ericm979

I ran smack into the back of a pickup truck when I was 10. I'd just gotten a speedometer and was staring at it rather than watching where I was going.

I, the bike, and the truck were all fine. But I learned to pay attention. That lesson has served me well. I have managed to avoid getting hit in some 20 years of serious cycling and 30 years of motorcycling.

Besides paying attention, when there's a possible accident situation, decide where you should go and focus your attention on getting there. Don't look at the car that's about to hit you. Look at the escape route. You tend to ride toward what you are looking at. Motorcyclists call it "target fixation". If you stare at the car you'll ride right into it.

rolliepollie

On one of my first times on a bike before knowing the rules of the road and before taking driver's ed, turned left without looking and handlebar got clipped. No damage and on a quiet neighborhood. Told the lady I was fine and she drove away without checking for car damage. Still grateful today even on a small fall like that.

Second I was riding on a bike path in the park and a car drove out of the parking lot intersecting my path. Didn't look for any joggers or dogwalkers, which there were a few around, and I endo'ed on the front fender/hood head-first. Just a stiff neck afterwards.

garciawork

Heading down Mt Diablo, going around a blind right turn, person in a Corolla going uphill decided a blind left turn (his POV) would be a great time to pass a cyclist going uphill. I came around the bend, not even going stupidly fast, and the Corolla was completely in my lane. Nowhere to go. Splat.

Crimsonghost

The first time (6 months ago) I was on my way to work riding in the street. I was 6 am so I was in the street taking the whole lane when a car pulled out of it's driveway in reverse and backed directly into me while I was doing about 20mph. That one sent me to the hospital. Luckily nothing was broken, but my back became so wrecked that I wasn't able to work for a month.

The second time (just 3 days ago) I was 2 blocks from my house coming down the street and a car pulls into it's driveway directly into me. I was ok and way to tired to deal with it. So I just dusted myself off and rode home.

One thing that I've learned from all of that is you can never be too cautious and to always be aware of your surroundings. I try to always pay attention and know what's going on, being overly cautious for the most part, but your never know how other people are going to behave.

That being said, ALLWAYS WEAR A HELMET!!!!!1

GP

1. In the bike lane, going straight past stopped traffic at <15 mph, car traffic stopped and allowed a driver to make a left turn in front of me. Road rash and a sore thumb. $1400 in damage to my bike and helmet.
2. In the bike lane, westbound through a green light at >25 mph, westbound HVAC van was stopped at a red light in the left turn lane, he turned right cutting across two lanes. Road rash, bike totalled.

Crimsonghost

^ This. Both times I was hit I managed to see exactly what was going on and how to avoid causing myself any serious injury. I know it sounds goofy, but knowing your about to eat $h!t really does help taking the impact. Being able to react and put myself in a better position as opposed to slamming a car head on is defiantly something I'm thankful for.

prathmann

Two incidents. Both were at night on multi-lane roads. The first was at an intersection where I started across on a green light and was hit by a car running the red. No damage other than some scrapes on my handlebar tape. I thought I had looked to check for traffic but may have been misled by assorted other lights in that direction.

The second was when a car pulled out of a convenience store driveway directly into my path and my front wheel hit his front tire with me sailing over his hood. No injuries but my fork was bent. The driver's first question to me was whether I had a light. Fortunately it was still shining brightly so I just pointed toward it and he offered me a ride home and gave me his insurance info. Apparently a car in the left lane just behind me had slowed down and nearly stopped as a courtesy to let this driver enter the road and my bike light was probably hard to distinguish from the car lights behind me.

Both incidents were over 30 years ago and due partly to the difficulty in distinguishing multiple lights on a busy street at night.

radshark

Some posters should have an personal injury attorney on retainer...

I'm beginning to think there is a potential career in suing inattentive drivers.

Wildwood 

Pretty consistent rider since 1985 ( CA, MO & WA ) and never been hit by a car.
But not a bike commuter.
Dumb luck probably,
but I believe in the Law of the Jungle and I'm low on the food chain compared to motorized vehicles,
so just try to stay off their radar.

dsb137

First one I have no idea... I woke up beside the road with people all around me... A witness said it was a brown 4 door sedan, he/she never stopped... Damage: Concussion, road rash, bent wheel, blown tire...

Second one was on a slow moving 4 lane down by the beach. Cars were changing lanes to pass and the guy that hit me saw the space as an opportunity to move up. He rear ended me... Damage: Broken arm, road rash, broken frame, broken rear wheel...

Last one, last summer, coming down off Unicoi Gap on a 2 lane twisty mountain road a pick up truck decided to squeeze past me. He made it with inches to spare, the airstream trailer he was towing however, did not... He never stopped, but the guy that was behind him did and told me 'that was the most spectacular crash I've ever seen! I thought you were dead!'... Then he gave me a ride... Which was cool... Damage: 3 broken ribs, Dislocated shoulder, road/gravel rash, broken fork, broken seat, broken rear derailleur ...

These three crashes span 30+ years of riding... The first two were in Florida and the last was in Georgia...

I'm really hoping these things come in threes... and that I'm done...

dave1442397

I had two car incidents in Ireland, both in the '80s.

#1: Some woman came up beside me (slowly) on an empty road heading into our housing development. We're right next to each other when she decides she's going to turn left (again, slowly). I leaned into her car and pedaled circles in the paint all the way down her car, at which point she woke up and saw me, and cam to a dead stop while I went on my way.

#2: I was cruising along towards a green light in busy traffic on a four-lane road when the truck on my right waved ahead a car making an illegal right turn in front of him. I got there just in time to hit the side of the car head on. I bent my front wheel, destroyed my front fork, and smacked my head hard against the passenger window (no helmets back then). I didn't come out of the pedal straps though, so I stayed on the bike. As it turned out, the woman driving was my father's secretary and her insurance paid for repairs.

The last time I had a close call was in the early '90s. I had just brought my bike over from Ireland and took it out for a 10-mile ride from Park Ridge to Bergenfield, NJ. I came up to a green light at a wide intersection on Kinderkamack Road where an old lady in a Buick was waiting to make a left. She maintained eye contact with me as I approached the intersection, and then turned in front of me. I skidded to a halt sideways and screamed something uncomplimentary at the receding Buick. My legs were shaking and my heart was pounding after that one.

I finished that ride and put the bike away for 20 years. Now that I have a new bike, bright clothing, and a helmet I feel a bit safer on the road, but it only takes one moron to mess you up.

MNBikeCommuter

Some idiot blew threw a stop sign to cross the street I was on. All would have been fine but he saw an oncoming car about to broadside him. He suddenly stopped in my lane and I ran into him. Given sight lines, etc., there was nothing I could have done to have anticipated it. The only way to avoid it would have been poking along at 5mph to give enough reaction time.

ahsposo 

I did something really similar (and stupid) when I was in school. I'd spent the night with a friend and woke up late for class and in my hurry to beat out the traffic at a light crossed over to the side walk and was coming up to speed along a brick privacy fence. Just as I got to a driveway the hood of a Lincoln Continental came out and I T-boned it and somersaulted right over it and hit the ground on the other side feet first. My personal damage was minimal, the bike damage was minimal, the car damage was minimal, the driver of the car totally freaked. Last time I rode on a sidewalk at any more than walking speed.

ahsposo 

I got hit by a car turning right on a red light. Thank my lucky stars it was a nasty little Buick Acheva rather than a GMC Yukon or the like. Saw it coming and was able to start a bunny hop that got me up on the rusty-ass hood of the car rather than under it. Used my hip as the pivot.

Ended up with a broken clavicle at the process, a couple of cracked ribs and a hematoma the size of a grapefruit.

The driver started screaming at me while I was laying in the street and when I crawled over to my cell phone and made the 911 call he ran off leaving two women and a baby. They tell the cops I ran the the red light and no there wasn't any one else. What really got my goat was as I was laying in the street and this a-hole is screaming at me the traffic (this was on a two lane one-way street) was driving around us. Nobody stopped for several minutes so I had no witnesses.

Cops treated me like a criminal. Wanted proof of ownership of the bike, charged me with running the red, yadda,yadda,yadda.

RT

My credo is Don't assume that just because you have a right to be where you are that motorists will respect that, or even recognize it. I have seen too many bike v. car accidents where the cyclist was just as stupid as the motorist, i.e. not paying enough attention. Everyone needs to pay attention, and when my opponent is in a machine than can crush me, the onus is on me to be more aware than they are.

There are a few contentious threads over in Commuting regarding this topic, one with video.

jezmellors

I've been hit a few times and had many near-misses. Typically they are caused by car drivers not realising how fast i am going. I was on my way home one morning on a gentle down-hill two lane road going about 28 mph and a car travelling in the other direction turned across my lane into a side road. I T-boned his car and his first words were "Wow, how fast were you going?" He was pretty good about it, replaced my Mavic aksiums, helmet, scuffed hoods and took me home. When they're nice - i'm nice.

oban_kobi

Last summer, I was minding my own business, in the bike lane going through a green light, when some stupid girl thought it would be a Good Idea (tm) to pass me and then turn right. Ended up hitting their rear door (left a dent, I'm rather proud of, and she didn't find until she got home) and taking a good chunk out of my chin. Nothing broken on my or my bike, except my mirror. She stopped and was very apologetic, and surprisingly several others waiting for the light to change asked if I was okay and if I wanted them to call 911. It sucked, but at least people were decent human beings.

gazelle5333

Pretty much the same for me as what people have been posting about people trying to jump traffic. Car decided to jump out of a parking lot and didn't see me cruising down the middle of the lane at 20 mph and I had nowhere to go. Front corner of the bumper caught me right on the shin at the bottom bracket, bent my frame (like you would break a big stick across your knee) right where it hit (didn't roll after that), snapped the front fork, cracked the rear seat stays, bent the handlebars, front wheel was bent, and it sent me flying (luckily landed on my feet with only minor scratches, fiberglass burn on my shin, and a jammed finger)

eippo1

First accident was when I was 10 and a mail truck cut me off. Front wheel hit the truck and my knuckles smashed into the side of it. I noticed I left 8 small dents and a larger one from my wheel as I came around and managed to stay upright.

Second accident was when a hospital bus sideswiped me and knocked me onto the sidewalk. He never saw me and I can't really blame him because it was a tropical storm and visibility was only a few feet. Had to ride home the next 5 miles standing up because I lost a good bit of my arse skin. Stung like hell because of the driving rain and the fact that I only had the front and sides of my bibs left - the rest was torn completely off.

AdelaaR

Exactly. Car drivers assume that bikes are slow and so any speed over 25mph on a bike in traffic is ff'in dangerous.
Do not assume for a second that any car has seen you but make sure that you see everything.
I've had near misses due to stupid car drivers where I was able to get away and until now I've never crashed or had any accident ... (holds some wood)

theVelvetLie

I was hit from behind while stopped in a Wendy's parking lot two years ago. Bent rear wheel, dislocated shoulder. Nothing serious. Got up and I was alone. Worst feeling I have ever felt. Driver drove off, no witnesses.

nateintokyo

I was hit by a motorcycle once. I was making a turn in an intersection, and so was a taxi that was coming the other way. The motorcycle came from behind the taxi to make the same turn, and plowed into me.

jamesdak 

+1000 to this. Happened to me 3 times yesterday. Passed 3 different times by, get this, MOTORCYCLES about 10 yards before a turn and yes they turned right in front of me causing me to lock up the brakes. The last one the stupid lady looked back right at me and then just turned anyway. That was the finally straw, the next one was eating a water bottle!

Comes with the territory here. I live in a beautiful high mountain valley that get's full of all the city folks when the weather warms up. I can ride all winter with lots of respectful local drivers and then comes summer and it's back to all the idiots. Seriously thinking about running a video camera to records all the idiotic crap I have to put up with. Be nice to get the plate of the next jackass that throws something at me.

ancker

The number one way I avoid being hit by cars is to ride on roads that have low traffic.
I have the luxury of living near enough to rural roads that I can quickly get out of town and ride pretty much absent of cars for 90% of the ride. The same is true for my group rides.

I_like_cereal

In a year of commuting I have not had the privilege of being hit by an driver going about his business.

I try to mind my business and stay in the bike lane. If I have to get over I signal, a lot, and move slowly. Come to think of it I have almost had my left arm removed by cars that care not that I signaled my intention.

Then again I live in a really bike friendly city.

The closest call I have had was a driver trying to turn right into a back entrance. She just inched over and over forcing me to curb until I yelled and she stopped leaving me enough room to slide in front of her. Since that day I always check every turn signal of every car I pass front and rear. I even check the front signals when I stop at stop lights or signs even if I am turning.