Up until three months ago I was using road bicycle to commute to work, over 30 miles round trip daily. Three months ago I was taken out while crossing intersection on dedicated bike path. Car was running red light, and hit me straight in the side at full speed, probably around 50MPH. I was very lucky, and got away with open fracture of both tibia and fibula of my left leg. I have a nice solid titanium rod running through entire tibia right now, and my knee and ankle were not affected. Full recovery is expected in three months.

Obviously my entire family thinks it would not be wise to keep the practice of commuting to work on bike after what happened. Truth be told, if something like this happens again, it will basically be my responsibility, since I did not take the hint from higher powers about how dangerous it was.

However, I really miss cycling to work every day, and I really want to keep doing that...

Bicycle path and road intersections are deadly because drivers don't look for cross-traffic there.

You have learned that riding on bike paths which cross roads is dangerous (and perhaps that riding in the opposite direction of traffic on a parallel road is especially deadly).

Staying on the roads like other vehicles avoids that situation and decreases your chance of being hit.

You're more likely to die of heart disease than your morning commute.

I'm glad you're recovering well. Good for you for wanting to get back on the road again.

I did not know that higher powers were responsible for drivers running red lights.

That's horrible :-( Glad you're doing ok.

Thing is, you would have been hit as well if you were driving your car into that intersection. Who knows, you could have been killed in the car!

ETA: i guess you weren't on the road, you were on the bike path as you mentioned. yeah, i avoid those like the plague.

Welcome and glad to hear you are healing up. No way around the fact that cyclists are vulnerable around cars. However, if you take great care and ride with safety as your foremost concern, it is probably no riskier than driving in a car. Public transportation is probably the safest if you have that as an option, but who wants to be crammed in with other people?

8 lives left ... use 'em up.

That's so screwed up. I mean the part about bike path being dangerous. I always thought that part of my commute that goes over regular road is the dangerous part, but it turns out that the "safe" part is not so safe...

As far as It does sound rather well, but I did not lose consciousness when hit by car, and I still remember what it was like. I flew pretty far away from the point of impact, and both my helmet and camelbak were shredded to pieces. Trust me, I felt like I was definitely going to die. It is not a nice thing to remember. Now I have a very distinct feeling that you can, indeed, die from your morning commute.

Accidents like that can happen no matter what your mode of transport, bike, walk, car, etc. Don't have any statistics but I'm pretty sure more people are maimed and killed in autos than on bikes. Just my opinion.

Glad to hear you're doing better.

As a side effect to this whole situation, I ended up buying brand new 2012 Honda CR-V. Using my old Accord for commute was extra ****ty. Now I keep thinking of places where I am going to take my new bike in my new car

I've never been in an accident so it's easy for me to say don't give up. Like others have mentioned, the odds are in favor of commuting by bike. But sometimes facts don't always have the gusto to overpower personal experience. If you're scared, that's normal, if you're feeling guilty or worry about being guilty if you get back in the saddle and something else happens, stop. Ride safely, be visible and aware, and it won't be your fault. Hope you heal up well and whatever choice you make, best of luck!

I realize that you've been through a lot, but I don't know that I agree with this. I certainly don't agree with the responsibility thing. I've been involved with a number of car accidents, none of which have been found to be even a little my fault. I did not say "Well, that semi driver slammed into me going way over the speed limit and totalled my car, clearly if I ever drive a car again it would be my responsibility if I got hurt, because some sky ghost caused that accident to tell me that driving a car is dangerous and I should stop."

You could assuage your family by trying to increase side visibility, adding reflectors or lights even for the day. also getting an airzound or air horn. The only other thing you can modify is your behavior: If the path crossing is dangerous, slow down enough before each crossing so you can stop if you see a car not stopping, especially if the view is obstructed.

I don't know what the crossing looks like for you, but here in the burbs here the paths have trees that go right up to the roadside, so at the intersections no one has any idea if someone else is coming. And I've seen both bikers and cars just zoom through it.

Also it's similar to driving after an accident. You have to start as soon as possible just to get over your fear. I saw some research on tv regarding PTSD that there are reasons for this, overwriting memories, etc.

i asked mark changizi the guy from the show headgames which kinda discuses how the human mind and how we see things.i asked him how to be more noticed on my bike and he said basically noise makers.

True, but that can and does happen to people in cars too, possibly more so.

Life is precious but finite. Embrace it, enjoy it, don't hide from it.

How do you figure? I've been involved in three motor vehicle accidents in my lifetime, moderately injured in one. I still drive my car or pickup every day. Why would it be any different for my bicycle? If a car hit you in the crosswalk while you were walking to work, would you quit walking? You could easily have been as badly injured if the other driver T-boned your car's drivers door at 50mph. There is always risk, no matter what you do. Be alert and take proper precautions, but you gotta enjoy life or what's the point.

A ship in a harbor is safe, but that's not what ships were built for.

People get in car accidents all the time and then get in cars again.
I was hit head-on by an out-of-control car and got pretty hurt. I was bike shopping while I was still in a wheelchair.
Who knows what the higher power message was. Maybe it was that you aren't riding enough and were punished. Maybe you're supposed to become a auto/bicycling saftey advocate.Figuring out messages from the powers is fraught with interpretation error. The higher power could send you a talking burning bush it it wanted you to stop riding. Unless that happens, ride on.

I fail to see how these will help.

Wow, glad you are recovering OK.

Glad to hear that you are healing up and should make a full recovery. I do agree with the others sentiments about blaming yourself for things that are out of your control. Worry about what you can control and not about the actions of others.

Gonna generate some heat for this, but I gotta ask: Didn't you notice the guy coming? If the car was running the red, you should've heard the driver pouring on the power to hustle through the light. Or double checked to see if the way was clear before crossing- even if you had the right of way?

We'll take it on together then because these were my thoughts exactly and I was hurrying through the posts to get to clear air to post mine. Yes, there is a chance, that there wasn't any way the o.p. could have avoided the car but I've read several accounts of cyclists various accidents on this site and I find it hard to believe that all of them were unavoidable by the cyclist. I am 53 and I have ridden most of that time. In NYC! In traffic. Hard. I've seen six of every kind of gnarly, riding career ending foolishness from cagers but they haven't yet laid a glove on me. You hear things, see things out of the corner of your eyes, hell maybe smell them, I don't know. Many of us need to ride much more aware and be much quicker to take evasive actions instead of laying on the AirZound waiting for a miracle. I don't want to sound superior and know it all but its the complete failure to acknowledge even partial responsibility in ANY of the accident accounts I have read here that leads me to conclude that, for the most part, most of us don't think there is anything we can do to protect ourselves except put an insane amount of blinkies on our behinds and get those infernal AirZounds.

H

To everyone placing the blame on the danger of bike path intersections: Seriously? Dude gets slammed a driver blowing a red light and you're not placing 100% of the blame squarely on the person behind the wheel?

I'd have to agree with this.

Heal quickly!

Others have said this, but it bears repeating: this accident was not your fault, and if it happens again, it still won't be your fault (unless, of course, you're at fault. ) It's natural to shy away from activities that have resulted in major injury, but if you go back to cycling, you won't be more vulnerable than before. If anything, the likelihood of you being in another accident will be even less since most people are super alert after going through such a recovery.

I am so glad you live to tell the tale and you are recovering well.
I always fear intersections.

I pray for your complete recovery.