Hit by a car last night

[GoldenBear]

I guess this is just going to be a rant. There is not much else I can do at this point other than be pissed that I didn't get the opportunity to break off the side view mirror.

I ride 32nd ave to Golden 3 days a week after work. I always ride very close to the white line or in the bike lane. Yesterday was no different. I was on my bike for a nice little 20 mile ride yesterday. It was lovely. The weather was perfect, my legs felt great, and I needed a stress reliever after a long day work.

Then around 5pm, just past McIntyre St and immediately before the large sweeping left turn, I see a white sedan pulling incredibly close to me. I look over just in time to see his side view clip my bars. My initial instinct was to yell at the asshole driving, thinking he didn't see me. Then came the inevitable. I was pushed to the dirt and immediately went over the bars into a field of grass and small cactus.

I look up to figure out what the hell was going on and all I see is the ass end of his white car following the road out of sight around the left hand turn. I wanted so badly to get back on my bike, chase him down, and kick the shit out of his car with my bike shoes but I knew I would never catch him. Instead, I called 911 in hopes that they would rally the troops and find this white sedan as it entered Golden. Unfortunately, due to being hit and crashing I couldn't get a license plate number.

After being transferred from Wheatridge PD to JeffCO to Golden to State Patrol, I was finally able to concentrate on what the F just happened. I was sore, my arms, legs, and ass were full of cactus, and I was fired up! Every vehicle with flashing lights showed up in a matter of minutes and one lane of 32nd ave was shut down. A bit excessive but one hell of a response. Paperwork, questions, more paperwork, blood pressure, pulse, more questions, some jokes about cactus in my ass, and then the departure.

My question is: What the hell is wrong with people? I don't typically get involved with political banter and how crazy shit is getting. However, our society is going downhill. People are more and more fucked up these days and the thought of hurting someone doesn't bring red flags to their mind. Now they just wonder if they can get away with it. What did a cyclist do to this person that caused them so much angst?

I keep thinking that it would have been nice to have gotten a kick in to the side of that car or had been able to break that side view off. Then I think, where would that bring me? How would that help solve the problem? Is there a reason to keep that negative energy out there in the world? Or, should I be like most other people and just want to kick the shit out of this guy and hold a massive grudge?

Thankfully, I have nothing more than a couple bruises, a raw arm and ass, some remaining tiny cacti prickers that are difficult to find, some untrue wheels, and unfortunately, some reminiscent thoughts of revenge.

[trainnvain]

It was probably an accident. It happens.
Glad you're OK.
Very normal feeling you are having, just being hit by a car BTW.
People lose sight of the fact they are propelling a 3500-5000 lb piece of metal because it's an everyday ritual.

[smmokan]

It was probably an accident. It happens.

Really, that's your reply? What about the fact that the guy who hit him drove off and didn't stop to see if he was OK? That doesn't just happen.

[GoldenBear]

It was probably an accident. It happens.
Glad you're OK.
Very normal feeling you are having, just being hit by a car BTW.
People lose sight of the fact they are propelling a 3500-5000 lb piece of metal because it's an everyday ritual.

Accident, fine. BUT YOU DON'T DRIVE AWAY!

[trainnvain]

^^^Smmokan
yes it does.
It's amazing what people don't notice (or they just freak out )
Just because it's negligent doesn't mean it was premeditated, does it?

[trainnvain]

Accident, fine. BUT YOU DON'T DRIVE AWAY!

Trust me, I'm not condoning it.
But I can understand.
I had the exact same scenario happen (minus cactus) and was pissed.
Pissed will get you nowhere, just a good thing you're in one piece.

[Tunco]

Danny Butterman: Hey, why can't we say "accident," again?
Nicholas Angel: Because "accident" implies there's nobody to blame.

[single]

Accident, fine. BUT YOU DON'T DRIVE AWAY!

I know a guy that was hit at 60mph by a trailer mirror on an f-350 in the back of the dome. He was wrecked. The granny driving had no idea it happened.

But I imagine in a small car, you'd have to be totally blind to not notice you hit a cyclist. You see the driver? Curious as to what age demographic they fit into.

[GoldenBear]

I know a guy that was hit at 60mph by a trailer mirror on an f-350 in the back of the dome. He was wrecked. The granny driving had no idea it happened.

But I imagine in a small car, you'd have to be totally blind to not notice you hit a cyclist. You see the driver? Curious as to what age demographic they fit into.

No. I didn't get a look. It took me by total surprise. I imagine being hit in the dome would hurt a hell of a lot. I am under the impression the person saw me. There were no cars heading eastbound so they had plenty of room to move over. And if they didn't see me, they definitely heard me swearing at them when I first saw them that close.

[ectreeskier11]

i heard blurred was driving in that area last night.

[schindlerpiste]

People are fucking selfish, and don't give a shit about anyone, but themselves. Did you hear about the unlicensed 16 year old in Park City who struck and killed a horse, and critically injured a 37 year old hottie the other day? I hope that it was worth it to send that text message.......douchenozzle.

[L7]

An old guy near here clipped a cyclist with his truck mirror while he was pulling a trailer. Cyclist got real dead, old guy kept going oblivious. They got a half hour down the road showed the mirror damage and told him what he did.

It was probably an old person who should be giving up their license or a young person busy reading or sending a text or middle aged reading or using the laptop or some shit. Our new distracted driver law here has had an impact but it's still amazing the shit people are doing behind the wheel.

[brown9]

When I was hit by a car 18 months ago, I had the same feelings. It was an accident, and the driver did stop, and it was a small mitsu, but if it were an F350, I would have gone underneath it... and it would have been a different story. I seriously had a lot of anger, mostly at the lady in a different car (not involved in the accident) who got out of the car when i was rolling in the street who shouted "Maybe you cyclists will learn!!" Wow, I wanted to curb that lady so bad. Even considered purchasing a gun, because a car is a weapon, why can't I be armed too? It's not the answer, I don't know what is though.
Luckily you don't sound too seriously injured, but there have been four fatal car-bike accidents in Seattle this summer, with one, maybe two of which were hit and runs. So, it happens, and maybe it's lax, distracted drivers, maybe it's more bikes on the road, maybe us cyclists need to pay a tax, so we can get a sticker to show cars that we have every right to be on the road. I don't know what it is, but I'd rather not have my last moments staring at the underside of an american made vehicle, or yosemite sam mud flaps.

[JeffreyJim]

Just feel lucky man. A good buddy and close family friend was killed in that location about 3 years ago. http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_8993299

[babybear]

Glad you are ok!
I know some drivers are distracted and some are malicious, but it's weird how other people just become paralyzed when they're driving and see a cyclist on the road. It's not like it's any different than passing any other object that one might encounter on the road but for some reason they seem to lose all sense of spacing. Maybe they ought to throw a cyclist on the road when people take their driving exams so they learn how to pass safely.

[Dangerous E]

Damn, glad you're alright. That road scares the hell out of me.

Best tactic I've found for cactus quill removal is packing tape: apply it right over the area that has the quills and yank away (kinda like that scene in The 40 Year Old Virgin when he's getting his chest waxed). For realz. For whatever reason, packing tape works better than duct tape too. Necessity is the mother of invention and I can tell you that this is definitely a faster/more efficient method than tweezing.

[Lindahl]

Glad you're ok, man. What you're feeling is pretty normal, and your anger will pass. Sounds like you got real lucky. A friend of mine's wife got clipped by a car and ended up in critical condition for a week, last year. Be happy you're alive and just a little bruised up. Since you got clipped by a mirror, there's a good chance they were distracted/oblivious and didn't even notice, but you never know. Being understanding of and acknowledging that there are bad drivers that are good people (not just malicious assholes) will go a long way towards promoting good relations between cyclists and drivers.

[MakersTeleMark]

Heal up. I got hit 2 weeks ago. Really rung my bell hard.

[Kire2008]

Glad you are not seriously hurt. That is a fear I have when riding on the road. That's low driving away from the scene.

I know at least in the downtown Seattle area there is a big problem with cyclists weaving in and out of traffic almost getting hit everyday. I am not surprised more cyclists are not hit.

[Wunderkind]

Vibes to you. I don't think we should all just assume that this guy was a nice person who accidentally bumped a cyclist off the road. If you're going to step behind the wheel and share the road with cyclists and motorcyclists who will likely die when you have a brain fart, then I don't care what your excuse is when you hit someone. Intentional or not, had this guy been six inches further over it wouldn't have been a mirror that you got hit by - would we then be here saying "let's not assume he's a bad fellow just because he ran over someone"?

I'm all for including cyclists in the driving test. In practice, ignorance and distraction are no better than a driver with malicious intent to hurt someone - they both result in an injured or killed cyclist.

[pointedem]

fuck, buck... glad to hear you are ok.

[TBS]

I'm all for including cyclists in the driving test. In practice, ignorance and distraction are no better than a driver with malicious intent to hurt someone - they both result in an injured or killed cyclist.

This.

OP, Happy you survived with nothing more than bruises and cactus rash. MakersTM, vibes about the road rash on the face - that's painful.

I finally quit road riding in Bike-Friendly Portland two years ago. Watching mirrors, making eye contact with drivers, riding to be seen and staying away from busy roads wasn't enough. Too many close calls with people trying to drive (mostly a Suburban or similar) while jabbering on their phones, texting, monitoring their gps for where they're going, editing the playlist on the iPod, and holding a rabid toy yapper dog that's hanging out the drivers window. Not enough brainpower left over to evade something small like You+Bike. Dirt is a much safer place to ride

It's getting worse for motorcycles too.

[wcf3]

Accident? If 'accidents' involving cars and bicyclists/pedestrians carried the same sort penalties as those for the careless, reckless or negligent use of firearms (often 1-2 years of jail time) there might be a change in motorist behavior.

Another thing that might help would be the automatic assumption of liability by the motorist in any car-cyclist/pedestrian accident unless gross negligence is proven for the cyclist/pedestrian. In France, Belgium, Scandinavia, Holland and Germany drivers assume this type of liability. This at least would put some kind of penalty on motorists who kill cyclists and pedestrians and often get off without even a ticket in the US. The usual defence used by motorists in these cases is that the cyclist/pedestrian did something unexpected which seems adequate for the police in the US to put the blame on the dead person, who obviously isn't around any more to give their side of the story.

[skinnyskier]

^^^ That. No such thing as an accident. They have it right in Denmark and the UK with strict liability. When we get behind the wheel we need to not hit cyclists.

[pdiddy]

Glad to hear you are OK, GB. A good friend of mine was killed by a postal truck very close to there on 32nd a few years ago.

RIP Sharam.