General Cycling Discussion - I'm cursed! TWO reasonably serious collisions in five days!

someone's trying to tell me something ...

in brief: on saturday, a woman pulled out in front of me and I slam into the side of her SUV (messed up my shoulder); wednesday night, a girl runs a red light and we (in a car this time) broadside her.

in detail:

1) so I'm going down this hill and I see an SUV poke its head out of a driveway; I start to brake a little. she proceeds to drive straight out and crosses two lanes to pass right in front of me (I'm hoping) but no, she actually STOPS IN FRONT OF ME and I have just enough time to see her reverse lights go on, preparatory to doing a 3point turn, before I slam left shoulder first into her right rear quarter panel. I can feel my head bounce off the vehicle before I slide to the ground. and yes, I was wearing a helmet; I'm guessing I was doing 18 mph or so at the moment of impact. so I crawl on my hands and knees to the side of the road and collapse onto a lawn. I'm having trouble breathing, I'm shaking, and I can't move my head to look around. the woman who was driving is out of the car at this point and sobbing and asking OhmygodareyouokayIdidn'tseeyouohmygod etc ad nauseum.

anyhow, long story short, EMS gets there and immobilises me, at the hospital, the Xrays come back with good news -- no broken bones, but I've got a dandy case of what they called soft tissue trauma. my doctor's got me scheduled for an MRI today because he suspects some sort of rotator cuff damage, and who knows what.

it was kinda funny, though, because the entire time, every time I was jostled in transit and pain shot through me, I started laughing almost uncontrollably. had to be all the endorphins and adrenaline. the EMT even asked me if I was "on something." I was cracking jokes the entire time; in Xray, I was singing those two sea chanties from that movie Jaws. extremely cute Xray techs at that hospital, by the way.

2) last night, driving to dinner, a 19 year old girl runs a red light and my friend couldn't avoid slamming into her. we're both going to need new bumpers and right front quarter panels at the very least. but this time, I didn't have a seat belt on because it hurts to put one on, so my head bounced off the windshield and now I have a pretty good lump on my head. no-one else was injured, though, which is good.

*****

and now I'm loopy on vicodin and motrin 800 and flexoril (sp?). my LBS estimates the damage to my Bianchi Axis at around 500 dollars. fortunately, I work in the family business, so even though I feel like I can work, my mom and dad are telling me to stay home, which is nice.

any morals to the story, here? can't think of any. I couldn't possibly have been any safer in the first incident, I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing. just couldn't help it when she drove straight into my path and just stopped. the second time, everything happened at maybe 25 mph, so it was over pretty quickly.

well, maybe one thing: wear your seatbelt, folks! and have a good attorney.

painkillers rule!

-alex.

Originally posted by goodcatjack

any morals to the story, here?

"Always wear a helmet when riding in a car"?

Seriously, your cycling accident sounds like my nightmares. Are you sure the woman wasn't talking on a cell phone at the time? Your lawyer might be able to have her phone bill subpoenaed to see if she was talking at the time.

These are the drivers who scare me the most: the ones who are just not paying attention.

Anyway, go ahead and enjoy the drugs. My experience was that while I was injured the painkillers did a nice job of taking the edge off, but as soon as I was healing their effect was so unpleasant I stopped taking them without prompting.

I do hope the driver of the SUV is prosecuted. Is there any sign of police action in that regard?

Good luck with the doc; hope the damage isn't serious.

RichC

Sounds like a bad week, it makes you appreciate being able to go ride your bike more when you can't is only good side I could see. Just be careful when you are on strong painkillers they can become very addictive.

Glad it wasn't any worse! Hope the MRI comes out OK.

Wow! I hope that all works out okay regarding your injury.


I also hope that you @ least put a dent in that damn SUV!!!!! :D

I hope you heal up quickly!

ouch, hope you're okay!

thanks everyone! I really appreciate it. I waited a few days to post an account of that first incident because I didn't really feel up to doing a whole heck of a lot in general, but since I waited, I ended up having two stories to tell at once. ha!

I'm serious, though, there's some kind of totally inauspicious planetary/celestial alignment going on, because on top of all that, on the way to the doctor yesterday, a pickup tried to change lanes into me before I laid on the horn, and today I drove by at the exact moment someone nearly rear-ended someone else! screaming tires and tire smoke everywhere. what the HELL is going on around me?!?!

just got back from the MRI. a little nauseous. it was one of the newer models, so I wasn't in a coffin/giant donut, but it was still 45 minutes of being hammered with these weird rapping noises while staying perfectly still.

you know, I have a sneaking suspicion that the mom took the fall for the daughter in that SUV collision. I couldn't move my head to look around, so all I heard were voices, but I distinctly heard a girl's voice say, "I just graduated today!" and "My car is f*cked up!" a GIRL'S voice, mind you, and according to the accident report, the mother was driving. hmmn.


I also hope that you @ least put a dent in that damn SUV!!!!!

well, I never saw it, but remember what the girl said, and put that together with the prospect of a 200 pound guy traveling at somewhere around 15-20 mph smacking straight into sheet metal without deflecting off at all, just sliding to the ground. I'm pretty sure it's ugly.

thanks again, everyone!

-alex.

goodcatjack, speedy recovery!!

Scoob

If bad things come in threes, be very careful for the next few days. I'm glad you seem to be ok. I suspect that (not wanting to start a long, pointless discussion), wearing a seatbelt is at least as important as wearing a helmet, and possibly more important.

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!

Glad you're alive and able to tell the tales. You'll have to sing those songs for us one of these days. ;)

Her insurance will pay for your medical expenses and bike damage, I assume?

Originally posted by goodcatjack I distinctly heard a girl's voice say, "I just graduated today!" and "My car is f*cked up!" a GIRL'S voice, mind you, and according to the accident report, the mother was driving. hmmn.[/B]

I guess we'll never know if the mother was driving or not, but one thing is for certain- the daughter was a total jerk! You're laying on the ground not even able to look up, and her concern is with her car?!? Argh!

Oh I feel your pain. Literally. Several years ago I had a guy pull out in front of me in a car and I was on a motorcycle. And that is when I discovered Demoral. Hope you get well soon.