frpax

A mile from home too... Turning left, and a lady in a small white car bumped me from behind. Made me lose my balance and my right hand, ring finger knuckle got trapped between my brake hood and the top corner of one of those concrete barriers and dragged for a meter or so. Then I ended up in a pile all twisted up in my bike.

So the lady stopped, yelled something at me and then sped away. So my finger is bleeding like mad and I've got some road rash on the outside of my right quad.

Rolled over to a convenience store on one corner of the intersection, got some napkins, wrapped it up and rode home.

It was a pretty sizable hole in my finger, so I went to Urgent Care and got 4 stitches.

So how was YOUR day?

Nachoman

I hope you got her license or that there was a witness who did. What nerve.

basadvo

She yelled at you? Some people are nervy! I was hit once when I was younger. Lady didn't look before turning into an intersection and whacked me. Fortunately she just got my back tire and i slid a bit but avoided the total wipeout.

Lell

wow she yelled at you after she hit you. WOW!! that is really messed up.

RUOkie

I'm glad you aren't more seriously hurt.

She sounds like a *****.

rustybrown

+1

djlarroc

Man, that sucks! I can't believe the B had the nerve to tell you something aside from "are you ok?"

Hope you got something on her!

madpogue 

This was not a traffic incident. The moment she left the scene, there being an injury, she committed a CRIME. Report it to the police as such.

Okay, laws vary by jurisdiction, but in most of the US, leaving the scene of an injury crash is a misdemeanor, and leaving the scene of a serious injury crash is a felony. This woman may have fled the scene for reasons unrelated to having hit you, so her crime should be of interest to local law enforcement.

Creatre

Yikes, sounds awful. Horrible AZ drivers. I've been lucky not to get snagged by one yet.

frpax

Well, there's not much to report to the Tempe Police.

I'm laying there in a heap and she drove off. Didn't get a license # or a make/model of the car. Small white car with black bumpers... only three or four thousand of those in the Phoenix area... Nobody else stopped, so no witnesses. I'm not even sure what she yelled (being preoccupied with being tangled up in a bike!) at me.

But here are the positives that I am taking away from this:
A. She didn't drive over me or my bike (the bike is fine)
B. I have health insurance, so it only cost me $40 at Urgent Care (rather than $100 at the Emergency Room)
C. I didn't damage my brand new jersey that I was wearing for the first time tonight

The negatives:
A. It cost me $40 at the Urgent Care
B. Got to get a new pair of bibs now... at least the ones I damaged were my oldest pair that I've been patching up & were soon to be trashed anyway.

tagaproject6

That is horrible! Heal well.

rjones28 

That sounds scary. Glad to hear it wasn't worse.

luker

you certainly win the attitude of the day award.

Congratulations and carry on!

LeftinFlint

Wow! That stuff pisses me off. At least you weren't hurt worse. There should be a special prison for people who hit and run cyclists.

seenloitering

People have a natural reaction to feel bad when they hurt someone, and when they feel bad, a tendency to blame the source of that bad feeling - yep, the person they just hurt. I've been hit twice, and in both cases the driver blamed me in the most absurd way.

One lady did a U-Turn in front me, in the rain, forcing me to down the bike rather that collide with her. She got out of the car, looked down at me, entangled in blood and metal, and said, "I thought you saw me!" I just didn't know what to say.

Another guy rear-ended after a street light turned green (apparently I should have been faster off the line), throwing me over the handlebars and crushing my rear wheel. When I pulled him out of his car he said, "you were blocking the lane!" Again, it's hard to know what to say to these people.

They're children, afraid to caught being naughty.

96WX3

They are stains that are taking up space and good O2 that the rest of us could be using. Glad you are OK for the most part. Might want to hang out in that area around the same time over the next few days. You might recognize the car or her. But that will only do you good if you report the incident soon.

valygrl

+1, glad you are mostly ok, that sucks.

Keep SA Lame

Stitches for $40 bucks sounds like a hell deal.
Was it per stitch?? or could you get like up to 10 for the same price??

frpax

Thanks for making me smile! 4 stitches for $40!

No, $40 was the co-pay. It would have been $40 for as many stitches as necessary or for any other treatment needed.

They didn't do anything for the road rash... I had already cleaned that up pretty good prior to going to Urgent Care. They could have dressed it, but I want it to air out and dry up. It's still oozing some liquid and if I dress it, then the dressing sill just get stuck. I hate peeling off stuck bandages. Just reopens it. I need those clear bandages... not sure what they're called... or if they make them big enough to cover the size of road rash I have (approximately 14cm x 6 cm).

RUOkie

The best dressing for that is Adaptic or equivalent. It is a little expensive, but will not stick.

Velo Vol 

Riding would be so much better without idiot drivers.

Out of curiosity, but how long did you have to wait in Urgent Care before someone saw you?

frpax

I was in and out of there in an hour and ten minutes. Pretty good, huh?

hairnet

I had a 0mph clipless fall

:-I
Get well!

Spire

I would say there is no harm at all in filing a police report. At a bare minimum you get yourself onto the statistics. A hit and run is a hit and run. May seem futile, but I would report it.

You never know, the cops may take it serious and there could be a camera somewhere useful that could get you a plate and/or make/model.

raptor3x

As I was reading this I thought you were saying you had your right hand torn off.