It’s good to be able to say Good Morning.
Thankfully you are not seriously injured.
The driver should not have been driving without the wipers.
From: wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf ;
Of John Brooking
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:04 PM
To: wsmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wsmac] A collision
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
