Last time something like this happened, i went down hard and went home & upgraded my single pivot brake to a dual pivot with decent pads.

Last night I was riding home down a wide, well lit, straight, gentle hill with 2 front lights (1 flashing). I slowed a bit because a car turned from a parking space on my side of the road, across all lanes to go up the hill. Ok, no biggie, they had enough time (just). The car parked behind it followed with their lights off, as i was reaching down to change from 53x12 to 53x13 (so i must have been going about 40-50km/h). With 1 hand off the bars, i slammed on my front brake, and the Kia Pimento passed in front of me with cm to spare. My rear wheel lifted well off the ground, and because i had a hand off the bars, my bike turned sideways in mid air. Somehow, by the grace of Moser, i recovered it.

The car did not stop, and i had to turn around and chase it all the way up the hill to a red light. I made them pull over, made them turn off the car, and let me sit down to catch my breath (heart was about to explode).

The driver was apologetic, but didn't understand that making me chase her down to even say sorry was bad. Her apology was that it had happened, it didn't involve admitting any fault at all. I wasn't going to argue with her, so I called the police. The police officer took all the details, her rego, the location, etc. He was very helpful until it got the the question.

"Are you on a motorbike or a push bike?"

That was it. He asked me a few more questions, but his interest was gone. He told me they were very busy that night and couldn't send anyone (this is on a very central arterial route). If i wanted to take it further i would have to come into the station tomorrow. I had to walk around the corner to explain to him how I had no interest in prosecuting her, or wasting my time on this, i just wanted a sincere apology and for her to recognize what she'd done. I knew i couldn't talk her into it, nor did i want to try, and if he couldn't send anyone she was just going to get away with it. He wasn't going to help.

So i went back and stupidly tried to talk her into an apology. I explained how insane what had happened was and she goes 'yes! i saw! i was so shocked! i didn't see you! you were going so fast!', so then i asked, did she expect, that i would keep riding, and she would keep driving? She said 'No no, because i did not even see you'. I very calmly and slowly explained to her that i was not looking to prosecute her, and i just wanted an honest answer, could she please ignore trying to avoid liability, and give me something here. She got defensive (of course), and i got absolutely nothing by way of an apology. Enraged, i started putting my shoes back on to leave & swore at her. She started shouting back about how she was going to call the police, and how i couldn't do that.

I said, Do you like to waste your time on tedious legal matters? Because i personally don't see the point in wasting my time prosecuting you, and I'm doing you a huge favor here letting this go. You very nearly ruined my life, and i'm doing you a favor here, but you're too stupid to see it.

I left her in the hands of a very patient young middle eastern dude who had been impartially observing the whole thing (he did tell me i couldn't swear at her- fair enough), as he tried to explain to her my perspective. Her ~18 yo son/ boyfriend who didn't / pretended not to speak English seemed both amused that i thought i had any rights, and amused that his stupid mother/ gf was being shouted at.

It is truely depressing to know that the police do not care about me in this country, but it makes me happy to know that all around the world, people like me enjoy cycling and do not allow it to be ruined by anyone.

Stay safe all and remember to ENJOY riding.