Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - When you hit a car...

Yup....hit a car tonight. Dude in a Ford Explorer didn't signal and braked too fast. Sorta ran into him and smashed his tail light with my handlebars. Thankfully, he wasn't mad and was more worried about me than about his car, but still. What the **** do you do when you hit a car? I gave him all my relevant info, including car insurance, etc. I'm just hoping that I can convince him to buy the replacement tail light and let me install it, since otherwise I'm thinking I'm going to end up owing him about $200. This totally and completely sucks. Especially since NOBODY IS EFFIN' PAYING ME THESE DAYS. Talk about putting a completly shîtty spin on an otherwise enjoyable night...

Well at least you are ok. How's the bike?

Guess you have to work with the guy and hope he isnt a dick.

Bike is fine...I just stopped bleeding.

LOL, we should all paypal u enough to buy a quart of beer. If 31 people are watching this and do it then that's 31 pints of beer. Bike, what bike. **** it. :P

Well I for one just dart up the next one way street. Is it wrong? Yup.

Well I for one just dart up the next one way street. Is it wrong? Yup.
Yeah, I'd probably do the same... although my recent experience tells me that hit and run is SERIOUSLY ****ED UP!!!

the other day i banged my shoulder on some guy's side view mirror on his lexus SUV, right on tremont st. i guess it was partly his fault for being so close to the car next to him, and partly mine for trying to squeeze through, despite the fact though, i didnt stick around to see if any damage was done.

My funniest thing that happened thus far was just the other day. i was riding down summer st, and a lady who was going to cross the st, suddenly just breaks into a sprint, without looking ahead, and broadsides me, as im passing by on my bike. i got knocked off, but managed to land on my feet, i think her leg went right into my pedal or axle though, she was holding it like it hurt, however she was more concerned with me, and she even took the blame for it, which is unusual of pedestrians, since so many have some unspited hate for couriers. i almost wanted to start laughing, but i held it back, just in case she was actually really hurt, but nothing developed from it, i just got back on my bike and rode away

I witnessed a bike messenger in NYC take his Kryptonite Chain and knock the sideview mirror of some dude's car once... all because the guy in the car had the right of way and the messenger ran a red light and almost got hit.

The guy in the car just sat there like a dummy while the messenger took off

be a messenger in nyc for long enough and you'll be chuckin your chain at anything that flinches.

I know all about those feelings of rage. However I would never have left a scene in which someone was hit and injured. Bonking someones car is not even close to hurting someone. Oh and whats really fun is delivering in Boston on St. Patties day. othing beats drunk idiots taking a swing at you as you ride by.

I witnessed a bike messenger in NYC take his Kryptonite Chain and knock the sideview mirror of some dude's car once... all because the guy in the car had the right of way and the messenger ran a red light and almost got hit.

The guy in the car just sat there like a dummy while the messenger took off

Wasn't me, I swear! :D

I've broken a car mirror before cutting in too close, took off.
Bounced off a van that cut into my lane, took off.
Rode up the back bumper of a minivan that braked too fast in front of me, tore off his bumper and put a big dent in the door, took off.
Got squeezed between a parked police car and a delivery truck, knocked off the side mirror on the police car, took off.

I don't know if I would pay his s**t, FD. If you were in this situtation with a car, he'd be paying for your front end. And rightfully so! Afterall, he slammed on his breaks which resulted in your losing pints of blood, right? I may think about battling it out with him. Afterall, nobody's paying you, and you are not really in the wrong here.

I don't know if I would pay his s**t, FD. If you were in this situtation with a car, he'd be paying for your front end. And rightfully so! Afterall, he slammed on his breaks which resulted in your losing pints of blood, right? I may think about battling it out with him. Afterall, nobody's paying you, and you are not really in the wrong here.
Not so in every place I've ever lived. It's the guy in back's job to stay far enough away that he can avoid an accident even if the person in front slams on thier brakes. You hit someone from behind and it's your fault, end of story. I have a hunch that an insurance company or a court would feel the same way even if he was on a bike instead of on a car.

We'll see what happens. Everything hurts like hell today, so maybe he'll feel bad or something... With luck I'll never hear from him.

I have hit a few cars, but i dont think I caused any major damage... at least, I dont stop to look. I did try and squeeze by someones pickup truck on crowded South St. one day and knocked off his mirror, i stopped and the guys were more concerned about my shoulder (which was not hurt) than their mirror. I apologized and kept on going. (their plates were from out of state... so they were probably just visiting the city)

If someone is driving like an idiot, or not signaling and I run into them or purposely smash their car with my U lock, I keep on riding and dont feel bad... if its my fault 100% then I will stay and take the blame.

With the explorer situation, I probably would have kept riding... but who knows. I hope he doesnt try and charge you any major money.

i'm gonna sound like the goody-too-shoo (sp?) here.. but some of this is pretty absurd to me.

taking off cuz you bump a rear view is one thing.. but taking off when you know you did some serious damage is pretty whack. or when you purposely whack a car with your U lock. some drivers probably deserve it.. some of them though probably just made an honest mistake and now they've got damaged property because of some prick who thinks every car is the enemy.

if a bike ****ed your car up, you'd expect some compensation. and rightfully so. but the other way around doesn't seem to fly, cuz well.. they're cars. we either assume a car owner can afford the damage (which is dumb), or we justify it as another victory in the war against cars.

i'd love to see rollerbladers take a militant stance against bikes.. well not really.. i frickin' hate rollerblades. but i'd find it funny if one day everyone was posting about some rollerblader doing hit and runs on a bunch of bikers.

subcultures are so interesting.. yet so predictable.

I had a guy honk at me once then cut me off and try to run me off the road! I caught him at the next light and sat infront of his car with my foot on his bumper for like 3 light changes. He could have run me over yes but there was a cop sitting there on the other side of the intersection. I didn't do any damage to any personal property (
which I personally think is wrong) but boy was he pissed.

Yes there are alot of honest mistakes that happen. One can usualy tell when this happens, unless of course you are laying in the street bleeding because of it. But I have had many friends get hit due to goof balls behind the wheel. It's funny that for all the times I drive in Boston I never get an angry cyclist hitting my car or have endangered a cyclist. But then again I tend to keep an eye on as much as I can and I don't talk on a cell phone when I drive either.

had a bunch of those rear-end close calls also because of morons not signalling before they abruptly slow down to turn...

shouldnt have given your insurance tho.. just tell him you dont drive :)

withnails, i like your style. that was pretty ballsy, too.

one thing i forgot to mention.. is how often i see cyclists ride like idiots (myself included, sometimes). we all find a big thrill with whizzing through traffic, making quick lane changes, cutting in and out of cars. it's fun. couriers are right up at the top of that list. you ever think riding like that can be dangerous to others? yet.. "damn.. this guy stopped short. maybe if take a U Lock to his tail lite he'll learn."

believe me, i'm not siding with cars here. i do my fair share of riding hard and yelling at motorists. i just also believe in taking responsibility for my actions.

i'm gonna sound like the goody-too-shoo (sp?) here.. but some of this is pretty absurd to me.

taking off cuz you bump a rear view is one thing.. but taking off when you know you did some serious damage is pretty whack. or when you purposely whack a car with your U lock. some drivers probably deserve it.. some of them though probably just made an honest mistake and now they've got damaged property because of some prick who thinks every car is the enemy.

if a bike ****ed your car up, you'd expect some compensation. and rightfully so. but the other way around doesn't seem to fly, cuz well.. they're cars. we either assume a car owner can afford the damage (which is dumb), or we justify it as another victory in the war against cars.

i'd love to see rollerbladers take a militant stance against bikes.. well not really.. i frickin' hate rollerblades. but i'd find it funny if one day everyone was posting about some rollerblader doing hit and runs on a bunch of bikers.

subcultures are so interesting.. yet so predictable.

I realized that typing what I typed without anyone here ever really meeting me in person, can make what I said sound pretty harsh. I ride everyday through the city, I live in the city, work in the city.... philadelphia is a fairly "bike filled" city... you will see a fair amount of bikes here... but not many bike lanes. 99.9% of the time everything is great, I do get into a few close calls with people not signaling and turning abruptly... but there are the few occasions where my bike is seen as the enemy, that is when I DO condone protecting yourself. I have had drivers try and rub my back tire (which is crazy because I think this person thought it would just simply "give me a bump" when in actuality if they made contact I probably would have been dragged under their car) I have had drivers throw things, I have had drivers purposely try and run me off the road and into parked cars.... this is mostly in Old City at night (when the bars let out and the club kids have to get back to jersey). I am not a lock weilding maniac, I am a professional, I ride in the mornings in my suit and tie, at night with my rolled up pants and tshirts and I never purposly see cars as the enemy. I guess I had to clear things up that I am not declaring War on cars or drivers... most bikers also own cars and drive them... I do feel that we need to share the road but unfortunatly there are a few drivers out there that dont understand that a collision between a car and a bike will never result in the driver getting hurt, its almost ALWAYs the biker.

man, I hate being serious about stuff.....

Just to be fair, 90% of those accidents aren't my fault. Why should I have waste my time to stick around for the insurance because it's the driver's fault if there's no damage to my bike?

Just to be fair, 90% of those accidents aren't my fault. Why should I have waste my time to stick around for the insurance because it's the driver's fault if there's no damage to my bike?

agreed. they should just shut up and be happy they where not hit by a car. :)

FD: Here anything yet?

He's getting back to me on Monday. I think I convinced him to let me put the new tail light in.

Oh yeah. I got this nice little sucker from his bumper.

I would not have stuck around...F them. **** their justice, it's about ours

Totally.....because irresponsibility is always the better course. As it turns out, dude never got back to me. I now consider the matter closed. Yeah, I think it was his fault, but I wasn't completely innocent either. Flee the scene all you like - I maintain that in that situation, it was the right thing to do.

Totally.....because irresponsibility is always the better course. As it turns out, dude never got back to me. I now consider the matter closed. Yeah, I think it was his fault, but I wasn't completely innocent either. Flee the scene all you like - I maintain that in that situation, it was the right thing to do.

Good man FD.

This is why you don't follow too close to vehicles ahead. You hit someone from behind, it's completely and utterly your own fault. At least it is in Canada.

(redacted)

Glad you at least have a concience, unlike the rest of these whiners.

it was the right thing to do.

Hell yeah - there are too many people out there without much thought about what the right thing to do is - in your situation, a lot of people would have tried to sue.

I was rearended by a lady, but all it did was kill my rear wheel - all I wanted was a new rear wheel. It turns out she was in a work-release program from prison, and her sister was the one that paid the money to get a new wheel. I didn't want to mess her life up more, she didn't hurt me, oh well...

This country I think is getting way to sue happy - everyone wants a court case because they were too stupid to use common sense.

This guy probably figures that it's not worth his time to try to get money out of you (you ride a bike, that means you don't have enough money for a car, right? hence, no money for his car) and just moved on with it all... But you made your effort, and were willing to pay what damages were caused. There aren't too many people out there these days that would do that.

Consider it a moral victory....