Southern California - I am lucky to be alive - got hit by car today on PCH

I was on PCH heading south and got hit by a car at the intersection of PCH/Channel Road. I was riding along the solid white line on the right side of the road, a passing car clipped me, I fell down really hard in the middle of PCH (!), and thankfully, there wasn't a car close behind that wouldn't have time to stop before hitting me.

Immediately, the whole left side of my leg was in agonizing pain. I went to the ER, and after several hours and thinking my hip was broken, I found out that my hip/thigh was just badly sprained (i think b/c my shoes didn't immediately unclip). I was given crutches, an Rx for pain medication and a taxi ride home.

Amazingly, my bike is relatively OK. The handlebars got thrust out of alignment, but other than that, no real discernible damage.

I'm going to be on crutches for a few days..we'll see how long this takes to heal.

I just wanted to post this as a reminder to be very very careful on PCH - I almost died in the blink of an eye....

Did the car even stop?

As long as you are healthy enough to post in BF than all is well. Good to hear that it was only superficial injury, I hope you'll be back on the bike very soon.

Ouch! Glad you're OK. The scariest commute section I've ever had was PCH right at the edge of El Segundo and Manhattan beach. I used to ride to Huge Aircrash from The Strand in Hermosa, and when I got to PCH, I just hogged the right lane until I could turn into Hughes. The cars didn't like it, but fortunately none of them ran over me.

what is pch? did u get the car insurance info...i would consider hitting a jackpot if u got their insurance info.

Car did not stop

What a dick. Glad your ok. Best thing is, biking is always the best way to have a painless and quick recovery.

glad your OK, heal quick!!!!

what is pch?

Pacific Coast Highway...

Good to see that you can post (not that we know each other, but I think you understand...).

lesson learned... don't ride on the white line!!

Glad that you are okay. That section of PCH is tough. Going south I hop on the bike path at Temescal Canyon and go under PCH (through the tunnel) to get on Entrada/Channel.

Glad that you are okay. That section of PCH is tough. Going south I hop on the bike path at Temescal Canyon and go under PCH (through the tunnel) to get on Entrada/Channel.

i usually do that but not on the weekends in the early AM b/c it's usually pretty quiet on PCH...i'll stick with the side path going forward

I don't know how people ride pch in that area, its painfully obvious that its not safe to ride. Unfortunately, I have my limits as to which roads I will ride on and that strip is not one of them. I don't know that area well but Santa Monica to Malibu just seems way too risky.

Good to hear you made it with no serious damage - get better soon!

Do you mean PCH/Channel in Long Beach?

Glad to hear you got out of it relatively unscathed. Sucks the driver didn't stop but in this day and age and given it's SoCal, I never expect anything less that being told I'm #1 even when it's clearly not your fault. :Sigh:

I've only done PCH south one time and never had any close calls or issues other than almost riding onto the 5 because I didn't make a right turn when I should have. Where is this intersection so I can be more wary of it next time?

you can see it here

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=w+Channel+Rd,+Santa+Monica,+California+90402,+United+States&sll=34.030238,-118.516195&sspn=0.011185,0.022659&ie=UTF8&z=16

it's a 3 way intersection with PCH, chautauqua and channel road

Glad that you are okay. That section of PCH is tough. Going south I hop on the bike path at Temescal Canyon and go under PCH (through the tunnel) to get on Entrada/Channel.


+1 over here. The shoulder is non-existent in places after Temescal and when I ride I'm assuming 15% of all drivers are drunk and/or crazy. Better to take an extra couple of minutes and go through the tunnel. Actually I stay off the bike path ( go through the parking lots instead ) until the last little stretch because
bike paths have their own kind of craziness.

Glad you got off relatively okay.

Wow, glad to see that you're okay. :thumb:

I was hit a couple of times myself and have been very lucky. Take care and be safe!

Car did not stop

That just says so much about the person that hit you. :mad:

PCH is a pretty scary place to ride. Malibu imho is the worst part of it. Cars are moving at freeway speeds, drivers in richer areas I've noticed tend to be more aggressive, the shoulders disappear when you really wish they wouldn't, and there's usually tons of debris on the sides of the road.

I haven't been up that way in over a month. It's always best to take PCH with at least one other person or a group.

you can see it here

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=w+Channel+Rd,+Santa+Monica,+California+90402,+United+States&sll=34.030238,-118.516195&sspn=0.011185,0.022659&ie=UTF8&z=16

it's a 3 way intersection with PCH, chautauqua and channel road

Thanks. It makes sense why I didn't recognize it...I've never ridden that far north on PCH. I'll keep it in mind if ever tempted to go through that area.

Very sorry to hear about your crash. You're very fortunate indeed. Yes, that length of roadway isn't very bike friendly. I know there are sections along PCH where the shoulder all but disappears and you have no choice but to ride either on the line or in the traffic lane. The southbound section where you got hit is one of those areas. You can see it on the map you provided if you switch to satellite view, remove the street labels and zoom in all the way. That spot is also on a slight right trending curve which causes cars to stay as far right as possible as they zoom through there. Whenever I ride that beach route, I always use the bike path, jumping on as soon as possible, beginning in that far parking lot just south of Sunset.