Got sideswiped by a truck!

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8:29 AM
Joined
Oct 15, 2008
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48
Location
Panama City, Fl
Coming home from work Friday afternoon, I was in the bike lane running between 25-30 mph. Traffic was light... I was doing the accordian tag with about 5 vehicles. I would catch them at a light... they would pass me; and I would catch them at the next light. Did I mention the "bike lane". The lead car of 5 slowed to make a left turn, I caught the pack again and slowed to 20-25 mph. Then with out warning (no signal) a white pickup truck turned right, into a business, in front of me. I hit the truck with my left shoulder and went down; knocked off of the bike onto the gravel on my right side. My helmet saved my head, I was actually aware when my head hit the ground thinking "road rash on my helmet... cool".

Until the pain set in. Miraculously, I had no broken bones, I had road rash on my forearms and thigh, and on the back of my shoulder; where I hit the truck. Cops were called by a good samaritan (thank you Brenda) and EMS and a Fire truck was dispatched; SOP apparently. I refused medical help after doing a self assesment. As long as I had nothing broken, I figured why ride in an ambulance.

The cop and his lieutenant conferred and took Brenda's statement ("The truck just turned right into him...NO TURN SIGNAL"); thank you again Brenda. She was behind the truck. The cop then came over and said that this was his first "automobile vs bicycle in the bike lane" accident and he did not know who to charge if there were any charges to be pressed. He went on to say that they were leaning towards charging the driver of the truck... "we have to share the road". I then signed the accident report, dusted off the bike and rode the remaining 11 miles of the 16 mile commute @ 15-20 mph, nursing my left shoulder, doing as little as possible with it.

When I got home my girlfriend, a RN, checked me out and said to ice the shoulder down. and take some ibuprophen. It is Saturday, this happened yesterday, and the range of motion in my left shoulder has increased and my right arm-shoulder is sore. Check that. My left shoulder is sore.. and on fire if I move it too far, or put any weight on it. You never realize how much you use a particular appendage or body part until you injure it and it makes itself known to you. I will continue to commute on my MB, I think I am going to paint my bike flourescent orange an get a neon yellow body suit. The truck driver said "I never saw him... I passed him once down the road", seriously we are invisible to automobiles... even the most cautious driver\rider may get into and accident due to someone elses inattention or stupidity.

Ride SAFE, ride as though you are invisible.
 

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Glad you came out okay!! I hope your shoulder put a BIG ole dent in that truck....just for your troubles!! :devilish:

you are correct...... We are invisible!!

(dang.....where'd I put my helmet?)
 
Wow, similar thing happened to me in Korea. I was riding down the road, a truck passed me, and then pushed me over into the curb. (Pedal bike), I tried jumping up onto the sidewalk, but it was extra high and I went over hard. Helmets are a great thing! Glad you are here to tell us the story.
 
You never know what goes through cagers beady little pea brains these days...

I had one run a stop sign and start shouting about how it's ilegal to put a motor on a tenspeed after almost hitting me. My bike has lights and the driver looked right at me (eye contact), before blasting clean through the sign nearly broadsiding me!

You got off easy Brother, If there's one thing I've learned, don't matter who's right, you ain't gonna win against a car! Put yourself where they can't hit ya!
 
Thanx for the well wishes. I am very glad to be here with "just a sore shoulder". Had the driver been further ahead of me; I would have t-boned him instead of a glancing blow. I have replayed this in my head over and over, but i do not believe there was anything else I could have done differently to avoid this. Maybe travel slower? Where a clown costume? I am seriously thinking about about a flag with a flashy-blinky light on top.
 
I'm very glad you are on the mend. An inexpensive device that may help is an LED daytime running light. I'm very glad my Whizzer headlight comes on with the key.
Get well.

Jim
 
Good to hear your on the mend, don't know about other parts of the map but 50% of the folks hear don't use directionals at all. I'm ordering a flouresent vest today. Flag will go on next close call. Defense is my only philosophy.
 
I'm glad you're okay.

The thing that burns me so badly is that we are invisible to them because they want it that way. They just don't want to be bothered with us. So they don't bother.

I've played with the notion for years that deep down people often feel the urge to do exactly the wrong thing. It shows up a lot in car/bicycle interactions.

I had a close call the other day. I don't need to take up space with the details; the gist of the matter is that this woman had no business whatsoever doing what she did. She had no reason to not see me and she could've easily chosen to go around me either in front or in back. But she chose to swerve her car right at me, not to mention laying on the horn. And, of course, this happens to everyone fairly often. I can think of no explanation other than they have the urge to do exactly what they shouldn't do. Most times they recover before they kill someone. Sometimes they don't.

Sounds to me like this pickup driver did the same thing.

FWIW, my experience seems to be that blinkies are not all that good. Sometimes they do help, certainly. Other times they just seem to confuse the drivers. Safety vests do seem to help quite a bit.
 
Again,

thanx for all the support and well wishes. I work on an airbase so it is a requirement to wear a reflective vest, long pants, over the ankle boots, long sleeves or a jacket and helmet and gloves. I am going to invest in a motorcycle protective vest and maybe see if I fit in my old racing leathers. I used to race motorcycles in my youth when I thought I was an immortal. A front tire blow-out and endo made me realize that: (1) I was actually human and not immortal, (2) there is a reason for safety equipment, it saves lives and reduces injuries, (3) I was not immortal.

It seems ludicrous to don full protective gear while riding a BICYCLE; but I know had I been wearing my MC jacket, with its skid plates and padding, I might not even have road rash. The force of the impact would have still done a number on my shoulder, but maybe it would have been lessened.
 
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Yes, the safety equipment question is a tough one.

I sometimes wear hard knee and elbow pads and I feel a bit silly about it, too. But I also feel safer; with hands, head, knees and elbows protected I figure that I can do a good bit of tucking and rolling. It might not cover every possibility, but it'll help.
 
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