Got taken for a short ride on the hood of a black compact car on Saturday, while standing still at a red light to boot. Posted about it on a biking forum and was frankly surprised by how many hits and near hits people posted up about. Since the selection pool may have been slightly skewed (people who are serious about their biking tend to spend more time on a bike, perhaps on a road, than the less hardcore biking segment of society, and are thus more exposed to chance encounters of the 4 wheeled kind) I figured I'd grant rc.commers an excuse to waste some time talking about their experiences.
I'm ok except for a few cuts and bruises and possibly some injury to the ligaments/meniscus in my right knee, and a bit of paranoia thanks to my friends' insistence on how things could've been worse. "Brand new" Trek zr9000 sustained damage to the back wheel and seat but nothing more as far as I can tell.
Brain bucket definitely came through, I'm never riding a bike without one again.
(This post was edited by squierbypetzl on Feb 21, 2011, 7:42 AM)
I saw the aftermath of a car that drove into a peloton just the other day.
Broken legs and arms and bikes, people and broken bikes all over the place.
Didn't look like anyone was dead though, but it was one hell of a mess.
I blame the riders though, they have a car that drives behind them that stops you from overtaking them. This car the drove into them must have swerved due to oncoming traffic when it did manage to finaly dodge the follow car.
did you file a police report? insurance info? if not you should. i'm sure it came up if you posted on a bike site like Bikeforums.net
Yes. It happened in front of a bank, so I'm hoping they have video footage. I don't have any insurance on the bike as I'm aware of (have yet to check my renterīs policy though), and my college has universal health benefits.
I blame the riders though, they have a car that drives behind them that stops you from overtaking them. This car the drove into them must have swerved due to oncoming traffic when it did manage to finaly dodge the follow car.
Not sure I understand you, this is what I'm getting from your post:
You blame the riders because the guy that hit them did so to avoid hitting oncoming traffic after passing the trail car.
If that is what you mean, I don't really see how its the bicyclists' fault that the car that hit them could not safely execute a pass, or chose to pass when his sightlines were limited enough that he ran that risk at all. And in any event, its pretty easy to floor it in those cases, pass all the bikes, and merge over without exceeding the speed limit.
did you file a police report? insurance info? if not you should. i'm sure it came up if you posted on a bike site like Bikeforums.net
Yes. It happened in front of a bank, so I'm hoping they have video footage. I don't have any insurance on the bike as I'm aware of (have yet to check my renterīs policy though), and my college has universal health benefits.
yea.. if the guy rear ended you basically then they should have to replace your wheel and whatever else got damaged and pay for you to at least get an xray-mri to check on anything that hurts.
I blame the riders though, they have a car that drives behind them that stops you from overtaking them. This car the drove into them must have swerved due to oncoming traffic when it did manage to finaly dodge the follow car.
Not sure I understand you, this is what I'm getting from your post:
You blame the riders because the guy that hit them did so to avoid hitting oncoming traffic after passing the trail car.
If that is what you mean, I don't really see how its the bicyclists' fault that the car that hit them could not safely execute a pass, or chose to pass when his sightlines were limited enough that he ran that risk at all. And in any event, its pretty easy to floor it in those cases, pass all the bikes, and merge over without exceeding the speed limit.
The trail cars swerve to block you from overtaking them. I don't know why they do it, but almost all of them do.
People get impatient and force overtakes at inoppertune times.
I've seen some hair raising misses with the bike riders/other cars.
Some dumbass is a red transit van tried to overtake me on a blind corner and a car was coming. He just swerved right into me instead of hitting the brakes. I managed to stay on but it sent me off road and my front wheel has had a bit of a shudder in it since.
First time was in high school, was riding down a side street on the curby area when some dorks thought it would be funny to drive up close and mess with me, they fucked up and got too close and I flew sideways over the hood at maybe 15k/h. Knocked out my shoulder, some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
Second go was on the camp in Afghanistan. I had managed to acquire a bike to get around the camp, was pretty proud of it. One night on the way back from the German section, as I passed the main gate there was an Iltis (jeepy lookin thingy) coming in. They were stopped (or so I thought) so I rode through, but they didnt see me and pulled forward. Got knocked almost 10ft, no helmet equalled concussion, but I was lucky that was all I got.
Third time was at a red light, a tractor trailer was turning right. As he turned, he cut too close, actually rode up on the sidewalk. His wheel somehow grabbed my bike tire, pulling it under. I was just tossed to the grass, stained a good pair of jeans.
Just pulled the bike out again last week, the roads have been pretty clear of snow so I'm back to biking to and from work... w00t!
I crashed into a car, figured I would do one for the good guys. Unfortunately, it left me with facial scaring, two missing teeth and a two month concussion. Fortunately I was wearing a helmet (or would be eating from a straw) and home/renters insurance covered the entire damage.
First time was in high school, was riding down a side street on the curby area when some dorks thought it would be funny to drive up close and mess with me, they fucked up and got too close and I flew sideways over the hood at maybe 15k/h. Knocked out my shoulder, some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
Second go was on the camp in Afghanistan. I had managed to acquire a bike to get around the camp, was pretty proud of it. One night on the way back from the German section, as I passed the main gate there was an Iltis (jeepy lookin thingy) coming in. They were stopped (or so I thought) so I rode through, but they didnt see me and pulled forward. Got knocked almost 10ft, no helmet equalled concussion, but I was lucky that was all I got.
Third time was at a red light, a tractor trailer was turning right. As he turned, he cut too close, actually rode up on the sidewalk. His wheel somehow grabbed my bike tire, pulling it under. I was just tossed to the grass, stained a good pair of jeans.
Just pulled the bike out again last week, the roads have been pretty clear of snow so I'm back to biking to and from work... w00t!
First time was in high school, was riding down a side street on the curby area when some dorks thought it would be funny to drive up close and mess with me, they fucked up and got too close and I flew sideways over the hood at maybe 15k/h. Knocked out my shoulder, some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
Second go was on the camp in Afghanistan. I had managed to acquire a bike to get around the camp, was pretty proud of it. One night on the way back from the German section, as I passed the main gate there was an Iltis (jeepy lookin thingy) coming in. They were stopped (or so I thought) so I rode through, but they didnt see me and pulled forward. Got knocked almost 10ft, no helmet equalled concussion, but I was lucky that was all I got.
Third time was at a red light, a tractor trailer was turning right. As he turned, he cut too close, actually rode up on the sidewalk. His wheel somehow grabbed my bike tire, pulling it under. I was just tossed to the grass, stained a good pair of jeans.
Just pulled the bike out again last week, the roads have been pretty clear of snow so I'm back to biking to and from work... w00t!
First time was in high school, was riding down a side street on the curby area when some dorks thought it would be funny to drive up close and mess with me, they fucked up and got too close and I flew sideways over the hood at maybe 15k/h. Knocked out my shoulder, some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
Second go was on the camp in Afghanistan. I had managed to acquire a bike to get around the camp, was pretty proud of it. One night on the way back from the German section, as I passed the main gate there was an Iltis (jeepy lookin thingy) coming in. They were stopped (or so I thought) so I rode through, but they didnt see me and pulled forward. Got knocked almost 10ft, no helmet equalled concussion, but I was lucky that was all I got.
Third time was at a red light, a tractor trailer was turning right. As he turned, he cut too close, actually rode up on the sidewalk. His wheel somehow grabbed my bike tire, pulling it under. I was just tossed to the grass, stained a good pair of jeans.
Just pulled the bike out again last week, the roads have been pretty clear of snow so I'm back to biking to and from work... w00t!
First time was in high school, was riding down a side street on the curby area when some dorks thought it would be funny to drive up close and mess with me, they fucked up and got too close and I flew sideways over the hood at maybe 15k/h. Knocked out my shoulder, some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
Second go was on the camp in Afghanistan. I had managed to acquire a bike to get around the camp, was pretty proud of it. One night on the way back from the German section, as I passed the main gate there was an Iltis (jeepy lookin thingy) coming in. They were stopped (or so I thought) so I rode through, but they didnt see me and pulled forward. Got knocked almost 10ft, no helmet equalled concussion, but I was lucky that was all I got.
Third time was at a red light, a tractor trailer was turning right. As he turned, he cut too close, actually rode up on the sidewalk. His wheel somehow grabbed my bike tire, pulling it under. I was just tossed to the grass, stained a good pair of jeans.
Just pulled the bike out again last week, the roads have been pretty clear of snow so I'm back to biking to and from work... w00t!
My Fiance lost a very close friend two years ago... The woman's partner survived though he was severely injured. And people wonder why I ride on the sidewalks in town.
My Fiance lost a very close friend two years ago... The woman's partner survived though he was severely injured. And people wonder why I ride on the sidewalks in town.
I still dont ride on the sidewalks for a few reasons. One is safety, I can deal with cars moving around me, but pedestrians are wildly erratic, there's less space and my conscience is better off with me getting knocked around then hurting someone else.
And don't you gt snow in nh? At least the roads are plowed 'round here! Sidewalks, not so much.
My Fiance lost a very close friend two years ago... The woman's partner survived though he was severely injured. And people wonder why I ride on the sidewalks in town.
I still dont ride on the sidewalks for a few reasons. One is safety, I can deal with cars moving around me, but pedestrians are wildly erratic, there's less space and my conscience is better off with me getting knocked around then hurting someone else.
And don't you gt snow in nh? At least the roads are plowed 'round here! Sidewalks, not so much.
+1.. plus it is illegal in most places. i'll stay on the road and ride aggressively if i have to to make cars go around wider. or take the whole lane in some spots if need be.
My Fiance lost a very close friend two years ago... The woman's partner survived though he was severely injured. And people wonder why I ride on the sidewalks in town.
What's irritating is that I have to ride on the sidewalks because so many irresponsible riders will ride on the streets but blatantly ignore the traffic rules, so to make sure that I don't disrupt the flow of traffic because every driver expects me to act like an idiot, I end up walking my bike across crosswalks.
Its a catch-22: motorists don't look for cyclists, so cyclists have to be more sneaky to avoid getting hit, which means cyclists aren't where drivers might look for them.
My Fiance lost a very close friend two years ago... The woman's partner survived though he was severely injured. And people wonder why I ride on the sidewalks in town.
What's irritating is that I have to ride on the sidewalks because so many irresponsible riders will ride on the streets but blatantly ignore the traffic rules, so to make sure that I don't disrupt the flow of traffic because every driver expects me to act like an idiot, I end up walking my bike across crosswalks.
Its a catch-22: motorists don't look for cyclists, so cyclists have to be more sneaky to avoid getting hit, which means cyclists aren't where drivers might look for them.
Maybe you should be less sneaky and make yourself a little more visible?
It's "illegal" here but if there's a relatively empty sidewalk and a lane full of parked cars I'll take the sidewalk without a 2nd thought. If needed I'd rather have to get off and walk on the sidewalk than go tire to fender with another car.
More incidents than I would've thought, but unfortunately keeping with statistics. Sorry to hear about your friends, acquaintances and selves.
I went for a couple miles ride to the PD today (they're analyzing the footage), sticking mostly to the grass/dirt, and was definitely feeling the stress every time I needed to share a lane with a car or cross an avenue.
Kartessa, 3 times?? Yikes.
(This post was edited by squierbypetzl on Feb 24, 2011, 1:41 AM)
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