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Journal Alioth's Journal: Sorry mate, I didn't see you 11

Journal by Alioth

That's what the 70 year old man said, after he smashed into my bike at 50 mph.

It was broad daylight - about 12:50, the visibility was good on a fairly straight stretch of road - I would have been in sight for at least 30 seconds, but he didn't see me until the bumper of his car was smashing my dereillieur into the back wheel spokes, snapping four of them clean in half.

I didn't even hear him approaching - opposite direction traffic (a motorcycle instructor, and just ahead of him, his student) and the wind direction meant the first thing I knew of the silver Japanese-made estate car was a deafening BANG!!! and the earsplitting screeching of tyres, as I flew through the air doing a very poor impression of Superman. I had just enough time to think "What the fuck?" before I landed on the road on my side, and slid onto my back. I could smell his locked up and burning tyres before I even hit the ground. I came to rest about three feet from my bike, lying sideways across the road. The car continued to skid out of control, almost taking out the motorcycle instructor coming the other way.

The car, aided by the uphill gradient had stopped fairly quickly right in the middle of the road. The motorbike instructor had stopped a little further down the hill.

The police and ambulance attended. Fortunately, I have nothing broken, and the bike looks repairable (although I think it needs at least one new wheel, new chain, new rear cassette, derailleiur, the bit the derailleur attaches to needs to be straightened). The policeman said he'll probably get prosecuted for driving without due care and attention.

My dad took me and my broken bike back home. I'm currently hurting from all the bruises and abrasions. My entire right side hurts, and when I drove tonight, I found that the action required to put my car in reverse hurts also (so if the pain develops more tomorrow I'm gonna be fscked for getting to work).

What the hell do I need to do to be seen? Broad daylight, light coloured clothes, red backpack - I should stand out from the countryside like Rudolf's bright red nose. My thoughts at the moment are a number of ultrabright red LEDs on a (frangible) pole extending out from the right rear of the bike (remember, we drive on the left) and a powerful strobe light with a 1 sec. flash with a red filter (a bit like those strobes they put on red traffic lights in rural North Carolina and other places) under the saddle! I think also some MPEG-4 video cameras in case someone SMIDSYs me again for evidence purposes.

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Sorry mate, I didn't see you More

Sorry mate, I didn't see you

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  • Like this [slashdot.org]. That's probably not much comfort, though. Experience suggests that tomorrow will be the worst day, so you might consider some preventive measures before sleeping. Aspirin, or maybe some moderate heat for things that feel strained.

    I've been a lot more aware of bicyclists since my brother was hit and badly injured about thirteen years ago. A lot of people drive in a bit of a fog, though, and cell phones have made the problem worse.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Alioth ( 221270 )
      Yes, indeed - I think if he was a couple of inches to the left in a few weeks some of you guys may have wondered why my Slashdot account had gone rather quiet. The bike instructor going the other way thought he was going to see a fatality - he couldn't believe it when he saw me in once piece, lying on my back, muttering.

  • At least you're OK, if shaken and with a busted bike.

    I do in fact ride with a bazillion lights and reflectors on my bike. People may point and laugh, but at least I get seen. At night (especially in the wintertime) I ride with an LED miner's lamp as well, so if a motorist is coming my way, I look at them and it automatically shines in their face. It's saved me a couple times already.

    What gets me is that I ride at night through our city forest (Hannover has extensive forests running through it) and there

  • the only time i had a bike accident involving a car was when a guy pulled out of an alley from behind a set of shrubs and i didn't have time to stop and hit the side of his car. anyways, as others said, the next day is usually the worst. i've had a few too many bicycle bangups, luckily none the last few years while in uni with no insurance :-). anyways, good luck, i hope you rest well.
  • Its pretty amazing that you and the bike aren't in worse shape. Just make sure you give yourselvef plenty of time to heal and feel better before starting to push yourself too much.

    On a side note, does this mean you can log .1 of PIC Schwinn time? ;-)

  • Hope you continue to feel well

    My cousin was struck by a similarly stupid motorist when he was a kid. He and friends were cycling on a country road (gravel) and some guys on motorcycles came up and started hassling/teasing them, riding real close behind. One guy tried to bump my cousin's bike. Front of motorcycle tire (moving downward) making contact with back of bicycle tire (supposed to be moving upward) = one little boy catapulted through the air.
  • Sounds like a really lucky accident. Nowadays I drive to wherever I'm biking and then bike there, off road all the way. I'm just too terrified of idiot drivers on the road so if that's an option, I'd recommend it.

    Get well soon, all the best from another cyclist.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Alioth ( 221270 )
      Well, I am commuting on my bike so that would be a little difficult :-)

      Generally, that road is not a problem - not too much traffic, traffic generally isn't insanely fast, and it's quite a nice rural route.

      But I'm now considering how to build the HV power supply for the huge strobe I'm going to mount under the saddle. And how to mount MPEG-4 video cameras to collect evidence...
  • This is why I am primarily a mountain biker and not a roadie. Every accident I have had has been due to some stupid mistake [multiply.com] on my part, or that tree that always wants to jump out into the trail :-)

    Another guy I ride with sometimes bruised his ribs once, so his family asked him why he didn't ride on the road where you are less likely to crash into trees. His response was, "Ask my friend who broke his back when he got hit by a car."

    Glad to hear you are OK. Definitely take it easy, a month later my shoulder

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