After ~4 years and over 10k miles of commuting I finally had an accident involving a car. Last Wednesday while riding home from work after dark a driver took a left turn without seeing me in his way and caught my left thigh with his front right fender. I was riding in the correct lane with lights and reflectors, and as the driver said, he simply didn't see me when he turned. We were both traveling pretty slowly so the impact itself wasn't too bad. When I fell, I instinctively steadied myself against the fender of the car with my left hand which I think kept me from hitting my head on either the car or the ground. This action however did tear a muscle in my shoulder which has kept me out of work for the past week and certainly off my bike.

The shoulder tear wasn't detected by the EMTs who responded to the accident (adrenaline is an amazing pain killer) and as my bike wasn't damaged so little injured there was no accident report written up by the sheriff on the scene. The next day my shoulder hurt extremely badly and when I went to my doctor he diagnosed the torn shoulder muscle. Since there is now a documented injury the sheriff is now putting together an accident report so that my medical bills will be covered. Overall I consider myself lucky to have sustained so little overall injury.

If anyone reading this has torn a shoulder muscle, how long did it take to recover? I hate missing work and even more I miss being able to bike every day.

Sorry to hear that dude. Heal up and be safe.

I hope you get better quick. Although full recovery can take several months. I don't kn ow how bad it is but you may require therapy too. What did the doctor say?

Saying that the driver didn't see you is just bull****. He didn't see you because he wasn't looking, he didn't exercise proper caution. Was he at least ticketed?

Can't help you there... I've never had a shoulder injury. Sorry to hear about the accident though. Hope it all heals up soon and you're back to riding.

The doctor expected that I would need physical therapy. I have a follow up appointment this afternoon where I should learn more.

As for the driver, He was looking the wrong way when he started his turn and didn't look in my direction until I started shouting in hopes of avoiding the accident. At the scene he was really helpful and stayed well after the officer told him he could go in order to see if I would be ok. Apparently he had also been hit by a car while biking to school a couple of years earlier.

Yeah the "I didn't see the cyclist" card gets played all the time. If you had lights and were positioned properly in the road/your lane, the responsibility for this lies squarely with him. Is there any sort of legal record of the incident. Seems like he (or his insurance company) should be held responsible for any ongoing medical costs you may have to deal with.

Depends which muscle and how serious the injury is (are you sure it's a muscle and not a ligament?). In my case, it took about 6 weeks to fully heal. 3 weeks off the bike followed by 3 weeks of riding guiltily against my doctor's advice.

Sorry to hear of your crash, but it's good you're getting an official accident report and should be able to get things paid for through the driver's insurance. Be sure to include any lost income and expenses/time associated with doctor's visits and physical therapy if that ends up being needed. Most important - don't sign off on the final insurance agreement until you're absolutely sure there won't be any lingering medical issues.

Hope you are feeling better soon. This is a good reminder for all of us to be as careful as possible. I'm glad it wasn't any worse.

I have torn subscapularis and supraspinatus muscles in my left shoulder from a bike accident I sustained in April. It still hurts bad even having gone through countless sessions of PT. The doc says he could repair it surgically but it would take even longer to heal and probably wouldn't end up any better than if he did nothing. I can still cycle, so it's not all bad. Glad I'm not a golfer. Swimming is tough, though. Expect 8 months for soft-tissue injuries in regions of high stress and not much blood flow like knees and shoulders.

First, to OP: Glad you weren't hurt worse. Hope your healing is quick.

Of course. OP has almost exactly described the circumstances of my accident of a couple of weeks ago, when a cager hit me ... while I was driving my car. Invisibility is not limited to bikes.

Depends on local practice, but around here, the cops seem to be reluctant to issue tickets unless they witness the 'accident', fault is crystal clear (rear end), driver impairment is involved, or there are serious injuries evident at the scene. In my case, she admitted she wasn't paying attention and ignored me, but to my knowledge received no ticket.

Glad you're not hurt worse. In my solo accident last July, I tore my AC (The ligament that connects the colarbone to the shoulder-blade.) It wasn't a bad tear. About a week later, I was taking off a sweaty t-shirt and heard a ripping noise in the same shoulder. I had made the tear worse. It's finally getting better now. The moral: make sure you don't push thing too hard until you have a chance to heal.

You may also want to get legal advice. Especially from someone with experience with cyclists.