fordfasterr

I was heading west on a major arterial, a lady in a small sedan raced past me and slammed the brakes and made an immediate right turn.. i had no time to react and just slammed into the rear quarter panel of her car as I tried to squeeze the brakes as much as possible while leaning into the same corner to try to avoid hitting her.. .

I dented her car real bad with my brake lever and bounced off of the car into the intersection.

My bike suffered only minor injuries, a hole in the saddle, a scratch on the rear skewer, a little rash on the bar tape...

I also have a little rash on my left knee and left elbow.. and pain in my wrist. I was wearing my helmet but I don't think my head ever hit the ground.

The lady stopped, did the right thing and got out of the car to help me. She was really nice and friendly she said she was a nurse and could help me if I was hurt... I stayed on the ground for a bit to make sure I was ok... then I checked the bike out and I asked her to be more careful next time. She agreed to watch out for bicycles and we parted ways.

rando

holy crap. glad you are OK!

fordfasterr

I was amazed at myself, I did not yell, scream, lay blame, act mean, or curse at her..

She treated me with respect, so I treated her with respect.... now I just have pain to remember it by.

At least I am alive.

unixpro

Glad you're OK. Did you get her name and number? You might feel OK right now, but sometimes shock can cover up serious problems.

fordfasterr

No, sorry.

I'll just have to live with it. She stopped, she was nice, she did everything she should have done so I did not feel the need to go any further.

fordfasterr

Suppose that I would have called the cops, and for some reason, the cops side with the lady...

suppose the cops claim that I attempted to pass on the right when she was making the right turn and I was the one that caused the accident...

How can I defend myself against this type of charge and win?

MIKEnDC

Glad you're OK. I'd've probably done the same if the person acted like that.

I haven't had the pleasure, but sometimes I think police just kind of casually take the view that if these bikers want to get out there and roll the dice with these manics, then go for it!--and let the chips fall where they may. It might just come down to an individual officer, and how s/he feels right then (unless its blatantly obvious what's happened). But that's just the sense of it I have...

Banzai

They shouldn't side with the lady. She passed you, then abruptly stopped to turn. If she had done that to another car and an accident ensued, she would be 100% at fault.

You got right hooked, dude. That's pretty much criminal. And, as you've seen, dangerous.

Never ever ever ever leave the scene without getting numbers, insurance information, etc. If the driver gets combative about giving this information, get the plate number and call the police. If the driver decides to just leave, at that point you have her for fleeing the scene too.

This has been worked over so many times here, and yet people keep leaving the scene! About a year ago (?) there was a thread where a guy left the scene after brushing himself off...that pain that kept increasing in his wrist after time passed turned out to be a broken bone.

Adrenaline and/or shock can cover up a LOT of stuff that only hits you later.

Why do we bicycle commuters continue to leave the scene of these incidents without getting the information on record that we wouldn't think twice about if our automobile's were involved?!?

For the love guys, take care of yourselves...and make sure you're completely covered and can hold the driver responsible if she does something criminal like right hook you.

Dude, I'm glad you're ok...I hope you're still ok tonight.

Banzai

Because she right hooked you and failed to pass safely. Laws stipulate 3' clearance and passing WHEN SAFE TO DO SO. Clearly what she did wasn't safe, and clearly she didn't give you nearly enough room.

If you had been in a car, in the right lane, and she zipped around you on the left and then abruptly turned in front of you making a right turn...how would you defend yourself against those charges? You wouldn't have to. She'd be buying you a new car and paying your medical bills.

Jeez, I'm sorry, but I'm really steamed. I know, two posts in a row, but this is becoming a theme I read too often on the commuting board.

fordfasterr

Thanks for the info Banzai.

kf5nd

Sorry, but if that ever happened to me, I'm playing possum and taking the ambulance ride to the hospital, then suing the driver's ass off later.

Jarery

I would have asked why she took up nursing when she's clearly trying to kill people.

wild animals

my job and life suck, but i just laughed for 5 minutes. thank you. haha.

Jonahhobbes

Its weird how people react when they get hit, me I was totally buzzing for about an hour or so from the adrenaline then went and got drunk after the hospital. I to never swore or acted up at the driver I guess we all react differently. I'm just glad that you're ok, no real damage done and you've got a decent war story to tell

Cyclaholic

Yeah riiiiiight

mparker326

People often change their stories once the cops show up no matter how nice they are. I've been rearended before in a car. Lady gets out and tells me it is totally her fault because she wasn't paying attention. Cops show up 40 minutes later, she tells them I pulled in front of her and slammed on the brakes. I tell the cops that I was sitting at a red light and she rearended me. They don't issue any fault because they have conflicting stories and there are no witnesses. I tried to flag down a couple witnesses after she hit me to get numbers but they said they didn't want to get involved. Her insurance won't pay for my car's damages because the cops issued no fault. I'm out $1800 to get my car fixed.

fordfasterr

I see where you are going with this. True, she wiped me out but at least she was not purposefully rude...

I would prefer to be treated nicely than to be yelled at by an angry cager...

Cyclaholic

Fair enough... no doubt you kept more composure than I would have, to your credit.

fordfasterr

Damn road rash itches like f'in crazy !

jyossarian

Now that you're an adult, you can pick at your scabs all you want. That's one of the benefits of adulthood.

BikEthan

+1 000 000 000

gharding

Ah, the right-hook. I had that happen, but the driver drove off. Luckily, I was fine.. but was so sore the next day. I hit his rear panel and endo'd into the lane next to me. Luckily nobody was using that lane or I would have been a goner. But I managed to escape with some bruises and a bent wheel.

Hope you feel okay tonight/tomorrow.

San Rensho 

Try silvadene(?) cream. You need a scrip for it but its the stuff MD's use to treat 3rd degree burns and its the best for road rash. Ask me how I know.

Takes away the itch, is soothing and reduces scarring.

EricJ

I love that part where whole sections start lifting off leaving nice pink ultrasensitive skin underneath.

Eric

fordfasterr

I don't get scabs. I keep the rash moist and covered... no scab ever grows... the skin just heals itself.