It was 1981. I was riding fast and carefree on my trusty 10-speed when my front wheel made the unfortunate acquaintance of a similar storm drain. I endo'd at speed and was lucky to escape with only a broken wrist that took longer than six months to heal -- and it still hurts today under certain weather conditions.

I probably could have been killed as I wasn't wearing a helmet back then (Bicycle helmet? What's a bicycle helmet?)

Also probably left a lot of cash on the table as it never occurred to me to sue anybody for it at the time ...