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before I begin this tale here is the area I will be talking about.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...01719&t=h&z=19
I ride my bike to and from work, so I spend the majority of my travels in the bike lane. in this section though, the bike lane crosses over the turning lane in bright blue, as seen on the map. in this section there is a sign to "yield to all cyclists" and almost all cars in the turning lane slow down, let us cross over, and go about their day.... well this day this person didn't.
at a certain point the line becomes solid so no one is suppose to switch lanes past a certain point, so cyclists only have to watch behind them. this young lady, as I was crossing, switched lanes, honked her horn at me and slammed the side of her car into me. I lost control of my bike, the wheel went sideways and I flew forward.
Time seemed to slow down, first instinct my body has was to protect my head, but I knew I had a helmet and managed to override that command and roll onto my shoulder instead to avoid using my hands and possibly break my arm. this caused my helmet to skid along the road and my elbow to follow suit for a good 5-10 feet before coming to a stop in the road. alot of skin on my elbow was gone, I was bleeding, my shoulder was sore but not broken, and my helmet was scratched to all hell.
So I got up, walked to my bike as several people came up to me and ask if I needed help, and checked my bike. my bike was fine (I just got it, knew I was alive, so I wanted to make sure I didn't have to spend money I didn't have on something I needed). the young woman gets out of her car and rushes over to me. "are you ok!?" she asked with a mild tone of annoyance. I answered yes, rolled my shoulder a bit and told her I would be fine. "well... you were really close to the side there!"... now I was mad... no... I was not close to the side... I was in the bike lane. so I looked back, pointed at the big bright blue bike lane and said "no... I was following the bike lane... you aren't suppose to switch lanes here." she knew she was borked with that and asked if I wanted her number and info incase I needed medical attention. I said no, told her to just go, and I would be fine.
I then limped to the curb to check my bike better and turn my seat around. this older gentlman kept saluting me and saying "I am a brave man, serving his country and had many years ahead of me, including my bike" he would repeat this for a while and I only figured out why when I got home. I was wearing my fathers military backpack, which has a rank, his name, and is in desert camo. kind funny i guess. it's a great backpack and I wear it with pride, but after I got hit I completly forgot about it.
I'm all healed up now, with my girlfriend kinda mad I didn't call her to pick me up when I got hurt, and am now super cautious on that section of my trip. i still flinch when cars pass me, which can cause accidents in itself, but I am getting better now.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...01719&t=h&z=19
I ride my bike to and from work, so I spend the majority of my travels in the bike lane. in this section though, the bike lane crosses over the turning lane in bright blue, as seen on the map. in this section there is a sign to "yield to all cyclists" and almost all cars in the turning lane slow down, let us cross over, and go about their day.... well this day this person didn't.
at a certain point the line becomes solid so no one is suppose to switch lanes past a certain point, so cyclists only have to watch behind them. this young lady, as I was crossing, switched lanes, honked her horn at me and slammed the side of her car into me. I lost control of my bike, the wheel went sideways and I flew forward.
Time seemed to slow down, first instinct my body has was to protect my head, but I knew I had a helmet and managed to override that command and roll onto my shoulder instead to avoid using my hands and possibly break my arm. this caused my helmet to skid along the road and my elbow to follow suit for a good 5-10 feet before coming to a stop in the road. alot of skin on my elbow was gone, I was bleeding, my shoulder was sore but not broken, and my helmet was scratched to all hell.
So I got up, walked to my bike as several people came up to me and ask if I needed help, and checked my bike. my bike was fine (I just got it, knew I was alive, so I wanted to make sure I didn't have to spend money I didn't have on something I needed). the young woman gets out of her car and rushes over to me. "are you ok!?" she asked with a mild tone of annoyance. I answered yes, rolled my shoulder a bit and told her I would be fine. "well... you were really close to the side there!"... now I was mad... no... I was not close to the side... I was in the bike lane. so I looked back, pointed at the big bright blue bike lane and said "no... I was following the bike lane... you aren't suppose to switch lanes here." she knew she was borked with that and asked if I wanted her number and info incase I needed medical attention. I said no, told her to just go, and I would be fine.
I then limped to the curb to check my bike better and turn my seat around. this older gentlman kept saluting me and saying "I am a brave man, serving his country and had many years ahead of me, including my bike" he would repeat this for a while and I only figured out why when I got home. I was wearing my fathers military backpack, which has a rank, his name, and is in desert camo. kind funny i guess. it's a great backpack and I wear it with pride, but after I got hit I completly forgot about it.
I'm all healed up now, with my girlfriend kinda mad I didn't call her to pick me up when I got hurt, and am now super cautious on that section of my trip. i still flinch when cars pass me, which can cause accidents in itself, but I am getting better now.
Yikes! You must've landed just exactly right to be able to walk away from that; you could've been hospitalized, or worse.
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