Oh Shit, I've Been Hit!

[der_nacht]

I've already told this to a lot of people, and it generally takes about 10 minutes to do over the phone, so in case you are invested in my well-being, health and safety as a cyclist in addition to being my friend in the digital world, this one's for y'all

Comments

~gasp!~

[the_nightshade]

Oh E, glad you're okay, really. Drivers suck. Be careful out there.

Re: ~gasp!~

[der_nacht]

Thanks Aimee. Actually, the woman who ran the red light/hit me called me about an hour and a half after the crash, and she was still crying about it. She said she rides her bike too but had to get downtown in a hurry and wasn't paying attention... it's really unfortunate, but people all across the spectrum forget to take 4000 lbs of fast-moving metal seriously enough. I didn't forgive her, but reminded her that this was just about the best-case reminder to her to pay the fuck attention at all times no matter what, because if she had ran that light a second later she would have T-boned me (rather than the other way around) and I would have been in the hospital. Drivers suck... and just about everybody sucks too when it comes to transportation safety. We all rationalize away our mistakes too often, not accounting for events like this.

(Sorry about the rant, just came home from a post-finals drunk...)

rant away

[the_nightshade]

You can rant at me anytime lol. Empathize with the post-finals binge drinking, too ... I'm really broke or I'd suggest everyone go out and commiserate together. :)

I find myself rushing too much and taking risks while driving lately and I've been lecturing myself silently in the car. One thing I'll say is that it's really true that EVERYONE needs to be aware with transportation safety, because I've also had to deal with lots of idiot bicyclists at times too, who sort of force their way around in traffic because they expect everyone to be extra cautious of them. On Woodstock last night, there was a bicyclist towing a child-cart thing IN THE DARK around the curvy area where it's cramped and cars usually zip around. I couldn't help but think, why don't you just take a less busy side-street?! It was so unsafe for the child, like just asking for a car to make a mistake and clip the buggy.

Re: pant away

[der_nacht]

I absolutely adore parent taking their kids around town on bikes, but I'm wary of the trailers too. I much prefer seeing kids on the same bicycle instead of being towed behind, be it on a tandem, clip-on tandem, beefed-up rear rack/child's seat, or... in the giant front basket of a Bakfiets:

Re: pant away

[the_nightshade]

Yes, having the kid with you on the bike would be my preference as well. The visibility is just too poor when the kid's behind ya. I saw one of those big front-carts as well the other day! It was like the cyclist was going to battle-ram me with their toddlers lol.