I stand corrected. Those intersections are very rare over here, auto turning over a bike lane, without a dedicated bike lane stoplight.

Yup! License plate was gotten! Seriously though, I was so pissed as soon as I landed that all I saw was the plate and walked over to get it. I didn't even want to look at my bike. Glad it got away with only a bent rim and a bent right brake handle.

Ya I already bought a helmet mirror to use instead of the handlebar mirror I was looking at. I was trying to look behind to figure where to position myself in the lane. I looked down once and saw a car behind me. I looked down again to further survey the situation behind me then when I looked back up I was confronted with the Explorer. I'll just wait until I am past the driveways to position myself now.

Understood.

so the cars just use the bike lane as a right turn lane? Nice

I recognize that in California, they are supposed to merge into the bike lane before turning right, but it sure looks like there are cars traveling in the bike lane for quite some time

Funny thing is when I did a police report the officer told me that if I had been in a car if would have been my fault. I won't be cutting bike lanes in my car anymore. That is for sure.

Is that the accident looped at :43, or did you fall back down on your ass right after you waved the driver into the parking lot? Just because you didn't hit your head doesn't mean that you didn't get a good brain shake.

I haven't had any incidents with cars, but I have gone down on my own a couple times and experienced some sort of combination of shock & embarrassment. I had an overwhelming instinct to jump up, brush off and say that I was fine when I really wasn't. It wasn't until after the adrenaline wore off that I realized how much pain I was in.

I will use your video to remind me to get looked at if a car vs. bike accident ever puts me on the deck.

LOL, ya that was a looped version of the incident. I was intending to show the whole thing from impact to landing in the loop but am not a pro video editor.

I think because of the way I landed most of the energy from the impact was lost. I rolled on the floor when I landed so there was no sudden stop in the whole adventure. I keep having weird bumps and bruises show up but nothing alarming. I ceased working out for that week to monitor any significant aches and pains and new injuries. None were felt. Nearly 2 weeks now and I see no lasting negative effects from the incident in my future.

I probably should have gotten looked at bit I figured if I can ride away then I should be fine overall.

I just wanted to add a comment regarding the accident.

As dramatic as that accident looks it could have been a lot worse. I could have slammed into his passenger door at 12 mph or so and done some real damage OR I could have been a few seconds ahead and been hit from my side which would have put me just about where my bike landed. Right under his car. I choose the sliding over the hood in a reverse Dukes of Hazard fashion. Made for the least amount of injuries I could have expected I think. Being on the hood eliminated the chance of me getting run over, since I landed on the other side of the car and clear of the driver side wheels.

That is another tidbit of info I was able to deduce from watching the video. In short, it could have been a lot worse.

I find a bike mirror too distracting, and it doesn't give a good enough view to really ascertain what is going on behind. Quite different from a car, where you have 3 fairly large mirrors. Turning my head to the side and using peripheral vision is usually enough. On high speed roads, I'll take a good look back, which requires a certain level of skill to keep the bike going straight.

Ya, I like the mirror only because I ride on some streets with little to no shoulder and the cars get going at a good clip so I like to look behind me a tad to see what is going on. I am experimenting with the peeper helmet mirror now. The ride in was trial and error, fortunately most of my ride is on the bike path on the way is so less danger.

I also had a question for you guys and I think I know the answer. if I had clipless pedals on when I got hit I would have been pretty screwed huh? Bike on the hood with me or me getting smacked to the ground with the bike. Never ridden clipless and was curious how those physics would have worked out.

Sorry you got hit and thank God you were not badly injured or worse!

I'm just gonna throw this out there and probably sound like a big jerk for "Monday-Morning Quarterbacking". I'm honestly saying this because you mention you're not sure you could have done anything different but *to me* after watching the video there a few big red flags -

1. There's a good amount of traffic.

2. Your lane is ending and transitioning into a turn lane.

3. There's a gap in traffic the motorists have created allowing for cross traffic.

4. (Just my observation) - you don't seem to be slowing.

5. Right @ the 12 sec mark you look down.

If it were me I would have probably been slowing to a coast through that particular scene and been more in a defensive riding mode.

Again, call me a jerk but I have a wife and young kids too and as commuters we should look out for each other. Hope your riding gets a lot better from here on out!

I actually said I reviewed it several times and noticed some things I could have done different. Particularly looking down in the mirror. In my defense, the traffic is usually very light on that street and rarely does traffic get backed up there. Might have had something to do with the holiday the following day that people were off earlier than normal. We can't see my feet and I don't remember what they were doing but I suspect I was coasting. I can't recall though.

But either way, I take those suggestions and move forward hoping to never make those mistakes again.

And I would not call you a jerk. As long as we can all take the experience and learn from it. That is my only goal at this point in time.

looking at the video it is even hard to tell that the truck is turning.

Ya, kinda pops out of the traffic. Maybe I could have seen it if not looking down or stopped in time if I had slowed. Dunno. Just glad it ended as best as it could.

its tough because when commuting, there is a lot to keep in eye on. Blinds spots do happen.

True that for sure!

One:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...wheels/ONE.jpg

Two:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...wheels/TWO.jpg

could have been too late to brake depending on speed, downhill, etc.

The first picture doesnt tell much. No turn lane and no signal.

because we know what is going to happen, it was pretty easy for me to spot who was going to hit the OP, why, and where. I've gotten very wary, and riding next to stopped cars, it just makes me very cautious. People block you out of their mind and if you aren't directly in front of them you might as well not exist.

What an asinine comment by the LEO, you're a cyclist in a bike lane. :wtf: Sounds like if he could anyway possible to have been able to issue you a ticket, he would have right there on the spot. Some anti cyclist sentiments being show by the LEO taking the police report.

No, the LEO said if I had been in a car and if the car were in the bike lane it would have been my fault. The LEO was very nice and understanding and glad I was not seriously hurt.

Regardless if the LEO was very nice and understanding, it was really a dumbass comment on their part, and why the LEO even bothered bringing the subject up.

I suppose he brought it up because he sees lots of cars doing that exact scenario and thinking they have/had the right of way. It was just an idle conversation type of comment he made. It was not a damning comment of any type.

Yeah I quickly noticed the two cars in the bike line that were behind you, after you got back up and looked back in that direction. That's probably what the LEO was referring to, one of them.

I'd also like to hear others' thoughts on if you had clipless pedals, since I'm considering getting shoes and cleats to go with the SPD's I have (came on the bike when I bought it but never used them).

Ya, those two cars is what I think ultimately distracted me. I looked down once and saw them, then looked down again to position myself to be a courteous and safe bike rider then looked up and there he was. The officer was not there to see them nor did he review the video but that is the practice he was saying would have been my fault had I been driving as opposed to riding.

Ya, the clipless thing keeps playing in my head. Or even what would have happened with clips on the pedals. Either way my feet are essentially trapped and I wonder if the bike would have flown with me or if I would have flown with the bike. I am guessing the latter.