. . . wasn’t going to post on what I saw as just another bump in the life of a bike commuter, but things have changed.
Yesterday, ~ mile 18 of my 25m “long way in” commute to work, I took a tumble, encouraged by Mr. X’s minivan. I was on a pretty wide shoulder on the right of a one-way street, going by traffic backed up at the stop-sign ahead. I was going ~10mph, approaching the stop sign.
Mr. X was in the line, decided to pull into a driveway on the right to let his daughter out so she could walk the 2 blocks to school and not be late. No signal, no checking behind before pulling over. Fortuitous timing had me just at the side door of the van when he made his move. Van hit me, I hit pavement.
Mr. X immediately stopped, got out apologizing. Nice minister in the car in front of Mr. X also stopped and got out.
Quick inventory:
Me: Broken clamp on handlebar light; rear der slightly out of line, but not bent; both front shifters bent in on the bars, easily moved back into position; slight road rash on right side of body; nice swelling on left forearm from impact with side-view mirror.
Mr. X: Right side-view mirror of van hanging by a wire and in pieces. Glass gone, most of mirror gone.
I’ve been hit before, and once realizing that I’m physically going to be OK, although sore, my main concern was to make sure my bike was fine before discussing with Mr. X what we ought to do. Learned that one from Mr. Porsche, who was full of empty promises.
Bike was fine so I was ready to finish the ride and get to work. Mr. X asked if we needed to call the police and I told him that I didn’t feel a need, as I would be fine, but that if he felt a need to file a report because of the damage to the mirror, then I’d be happy to call the police. He said no, he’d get another from the salvage yard. I said fine with me, but suggested we exchange info. just in case something came up. He agreed, business cards swapped.
I went on my merry way, grateful that I had 7 miles to loosen up and see how the fall might limit my Gulf-Coast training. (Glad to report no problems!)
So, didn’t think much of it, other than to minimize the incident for my wife and clean up the road rash. I was glad Mr. X was not Mr. Scream, as some drivers are when things get bumpy with the non-auto public, but otherwise didn’t think of it.
Then, . . . just now . . . I get a call from Officer Z, of the Decatur Police Department. Now, I’m a public defender, so get calls from law enforcement all the time, and was trying to figure out which case the officer would be calling on.
Turns out, Mr. X, after getting home and cogitating overnight on the incident, was still concerned that I might have been more hurt than I let on. So, this morning, he went to the police Dept, told them what happened, gave them my contact info. and asked if they would check to make sure I was OK and still felt no need to file a report.
I told the officer I was fine, my bike was fine, and I felt no need to report the incident, but that if Mr. X was insisting on a report I’d be happy to comply. Officer says no, he’s just worried and wanted to make sure you were fine.
So, Mr. X goes to the top of my list of encounters with the driving public, and I thought I’d share the experience. My experiences with the other 99% of the driving public are too legion to mention. However, considering we have negative posts about drivers from time to time, I thought I’d post a positive one.
T
