Beautiful spring like day here in Colorado. Lots of folks out riding. I was out for a mellow hour-ish long ride. Towards the end of my loop I had an accident with a car that ended up with me splayed out on my back in the middle of the intersection. It was a ‘T’ intersection where the primary road runs East/West and another road dead-ends into it on the Southern (eastbound) side. I was riding East and a car pulled up to the intersection planning to turn left (West). He stopped, didn’t see me, then proceeded into the intersection. Then he saw me and stopped and I slammed into his hood.
The upside is that I’m ok, my bike is basically OK, and most of the damage was to his car and my now non-functional phone. I flipped over the front of car and landed on my back. His hood got scratched up pretty good and the license plate and holder were ripped off the front of the car. At impact I was traveling 20.2 and he was going 0.
He stayed at the scene (thankfully), and we exchanged info. He was really shaken up, way worse than me. His hands were still shaking like crazy about 10 minutes after the accident. I actually felt bad for him.
Anyway, in reliving it in my mind, I’m frustrated that I didn’t avoid the collision. I saw it coming, went through the whole slow-motion experience, and felt hyper aware. I was on the hoods and I did try to brake but my hand slipped off the lever. (I can’t remember that ever happening before, and I remember thinking as much) I could have gone left to avoid him but I didn’t. I just went a little bit to the left. I don’t know if I’m so conditioned to staying out of lane without looking first or if I was suffering from target fixation by staring at his hood. Once I ‘knew’ I was going to hit him I definitely picked my spot on his car. I didn’t want anything high like a window and I didn’t want to end up underneath. The flip and tumble all felt fine. To say I ended up with road rash would be a huge overstatement. It’s more like I got tackled really hard.
I feel like I’m generally pretty aware and safe with respect to car traffic. I generally try to look drivers in the eye at intersections and ride defensively. I think I could have avoided this one and am frustrated that I didn’t.
I don’t know whether I have a point here other than a reminder, yet again, to be careful out there.
Glad you’re OK. You may have collided with him because you were looking at the obstacle instead of where you wanted to go. I took a motorcycle safety course about 25 years ago and they said that was a common thing in most accidents.
And, now is a good time to remind people to stay at the scene of the accident, even if you are not hurt very bad and wait for a cop to come and write up a report. Unlike with cars exchanging insurance info, as a cyclist, if you don’t get a police report, a driver can skip out completely on paying you anything.
Yup, that’s what I meant by target fixation. It’s also heavily taught as something to avoid in skydiving.
There was a point where I think I made a decision whether I was going to be able to avoid him or hit him. Once that decision was made I was committed. I think I made the choice too soon.
Agreed. I was comfortable enough with how things went down and my physical state that I’m not looking to get paid anything. There were also about 15 witnesses. But yeah, you’re right.
Although you are not looking to get anything, I would wait a few weeks and get checked out by the various medical professionals to make sure you are ok.
Also the bike, IMO if I had a sudden stop impact of say 30 kph I would seriously look at not riding it anymore. There may be undetectable carbon damage below the paint etc. The point is you just don’t know if the bike is ok or not even though it may look totally fine.
Agreed. I was comfortable enough with how things went down and my physical state that I’m not looking to get paid anything. There were also about 15 witnesses. But yeah, you’re right.
First, that’s admirable - not enough of that in the world today.
Second, don’t beat yourself up - that’s your wife’s job. ;-))
Third, you add to this community, heal well and quickly.
I never look at intersecting drivers in the eye anymore. I used until one did the same as yours. I averted collision but was going slower than u at the time. I now hook my eye onto their wheels. If they roll I know something’s up
from a drivers POV, cyclist are not only harder to see but it’s way harder to gauge a cyclists speed vs another auto. Just proceed with caution.
Be careful out there, especially all of us in the North East who are all itching to hit the road. There are a ton of potholes which will add to the challenge till they’re fixed!
Beautiful spring like day here in Colorado. Lots of folks out riding. I was out for a mellow hour-ish long ride. Towards the end of my loop I had an accident with a car that ended up with me splayed out on my back in the middle of the intersection. It was a ‘T’ intersection where the primary road runs East/West and another road dead-ends into it on the Southern (eastbound) side. I was riding East and a car pulled up to the intersection planning to turn left (West). He stopped, didn’t see me, then proceeded into the intersection. Then he saw me and stopped and I slammed into his hood.
The upside is that I’m ok, my bike is basically OK, and most of the damage was to his car and my now non-functional phone. I flipped over the front of car and landed on my back. His hood got scratched up pretty good and the license plate and holder were ripped off the front of the car. At impact I was traveling 20.2 and he was going 0.
He stayed at the scene (thankfully), and we exchanged info. He was really shaken up, way worse than me. His hands were still shaking like crazy about 10 minutes after the accident. I actually felt bad for him.
Anyway, in reliving it in my mind, I’m frustrated that I didn’t avoid the collision. I saw it coming, went through the whole slow-motion experience, and felt hyper aware. I was on the hoods and I did try to brake but my hand slipped off the lever. (I can’t remember that ever happening before, and I remember thinking as much) I could have gone left to avoid him but I didn’t. I just went a little bit to the left. I don’t know if I’m so conditioned to staying out of lane without looking first or if I was suffering from target fixation by staring at his hood. Once I ‘knew’ I was going to hit him I definitely picked my spot on his car. I didn’t want anything high like a window and I didn’t want to end up underneath. The flip and tumble all felt fine. To say I ended up with road rash would be a huge overstatement. It’s more like I got tackled really hard.
I feel like I’m generally pretty aware and safe with respect to car traffic. I generally try to look drivers in the eye at intersections and ride defensively. I think I could have avoided this one and am frustrated that I didn’t.
I don’t know whether I have a point here other than a reminder, yet again, to be careful out there.
My $0.02: Anticipate accidents and visualize an escape plan BEFORE it happens ]. That’s what we used to teach novice motorbikers when I was an instructor. Works for cyclists, motobikers, car drivers, pedestrians…
My thought on this is once you make a/that decision, and it’s really a chain of decisions going on in <1sec, you just have to ride it out.
I remember when a truck turned out in front of me. My first decision and move was to get around behind him, when I realized that wouldn’t work, I thought maybe I could squeeze in front and when I realized that wasn’t going to work I remember scanning the truck and aiming for a soft spot to hit. The oversized tire it was and as soon as I made that decision BAM I hit.
Don’t beat yourself up, I think you did great based on what you’ve said and the bright side is you’ve emerged not that much worse for wear. Who kows what would have happened if your hand didn’t slip maybe you might have twitched and ended up under the car or in a window. Heal up.
Thanks for all the responses. To the comment about anticipating and escape routes… I totally agree. This is something I feel I’m usually good at. The area of the accident is almost rural and my mind was wandering. Oops.
I’m super happy with the driver. So far he has been really concerned. He sent me an email a couple hours ago and clearly not trying to skate on anything. Looks like this was just a close call and all is hopefully behind us. Though he does have some damage to his car. All the black and white from the bumper on up was from me…
No one I think has mentioned it yet, but I would avoid statements even on a forum like this until you are sure no insurance claims on either side are necessary.
I know you’re trying to be a good dude, just in this hyper litigious environment I’d hate to see someone post about something like this so soon and then find it less helpful (personally) than not down the road if things get ugly.
I have to agree. Don’t be saying too much on any forum or facebook. You just don’t know what will come back to bite you. Lawyers (regardless of what the jokes tell us) are pretty smart & know how to work the internet. The driver may be helpful, but his insurance company may feel differently.
I have gotten plunked twice. Have no memory at all of the second one. First thing I was told: Stay off Facebook.
You do find yourself questioning what you did, what should you have done, what you could have done to avoid it. It’s natural. In my case, the only good thing to come out of not remembering a thing is that I can just repeat what all the witnesses told the police - the guy on the bike was doing everything right.
It’s good you’re ok, and good that the driver is working with you. But tomorrow all that may change. Just be careful here & out there.
It could have been much worse. That you (and us) learn a thing or two is a bonus. Not a guarantee that we can use the learning, but, still something I’ll try and learn from.
Glad you are ok. One thing I have done over the last year is to most of the time ride with daytime riding lights. It seems to help and I definitely perceive more respect from motorists. As you experienced, many times they don’t mean bad, they just don’t see us.
I have to agree. Don’t be saying too much on any forum or facebook. You just don’t know what will come back to bite you. Lawyers (regardless of what the jokes tell us) are pretty smart & know how to work the internet. The driver may be helpful, but his insurance company may feel differently.
I have gotten plunked twice. Have no memory at all of the second one. First thing I was told: Stay off Facebook.
You do find yourself questioning what you did, what should you have done, what you could have done to avoid it. It’s natural. In my case, the only good thing to come out of not remembering a thing is that I can just repeat what all the witnesses told the police - the guy on the bike was doing everything right.
It’s good you’re ok, and good that the driver is working with you. But tomorrow all that may change. Just be careful here & out there.
Ditto. I would ask the admins to delete this thread.
Self-compassion. You are only human. We all make mistakes.
(Though I’m not sure you made any - seems like your hard on yourself)
You listed a whole bunch of stuff you did ‘right’ that minimized damage to your body - and you didn’t freak on the guy and traumatize him more. All good stuff to my mind.
