I was riding northbound by the hospital on Main St & had a green light @ 56th Ave. A southbound driver tried sneaking in a left turn before the oncoming traffic coming down the hill.

Of course, it was only after he made his turn that he could see his intended street was completely closed due to construction, with a row of cones all along the crosswalk.

If 56th Ave had been open, he probably could've punched it and made it through the intersection before I got there. But with nowhere to go, he slowed down & planted himself right in front of me. I was able to slow down a bit and aimed toward the rear end of his car, hoping to go around him, but he was way too close. I hit his passenger side @ 8-10mph, took off his sideview mirror as I rolled over his passenger side, trunk, and then plopped down on the street, landing (luckily) on my backpack. Given the great weather, I'd taken off my windbreaker & it served as a bit of a cushion in there.

EMS came and in the fastest ambulance ride ever (across the street) I got cleaned up and checked out. A bit of a shoulder sprain and deep scrapes but no broken bones!! The doc said he sees a lot of people with skull fractures b/c they don't wear helmets.

WEAR A HELMET, PEOPLE.

The front end of my 2009 Allez is pretty screwed up, (pringled wheel, bent handlebars, bent brake calipers, haven't taken a close look at the fork / frame yet. Supposedly the medical bills go straight to him, and hopefully his insurance will also cover the bike damage. I'd rather not have to go to small claims court. In NY you gotta have 25/50/10, the last one being property damage liability.

Anybody in NY have any experience w/this? Thanks!