Wildcard

I'm pretty angry about this, and I thought I might simply share this story with you fellow commuters.

A good friend of mine was riding on a dark, narrow rural street, at night with dark clothing and no lights (I know, I know...). She wasn't wearing a helmet, either. As she was riding on the side of the road (literally riding on the dirt beside the road), a car came up behind her and hit her, sending her flying a few feet in the air. She hit the ground, slid, and came to a stop with the bike a little further. The driver never stopped, even accelerated after the collision. It was only the 3rd or 4th passerby who stopped to help her. She was lucky to have landed on the grass, and ended up with a few cuts and bruises, as well as some neck pain and headaches. She is out of the hospital now and expected to be able to get back to work within 1-2 weeks.

Damned hit-and-run drivers... Driver was probably drunk if he/she didn't stop, or maybe it was even intentional (actually steering off the road to hit her...). If I ever find some hit-and-run driver, I'll be sure to make them pay their debt to society.

Ride safe, everyone.

bpohl

I hope your friend gets better. I was the victim of a hit and run back in March, and it will stay under your skin for a long time. I was absolutely pissed for so long. I had my jaw wired shut, was working an unpaid internship, and could barely breathe on the bike for six weeks. Added to that, I had to take care of the medical bills myself. It helped me lose the last 40 of my 180 pounds, though. Good luck to your friend.

froze

Hit and run drivers suck, hopefully they'll catch the freak. But please, please tell-better yet, insist on it that your friend has to wear light colored clothes use a helmet, use taillights and a headlight-it just may save her life someday, this time she was very fortunate. Or buy her a birthday or Christmas gift with this stuff. Lights are relatively cheap, you can get a superbright taillight called the Cateye TL-LD600 for only $20 if not on sale, you can also get a Cateye Micro Halogen for $20 (I think these are brighter then the LED's for the same price but uses batteries faster) or the Cateye HL-EL300 LED light for $25; then a bicycle helmet at Walmart for about $12; their just as safe as the $100 jobs because by law all helmets have to meet the CPSC federal safety regulations for helmets. Only difference between cheap and expensive helmets is the quality of the outside plastic covering and it will be glued or taped on to the foam instead of fused, and the number of air vents will be less. BUT you just protected your friend for only $52 thereabouts-the cost of a date!!!

Movie $7.50x2=$15+$3.50 for a tub of popcorn and another $2.50x2 for drink+dinner at a cheap resturant (not fast food-your trying to impress her a little bit more!) $12.00x2=$24 total $47.50 and thats without booze. now lets see...date, her life, date, her life...hmm maybe we should ponder our navels a bit more on this one!

Chris L

Somehow none of this surprises me. Dark clothing and no lights at night is just asking for trouble, even though the incident sounds quite deliberate to me.

In anycase, I'm not at all surprised the driver didn't stop either. In fact, from my observations of human behaviour, I would have been more surprised if they had stopped.

jharte

That sucks! It is true, hit-and-runs happen more often than we releaize. I've been riding/commuting/touring 22 years. Been hit twice. Forutunately not seriously hurt either time. Both times, during the day. Neither time did the driver stop. Now I ride with my blinking tail light on and head light on (day and night). I think lights help even during the day. Rude drivers suck! I hope your friend heals quickly. I also hope your friend doesn't loose the passion for cycling.

leftnotracks

I think Hit and Run drivers owe nothing to society, and society owes nothing to them...including oxygen.

praz

wow well i just found this site and this thread. i was hit by a truck/suv last night in south philadelphia. hit and run, to be exact. I was going through an intersection (a four way stop) and the truck didn't stop and came barrelling at me (I was going west, they were going south) and hit my right side head-on, then kept driving. hands down, the scariest experience of my life. there were some street lights and I was wearing a helmet, but not light clothes (i know i should have, but I had just gotten out of work and was still in uniform). no one could get the plates, so I didnt bother with a police report. i am freaked and saddened and pissed and feel helpless. i am so glad i was wearing a helmet though. and I am buying lights asap. first i have to get the courage to get back on my bike. i'll wait for the cuts, bruises, and whiplash (yay!) to heal first.

Lufty

Too bad I can't fit my M1a on my road bike...300+ yards.

kurremkarm

Sheldon Brown has a link about cycle inferiority complex written by john forester, the guy who wrote effective cycling this huge assed book on just what the title says.

Here's the link:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cyclist_inferiority.html

John is right, in my opinion, about the whole thing and he words it well. The road is built for cars in most people's minds and bicycles have no place on them. Sure some lip service but that's it toward sharing the road.

Cut it down to the bare bones and people, cops, judges, drivers, priests, teachers, soccer moms, they all think cars are for the road and bicycles have no place on it. If this went to court the driver would use:

1. She darted in front of me i couldnt see her-- in this case possibly true because of lack of lights, but was there a reflector?
2. Say he was sorry without admitting guilt.


And get a slap on the wrist.

coney

What the hell's wrong with people, that they would deliberately cause harm, if not possible death, to another human? People like that need a serious life lesson.

(I'm not even gonna get into the whole problem with war.)

We're all just trying to get through this lifetime together. Be cool to your neighbor. Don't run each other over.

leftnotracks

The problem, as I see it, is a focus on rights instead of responsibilities. Roads are for people, not cars. Yet people feel they have more rights because they are in a car, yet are otherwise identical to the other people around them.

Shift the focus, and recognise that the bigger, heavier, faster, and more made of metal you are, the more responsibility you have not to cause harm.

You would think nothing of jogging along the sidewalk, even if there were other people on it. Of course, you would take care not to collide with other pedestrians. Now, if you were carrying a stepladder, would you travel with less or more care and attention?

What if you were carrying one and a half tons of metal, plastic, and glass?

Chris L

Sadly, it's just human nature. People have been killing each other ever since we came down from the trees 2 million years ago. Why do you think we have laws against murder? If there wasn't something fundamentally flawed in human nature we wouldn't need them. What can we do about it? Not a lot really. Personally I just concentrate on controlling my own flawed instincts and trying to be the person that I think we should all aspire to be. Will I change the world? Probably not. Will I improve my little corner of it for myself and those around me? Quite possibly. If I can achieve this, that's all I can hope for.

That is actually the way the law works in many countries of the world. However, I'm not sure it would have helped here. For one thing, if someone is riding at night wearing dark clothes without lights (as was the case in this scenario), it's going to be difficult to prove that there was anything the driver could have done about it.

However, the biggest problem, as I see it, is the failure by so many people (cycling advocates included) to recognise that this sort of thing can and does happen as a result of deliberate aggression. I've been a target myself on occasions. Ask yourself this question: what if the guy had been firing shots from his .22 in the dark and "accidentally" hit someone he couldn't see? Where would the burden of proof lie on that occasion?