Southern California - Hit by a car in GP today.

Well I was out doing one of my GP loops today when I got hit by a car.

I'm headed towards home before the little downhill where the construction starts. I see this idiot with his dog (yes on a leash) in the bike lane. I am following another guy. The guy infront of me has to swerve to avoid the dog and I swerve not to hit the guy in front of me. Well as I encroach the white line barely I get side swiped. Thank you very much. My brand new bike is f@#$ed. I'm bleeding my hand is busted. My left side looks like I got in a fight with a cheese grater. My gloves and hands are cut. The side of my head is scraped. (Thank God I was wearing a helmet).

So the azzhole has the nerve to tell me his dog has every right to be in the bike lane as much as I do. :thumb:


WOW!

Thanks Peter for getting me home.

p.s. I have fresh road rash pics if anyone is interested.

Ack! Bummer! :(

Heal up soon...

Did you get contact info for everyone involved? Police report?

The golden rule of bicycling must be observed at all times.... above all, protect yourself.

The guy with the dog may have homeowner's insurance, which should cover all of your damages.

Get well soon... That totally sucks... I know you just got the bike!!!

Bummer.
I had to yell at some yahoo this morning who put a huge plywood garage sale sign in the bike lane on my morning ride here in the San Fernando Valley (Woodley Ave. just south of the VA hospital).
I would have just went around it but, too much traffic.
He moved it but was *****ing about it in Spanish the whole time.
Went home and programed the LAPD non-emergency number into my cell phone.

Heal up fast.

I can't stand people who bike with their dogs, especially in the bike lane. I have bikes, and I have dogs. The two were not meant for each other. The guy is lucky his dog didn't get hurt, or worse. Sorry to hear about your injuries.

You might want to consult an attorney about whether or not what that guy was doing was legal. I don't think it was. Would it be legal to operate any other vehicle with a dog running alongside?

Heal up quick.

Just got back from my normal GP ride. I almost ran into three people who were riding directly towards me (i.e. on the wrong side, going against traffic.) One on Rowena, one on Riverside, one in the park. Why do people do that? Do they think it's safe in some bizarre way?

The guy with the dog may have homeowner's insurance, which should cover all of your damages.

Wait, you were hit by a car, from behind, right? The car should pay. You don't have any obligation to stay in the bike lane so if they hit you, they are at fault, even if you "swerved" into the roadway. Cars have to give enough room for that possibility.

The guy was walking with the dog, right? Well, it might be stupid to do so, but is there an actual prohibition regarding pedestrians being in the bikelane? I tend to want to support the concept that pedestrians have right of way wherever they are, since they were kind here (on earth) first before all of our dangerous vehicles encroached on their rights to wander...

Damn....sorry to hear that.....that construction definitely has GP all messed up....
Get better soon!!!!

So the azzhole has the nerve to tell me his dog has every right to be in the bike lane as much as I do. :thumb:

I'm not certain of the specific section you are referring to, but I know most of that loop does not have a sidewalk. If that's the case, the pedestrian does indeed have a right to use the bike lane... or the traffic lane if there is no shoulder or bike lane.

Did the driver stop? If not, he's at fault because he left the scene. If so, you might be screwed if you swerved in his path, but he's liable if he had time to avoid you.

Sorry if that's not good news, but that's my honest take on the situation. When I see anything in my way, the first thing I do is cover my brake and check my shoulder. If I can't move over safely, I start applying the brakes. As said above, protect yourself... both from obstructions and from other vehicles and beings.

Warning - graphic injury photo.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a112/chefxian/Christiansaccident002.jpg

Here ya go.

Sucks but glad the injuries weren't more serious!:eek:......Either way, the dude with the dog is stupid or dude with dog does have the right of way, my head says SLOW DOWN whenever I see a potential hazard. I'm not willing to risk my health to anyone for any reason.

That pic is way to disturbing, porn on the forums......lol

Nasty....
Get some Brave Soldier and tagaderm....
they both work wonders!!

Ooowwww! Thats gonna take awhile to buff out.:eek:

I'm sorry to say this, but the crash could be your fault for making a sudden and improper lane change. It is your responsibility to make sure it is safe to change lanes before you do so.

I'm sorry to say this, but the crash could be your fault for making a sudden and improper lane change. It is your responsibility to make sure it is safe to change lanes before you do so.

Well not that I disagree however cause and effect. It's really easy to say it you should make safe lane changes and it's easy to say that when you bike ride behind your monitor.

What do you do when the dog and 2 other guys are in your way on a bike path meant for one. Oh thats right I should have bunny hopped. :thumb:

Well not that I disagree however cause and effect. It's really easy to say it you should make safe lane changes and it's easy to say that when you bike ride behind your monitor.

What do you do when the dog and 2 other guys are in your way on a bike path meant for one. Oh thats right I should have bunny hopped. :thumb:

Maybe it's the way you described the incident. In your initial post, it sounds like you came across the obstacle, the guy with the dog, and were forced to go into the traffic lane to avoid a collision with the person you were riding with. The question is, why didn't you have time to check traffic and either slow, stop or wait for the car to pass? Did the dog come off the sidewalk or swerve into your partner? What if it hadn't been a dog and been two senior citizens on beach cruisers doing 4 mph? When I read your post, I thought it sounded like you and your partner were going too fast to avoid the person with the dog and had to make an unsafe movement into the traffic lane.

Sometimes it's hard to describe exactly what happened and details get left out. Then everyone makes judgements based on partial information.

The hand and roadrash are bad but luckily you're not in an ICU drooling drom a head injury.

Sorry to hear about your accident. That road rash looks bad, but you look HOT! in that photo. Tell Jill I said that.

I'll make you brownies for your boo-boo. :p

Karma train is rolling. Shouldn't have made fun of my crash in GP.:mad:

The person in the rear almost always has the responsibility to avoid hitting something in front of him. The bikes had the responsibility to avoid hitting the dog/pedestrian, which they did, and the car had the responsibility to avoid the bikes, which it didn't. Driver pays. S/He may argue you swerved in front of him/her but he will probably still be held responsible. (at least everywhere in the world i've ever lived: some of the states of the usa may have different policies).

The car has the responsibility to avoid what is in front but the sideswipe was used by the OP. If the rider ran into the side of the car there may have been nothing the car could do to avoid it.

Warning - graphic injury photo.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a112/chefxian/Christiansaccident002.jpg

Here ya go.

OUCH! That look painful. Hope you get better soon man.

Sorry to hear about your spill! Keep the rash clean and heal quickly.

(I got rear-ended at a stop sign a couple weeks ago: bike totaled, too.)

We're still alive, right!