It will never cease to amaze me how some drivers, given the opportunity, will drive into the sidewalk to get to the turn lane. I can't think of a better way to put pedestrians in danger.
Also, if you're out walking Fido, try paying attention when he lunges at me. The button on your retractable leash is there for a reason.
Yep, I was hit on my bike again. Luckily I'm not hurt (I managed to keep my balance), and my bike seems okay.
I really hate riding at night (even though I have lights) because I know how hard it is to see. Unfortunately, when you're working from 9:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night (…), there's not much hope of avoiding low visibility conditions.
My coworker (who also bikes) and I often joke about how having one or two close calls is a good day. But I've started to wonder if I'm not being cautious enough.
I think I give drivers WAY too much credit.
There are some days which make me fear biking. Today, I came mere inches from getting hit by a car not once, not twice, but three times.
First time: Biking to campus, waiting for the light to turn. Some guy in a PT Cruiser waits for the light to turn green, THEN decides to turn right, even though no one was turning left from the other direction for over a minute. Yes, right turns on red were allowed at the intersection. Yes, he saw me.
Second time: Biking home from campus, another damn PT Cruiser decides to turn right in front of me. If you're going to turn in front of someone, DON'T HESITATE. It makes it look like you are yielding right of way.
Third time: Immediately after the PT Cruiser passed some Civic tries the same thing. I have to go AROUND TO THE DRIVER'S SIDE, into oncoming traffic (luckily no one was coming), to avoid getting creamed.
It's strange. I go days - even weeks - without having any problems on my bike. Then one day, it seems like every driver stops paying attention to me.
I'm sorry, but the next time I get hit by one of you idiots, I'm calling the cops with your license plate number even if I'm okay. In the meantime, I'm just gonna start kicking your car if you do this kind of crap.
On the train, I lost my intelligence
Act like you're going to choose the left side of the sidewalk (the WRONG SIDE), then change your mind at the last minute, so I have to swerve to miss you. At least you had a light, asshole.
Just because I have lights on my bike and you don't, that doesn't make it okay to tailgate me all the way from campus to my neighborhood. What if I have to stop suddenly because some driver feels like being a moron? I don't like the odds of you stopping in time when there's only a meter or so between us. And don't feed me some line about how you would have passed me given the opportunity; the sidewalks are very wide on this route, not to mention the nice grass on either side.
Okay. Only a couple of weeks after my accident, another bike incident. I was very nearly hit by a car while riding to work this morning. Had I been hit, it would have been the second time in a year. Strangely enough, it happened very much like the first: the car slowed down for a stop sign (this time coming to a complete stop), and then started going again. I had slowed down quite a bit to give the driver room in case she decided to go, which was really the only reason I didn't eat pavement.
The car's windows were also illegally tinted (I mean completely black), which didn't help in terms of watching the driver. I can't say for sure, but I would guess the driver saw me, thought she had enough space to turn, and then realized she didn't. Being cautious only helps so much when the person driving the larger vehicle is a moron.
I'll probably ride on campus as much as possible to avoid the worst of the traffic from now on, even though it makes the ride a little longer. Who would have thought 2nd Avenue was so dangerous?
Best to keep things in the shallow end
Because I never quite learned how to swim
Last Thursday, I managed to get myself into a pretty bad bicycle accident. I wasn't hit by a car this time, but it was definitely a worse accident. I unfortunately don't remember much of the accident, but I think I was thrown from my bike or lost my balance when I went over a huge tree root near my neighborhood. I lost consciousness, fractured a few places near my right eye, hurt my neck, and got a few scrapes and bruises.
They gave me a neck to wear collar until today, since I apparently had whiplash ("surgical strain" is what they told me when I left the ER this morning). The bruises around my eyes are still pretty apparent, and there is still some swelling.
The hardest part, I think, was being unable to keep fluids down immediately after the accident. I had to go back to the ER on Saturday, to get fluids by IV. They also gave me a prescription for phenergan. I don't like taking medicine, but it was really helpful in keeping me from getting sick to my stomach.
I've seen a couple of specialists (an oral maxillo-facial surgeon and a plastic surgeon), and both have said that I probably won't need surgery. Phew.
All in all: 18 hours in the Shands ER across 3 visits, 6 stitches, 7 x-rays, and 1 CAT scan.
I almost got hit on my bike again, this time by an idiot pizza delivery guy (from Five Star, haha) who thought he could turn right on red. He apparently forgot that traffic from the opposite direction comes when his light is red. Next time some idiot driver decides to deny me right of way, I'm getting off my bike and throwing it on his car.
I was riding my bike west on 2nd Avenue around 5:30 pm. I came up on the O'Connell parking lot exit and slowed down to look for cars (like I always do - people are always in quite a rush around 5:00 pm to get out of the parking lot and get home). I saw a silver Jetta coming, saw it slow down and almost stop, which was a signal for me to pass. I started to speed up again, and then saw the car start to lurch forward. All I could think was Oh crap, she's gonna hit me. Sure enough, I felt the front bumper hit my rear tire and then I fell to the ground. (It was interesting - as I was falling, I was able to look up at a car going west. The driver had this look of utter shock on his face.)
I landed on my left elbow and wrist, rolled once or twice, and stopped on my right elbow. Got pretty scraped up, and I now understand why motorcyclists wear leather. No scrapes or bruises on my legs, no damage to my head or neck, etc. Just road burn on my arms and wrist.
I immediately got up. The car's door was open, and a shocked girl was looking at me. I glared back (obviously very pissed); she said nothing, so I took my queue and said, "You know, when you see a bike coming like that, you typically stop." She simply asked if I was all right, and I said that I thought so. After that, I made sure that my bike was still ridable, which it was, and got back on to ride home.
All things considered, it could have been much, much worse. I could have been very badly hurt, my bike could be totaled, etc. But I'm okay.
Strangely enough, I just (22:45) saw another cyclist on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 34th Street talking to a police officer about an apparent collision. He was on the ground, didn't look hurt. I hope he's okay, maybe he'll get to ride home like I did. :-)
I've been a pedestrian, biker, and driver on campus. Bikers surely don't have it easy, but this letter by Nicholas Pillat in the Alligator is just absurd:
Simply because we can move faster and are more nimble than others, there is no reason to discriminate against my people and further subject us to undo persecution and incivility.