NOT AN EXCUSE.

hey all, thanks for the responses. i figured now that i'm a little more with it i'd post exactly what happened.

i was heading south down lincoln, making a turn south on halsted. the light had just turned green for me. there was a lot of traffic because i believe there was some street festival or some foolishness going on. there was a line of folks lined up to make that left hand turn onto fullerton, from when the light was green on halsted. traffic was pretty jammed up on fullerton.

you know how in chicago, being that we have few left hand turn signals, everyone just gets way out into the street and waits until its a red light...then they go.

thats what happened. but traffic on lincoln had alread started moving while cars were still waiting to make a left. i went through the intersection and at the same time some SUV drive gunned it onto fullerton, right where i was. i think i remember it being a blonde woman driver. she hit square on the entire left side.

i was told i bounced off the hood, denting it, then flipped on my back onto the street. my bike landed about twenty feet away from me. i didn't get knocked out and the first thing i kept asking everyone is, "did someone get the driver's info." by both a couple pedestrians and the EMT that apparently saw the whole thing happen, i was told they had. finally when the police report was handed to me at five in the morning it said there was no vehicle ID. so if anyone's got anything to help me out here, it'd be really appreciated.

i'm a little hopped up pain meds so if this is illegible i apologize. the folks down at cook county (now stronger) pulled my shoulder out and jammed it back in yesterday. ride carefully everyone...thanks again.

There may be a couple of typos, but illegible is far from the truth.

Just remember to try and keep as many of those pain pills as you can for 'recreational' use...

...will do HereNT.

but i just want to add on a serious note. for something that was completely the driver's fault, i feel horribly helpless. why is it that when something like this happens its always the attitude of the cops to make it seem like your fault. seems like not only is the driver to blame but the police are completely negligent.

sucks huh? this women left you for dead and they just leave it at that. you have every right to be pissed off and then some. sorry.

So sorry to hear about this!

It just reminds me how much i absolutely despise SUVs and their ilk! For pete's sake, why in the world do we have them in Chicago??? Is there something I'm missing here? To do what, go up Vrodolyak's old toxic landfill??? In my view, you should have a special reason (i.e., license) to qualify to purchase an SUV. Otherwise, there's no frickin need for 'em.

They are completely unsafe all the way around--it seems like the driver of an SUV must have an automatic deduction of 30 IQ points--seriously!!

Just the other day, I was heading southbound on Western, stopping at a light on Addision; when it turned green, I proceeded to go and had to immediately slam on my brakes, as the SUV imbecille in the right lane didn't even notice that I was part of the traffic and proceeded to "make his right".

Luckily, I just scrapped my leg with some minor bleeding.

I hope you (or some other witness) can track down this imbecile who did that to you!
--Nav

oddorder, I'm not sure if you own a car or not, but if you do, check your auto insurance to see if you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. If you do, file your medical claims through your insurance company with the police report indicating hit/run and it should be covered. You might also be able to get something for pain/suffering, but that generally involves more artful negotiation or a lawyer who takes a huge chunk of the settlement.

Sorry to hear about the accident and heal quickly!

whoa...what a swift clean up. thanks omipotent partyleader :)

BS moderation, really. Per that moderators rule, this whole thread should be moved to advocacy.

But, really, it's apply the rules as the ruler sees fit. Why be fair?

I must of missed that ?

Anyway Odd I hope the best in your recovery and share the same lack of faith in humanity and especially cops as you do and for good reason. I wonder if maybe they were just humoring you at the sceen by saying they got the guys info. If you were really out of it and getting a little wild about it then maybe they just said that. Anyway Try to talk to that emt. If the dent was big enough on the SUV then it will be repaired too so maybe some PI work will help you out. I hope they catch this sucker and you see some justice take place. Glad to hear your alright...

ok...the paper-pushers behind the chicago fire department (the ambulance that took me away) are about as helpful as the chicago police department. i'm just going to leave this at this-i've got two hundred bucks (it ain't much but its all i can afford) to anyone who can get me the liscense plate number that ***** that ran me down saturday night. email me: evenorder@yahoo.com

If you have a description of the car, could you call the local car repair stores in the area? That SUV must have maintained some damage and needs to be fixed. Maybe you can track them that way.

Isn't there even one witness on the report? The police are supposed to take the name of the witness(es) if any are present. At least, that's what I always thought.

Koffee

there isn't one witness on the police report. apparently the ambulance company, in this case chicago fire department, files a separate report so its possible that there is either a witness report on there or even a vehicle ID. unfortunately, the good folks from the chicago fire department won't be able to get me that report until next friday.

i suppose i do have a slight description of the vehicle-small sized SUV, maybe one of those BMW ones, grey. if i remember correctly while i bounced off the hood it was blonde woman driving it. who knows though. local repair shops are a good idea, might be a time-taking process but i'm sitting around anyway.

thanks. anyone got any pointers on bending a fork back? its really a slight bend...

I have a spare 700c Kinesis blue AL threaded fork if you want it. Not a good idea to 'bend' a fork back into place, unless you hate your jaw and face.

Here in Detroit we wouldn't call what happened to you lucky. It's not like you won the lottery or something.

Hope you are back on your bike soon.

Dan

all these stories about bike and car incidents scare me on here. luckily, i am living in copenhagen right now and the hierarchy on the streets seems to be: bikes --> pedestrians --> cars with the taxis of course always thinking they are on the top shelf.

i hope your healing process is not too bad and the bastard gets their day.

Just a thought... when I get to the 5 way intersections, if I have to turn, I jump into the pedestrian crosswalk. The law states that I can, so I do. Then when the light turns green, I just cross with pedestrians and avoid that inevitable rush for turning after the light turns red with the 3- 5 cars that rush into the intersection before the oncoming traffic for the green light. Oddrider, I hope this makes sense.

5 way intersections really suck. The Chicago police department should be required to stand in all 5 way intersections and direct traffic. There are too many accidents there, and they are crazy. How 'bout that 5 way intersection at Lincoln, Ashland and Belmont, for instance?

Koffee