Co-worker's hit and run accident
 

There is one other bike commuter at my job. He's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and I'm always on him to get a helmet and a mirror. When I first heard about his hit and run, I thought "That could have been me". It could happen to anyone, right? Then he told me what happened.

He said he was riding on a small residential sidestreet, when he heard a car coming up behind him. So, he tried to pull over to the left curb, to let the car go by (huh?). He said the driver "must have been on their cell phone or something", because they hit him anyway.

Obviously, there are several mistakes in his approach. I stopped short of telling him it was his fault, but what's a nice way to say "You were asking for it"? He's dim and stubborn (evidence my countless attempts to get him to wear a helmet, even bringing in a free helmet for him). I doubt he's learned from this. How far would you go to educate him, knowing he is so thick-headed, and resents any advice? I've always kept the advice friendly to this point, more teasing than lecturing, because I know he would resent it otherwise.

BTW, his injuries are not too serious, this time. He has road rash, and possibly some nerve damage in one arm.

I'd just leave it. You have done all you can and by doing anything further you could cause bad blood between you. Some people just don't want to be helped.

By left curb you mean he went to the wrong side? (being from the UK the left curb sounds logical to me!) If so then that is pretty stupid as the car was probably trying to overtake and he crossed infront of them.

Many people don't want to run a mirror for fear of looking dorky - personally I love my mirrors.

Yes, Dave you got it all right. He went to the wrong side, and, presumably, pulled right out in front of the car as it tried to go around. And I love my mirror, too--would not ride without it.

I neglected to address the driver. Although probably not to blame, he/she is a major (insert expletive) for driving away, not helping the fallen cyclist. I would bet they did not have insurance, or had some prior violations, maybe DUI(?). No excuses for them, though.

Left curb? You know, Darwin was right :)

Of course the driver was at fault for driving away from a scene of an accident, and there is no excuse for that. However the driver probably thought he would be found "at fault" and they knew it wasn't their fault so they left the scene. That isn't to excuse it though as the cyclist could have been seriously injured and unable to call for medical help.

You can lead a horse to water...

You offered the guy a helmet (very nice of you) and some friendly advice which he did not want. Assuming the guy is legally an adult anything further falls into the "mind your own business category".

I have a colleague who's a bit nutty but really into fitness. He bikes in sometimes and goes pretty hard. He always exaggerates his stories so take this with that in mine, but says he's been hit by cars 5 times. 5 times! Once he got his bell rung by someone backup up out of her driveway and went too far and knocked him down on the edge of the road and broke something on his bike. That's his story. Makes no sense and that's the way he is.

I didn't bring up any helmet thing but asked him if he rides with traffic and where he is on the road. I think these are the best questions to pose to your friend.

My colleague was riding on the very edge of the road, but I think he's moved over a foot or so, as he claims, for visibility.

Wow, aren't other people stupid? It's a good thing that we're so smart. Yay us.

That's pretty poor evidence. While I do wear a helmet, having read a fair bit of research on the subject I would hardly rate someone who chooses not to as dim and stubborn - certainly no more so than someone who opts to walk without a helmet, and far less dim and stubborn than someone who takes the risk of driving without a helmet.

Which isn't to say that your coworker specifically isn't those things, but the helmet issue is hardly evidence of such.

The mirror strikes me as a more productive safety feature, though I can't say I've done any research at all on that subject.

[QUOTE=thdave;10056097] He always exaggerates his stories so take this with that in mine, but says he's been hit by cars 5 times. 5 times! Once he got his bell rung by someone backup up out of her driveway and went too far and knocked him down on the edge of the road and broke something on his bike.

I've been hit at least that many times, including having an elderly woman back out of a driveway and clip me. She and her equally elderly passenger had passed a yard sale, and were quickly turning around to go back to it. I have been hit from behind, head on, clipped by side view mirrors and doored twice. Mind you, all of these things have happened over the course of the past 30 years.

You can't rule out that the gene pool of cyclists could stand for a little chlorine. Your Coworker should be among the first to be skimmed out. :p:thumb:

Here's an idea; live your life, and let your coworker live his. He is not a child, but it sounds like you are trying to treat him as if he is.

So he resents advice from the guy who thinks he's stupid, and I'm guessing speaks to him like he is? What a surprise.

As if medical advances and response time weren't thinning our gene pool enough, you are trying to help this guy....

I don't think I've been condescending to him, but maybe he's picked up on something. I've only ever talked to him about cycling, and it was always friendly, but brief. But that opinion that he is not that bright is universally held. I'm not trying to be mean, that's just how it is. Moreover, when I asked someone who works closely with him if I should bring up this issue, they said "Don't bother, he's nuts."

I simply feel a certain obligation to bring up the safety issues; I might have a perspective that few other people around him could offer, having logged many miles commuting.
I would really feel bad if he got hurt (again), and I had not at least tried to educate him. I just can't figure if there's any percentage in trying, in this case. He hasn't picked up on the helmet and the mirror, why would he listen about not riding 'salmon', or looking instead of listening?

A person was killed this morning at 5 am here cycling on down a 45 mph street..person driving said didn't see him. That person stopped but another car came along and did even more damage to the dead guys bike and sped away.

I think the problem is a combination of poor education of cyclists and motorists (and let's face it many of us fall into both categories since many of us drive and cycle). It doesn't help that there has been poor urban/suburban planning and over congestion of most urban/suburban roadways. I quit trying to ride on the street while living in suburban D.C. and ended up buying a mountain bike and driving it to trails to ride. Now that I'm retired to a rural area, I can ride the roads again. I'm cautious, but there's no real congestion here and people tend to be more laid back and courteous as a result. Road rage was such a significant issue by the time I left D.C., I had come to hate getting on the capitol beltway. A sign of the times is the fact that several years ago the lead violist with the national symphony was shot and killed driving the beltway at night. His mistake was to pass a car with a harried, angry driver who took being passed as an insult, had a gun and pulled along side the car of the violist and shot him. It's a sad sign of the condition of the human state, but not surprising. In the 70's, when human over population was not a verboten topic, there were a number of scientific studies about the affects of over crowding, using rats, one of the major affects observed was violent aggression.

He cycles to work! You cycle to work!
Guess what, your co-workers also are of the universal opinion that you are not that bright either.

+1 :roflmao:
+1 You're probably right about that!

What do you want to teach him? I ride and never been in an accident yet you ride and get into countless, therefore I must ride correctly and you should learn from me. I rode for many years without a helmet one some urban and suburban streets and never got into an accident. Over the past year I've had three. Sometimes things happen.

Well, you might actually want to ride with him sometime. I'd be curious to see how he actually rides ... make some excuse that you are going his way any way. Don't be critical at first just observe. Sometimes people will learn by seeing what you do. I'm not saying this will work but it is your best bet if you really want to help him. I've had a some success this way, getting people to ride clear of the door zone for example. Be patient, discuss things you might agree on like routing, then drop hints like, you know it's ok to make a left turn from the left lane, I'll show you how it works. Like I say, it takes patience.

Hey sorry for knockin you once. That was hilarious.

If you ever knocked me, it's long forgotten ;-) Glad I could make you smile, have a good one.

Yeah, I was hardly the gracious diplomat, although I thought I could be blunt talking with strangers. I suppose I am not morally obligated to "enlighten" him. And, it's unlikely he would listen, or that I would be tactful enough to be effective, anyway. So, I'll take the coward's way out and avoid the subject. I do hope he's learned his lesson, though, but I doubt it.