I just nearly got hit by a car
Oh man I just nearly got hit by a car.
I was out running on the well-lit, bustling club-and-restaurant area of Clement street. I checked that I was wearing bright clothing, I didn't jaywalk, and I looked carefully at every intersection -- Having done some driving around here, I know how hard it is for drivers to see oncoming pedestrians, thanks to the rows of parked cars completely lining every street. The weather was a little damper than it's been the past few evenings: a rolling fog that's just barely perceptible as raindrops, rather than one that's just barely not.
I was on my final lap, crossing 9th avenue, and the only car nearby was going in the opposite direction, coming to a stop for the stop sign. I entered the street and suddenly the driver decided not to stop after all, and sped up into a turn right into my path! I tried to come to a stop so he'd pass me by. But then for some reason he swung wide, so that he was coming straight at me! By then I had my momentum under control and tried spring backwards, but instead I felt the asphalt skid under my soles and I hit the ground.
It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I mean, it was. I had nearly managed to stop, and the driver had just rolled through a stop sign. I had time to notice how clean my fall was, right on both buttocks and then catching myself on both palms, and then time to think 1) I'm flat on my ass, I can't even start to move in time, and 2) I'll bet that even at 4mph a car has enough kinetic energy to really hurt me.
At last the driver hit the brakes, and stopped a couple of feet from me. I stumbled out of his way and looked back, wondering if he was going to scream at me, but instead he and his girlfriend both kept saying "oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you all right, sir?" He said his windshield was too fogged up to see anything. I didn't have the presence of mind to say anything more than "I'm fine, no harm done" and get out of there. If I'd been more on the ball it would have been "I'm fine, no harm done, learn to use your goddamn defroster!" Hopefully he got that message anyway.
Analysis:
I did not make any errors of judgment in negotiating the intersection (so please don't yell at me about that).
But, in the future, I shouldn't take my eyes off of drivers until they are confirmed to not be moving. You never know when you'll meet one who ignores stop signs, doesn't use their signals, or pulls crappy rolling stops.
I should wear my reflective vest in the future. I got it for dark streets, and these were bright and I was totally visible -- but I didn't count on people driving with fogged-over windshields.
I hesitated for a split second before I figured out the right evasive action. I should mentally rehearse that more.
My shoes shouldn't have slipped on mildly wet asphalt. It's time to get a new pair.
Next time someone endangers my life due to negligence, I should take the opportunity to rake them over the coals. Some people will learn their lesson on their own, but it's not responsible to take the chance that they won't.
I was out running on the well-lit, bustling club-and-restaurant area of Clement street. I checked that I was wearing bright clothing, I didn't jaywalk, and I looked carefully at every intersection -- Having done some driving around here, I know how hard it is for drivers to see oncoming pedestrians, thanks to the rows of parked cars completely lining every street. The weather was a little damper than it's been the past few evenings: a rolling fog that's just barely perceptible as raindrops, rather than one that's just barely not.
I was on my final lap, crossing 9th avenue, and the only car nearby was going in the opposite direction, coming to a stop for the stop sign. I entered the street and suddenly the driver decided not to stop after all, and sped up into a turn right into my path! I tried to come to a stop so he'd pass me by. But then for some reason he swung wide, so that he was coming straight at me! By then I had my momentum under control and tried spring backwards, but instead I felt the asphalt skid under my soles and I hit the ground.
It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I mean, it was. I had nearly managed to stop, and the driver had just rolled through a stop sign. I had time to notice how clean my fall was, right on both buttocks and then catching myself on both palms, and then time to think 1) I'm flat on my ass, I can't even start to move in time, and 2) I'll bet that even at 4mph a car has enough kinetic energy to really hurt me.
At last the driver hit the brakes, and stopped a couple of feet from me. I stumbled out of his way and looked back, wondering if he was going to scream at me, but instead he and his girlfriend both kept saying "oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you all right, sir?" He said his windshield was too fogged up to see anything. I didn't have the presence of mind to say anything more than "I'm fine, no harm done" and get out of there. If I'd been more on the ball it would have been "I'm fine, no harm done, learn to use your goddamn defroster!" Hopefully he got that message anyway.
Analysis:
I did not make any errors of judgment in negotiating the intersection (so please don't yell at me about that).
But, in the future, I shouldn't take my eyes off of drivers until they are confirmed to not be moving. You never know when you'll meet one who ignores stop signs, doesn't use their signals, or pulls crappy rolling stops.
I should wear my reflective vest in the future. I got it for dark streets, and these were bright and I was totally visible -- but I didn't count on people driving with fogged-over windshields.
I hesitated for a split second before I figured out the right evasive action. I should mentally rehearse that more.
My shoes shouldn't have slipped on mildly wet asphalt. It's time to get a new pair.
Next time someone endangers my life due to negligence, I should take the opportunity to rake them over the coals. Some people will learn their lesson on their own, but it's not responsible to take the chance that they won't.