Advocacy & Safety - hit by car today

Part of my commute to work runs throughs a busy section of town, with 3 or 4 lanes of traffic in each direction going pretty fast. The roads here are poorly maintained, with huge potholes and rough grading. The lanes are a bit too narrow; I've found that if I stay to the right the traffic passing by is just too close, so I'm stuck taking a whole lane. The speed limit is either 35 or 45, I forget, but traffic generally flows here at 50+, despite all the traffic lights. This is also the only area where I've witnessed hostility from auto drivers. It's not an especially good place to ride, but it's right next to my apartment and I can't avoid it.

It makes me pretty uncomfortable going through there, so the last few times through I decided to stick to the sidewalk. It's only for a few blocks and there are very rarely pedestrians around... plus all the other cyclists in the area use the sidewalk. It's also at the beginning of my commute, so I don't mind a leisurely pace to warm up for the rest of my 20 mile ride. This morning, I opted for the sidewalk. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was riding on the sidewalk against the flow of traffic. I didn't want to try and cross 6 lanes of busy morning commute traffic with no traffic light, so my usual plan of attack is to take the sidewalk down to the next block and cross at the light.

A lady in a pickup truck was pulling out of a strip mall and looking at oncoming traffic to her left. Being an idiot, I assumed that she would look in front of her before pulling out, but she didn't. I failed to make eye contact, I failed to yell and get her attention, I failed to stop and wait. She plowed right into me. Her fault, but we all know I should have prevented this. Had I been walking, I'd probably be in the hospital right now.

As it is, I'm mostly ok. I got twisted around and thrown to the ground pretty hard. My knee is bloodied up, my arthritic hip is acting up and my butt is throbbing in pain (no comments from the peanut gallery), but otherwise injury free. My bike is ok too, with just a few scratches and a bent lever. I've been praising this miracle all day. I seriously don't know how I came away from this one in such good condition. We exchanged information and I continued the rest of my ride.

I've never been afraid of riding around cars before, but I'm feeling a bit traumatized now. That moment where I looked over and saw that big truck looming and realized that there was going to be an impact keeps playing over in my head. I've been sitting here at work, thinking about the other parts of commute and how things could go wrong. I'm thinking about taking the bus home.

I had a close call last week. I pulled up to a stop sign and was waiting for a car to cross in front of me before proceeding. He was coming from my right and turning towards me, and decided to take a shortcut and cut across my lane. He came DIRECTLY at me, saw me at the last second and slammed on his brakes. I actually fell over, anticipating the impact. He cut around me to my right (against the flow of traffic, on the shoulder) and sped off before I had even stood up. At the time, it didn't bother me too much, but now that I'm thinking about it, I'm kind of freaking out.

I think I need to take some time off and think about safety and my commute, and whether or not this is something I really want to do. Sorry for the gigantic dense post, I just wanted to share my story and get this off my chest a bit. Hope you all have a better day than I have had. :)

Its good to make a long post like this, as it will relieve your stress. I am very much against sidewalk riding, but there is a similar stretch of road like yours where I sometimes ride the sidewalk for 100 yards. A whistle could have saved you on this occasion. I carry a Fox 40 which cannot be overblown - the hard you blow the louder it is. I dont ride with it in my mouth all the time but only put it in when I anticipate traffic problems ( or peds). Someone posted recently about having a whistle that he could keep in his mouth all the time. I think it had a rubber piece that fitted behind his teeth so it wouldnt fall out when he had his mouth open.

This morning, I opted for the sidewalk. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was riding on the sidewalk against the flow of traffic. I didn't want to try and cross 6 lanes of busy morning commute traffic with no traffic light, so my usual plan of attack is to take the sidewalk down to the next block and cross at the light.

A lady in a pickup truck was pulling out of a strip mall and looking at oncoming traffic to her left. Being an idiot, I assumed that she would look in front of her before pulling out, but she didn't. I failed to make eye contact, I failed to yell and get her attention, I failed to stop and wait. She plowed right into me. Her fault, but we all know I should have prevented this. Had I been walking, I'd probably be in the hospital right now.



Well it's good that you're OK, and your bike is OK as well. The most important thing is you understand fully what happened, and will avoid this in the future.

This won't make you feel any better, but the only time I've been hit by a car was the exact same situation you described. In my case, it was the second day with a brand new road bike, and the back wheel was wrecked. This happened a few years ago and I have never forgotten the lesson learned.

Tough way to learn a lesson you already know... Glad you're okay.

I am a bit unclear about the other incident...



I pulled up to a stop sign and was waiting for a car to cross in front of me before proceeding. He was coming from my right and turning towards me, and decided to take a shortcut and cut across my lane. He came DIRECTLY at me, saw me at the last second and slammed on his brakes. I actually fell over, anticipating the impact. He cut around me to my right (against the flow of traffic, on the shoulder) and sped off before I had even stood up.
Can you describe the types of roads you were on (# of lanes, approximate width, etc.), and where you were positioned at the stop (both relative to the stop line and laterally)?

Just about all my close calls have been when I lost my nerve about riding in traffic and gave up and rode on the side walk. I've since given up on the side walks as being unsafe now matter what the traffic conditions are. Drivers just do not pay any attention to the side walks at all.

I am a bit unclear about the other incident...

Can you describe the types of roads you were on (# of lanes, approximate width, etc.), and where you were positioned at the stop (both relative to the stop line and laterally)?

I was on a two lane road approaching a stop sign, at a T intersection with another two lane road. I was in the center of my lane and stopped right up at the stop line. Here's a diagram:

http://jomsborg.saw.net/~trav/near_miss.jpg

The green dots are me approaching the stop sign. The yellow dots are the car. 'B' is where he finally saw me and stopped, 'A' is where I stopped and subsequently fell over like an idiot. I didn't really draw it to scale very well, but after I fell over he cut over on the shoulder (cars are often parked there) and went around me.

I don't really like to stereotype, but he was in a lowered Civic with custom rims, ground effects kit, rear wing, etc.

I don't get it... where did the car hit you and what were you doing and where were you?

Those of us who jog or walk regularly are very wary of motorists pulling out of driveways or side streets. In fact, unless the road is particularly narrow, I feel safer walking WITH the flow of traffic on a major road, because motorists are much more likely to be looking towards me, rather than in the opposite direction. Your problem wasn't sidewalk cycling or even wrong-way sidewalk cycling per se, but your assumption that the motorist would look your way before proceeding. I can tell you from walking/jogging experience that many right-turning motorists look left, but not right, before pulling out.

Get well soon, Trav. Heal up quick. I'm really sorry.

trav... thanks for your excellent diagram. You clearly did nothing wrong, and I can't think of anything you could have reasonably done to avoid this (I'm talking about the stop sign incident, not the sidewalk incident). I'm glad you're not hurt. I too would be shook up by that. I'll bet that guy lives nearby and he cuts that corner like that pretty regularly, whenever there is no car at the stop sign. So he probably checked subconsciously for a car, didn't notice one, and proceeded as usual. Luckily he saw you before it was too late. And then he went to your right, the wrong way against traffic, partially on the shoulder. Damn! Where are the cops when you need them to see stuff? I guess you have to write this one off as unlikely to ever happen again. Get back on the horse, I mean bike, to let your subconscious know it's still relatively safe out there, if you're careful.

And stay off the sidewalk! ;)