Hit a pedestrian.
 

Terrible way to start the week.

It was only about 30 seconds from home on this short narrow wet downhill slope with no sidewalk/shoulder.

http://goo.gl/maps/dPIw

The woman was walking in the middle of the road, heard me coming I guess, and moved to the right and into my path at the last second. Brakes locked and I skid into her, hitting her with the left side of my handlebars. We both fell and her elbow and knee was bleeding and scraped up.

Feel absolutely awful about it. From now on I will definitely walk the bike down this section especially after a rain.

Do you have a bell on your bike? It might be a more convenient precaution than walking the bike.

I have a bell but didn`t use it here. I turned the corner and started down and saw her about 15 meters ahead around a curve- I only had a split second to use the bell. I was focused on braking even before I saw her as I started downhill - braking lightly because the slope was steep and wet and I wanted to avoid skidding. There was no way I could have stopped quickly. I thought(in that split second) I shouldn`t use the bell because at that point if she hears the bell she would suddenly turn left or right and I wouldn`t have time to avoid hitting her. This is what happened anyway as she heard me braking and moved suddenly.

That she was "walking in the middle of the road" didn't seem odd to you? People who do odd things like that also tend to odd things like changing direction without looking.

From what I read there, it sounds like you might have been going to fast for the road conditions and the turn. How fast were you traveling?

It`s actually not odd to be walking in the middle of the road around here. Just a bad idea. There are no sidewalks and the roads are very narrow.

Very true, the middle of the road is the sidewalk here. Especially on back streets, sometimes people walk right out their door and are in the middle of the street, there is no in between.

Yeah probably. I was breaking to slow down but it was very steep and the road was slick and the brakes lock up easily on the folder I was riding - but I have been riding the same route for over a year and should have known better. It was at 6:30 AM and I rarely see anyone on that stretch. Better to walk the bike down the slope in those conditions probably.

You sound like a thoughtful kind person to me - hope karma looks after you.

Were you on the front brake too, or just the rear?

I think the lesson here is that stuff happens, even when you do your best. It might not have been possible to prevent this. You'll have another accident again one day. Face the fact now. You may be a perfectly fine cyclist.

Did you help the woman?

I'm not convinced walking this section will make things safer. Your next accident is likely to be somewhere else. If you just avoid the places where you've had accidents, it probably won't help. It's kind of lightning hitting in the same place again. Unless the steepness of the road is truly a severe hazard.

Ouch!

You may not find it necessary to walk this section but I sure do understand your thinking about speed. In this part of the world that section of street is more like a path and speed control is crucial when pedestrians are present or may suddenly be there around the next blind curve.

That section does seem steep enough to prevent any speed problem when going uphill. <G>

Thanks for the kind words and for sending some good karma in my direction! The week actually ended on a much better note. Was informed my insurance will pay for her medical bills, her new clothes etc AND hard to believe but I just found out today that I won a new Dahon folding bike in photo contest I entered last month.

I know it`s crazy, but I am thinking I`d like to give the bike to the woman, if she`ll accept it.

She wasn't listening. Because, It is not as if, a bike operates on 'whisper mode'. Even without a bell they can still be heard.

Suppose you had been driving down that hill. She would be dead, because she was walking in the middle of the road.

+1

Assuming there was no loud background noise at a time. You will not hear a bicycle over the sound of cars passing for instance...

A bike is probably the quietest way to move. In some cases, quieter than walking. Don't overestimate people's ability to hear, and their ability to discern what they hear.

I learned fast that when moving faster than most people on a bike, I need a bell. Some people dont want them on their bikes, mostly for aesthetic reasons. For me however, it is absolutely critical to let people know I am coming ahead of time. I feel uncomfortable shouting, and everyone recognizes the sound of a bicycle bell, which means they immediately respond appropriately rather than turn around and look.

I would not feel bad about it. Accidents happen, and it does not sound like it happened because you were irresponsible and took too many risks. Its just one of those things. Just be happy no one was really injured.

She was taking the lane, you know.

+1 You do sound quite thoughtful and kind.

Um...if she had room to move right, then she had room to not be in the middle of the road. It is still odd to be in the middle of the road. A pedestrian is two feet wide at the most. Are your lanes only 4 feet wide?

I go slowly down hills ever since I wiped out on a skateboard when I was in college. Controlled descents with brakes. The wind in your hair and face might be nice to get a free run at speed, but isn't worth it if you hit something. Lucky what you hit wasn't a car. Even more fortunate to not have seriously injured the pedestrian, because they treat you like you were in a car hitting a pedestrian.

A card in the spokes? Sometimes nice for city use or pedestrian rich environments.

Why do pedestrians walk down the middle of the road?

Around here, there's a residential area where a lot of people walk/jog in the morning. This morning I was cutting through there. There were three joggers heading toward me: One near each gutter, and one right out in the middle. Figuring he would defer to (his) left (i.e., on the edge of the road facing traffic), I moved to the left. Instead he started drifting right, tracking me, then just as I was on him, he put his right arm out, almost hitting me. He calls out "Car up!" (A car was coming up behind me.) I'm not sure what the hell he was thinking. I almost stopped to ask him, but figured his logic would be so out of whack that it wouldn't be worth it.

We have similar situations with narrow bike paths here, but just shouting something like "bike coming up on your left!" usually works (barring the low end of the bell curve that then turns to the left when they hear that, then the comeback is "Your OTHER left!!)