I think this and the 'hit by car today' threads should probably just be eternal stickys.

But, as today was my first ever 'car vs bike' incident - I thought I'd post in.

Same commute I've done for almost four months for the job I'm on right now.

Two lane busy road, all the cars in the right hand lane stopped for red light, inside lane (I'm in the UK) completely clear - there's the handy little green cycle stop bits at the front of the road, so though I'm actually turning right at the lights, I just continue down the inside doing about 20mph.

There's a junction on the left which opens into the road I'm on. I see a green Honda - he's sitting there. I continue. About 10 meters away, he decides to barrell out - I brake, but of course, nowhere near enough time to stop.

I slam into the wheel arch of his car, do a head slide across hit bonnet (leaving a pretty 12 inch gash from my helmet) land headfirst on the road - slide on my face a bit more - protected only by the 'visor' section of my helmet) and then land.

That was fun!!

Nice people around though, everyone who saw it stopped and asked if I was ok - which I am, apart from a cut nose and a hell of a bruised leg. The guy in car got out and asked if I was ok - which was nice. But we parted ways before anything was said/done. I figured I've screwed his car, he's mangled the handlebars on my bike - we're even.

So, what did I learn?

1) never assume they've seen you - always expect them to pull out - and maybe 20 down the inside is ok when you're a car, but maybe not if you're on a bike?

2) ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET. I think I'd be in a hell of a mess right now without it. When I got to the gym for a shower, I kissed the bike helmet with gratitude - the guy next to me was a bit freaked out.

3) Always straighten the handlebars, and keep going. It happened, I'm sure it'll happen again, but it ain't going to stop me doing the second most fun thing in the world.

4) Face planting across a bonnet, and landing headfirst on the road is not as fun as you'd think it is.

Oh well.

Have a nice day everyone - and be safe!

John.

Glad to hear you're ok, sounds scary.

I did my first bike "commute" yesterday, 15 miles each way. I had been working up to it by doing local trips, usually 6 miles or less each way. I finally felt like I had the gear and the abilities to do it, and it was awesome. Got to work nice and sweaty, took a shower, and was pumped up for the day.

Then, on the ride home, about a mile from the office, a kid (maybe 17 or 18) thought it would be funny to put his car in my path. I was in the shoulder doing approx 15mph, he was coming from the other direction, attempting to turn into a parking lot on my side of the road. He clearly saw me, waited until I was almost past, and then made the move right in front of me.

I was watching him the whole time, but it still surprised the hell out of me. Jammed on both brakes and actually had the rear wheel come off the ground. Stopped on a dime a few inches shy of his fender. Then he and his passengers all had a good laugh and he drove into the lot.

I sat there, stunned, for a good ten seconds, and then (slowly) continued on... I'm amazed, John, that you were so good natured about your incident. I was extremely angry. I'm not the type to get into fights, but I wanted to kick ass. How do you shrug something like that off? How many times can I expect things like this to happen on a commute?

I would have confronted the motorist in the parking lot. I should know better, but I just cannot help myself.

Very scary. Glad you're ok, and glad you had the helmet. I should show this to my wife who doesn't like wearing a helmet because she thinks it "isn't cool". (But she wears it anyway).

Here in the US we'd just pull our automatics and let her rip. Based on another thread or two!

Glad it wasn't too bad. Best to exchange information in case followup is needed.

No, you're not even. He screwed his car through his own idiot move. You got injured and sustained damage to your bike through his idiot move. I understand the feeling of "it's all good", it's called relief at being able to walk away from it, but you're not even. It's all on him.

I agree it's not "even". HE caused damage to HIS car - that doesn't weigh on your side at all. HE also caused damage to YOU and YOUR bike. His damage to his car is his own damn problem, caused by himself. He's also responsible for your damage. You bear no responsibility here.

If your neighbor set fire to his own house, and yours got destroyed as well, would you say "Oh well, I guess we're even."?

Despite the people above telling you to be angry and stressed like a proper American, I'm glad you're okay, and that you didn't let this ruin your mental space. Good on ya for wearing your helmet, and ride safe. Remember, it's always better to get there five minutes later than to not get there at all.

Expect it every day and be glad the 99% of the time it doesn't happen. Things like that are actually kinda rare... at least in my neck of the woods. Although I've had 2 instances just this week of people looking at me... eye contact and all... and pulling out in front of me. One of which was a big 18 wheeler double trailer.

Anywho... shrugging things off gets easier the more you ride. Express gratitude to whatever you worship or the Universe that you're ok and pay it back by riding strong.

The only thing I would have done was at least got their insurance info ( not sure it would be the same in the UK), because after the adrenalin wears off , you could have found out you weren't as well off as you thought you were.

Friend of mine got rear ended in his car and almost said "oh no damage" but then had second thoughts and got the other drivers info, next day he couldn't move his neck and then found out he had cracked his spine.

Yes, there are countless stories in this forum of people who thought they were OK, then 2 days later when the soreness kicked in, found out that they had perhaps thousands of dollars of doctor and PT bills ahead of them. Get the insurance info. If you know that you're actually injured or there's significant damage, insist on a police report. I think I've heard here that some insurance companies will give you hell if there's no police report.

Red herring. Who told him that?

I wonder what I would do if I came across a guy in the shower seducing a bike helmet.

I hope at least the guy had polished the bonnett so it would give you a smooth sail before dumping you onto, or should I say into, the pavement.

All is well that ends well. Back on the bike straight away.

Yeah, a few hours after, I did consider that very fact. However, it's the next day now, and nothing else has started to hurt - and though there could still be something wrong somewhere - I'm hoping I lucked out and came out relatively unscathed.

Apart from not getting the info, I'm still ok with how it went between me and the driver. The thing I think about is that that guy made a mistake. He didn't do it on purpose, he simply didn't see me - possibly as I was hammering along, possibly because he isn't the most attentive guy in the world, possibly because he just got distracted - but the key thing is, he didn't do it on purpose.

(well, I hope)

And I think that this is what the blame/sueing culture has brought us - that if something bad happens, it's no longer just an unfortunate accident that can be dealt with and moved on from - it's all guns blazing, anger, hate, blame, laywers... yada yada.

I know that's a general sweeping statement - and terribly inaccurate for a lot of things that happen - but also terribly accurate too. I'm sure when that guy drove off, he was still hearing the jungle from one of those 'Have you had an accident in the workplace or at home?' adverts.

Who knows, maybe I could have sued - maybe I could have got a new bike out of it - who knows. But I'm sorry folks - I'm just not that guy. I'm scratched, he's scratched - he made a mistake - (and it's now up to him to learn from that - (which he won't after a couple of weeks, lets face it) - but it's just not something I'm going to plow through angrily as though he was trying to kill me.

If I was writing this to you from a hospital bed, or even if I'd suffered any breaks to me or the bike - then sure, I'd have made damn well sure to get all the info I needed. But I'm OK - and I'm more thankful I've not got half a road jammed down my throat than I am the type of person who'd see this as an opportunity to get angry and blame someone for something they didn't mean to do.

John

You can alway scare him by pulling up behind him after he has parked and take down his plate number. If he asks what's up? just tell him your posting a complaint with the police or registry of motor vehicles. If the kid was 17 he knows any infraction could be a loss of license and a 500 dollar reinstatement fee.

First off, I'm glad your ok. going over the hood is scary. When it happened to me, I landed in front of the guys wheels, so I had this sickening moment of wondering if he was going to stop or run me over.

Besides that I'm going to have to disagree with you. Yes, the judicial system is oft abused by scumbags trying to cash in, but it exists to offer you a way to recoup damages. Nobody is saying that you should sue him for big profits, just that you should always get info in a situation like this in case you or your bike have some hidden damage. Why should you have to pay for his negligence if you frame is buckled or cracked and you haven't noticed it yet? Or if a bone is fractured?

And whether he 'did it on purpose' or not is totally irrelevant. The fact is he did it and could have killed you. He has a responsibility to drive in a safe manner and failed. I wouldn't have been so sympathetic. It really isn't that difficult to pay attention and drive.

glad you are okish, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Good point of view in my estimation. I tend to forgive others more often then maybe the next guy, but I make mistakes too and have been often forgiven. To err is human, to forgive divine. The act of forgiving = good Karma. Having someone act kindly in your behalf when they don't have to: Priceless.

machrider - about your story - if that was me I would have been so pissed I would have followed them into the parking lot and had a "talk" with them.

And for the OP, wasn't there something else you learned ...? Such as: "to make yourself more visible"?

Glascow sounds a lot like thirty years ago in the USA. Back then when people crashed, they asked if you were okay, and often people just shook hands and went their own ways if there wasn't too much trouble.

When I was seven my father crashed into my second grade teacher and my head shattered the front windshield. Since everyone was okay, we all went our separate ways. I remember that hurt pretty baddly. Luckily I turned out fine. Luckily I turned out fine. Luckily I turned out fine.

Anyway, after all that, luckily I turned out fine.

Firstly, Lol... secondly - ouch! It takes a lot to smash a car windscreen!!

Alas, I'm not a traditional Glaswegian in my forgiving nature. In most cases here, the driver would have ended up with the bike wrapped around his neck. Most of my friends here are amazed I didn't beat the guy into a pulp - I guess I'm yet to get so worn down by other people's actions towards me that retaliation (of a physical or financial means) is my automatic reaction.

And, rumrunn6 - 100% correct. I was wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts (on a bright yellow bike though, but I'm sure that doesn't matter in the slightest when going head on) - so I have to take more responsibility in making sure people can see me.

As for Karma - I think my Karma ran over my Dogma a long time ago...

(Cue drum kit, "bada-boom, tchsssss")

John