Looking back, anything you think you could have done differently?

Were you wearing your RoadID? Did the Paramedics find it helpful that you did?

Also, Purely curious, but what do you have on your RoadID? (no need to be specific if it's personal)

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Soooo... How did the Bike fair? ;-)

Seriously though, I'm assuming you were on a carbon bike and there is always that parinoia that anything carbon is made of glass and once it takes it hit is is dangerous to continue to use it. Assuming that the bike wasn't totally trashed, would you ride it again?

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

What would you do differently as far as identification you carried with you at time of accident? Wondering if I should have blood type, allergies, health ins, put on my road id instead of additional emergency numbers? Did you have your phone with you? If no one else was around would you have been able to call for help? I know these are probably dumb questions but I ride by myself all the time and am mostly concerned about getting good medical care and letting people know what happened so they can let my dog out, etc. Maybe someone should develop an onstar system for bikes!

I'm just amazed since you were doing intervals that the car didn't tip over from you impacting it.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I was doing a set of intervals, and I was finishing my last interval (I was 12min into a 15min interval) on a section of road that has more sides roads feeding into than is ideal. I did the first two intervals out and back on PCH, where it is impossible for a car to come in from a side road, because there aren't any. I would say that doing any sort of hard training where your concentration is more on effort than your surroundings, you need to minimize your risk. I should not have been riding on a road where I could have gotten blind-sided how I did. I was trying to get ready for a race, so I was trying to keep the ride short. But the end of my interval was on a low-traffic road, but still one where cars can enter from the side, which I normally try to avoid - and WILL in the future.

I was wearing my RoadID, which contained just basic contact information. In my particular case, this wasn't relevant. I was very close to being dead when the paramedics arrived. My two exterior jugular veins on my left side were severed, and I'd lost about 1/2 the blood in my body. I was going to die. So the paramedics only cared about me not dying. Same with trauma surgeons. My identity was irrelevant. My wife knew something was wrong when I was late getting home, called the police, matched my description, and showed up at the hospital while I was still in trauma surgery. So the question of who I was never came up. But if my wife had been away that day, once I got out of the OR, then my identity would have been relevant and then my RoadID would have been invaluable. But my wife was able to find me before the doctors had even finished stabilizing me, so the question of "who is this guy" never came up.

My current RoadID is more "useful" to paramedics because it says that I am on coumadin (a blood thinner) and gives my INR (clotting) rate and has the date of this accident, so they know I sustained trauma recently (it says "MHX Trauma Mar 23 2010" MHX = medical history).

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

So seeing that it was and hit and run but also the guy was uninsured (if he were caught), would you have to foot the bills with respect to your own insurance plan/policy?

I realize your bike was probaly given to you as you being a pro, but if your in an accident with someone who doenst have insurance, do the biker's own insurance usually help cover the costs of new equipment??

IE, are people who get hit by a uninsured driver basically having to pay for a whole new bike at the price of a new bike, or do they just have pay a deductible and their own insurance will cover the other costs??


When I got hit in 2006 by a car that pulled out and I T-Boned it, I was really worried because the actual police report didnt give the driver fault. (I was sooooo pissed, and called the police chief, my best friends dad). Than i talked to the insurance policies and the drivers insurance was actually really nice and helpful. I was knocked out and had some really bad road rash, but no broken bones (thank the lord). They paid for all my medical bills, paid me for some time off I missed from work, and finally all I had to do was pick up my new road bike at the LBS.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

 
Looking back what could you have done differently to reduce the risk of a collision and how will this affect the way you ride/train on the road in the future?

Happy to see you well down the recovery road

Kevin

The bike has not - unfortunately - been released from police custody. All I know is that the steerer tube - aluminum steerer - sheared off at the base of the stem. Once I get it back, I will send it to the engineers at Specialized who will check it over for structural damage with proper tools so they can get some information about how the frame fared. But apparently, the only visible damage is that the steerer tube sheared off.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Talking to my brother-in-law, who is a surgeon, they ALWAYS will type your blood, even if you have it on id. It takes about 10secs, and it is worth it just to double check. I did not have my type on my RoadID, but I do know, just because I can't see that it hurts. But my brother in law said that it would always be checked.

I *DO* also now have "NO ALLERGIES" on mine, as that is important. It's not so important if you have no allergies, but if you DO have an allergy, it can be really important.

Health insurance info isn't really relevant, because that doesn't determine what decisions are/are not made regarding your care.

I had my phone. But if no one else had been around, I would certainly have died. I was not able to call for help.

I plan on getting a SPOT GPS locator, though I wouldn't have even been able to push the "help" button on that in the condition I was in. I was going to die if someone didn't show up. Thankfully, someone did.

I believe that folks have played with using the accelerometers in new phones to auto-dial 911 if there is an impact. Basically, if the phone suffers an impact (meaning even if you dropped your phone), it would dial 911 within 60secs unless you said not too (because you just dropped your phone). But I don't think they've gotten it perfect yet. But that is going to be a good app once it's done.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Thank you for opening this thread. I think you will save lives by doing so. Unfortunately, I think in many cases one (e.g., me) has to bounce off a car before they really get it. Perhaps this thread will shortcut that process given your stature and respect.

My question is whether you were in the aero bars when you were approaching the intersection which as I understand it was T shaped with you on the major road with the right of way. Would you do so again?

For whatever it is worth, my thoughts on the issue appear below in a thread that pretty much died 15 months or so ago without going anywhere.

Glad to hear you are healing well.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2210819;search_string=video;#2210819


"How do other cyclists, specifically those who've been hit, forced off the road and crashed, etc. deal with it afterwards?"

Excellent question, and one asked frequently on this forum and is important enough that it begs a considered response each time it is asked as the answer may literally save the life of a fellow Slowtwitcher.”

In that light, I respectfully suggest that this is a time for introspection having recently bounced off the side of a car going around 25 mph. My wreck never should have happened and was a cross between the Law of Big Numbers, Murphy’s Law, Shit Happens, and anything and everything will occur sooner or later. Or, it was a million in one shot - but of course, a million in one shot happens probably a million times a day. Otherwise stated, its not if, its when, and its our job to reduce those odds as much as possible.

I was lucky and walked away with road rash and some sprained body parts. I didn’t miss a workout but had to ride the trainer for about 6 weeks because I couldn’t change a flat if I had to.

While the wreck involved a completely ridiculous and unpredictable act by the driver it was ultimately my fault because I made a bad judgment call and stayed down on the bars and momentarily took my eyes off him because I consciously decided he was harmless and that I would be past him in 2 seconds. If I had been shown a video tape of what I was going to ride into before I went down the street and asked the question whether I should have come up out of the tribars while passing the car I would have said no given the totality of the circumstances and the infinitesimal chance of an accident. Oops, the car was hard but the concrete was harder.

It took me about 3 days to decide I screwed up. The first 3 days it was his fault and in a comparative negligence state a cold and conservative assessment still puts it 85% on his shoulders. But a cooler mind revealed I was not adequately allowing for irrational behavior. When I returned to the road (without any trepidation for some reason) it became even more obvious that I had been setting myself up for a completely random and irrational accident for about the past 5000 miles. My riding style was just too aggressive in retrospect. The changes I have made in my riding are very small but I think they are extremely significant in terms of increased safety.

I do not ascribe to you any of my defects that led to my wreck. I went into detail merely to make you think about your riding style if it is appropriate to do so. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.

Ride long, ride hard, and be safe. Oh yeah, buy Ti, you can ride it home after the accident. Best.
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Born again Heathen
In Case of Keith Moon - Break This Glass
Ironman Certified Coach
USAT Certified Coach
Precision Nutrition Certified

This is really interesting, The Police won't release your bike to you? Is this because it is part of an ongoing investigation? I would be a little miffed if after being hit by a car I coduln't get my bike back (assuming I could still ride). I'm sure that it is necessary in a crimial case and the bike is 'evidence' but darn, I never really though about the fact that they could and would hang on to it for an undertermined amount of time.

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

Everything got covered by my insurance. California law dictates that the first $X dollars of the medical bills are paid by the medical coverage of MY auto insurance (would be MY auto AND the drivers auto if he had any), even though I wasn't driving, because a car was involved. This is true in MANY states. Moral of the story there is that REALLY good auto insurance is critical as a cyclist, because many/most bad accidents will be with a car. So if you ride a bike, have good auto insurance. It is well worth it.

Once that portion of the bill was paid - which covered my medical deductible - my health insurance kicked in. They covered basically everything else.

For stuff like a new bike, in my particular case, it would have been covered by my AUTO policy's uninsured motorist coverage (or by his AUTO property damage if he had any).

I am also going to pursue an AFLAC accident insurance policy in the next few months, as that would also help to cover some of these "in between" costs.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

How's the recovery going? What is your prognosis? Did you receive blood while in surgery? Where you brought to a trauma hospital or just the closest?

For all those asking about RoadID. I can tell you what NOT to put on it. Blood type. Don't bother. I work in a trauma hospital as an immunohematology tech (Blood banker) and I can tell nobody cares what your blood type is, cause you aren't getting that type until I have typed you. You may then get type specific, but probably not until I can get specific blood tested against yours.

You'll get O Neg, univeral donor until you can get crossmatched blood.

Things like allergies and phone numbers are the best thing. Of course the first thing they care about is getting you stable, so like Rapp said, identity is secondary. In my hopital you'll be "Trauma AA" until we can get it right.

Great thread BTW.

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To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

I would not do intervals on a road where cars can enter from the side. Jill - my wife - is going to get a motor scooter and accompany me on some interval workouts. I am also going to ride the trainer a lot more for intervals. and I will also ride my MTB more to stay off the road when I can.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Yes, I was down in the aerobars. I have little (aka NO) memory of what happened. The "road" that the driver came in from goes to a strawberry farm, so it's more like a driveway than a road. So it was not really an "intersection," but really just a side road.

I would not ride down in the aerobars on roads where traffic enters from the side again. Stick to roads where people can't turn into the road you are riding on. That's key, IMO. Accidents still can happen, but you have a much better chance of seeing the car (unless you are rear ended, which of course does happen).

I will also have FRONT AND REAR flashing lights at all times when I ride now. It's easy and cheap to do. And it might have made a difference.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Recovery is going well. Prognosis is for full recovery. I did receive blood. I was brought to the closest hospital (I think), but also the one in the area that was the best for trauma.

I have blood type partly because of my recent trip to Abu Dhabi. I know in the US they will check. But I figure some precautions against what might be the policy in other countries (though Abu Dhabi apparently has excellent medical care) is why I got it.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

They said we could have it, but then last time we called to pick it up, they said now we couldn't, because it's part of an ongoing investigation. <shrug>

I'm headed out to run some errands, but will get to all replies ASAP. Thx.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

I've been looking at getting a MTB (for some xterra stuff possibly) and was wondering if you think training more on it will impact your power on the road (negatively or positively)

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

I will also have FRONT AND REAR flashing lights at all times when I ride now. It's easy and cheap to do. And it might have made a difference.

What are you using for front and rear lights? It seems like a good precaution, but I'd also like something that integrates pretty well with the bike.

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Portside Athletics Blog

What is your UM/UIM coverage on your auto policy? Do you plan on increasing it?

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Ride Scoozy Electric Bicycles
http://www.RideScoozy.com

You were perhaps a few moments from death. Did that change the way you look at life?

Do you anticipate any difficulties with the mental aspect of getting back on your bike and out on the road after the crash? Are you working through things now? It sounds as though you are going to surround yourself with a "safe zone" so to speak (flashing lights, mopeds). Do you think you will keep that up over time or is it just to ease you through the transition? Do you have a plan?

Glad to see you are on the mend and hope to see you back on your bike soon!!

yes, any new thoughts about purpose of this life? why that happened? could it be a sign? Karma (how many cows did you kill/eat)?
: )

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Hare Krishna

Excellent opportunity for some teaching points.

1. What did you learn from the accident that we can benefit from? ( open ended question , I know. For example, do we need more un-insured motorist coverage? Any equipment recommendations( for example shatterproof sunglasses) Should we shell out the extra cash for a bike with air bags?
:-)

2. Has the accident changed the way you plan and execute training rides?

Thanks

Mike