(no subject)
On Saturday, I was on my way home from work when I got hit by a car while on my bike. It was about 11pm, it was raining, and I was looking forward to going out clubbing later on that night. As I pedaled along, I prepared to change lanes so that I could get over to the left and make a left turn. I glanced over my shoulder at the cars behind me, and seeing how far behind they were, signaled, and eased over to the next lane. A few seconds after that, I heard a car horn. I thought to myself, "uh oh, did this person not see me?" But I did not hear any brakes or tire sounds. Shortly after having this, I felt myself get plowed from behind. I heard glass shatter, metal noises, and squeaking tires as I flipped onto the hood of the car. I was sort of carried on the hood by the car until the driver slowed down at which point I was flung to the ground. I landed on my shoulder, and my body scraped along the ground, until the friction from that stopped me. When my body stopped, I was facing the woman's car, and some other oncoming traffic. I thought, "Shit!" But luckily the lane next to me had no cars in it. So, I rolled over into the free lane to avoid being run over. There was a police car directly across the intersection, and the car drove up. They made the driver get out of her car and get into the squad car so that she didn't drive off. They told me to stay on the ground. But I was completely out of it, and the first thing that I noticed was that my all of the shit from my backpack was on the ground (meaning I left a zipper open?). And then I realized I was missing one of my shoes. And for some reason, this was important enough for me to get up and look for it, even though the cops told me to stay on the ground. So I looked around for my shoe, found it about 50 feet away, and started picking up my shit from the ground. This other biker came up to me, and asked if I was ok, as I gathered my belongings from the ground. One of the cops came up to me, and said, "Wow, you're up already?" The cop asked me for my version of what happened. I told him, and he said, "You know, me and my partner saw some of the accident from across the street. And we thought you were definitely going to get run over." Wow, thanks copper. I was kind of surprised to hear him say this even though I was clearly on the verge of tears and trembling like crazy.
He went back to his partner with the driver, and I waited (in the rain) for the ambulance to come. I really didn't feel too bad. My ass felt broken, and my shoulder hurt from the fall. I had a couple of scrapes and bruises, but overall, it wasn't that bad. The police officer came back and asked if I wanted to wait in the driver's car so as to not get wet. I declined, I wasn't getting in that bitch's car. And then he offered for me to wait in the police car with the driver, to which I hesitantly agreed, since I was getting soaked and shivering, mainly from being shaken up, but in part because it was a little chilly.
I get into the car with the driver, and she apologizes, but claims that I just jerked into her lane and that she didn't have time to react. I tell her that I looked behind and signaled to which she didn't respond.
The ambulance came and checked me out, but I ultimately refused service. Ambulance rides are hella expensive, and if something went wrong, I did not want to get nailed with tons of medical bills. So I decided to just be careful for the next few days. If something felt unusual I would hop my ass on the bus and go to the ER. I'm too poor for ambulance rides.
After talking to the paramedics, I went back to the cops, who gave me the court date, October 20th, for the woman to go to traffic court. They offered to give me a ride after they finished talking to the woman, but weren't sure that my bike would fit in their trunk. I declined, partly because I didn't want to inconvenience them with my bike, and in part because I don't trust cops. They make me nervous, even though the one guy was pretty nice. So I carried my bike home, about a mile away, in the rain.
I've been thinking things over for the past few days, and the whole situation just pisses me off for several reasons.
-When my items flew out of my backpack, I only picked up the items that I immediately saw on the ground. I should have thought about what I was missing, because my camera was in the bag. I didn't realize this until I got home later. I don't know how I would prove this in court since I dont have the receipt. But I really can't believe that I forgot about my camera. Fuck. I even went back to the street the next morning, but couldn't find the camera anywhere.
-I was wearing a helmet, but I neglected to put my blinking red light on my bike, that I purchased weeks ago. Now, this won't completely destroy my case, but I can see the judge asking if I had a light on my bike.
- The woman claims that I did not signal. I am VERY anal about checking and signaling before I make any moves while biking OR driving, even if I KNOW that I am the only person on the street. My theory is that her blind ass just didn't fucking see me, and that she's an idiot. If she'd said, "oh, i saw your signal, but I couldn't slow down in time" maybe I would feel slightly different. But she claims that I didn't signal at all. On top of being blind, she's fucking stupid. Right after she blew her horn, I didn't hear brakes, or anything else until her fucking car hit me. If she weren't an idiot, I would have heard her brakes/burning rubber from tires before she actually hit me. Which makes me think that she didn't slow down until after impact. Anyone else that drives has probably had to jam on their brakes at some point or other. This normally makes a loud noise. Since I didn't hear this noise prior to impact, she either had really slow reflexes, or is a dumb fucking ho. Well, probably both.
- My bike is my primary means of transportation. I fucking hate the CTA. So meanwhile, I'm screwed unless I spend money on a new bike.
-I don't know anything about court, or how best to prepare myself for court besides the obvious. I wish I knew a lawyer.
He went back to his partner with the driver, and I waited (in the rain) for the ambulance to come. I really didn't feel too bad. My ass felt broken, and my shoulder hurt from the fall. I had a couple of scrapes and bruises, but overall, it wasn't that bad. The police officer came back and asked if I wanted to wait in the driver's car so as to not get wet. I declined, I wasn't getting in that bitch's car. And then he offered for me to wait in the police car with the driver, to which I hesitantly agreed, since I was getting soaked and shivering, mainly from being shaken up, but in part because it was a little chilly.
I get into the car with the driver, and she apologizes, but claims that I just jerked into her lane and that she didn't have time to react. I tell her that I looked behind and signaled to which she didn't respond.
The ambulance came and checked me out, but I ultimately refused service. Ambulance rides are hella expensive, and if something went wrong, I did not want to get nailed with tons of medical bills. So I decided to just be careful for the next few days. If something felt unusual I would hop my ass on the bus and go to the ER. I'm too poor for ambulance rides.
After talking to the paramedics, I went back to the cops, who gave me the court date, October 20th, for the woman to go to traffic court. They offered to give me a ride after they finished talking to the woman, but weren't sure that my bike would fit in their trunk. I declined, partly because I didn't want to inconvenience them with my bike, and in part because I don't trust cops. They make me nervous, even though the one guy was pretty nice. So I carried my bike home, about a mile away, in the rain.
I've been thinking things over for the past few days, and the whole situation just pisses me off for several reasons.
-When my items flew out of my backpack, I only picked up the items that I immediately saw on the ground. I should have thought about what I was missing, because my camera was in the bag. I didn't realize this until I got home later. I don't know how I would prove this in court since I dont have the receipt. But I really can't believe that I forgot about my camera. Fuck. I even went back to the street the next morning, but couldn't find the camera anywhere.
-I was wearing a helmet, but I neglected to put my blinking red light on my bike, that I purchased weeks ago. Now, this won't completely destroy my case, but I can see the judge asking if I had a light on my bike.
- The woman claims that I did not signal. I am VERY anal about checking and signaling before I make any moves while biking OR driving, even if I KNOW that I am the only person on the street. My theory is that her blind ass just didn't fucking see me, and that she's an idiot. If she'd said, "oh, i saw your signal, but I couldn't slow down in time" maybe I would feel slightly different. But she claims that I didn't signal at all. On top of being blind, she's fucking stupid. Right after she blew her horn, I didn't hear brakes, or anything else until her fucking car hit me. If she weren't an idiot, I would have heard her brakes/burning rubber from tires before she actually hit me. Which makes me think that she didn't slow down until after impact. Anyone else that drives has probably had to jam on their brakes at some point or other. This normally makes a loud noise. Since I didn't hear this noise prior to impact, she either had really slow reflexes, or is a dumb fucking ho. Well, probably both.
- My bike is my primary means of transportation. I fucking hate the CTA. So meanwhile, I'm screwed unless I spend money on a new bike.
-I don't know anything about court, or how best to prepare myself for court besides the obvious. I wish I knew a lawyer.