allen254

So have you guys ever been hit by a car and how did you deal with the person that hit you ? care to share your experience

I was Riding my bike in Burbank California today and this car for a fact i know he saw me cause i passed him up with my super bright Knog road blinder rear light, he sped up to get ahead of me not realizing that im going 27 mph, he cuts me off like hes going make it to the entrance of a dry cleaning place before i get near him and i slammed on my brakes and boom he hits me as he makes the right in to the dry cleaning entrance ,and i go flying over his hood on to the side walk ,Jesus thank god for my helmet ,i some how got to walk away with only some road rash on my leg and road rash on my back and some bumps on my arm i have no idea how i didn't brake something or even worse, he bent my rear wheel my rear derailleur, chain came off, the rear cassette bent the wheel hub ,

the guy that hit me was a young guy maybe 18 19 maybe younger than 18 he stooped and was actually really cool and he took me to the shop i bought it at and paid for all the damage to my bike
luckily the mechanic said he was surprised that my frame didnt get bent or cracked so now i have to wait a couple of days before i can ride again luckily i also still have warranty on it

bt

27mph in the city.

you should re-think your whole operation.

JTGraphics

At this point it has been taken care of it seems he paid for all the damage. Unless you have some medical issues you may be done.
But I still hope you got all his info incase, and if you fill like you may have medical issues go make a police report but it seems like since you both went to the shop you are Ok.
So the matter may be closed ride and be careful.
I have been hit twice but no injuries for the most part just bike damage which most people seem to try to pay for so insurance does not get involved but if you do get injured take the insurance route!

JTGraphics

This also

chaadster

You could probably still go after his insurance company for more money, but really, I take it the guy was being honest and doing the right thing by taking you to the shop and paying for repairs. I'd be inclined to let it go at that, but, you'll need to replace your helmet and may have complications that arise from injuries yet to manifest themselves, so maybe contact a lawyer for advise. I dunno what not getting a police report immediately means, but I suspect it means that the insurance company will not accept any liability, and the issue may have to go to small claims. Again, I dunno, and it may not be worth it, but an attorney will consult for free and give you recommendation. You could also call the police immediately and see what they say, but I don't think they'll make any kind of useful report without having investigated at the scene.

Sorry I can't offer more help, but my experience is limited in this arena. I was hit on my bike back in '87, resulting in a compound fracture of the lower leg, and from which I didn't walk weight-bearing for 9 months. My parents' insurance handled all that, though, so I don't know clearly how it went down...and it was a long time ago.

allen254

i know im thinking of riding some where more desolate now,, yeah this was defiantly wake up call for me to stop riding on city streets .

i did take down his phone number and his ID Info just in case but ill be fine im just going to be sore for the next two days

i think if i had a more sever injury than i would definitely have gone the insurance route for sure, but the guy was honest and paid for all the damages and my
shop mechanic actually quoted him for a higher price than the actual repair would cost so iam walking with some change in my pocket

chaadster

Nah, city streets are fine and fun, even. I've been riding them-- admittedly in a smaller town, but I've actually ridden in Burbank when my sisters lived there-- continuously for +25yrs and have only had one such incident.

The trick is to ride smarter...and expect the worst. Slower is not the answer, obviously, as you knew what was going on in this case despite the speed, but you just made a bad call. That's how it goes; in this case, you probably should have slowed when the car accelerated-- expecting he was trying to get in front of you to beat you somewhere-- and you'd have had time to drop in behind him and skirt out the left as he turned right.

Don't worry...keep riding. Experience comes, sometimes at cost, but in this case, probably very little cost, which is fortunate.

bigdo13

Wow man... I was ready to fly into a rage about ur story... then you described what the driver did afterward and I gotta say that is the complete exception to the rule... Most drivers will keep on driving, or get out of their car and try and yell at you after they do something dangerous and stupid that causes an accident...

This kid was definitely an enlightened soul and did a solid by you in taking you to the bike shop and covering the repairs... that's like, man, that's some serious standup stuff...

and they say us millennial's are nuthin but self-absorbed a-holes ...

allen254

yeah true that chaadster ill be riding a lot smarter for sure ,, yeah i love riding on the city streets for some reason.

allen254

yeah bigdo13, thats what i told the kid i was like '' i appreciate you not driving off on me " pretty cool kid man
the funny part was that he was very calm about it didnt yell at me nothing just took it like a champ .
he even said ill give a ride home and get you something eat ..

prathmann

Sounds like you came out of it ok provided no medical issues show up and at least it's good that the guy who hit you was willing to take responsibility.

My incident was similar but did involve his auto insurance company. He pulled out in front of me and I went sailing over his hood. At first he questioned whether I had a light, but fortunately it was still shining brightly from my handlebar and he became apologetic as soon as he saw it. As in your case I had no significant injury but the bike had a few problems. I took it to my LBS, got a quote for repairs and then met with the motorist and his insurance agent who gave me check for the repair estimate.

allen254

yeah i was still very shocked when i got to the bike shop ,,

So you did make a formal claim against the motorist ?? or was it just, here is a check for your troubles

3alarmer 

.
...there are some excellent reasons for not discussing your accident on the internet. #justsayin '

znomit

You passed a car doing 27mph? Is that legal where you are?
Are you sure it wasn't more like 3mph?
Do you still have a warranty post crash?

rms13

Burbank? So was it a black Mercedes or white? Glad your OK, I have a close call almost every ride around there. You have to be hyper vigilent

allen254

LMFAO you know the deal around Burbank dont you haha it wasn't a Mercedes it was BMW ha naw im jk
it was an older honda.

yeah im going to have to be way more careful from now on riding on glenoaks lots of traffic around 4 to 7 pm
i hate how Burbank dosnt have any bike lanes on glenoaks till you get to Glendale.yeah ive also had other close calls on Glenoaks .

Will Goes Boing

Not yet, but I've had a lot of close calls that I avoided because I was riding defensively. I also ride motorcycles so I go by the mentality, "Ride as if you're invisible". Heck, I even use the same mentality when I'm in my car. I don't know how old you are, but from the way you type I'm guessing you're a younger guy. When I was young I drove like I was invincible, now that I'm in my early 30's I've had a good 16 years of driving under my belt and a couple of accidents.... I learned to be more observant and predict other people's bad driving. So I went from driving like I was invincible to driving like I'm invisible. I can't tell you how many accidents I've avoided over the years because of that.

What you should have done in that situation was, call the police to file a report. And then get his insurance information. From that point on if he wants to pay for your stuff, great. But the important thing is that you want to cover your butt. What if a couple hours after the incident, your adrenaline wears off and you realized you got a hairline fracture on your wrist or worse, brain trauma?

You live and learn. Glad it wasn't worse.

allen254

Yeah you are right man I could have gotten hurt real bad the adrenaline did wear off an hour later after that ,some times I do feel invincible when I'm out riding but today i was definitely awakened about being more careful when I ride. And next time I get in an accident I will file a report with police cause you can never be to sure about bodily injuries. It was my first time and I was in shock and really didn't know what to do . but at least the kids was a man about it and paid for the bike damages. I got all his information but I'm physically fine surprisingly , and he paid for my bikes repairs. This was definitely a experience that I have learned from .

Dave Cutter

I live several miles across the city from a bicycle path. So even when I ride the MUPs.... I ride lots of urban miles. I try to ride the residential areas but when I ride in traffic I tend to ride hard and fast..... but 27 mph would be my very upper limits (I am an old guy). I've always believed keeping up with traffic to be the safest way to ride in traffic.

I always.... ALWAYS expect cars to turn in front of me, brake without having brake lights, swerve for no known reason.... or any other drunken, texting, distracted and/or poor driving behavior. In other words.... I expect all drivers to behave like myself and the people I know. I love bicycling and I enjoy the mental and physical challenges that traffic provides. Yes... I hit a car once... not my best day.

There may be a day when I start to worry about traffic. And that might be a good day to pick up some new grips for my golf clubs.... or shop for a kayak.

Campag4life

Young auto driver meet young, out of control cyclist in the city. Bad stack up.

kbarch

I suspect the reason things didn't turn out worse was because you weren't caught off-guard - you were both sort of prepared. It sounds like the driver sort of raced you to the curb cut and beat you to it, but just barely. You collided and he was a good sport about it. I'd say: case closed. The thing is, public roads aren't playing fields. You just got off lucky.

My experience? When I collided with a car (when riding a motorcycle), it was because the driver made a u-turn in the middle of the block right as I approached him. I was caught totally off-guard, and was hospitalized. But he flat-out denied having made the u-turn, and lied in his report to the police, so I had to sue. The ironic thing is, he was a doctor. He was well insured, but in the end I bet he was still telling himself he should have taken care of me when he first had the chance, like your guy did.

curbtender

Well, in California, it's mandatory to report any accident where someone was injured. I'd probably delete my comments and live with my decision not to.

bicyclelove

What? Step it up to 35mph?

bruce19

I think this kid did what young kids do....made a poor and possibly fatal decision. But, he took responsibility for it. Kudos to him and his parents who raised him. Having said that...it may not be over. Often injuries show up days later. You may find yourself dealing with that in the coming days. I do hope you made a police report if only to put it on record. Hopefully that's all it will be. Glad you are relatively unscathed.

bruce19

FWIW I'm 68 and I don't say or believe that. Most of the self-absorbed a-holes I know are serving in Congress.