Dear WSMAC,
Given the topic of this committee, I should let let you know that I was hit
by a car tonight on my bike commute home from work, on Running Hill Road.
I'M FINE. It was a glancing blow from behind, only hitting the bike, not me
directly. It was not real high speed, and I fell to the right, to the edge
of the road. NOT run over. I have some abrasions ("road rash", cyclists
call it) on my right elbow and knee, and some tenderness on the side of my
right foot and my hip. I went to ConvenientMD a while ago to get the foot
looked at, and they x-rayed it and confirmed there was no fracture. I did
not hit my head, but I *was *wearing my helmet. I feel fine other than sore.
The driver stopped, and was very apologetic and cooperative. He gave me a
ride home (I think my rear wheel is a little out of alignment), gave me his
contact information, and offered to pay for anything I needed. He must have
apologized 10 times! We actually had a fairly friendly conversation on the
way home. (I suppose he was probably pretty concerned about what I could do
if I wanted to.)
I suppose the case could be made that we should have called the police and
created an official crash report. That's never a bad idea, and bicycle
advocates and lawyers strongly recommend it. I guess in this case, he was
so apologetic and forthcoming about his contact info and offering to pay
for damages, and I felt like I was hardly hurt, and the bike didn't seem
real bad off either, that it didn't seem necessary. I plan to ask him to
pay for my ConvenientMD co-payment, and any bike repairs. Together they
will probably still be well under the threshold for an official crash
report. I'm just realizing now I didn't even think to look or ask about if
there was any damage to his car. I can't think it would have been any more
than a scrape on the bumper.
Here's a safety takeway for motorists: His windshield wipers had just
stopped working today, so he was driving without them. That made it rather
difficult to see very far ahead with any clarity. I think that was the
primary cause. Additionally, he admitted he had just been looking into the
left lane to think about changing lanes. I'm thinking probably had his
wipers been working, he would have seen me long before he did, but without
that, his look at the left lane just happened to be at the wrong time to
see me in the limited sight distance he had in front of him. A little
similar situation to driving into the blinding sun.
In my defense, I had a taillight, not a real bright one, but a taillight
nonetheless. I also had a standard red reflector, plus my clear plastic
rain jacket has a reflective stripe on it. I also have pedal reflectors
(legally required) and other miscellaneous reflective bits. This is the
first time in 16 years that I've been hit from behind (and one other close
call), so I don't *think* I have a visibility problem in general. Everyone
else was passing me with plenty of room, as usual. So I'm pretty sure it
was his non-working wipers that were the problem.
That's about all I have to say about it. I'm fine physically and
psychologically. But I'm thankful for the #3 bus that I can now use to get
to work tomorrow! (I could use the car if I wanted to, but I'm all about
not using a car to commute.)
- John
