Getting hit by cars sucks...so share the road!
So I got hit by a car earlier today.
I was riding my bike to one of the downtown stores, on my way to work, when a driver decided that stopping for a marked crosswalk was just not that important to him. I slowed down considerably before I entered the crosswalk, saw him way down the road but figured eh, that's plenty of time for him to stop (he was about a block away when I started riding). Instead of stopping for the crosswalk, which is right by the Student Union and is marked with bright orange traffic cones, he sped right on through and smacked into yours truly as I tried to swerve out of the way at the last minute.
I'm okay except for a bruise where I took a headlight to the hip and brought my bike down with me, and some dirt on my coat, gloves, and pants. Not really a big deal other than being pissed off and shocked. My bike is also okay.
The thing about it is, dammit, I was in a crosswalk and clearly had the right of way. In no way was I biking dangerously.
The guy got out of his car, freaked out, and gave me his number in case anything was wrong. He kept asking if I was okay and said, "Oh my God, I didn't even see you." A few older people who had been entering the crosswalk behind me came running over and asked if I was all right, and I told them yes, just shaken.
The guy also offered me a ride to work, but I said no thank you, I'll keep riding. And ride I did.
I'm serious, all I ask as a bicyclist is that cars treat me as they would like to be treated - don't drive too close to me, stop for me when I'm crossing a street and have the right of way, and don't veer into the bike lane. I always signal. I always have lights and bright clothing. I'm not an idiot. This guy, no matter how nice he may have tried to be about it, was an idiot.
So.
Share the damn road.
Bicyclists may be able to ride in the roads, but we can only go about twenty miles an hour and at the end of the day, no matter how fast we ride or how careful we are, we're still about 150 pounds of person and bike up against 2,000 pounds of car.
Watch for bicyclists. Please. I'm very lucky. I just got bumped. I could have been hospitalized for months, like one of my uncles was when a driver hit him. I could have been killed.
Holy shit.
"I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all earn to ride, or fall into the sluiceways of oblivion and despair."
I was riding my bike to one of the downtown stores, on my way to work, when a driver decided that stopping for a marked crosswalk was just not that important to him. I slowed down considerably before I entered the crosswalk, saw him way down the road but figured eh, that's plenty of time for him to stop (he was about a block away when I started riding). Instead of stopping for the crosswalk, which is right by the Student Union and is marked with bright orange traffic cones, he sped right on through and smacked into yours truly as I tried to swerve out of the way at the last minute.
I'm okay except for a bruise where I took a headlight to the hip and brought my bike down with me, and some dirt on my coat, gloves, and pants. Not really a big deal other than being pissed off and shocked. My bike is also okay.
The thing about it is, dammit, I was in a crosswalk and clearly had the right of way. In no way was I biking dangerously.
The guy got out of his car, freaked out, and gave me his number in case anything was wrong. He kept asking if I was okay and said, "Oh my God, I didn't even see you." A few older people who had been entering the crosswalk behind me came running over and asked if I was all right, and I told them yes, just shaken.
The guy also offered me a ride to work, but I said no thank you, I'll keep riding. And ride I did.
I'm serious, all I ask as a bicyclist is that cars treat me as they would like to be treated - don't drive too close to me, stop for me when I'm crossing a street and have the right of way, and don't veer into the bike lane. I always signal. I always have lights and bright clothing. I'm not an idiot. This guy, no matter how nice he may have tried to be about it, was an idiot.
So.
Share the damn road.
Bicyclists may be able to ride in the roads, but we can only go about twenty miles an hour and at the end of the day, no matter how fast we ride or how careful we are, we're still about 150 pounds of person and bike up against 2,000 pounds of car.
Watch for bicyclists. Please. I'm very lucky. I just got bumped. I could have been hospitalized for months, like one of my uncles was when a driver hit him. I could have been killed.
Holy shit.
"I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all earn to ride, or fall into the sluiceways of oblivion and despair."