Thought I'd share my experience from today:
On the ride into work today a young man in a blue Malibu t-boned me and the AWOL. I was heading west on a main artery and he was trying to make a left hand turn to go east. He was pulling out of a side road with a stop sign and while he had slowed down, he never came to a complete stop. I saw him look in my direction and then look west. I thought he saw me. I even remember thinking, "he saw me" in my head. After he looks to the west he pulls out and hits me square.
He wasn't going very fast. I'm guessing in the neighborhood of 5-10 miles an hour. The car hit me just below my right knee and knocked me off the bike and flat on my back. My left foot didn't unclip so the bike landed on top of me, protecting the brand new selle anatomica seat that I installed last night.
My front wheel is totaled and the disc brake may be warped but otherwise the bike is fine. No scratches and nothing but the wheel bent or twisted. It looks like I was able to protect its fall with my body (resourceful right???
) My helmet took a big hit and needs to be replaced but my head is fine. I'm very glad I was wearing my helmet. I sometimes skip it when it's hot out and it's supposed to get really warm this afternoon so I had considered not wearing it this morning.
The driver stopped and assisted me in getting myself and the bike off the road. He gave me all of his contact information and offered to pay for all the damages. He apologized about three hundred times and offered to drive me to work or the hospital. He claims that he just simply didn't see me. I had my blinking front light on, and was wearing a bright blue shirt. I was traveling on the correct side of the road in the bike lane and it was clear and sunny outside.
The most curious thing about the whole incident to me is that I'm not upset. I didn't yell or scream at the guy. I was polite and I didn't chew his head off or anything. I'm glad no one was hurt and the damage was fairly minor. I started commuting about a year ago and I figured eventually I would have some sort of encounter with a vehicle but I never imagined that I wouldn't be furious. I can be quite hot headed and it surprised me how even keeled I was over the whole thing.
