thenomad

The "don't apologize" comment was intended as an "at the scene" type of response. Don't say stuff like oh geeze, sorry I thought you were turning etc. Sometimes people have the desire to apologize for things that don't need it and could be taken as an admission of some sort of guilt for the other party. Not saying it happened here.

Hope you heal up quickly.

I'm sick of hearing how drivers think we should yield, slow down, be on the sidewalk or further to the right or only on the bike lane, or have massive blazing headlights and full horns, four wheels a steel cage, bumpers etc.

Anyhow, these accidents inevitably happen and we get bodily damage and lose yet another vintage bike. Hope it works out well and you get an even better frame from the deal.

WNG

Glad to read you're not seriously hurt, but sorry for your bike losses. I hope the driver didn't give you any attitude, like "Don't you know better....what are you doing riding on the road?!"
Make sure you cover all the bases legality-wise....police report, witnesses, insurance, medical examinations and follow ups. He has insurance, that's what it's for, and don't let the insurance company victimize you further.

That was a nice Miyata too. The frame looks OK, but the Blackburn cage is tweaked.
A new Tange fork should put it back on the road.

conspiratemus1

No NO NO!! Reflectors of ANY kind are TOTALLY useless in preventing the T-boning crash the OP suffered. They aren't in the headlights of a motor vehicle coming in from the side and are INVISIBLE to the driver. ONLY headlights are valuable here and we must regard them as MANDATORY for riding at night. If there are street lights, really all you NEED a headlight for is to prevent T-bones since you can usually see where you are going without lights -- that's why so few cyclists used them until cheap LED lights became available.

Just because side- and front- facing reflectors look impressive in carefully staged photographs doesn't change the fact that they do no good AT ALL!

Sorry to carp about this but this basic-training Night Riding 101.

illwafer

whew powergrips looks salvageable.

Velognome 

Glad you are not seriously injured. MY son commutes and the evening ride is in the dark during rush hour. What he noticed is that with "constant on" lights even with multiple LED's cars, don't see you. He added blinkies front and rear and it seems to make a difference. Also there is a light called PUSH that has a 180 degree pattern, swa it in a magazine, looks like it's worth a try.

3speed

Ah. Didn't realize you meant at the scene. I totally understand what you're saying about that and also fully encourage everyone to do no apologizing of any sort.

I got screwed over badly when I was younger in my first car accident. I got hit head on by a lady that slid into my lane at an intersection. Knowing it was clearly her fault, and being a generally very laid back person, I spoke to the cop very plainly about what happened and let it go. The lady, on the other hand, was freaking out about how it was my fault, and how she slid into my lane because she slammed on the brakes because I was going too fast and was going to go through the intersection. Somehow, being a young male, driving a beater car, and having a middle aged female cop (had to have played a part, because otherwise it just doesn't add up), I was found at fault for getting hit (while stopped at a stop sign in my lane) by some middle aged drama queen who couldn't figure out how to use her brakes properly in the snow. I should have requested another officer and told them very matter-of-factly what happened. Being a decent and rational person cost me my totaled car, $2000, and a smudged driving record for something that was in NO way my fault. Say nothing that could possibly be twisted as admission of guilt, and make sure you make a bigger scene than the other guy, I guess.

Drillium Dude 

Amazing that the rim looks as though it went over an IED but the fork, if bent at all (very hard to tell) didn't get as much attention. Glad you're alright. I can't even imagine T-boning a vehicle head-on without dropping to slide.

Word.

I once had a similar accident happen to me. Only difference was that it was a slow-motion turn into me from the right lane - driver was in the process of passing me and then turned right into her residential street. Strangely enough, somehow I ended up "stepping off". While the bike's front wheel turned as far as it would go and then dropped to the ground, I ended up on my feet on the sidewalk! What made me so incredulous was the fact that she and I made eye-contact while she was alongside me and was making her turn while doing so. Well, I think we made eye-contact - she was wearing shades, so...

Oh, and the best part? She only lived two houses in on the left. Like she couldn't have waited, what, two or three seconds for me to go on ahead and then turn?

She paid for the repairs, so gotta give her that...of course, I knew where she lived

DD

conspiratemus1

I would like to hear the other driver's side of that story.

Chris_in_Miami

Glad that you came out of this relatively well Iowegian, and thanks for sharing the details with us.

brianinc-ville

Glad you came out OK; sorry your bike didn't. I lost one of my favorite bikes in the same type of collision. At the time, I was just so thrilled to find myself unhurt (after putting a pretty big dent in the car) that I told the other driver not to bother calling the police, but in retrospect I really wish I had. Make sure you get the other driver to pay up!

As for lights: in my LAB instructor course we looked at many different lighting setups on about 15 different people, and the best was obvious: use at least two lights front and back, one blinky and one steady, and the higher up on your body, the better. I'd go with blinky on the handlebars and steady on the helmet; reversed to the rear. Reflective vests and jackets work well with an upright riding position, but less well if you're on the drops.

Iowegian

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. I'll be fine and as for the bike...I have more

I think the really tough thing about being seen in situations like this is that there are so many other lights out there. Even something as bright as a car headlight will get washed out by overhead street lighting, parking lot lights, etc. and as mentioned, reflectors don't help unless you are in the beam of the other person's lights. I have a couple of spoke lights but I don't think they are bright enough for situations like this. A helmet mounted light is probably best and I just picked one up today. That and the old saw about being invisible.

Back on topic, I was just about to post this bike on the Frankenbike thread. It is sporting downtube stops made from a Suntour Symmetric body, Shimano stops, and a brake bolt to attach it to the Golden Arrow style mount. The rest of it is a typical flat bar conversion with mtb shifters and FD.

BluesDaddy

Go ahead and post it. Now it's REALLY a Frankenbike.

marley mission

thats why i like riding @ 4 in the morning - hardly any cars but i'm so lit up its hard to miss me - also 500 lumens flick to the drivers face will get there attn - now if only the deer understood the flick...

LeeG

good to hear you survived, in the last couple weeks of holiday traffic I've had three instances of cars looking straight at me and ready to run me over as they crossed the road/intersection and I was in the right of way. Two times elderly people and I'm riding with flourescent vest, two headlamps,one helmet lamp, two or three tail lights and reflective tape everywhere.

ColonelJLloyd 

Glad to hear you're ok, Iowegian.

Speak for yourself. I have big, strong hands and have no trouble making abrupt stops from the hoods.

-holiday76

for me I've found this that depends on the brakes. I'm 6'3" and have hands that barely fit in XL gloves and I can brake from the hoods, except some of the old non aero levers make it a lot more difficult than they 10 speed ergo levers. But I'd say that generally telling people flat out they can't brake well from the hoods is pretty ridiculous.

himespau 

Glad to hear you're ok (more or less). Bummer about the bike, but it sounds like you've got a good outlook on it.