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.