, in the slightest. I recall feeling the right front fender of the car sliding gently along the left side of my body as my feet came unclipped from my pedals and my bike kept going forward without me on it. I landed on my right buttocks and right forearm.

Nothing broken but I'm bruised pretty bad. I didn't even get a lot of road rash, I guess because I wasn't going that fast when I hit.

As I was laying there groaning on the pavement, the kid (in his 20's) driving the Lexus (and older model) was apologizing profusely. At first he tried the old "You swerved in front of me" defense, and I immediately shut that down "NO, I did NOT swerve, and even if I did, you didn't give me 3 feet of clearance as required by law". To which he just started apologizing. OK, at least he stopped and was apologetic, so the only lecture I gave him was "You know, there's an old Doors song that goes 'Keep your eyes on the road / your hands upon the wheel'. You weren't paying attention!"

Still laying on the pavement, I crawled over to my bike, dug out my cell phone, and called my wife. I tried to tell her not to panic but she did anyway. Then I called the police, who showed up while I was still talking to the dispatcher, who was trying to decide if I was still inside the city limits (I was). By the time my wife arrived I decided she could take me to the emergency room (big mistake - you get treated much faster if you arrive by ambulance).

At one point there was another driver who'd witnessed it and pulled over, an older guy who looked like your average uneducated trailer park resident, started to tell me, right in front of the cop "You shouldn't be riding out in the road like that!"

I pointed at the bumper sticker on the rear fender of my bike and angrily retorted "You see what that sticker says?! SAME ROAD, SAME RIGHTS, SAME RULES! I have a RIGHT to be in the road. You drivers simply need to PAY ATTENTION when you drive!"

Then the cop turned to the old guy and said "If all you're going to do is say things to aggravate this gentleman, then you need to just stand over there." And then he wrote a ticket for Careless Driving to the kid.

furballi

The kid was probably talking on his cell. Chatting on cell phone should be banned, nationwide. Americans tend to treat driving as a task. They also multi-task while driving...put on makeup, eat, drink, change clothes, etc.

neil

Glad your okay. **** happens sometimes, and even good drivers lose focus occasionally (not saying the kid was a good driver, as he seems unfamiliar with the rules of the road, just saying it can happen to anyone). In the end, the root of the problem is humans operating heavy machinery at speeds above what our brains evolved to handle, where a couple seconds inattention can result in completely missing something important.

Good luck getting back on the horse. I've only had one serious bike accident (emergency brake threw me over the front when a car pulled out suddenly in front of me), resulting in minor but annoying injuries (teeth partially knocked out, chipped elbow, lots of road rash) and it took about a year to feel comfortable riding again.

scattered73

Got hit last month and arriving by amnbulance didn't seem to get me treated any sooner still hours of waiting, but it cost me an extra $500 which medical insurance does not cover. I think I am calling a limo next time I need a ride to the hospital, cheaper and at least I will go out in style if I die on the way.

jyossarian

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a case of distracted driving. I wonder if the cop can look at the kid's phone to determine if he sent or received any texts at the time of the accident. I suppose he'd need to know the exact time of the accident to determine if the driver was possibly distracted.

rumrunn6

20 yr old? you had stickers? he targeted you. shoulda punched his lights out

JPprivate

Glad you're ok. This sounds like text book post-accident behavior. Well done.

GoLoaf

Glad you're okay. Can't believe the old man, I would have knocked his lights out quicker than I would the kid.

2su

glad to hear you're okay. HOpefully the guy's insurance will cover any damage.

But most importantly, was he wearing a hat?

wunderkind

Considered yourself honoured!

Grim

You got hit and you had to pay? Sorry but if you were hit by a car THEIR insurance pays. Go after them for ALL the medical cost.

coldfeet

This is the best bit, after the fact that you weren't badly hurt.

noisebeam

That is unfortunate it happened and fortunate it was not worse. You did good - glad to hear you are OK.

I wonder if you have a mirror and if it could have helped see the inattentive driver coming behind you sooner.

fat biker

Sorry you are hurt.
Get all the medical care you need, document everything; lost time, pain, especially the pain,
Then go after the driver.

Get well soon.

Jeff, still fat

rumrunn6

TOOK AN AMBULANCE RIDE ONCE. GOT THE BILL IN THE MAIL. CALLED THEM UP AND TOLD THEM TO GO SCREW. TOLD THEM NO ONE TOLD ME THERE WAS A CHARGE. THEY DROPPED IT

sorry 'bout the all-caps

woodway

Good to hear that you are OK.

Question - did you have lights on your bike?

slcbob

You sure showed "them." And thanks for letting us pick up your slack.

longbeachgary

My wife took an ambulance after a fall and the bill was $1200. For that we could have taken a stretch limo.

Grim

Stretchlimos don't come with Defibrillators and trained rescue personnel.
That said I took an ambulance ride literally across the street to another hospital once...$500 LOL
The hospital on the Left (NorthSide) was where I was and my Doctor decided he wanted to use the Cath lab at St Joesph's on the right.
https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8...11362&t=h&z=17

sci_femme

Glad you are relatively OK. Kids in Lexuses (Lexui?) are fairly common sad sight - too much money, too little supervision. There is nothing average about FLA trailer park residents. Geez, what characters! OTOH, have never had anything but pleasant experience with FLA cops, ranging from "smile and wave" to escort through particularly unresponsive light. Couple of motorcycle cops pulled next to me for left turn into major arterial, turned lights to stop the traffic and waved me to take the turn alongside. WOW!

SF

pharasz

I've been internally debating the merits of a rear view mirror for a year now. People who have them swear by them. But I think looking in the rear view only takes your eyes off what's ahead, and would I have known he was going to hit me? I don't know... I'm still wondering if I should get one...

The other question was do I have lights - yes I do. I have LED "Mullets" on my helmet, and a rear tail light and headlight. They are not good for seeing, but are good for being seen. My commute is urban and there are streetlights over 90% of the route. So I don't need lights to help me see, just to be seen. Regardless, it was still 45 minutes before sunset, so I didn't have my lights on.

I am in contact with his insurance company now to get my medical bills paid. I'm on pain meds right now and working from home. Fortunately I have a job where I can telecommute if necessary.

This morning, two days after the accident, I discovered a bruise on my left leg which I hadn't felt until now. I guess that means I'm getting better?

One other detail: As I sat in the back of my wife's car, she was talking to the cops and awaiting a copy of the accident report form and the kids mother showed up (in a new Lexus) and apologized to her. I suspect they are scared of a lawsuit.

I'm not a vindictive or litigious person. We all make stupid mistakes and I've made my share in life. The key is to learn from our mistakes. I'm satisfied that he got a ticket. It was obvious he was very distressed by what he did. We can only hope he learned a lesson and is a more attentive driver in the future.

rumrunn6

almost became road kill this morning when a tractor trailer passed me. I tried to catch him at the next light but he knew I was gunning for him. good thing I couldn't catch him cuz I was gonna rip his throat out

noisebeam

I think you should at least try one for a few weeks.

Looking in the mirror does take your eyes off the road in front of you for a brief moment, but no more than looking in rear view mirror when motoring which people do all the time for situations just like this. And for less time than looking over your shoulder where you also loose peripheral vision of what is in front of you which you don't with a mirror.

You would not know if they were going to hit you, but you would have clues if they may have seen you. In that 30m before the light there was likely no significant hazard ahead until you reached the intersection (assuming no driveways, minor pedestrian traffic on sidewalk). This means you could take the moment to look in the mirror when slowing for the red (just as one does when driving any type of vehicle to check if vehicles behind are slowing as well). When slowing you see if the driver behind is engaged with your slowing and/or if they are making a slight move left to give you more clearance, maybe then you move a bit left if it appears you had not already triggered that response. Then when the light turns green you know ahead of time that driver is behaving like they know (or doesn't) you are there.

jarvik

At least your ok. Hopefully he learned his lesson. I hope the family at least offered to pay for any damages to your bike.

dcrowell

Regarding a mirror...

I have one on my helmet, and a "backup" on the handlebars. That said, it is easy to miss what's coming up behind you when you are paying attention to what is in front of you.

I generally use the mirror when preparing to change lanes, turn, or whatever. I will occasionally glance in it when just going straight, but you can't always see in every direction. **** happens.