Anyone ever hit a pedestrian?

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Well i managed to wipe out a 13 year old schoolkid yesterday! :(
Was on the normal ride to work and after leaving a busy set of lights in really heavy traffic i put the gas on (basically to keep in front of the cars) and looked up to see the daft sod right in front of me. His mates had ran across the road from the other side, seen me and obviously got out of the way, he was just following without looking and BANG!! Hit him really hard, i ended up over the bars and sliding beautifully down the road in front of all the rush hour traffic (how dignified). I escaped with a sprained wrist, heavy shoulder bruising a damaged hydraulic brake lever and rear mech (plus the usual cuts and bruises) was pretty glad i was on the mountain bike as the road machine would have come off second best i feel.
Did manage to send him on his way in an ambulance though.
Thing is i would call this a "cheap" incident and was glad i didnt hit an oncoming car or anything else for that matter, just wondered has anyone else clattered a member of the public and if so could you be up in court for it?
He admitted to the police he was completely at fault as he was in the road and not looking, i however, have to find other ways to get to work as my wrist hurts so much as does the rest of me!!
Bollocks :mad:

Hit one on Tuesday. Your incident sounds very similar to mine.

Was riding aling the shared foot/bike path to work past a group of school kids jogging in a bunch. I yell "passing" as I approach and all move over to the left. One kid decides he wants to jump out to the right, right into my path.

Into him, over the handlebars, grazed knees, very sore shoulder, kid was uninjured.

No cops, I got up after about 5 minutes and limped into work, bike undamaged (hybrid).

Haven't hit one yet, (touch wood), but I've been hit by a bike courier in the middle of Sydney's CBD. Typically, he was riding on the footpath and too fast for the area. He gave me a half-hearted "sorry" and rode off without stopping, but no injuries thankfully. Is it true that most bike couriers have never met their fathers???

Haven't hit one yet, (touch wood), but I've been hit by a bike courier in the middle of Sydney's CBD. Typically, he was riding on the footpath and too fast for the area. He gave me a half-hearted "sorry" and rode off without stopping, but no injuries thankfully. Is it true that most bike couriers have never met their fathers???

LoL, no it isn't! in truth that industry has a better safety record than such firms as Fedex / UPS. And without regulation. The sod that hit you was probably new or low end(low pay/low experience/low training). Riding on the sidewalks is considered taboo for many reasons, take your pick, illegal/dangerous(to others) too slow/can't go fast and my favourite "What's the matter, rookie? Afraid of a few cars?"

Yo nitrous, damnable kids! but safety first! "passing" is nice but traditionally the callout is "On Your Left/Right" for other cyclists and "Passing on your Left/Right" for anyone else. I presume your not in North America as you passed on the right at all as it's taboo unless on a race course / clearly specified and acknowledged. The opposite only in UK, Australia and Pan Asian countries.

Yo greentyres, good work almost cleaning the genepool of a slow one, damnable kids! but eyes front soldier! if you have kids w/in vector make them your focus. Adults, cars, even animals are more predictable.

Your right mate,
eyes front at all times from now on.
Tell you what, it's really slowed me down and reduced the amount of traffic dodging that i normally do!
So all i can say is ride confidently, ride fast and always be prepared for the completely unexpected.

Hit a little girl on her bike while out on a training ride. Was riding next to my friend(so side by side) on a bike trail. I was closest to the line and saw her and her dad coming our way. she was closest to the line. she was in her lane just fine until last second she looked down at her pedals and drifted into the oncoming lane and BOOM! Down she went.

She turned out okay and the dad wasnt pissed at all thank god. Glad she wore a helmet.

Yes, years ago I got a fully grown adult. Tanking down a hill at about 25mph, no cars. Four guys in a row wander across the road; first three see me and stop ad the last guy hasn't got a chance. Boom! Threw him about 10 feet. Only damage was my sore ass. Couldn't sit for a week 'cos I landed on my keys.

The lesson must be, only cyclists should be on the road. No else uses their brains. Sadly, we just have to slow down and expect the unexpected.

;)

Yes, hit a (as it turned out he was drunk) man while going about just under 40 km-hr , knocked him out for a minute, I struck him with my shoulder as he walked out from the side of the road at the last fraction of a sec and i tried to swerve. I was deflected a foot from my path but continued moving pretty much straight forward. Called an ambulance for the guy but they didn't seem interested in checking him out. I talked to the guy for a few minutes after just to see if he was alright.

Missed by a 6 inches a woman who ran across the street in front of me and she just made it across my path while i was going about 50 km-hr. Also a near miss on 4 university students who dashed across the road in front of me, I missed by about 2 feet on the right and the left.

Also struck the front end of a motorcycle that pulled out of a laneway. He lost control of his motorcycle and keeled over while I continued mostly straight forward. Our front wheels and handlebars locked for a while and I somehow slipped by in front of him after our wheels unlocked. My ribs hurt a bit because his handlebar struck me and I was a bit winded. Otherwise we were both ok. I wasn't riding with alight, and it was night when I hit the motorcycle. I use a light now when I ride in the dark.

Yes, hit a (as it turned out he was drunk) man while going about just under 40 km-hr , knocked him out for a minute, I struck him with my shoulder as he walked out from the side of the road at the last fraction of a sec and i tried to swerve. I was deflected a foot from my path but continued moving pretty much straight forward. Called an ambulance for the guy but they didn't seem interested in checking him out. I talked to the guy for a few minutes after just to see if he was alright.

Missed by a 6 inches a woman who ran across the street in front of me and she just made it across my path while i was going about 50 km-hr. Also a near miss on 4 university students who dashed across the road in front of me, I missed by about 2 feet on the right and the left.

Also struck the front end of a motorcycle that pulled out of a laneway. He lost control of his motorcycle and keeled over while I continued mostly straight forward. Our front wheels and handlebars locked for a while and I somehow slipped by in front of him after our wheels unlocked. My ribs hurt a bit because his handlebar struck me and I was a bit winded. Otherwise we were both ok. I wasn't riding with alight, and it was night when I hit the motorcycle. I use a light now when I ride in the dark.

Glad youve got some lights now mister!

Thing i find is that moist people dont realise how fast you can go on a bike, think most of them seem to think we all bumble along at 10k

Glad youve got some lights now mister!

Thing i find is that moist people dont realise how fast you can go on a bike, think most of them seem to think we all bumble along at 10k


i know, i know!
MOST people, sorry.

Yup, they seem to misjudge the closure rate horribly or don't see you coming at all. It's weird because I notice cyclists myself when I'm crossing the street, all the motion in the legs makes it stand out for me quite clearly.

Almost hit a woman who stepped out into the cycle lane without looking. The only saving grace was it was uphill and I managed to stop just millimetres from her right leg. Definitely shook me up a bit.

How about some GOOD news along this line (pedestrian consideration). I was going home from work one evening when I encountered a blind man cane in hand. I said, "Passing on your left" out loud and he promptly made adequate room for me, while STILL 'cane mobile'! (i.e., we SHARED the sidewalk):eek: . I can't get THAT kind of cooperation out of many SIGHTED pedestrians:D !

But, hey, I'll take dealing with 200 pedestrians (considerate or not) over 20 mindless SUV drivers, any day! How's the price of oil, lately??:D

[okay, maybe not 200... Say, 50?:D ]

Once I was cylcing drunk and while speeding downhill I purposely hit a jogger from behind. Girlfriend had broken up with me, and basically selfish idiots were ruining all aspects of my life, so I stupidly made a split-second decision to hit this guy. I hit leg right as he planted to put his wieght on it. He hit the ground so fast he couldn't break his fall and I heard his head crack against the pavement. I sped off and read later he died in the hospital. They figured it was a car hit-and-run as best I could gather.


Woah woah, had you going didn't I? Ha-HAH!

My housemate is a track cyclist (i.e. not a lightweight hill climber) who took a summer off work a couple of years ago to get himself fighting fit.

At the end of a 10 minute timetrial, he'd just backed off and was passing a pedestrian whom he thought was waiting for him to pass. Turns out, the guy was waiting till he had no time to respond and was planning on stepping out right in front of him.

Needless to say, a hefty (55km/hr) collision ensued and pedestrian ended up unconcious in hospital. My housemate managed to escape with some lost skin and a few scrapes on the pedals.

Hit another cyclist when he cut directly across my path the other day. Nothing major; ie neither of us fell off our bikes. He apologised profusely though. I just grunted and extricated my front wheel from his bike and rode off.
However, the strangest cyclist/pedestrian collision I saw was severalyears ago. It happened one lunch time on the middle of a busy Sydney CBD street. Strangely, there were no motor vehicles nearby having been stopped at lights about fifty metres either side of this intersection. The pedestrian lights were still red and a lone cyclist was rolling along one of four lanes (two lanes each way) toward the crossing. A lady decides to step out onto the road, gets about two metres across, looks up and notices the cyclist about 15-20 metres away. Mind you, he is not going fast at all. She stops like a rabbit caught in the spotlight, the cyclist looks at her but doesn't swerve as though he's waiting for her to move and then Bam!!...they collide. Well, they go down in front of a large crowd of stunned onlookers (none of whom go to either ones assistance; I guess we were all to stunned) but not long after get up again. Neither were hurt but it was such an odd thing as they both seemed to have plenty of time to react but chose not, instead awaiting the other to make a move.
I laughed about that one afterwards as it seemed absurd. Fortunately, both seemed unhurt as after a short exchange they appeared to part company.

I once hit a little boy on cycle track outside a speedome. It was like a cycling day for young and old and he had been running back and forth across the track all day despite many warnings from his parents. Actually- i didn't hit him- he ran into the side of me in one of his blind runs across the track. I came off and was on an old bike so it was all good. The kid was screaming and i didn't feel very sorry for him at the time. I was going about 30km at the time over the crest of a bit of a hill and into a covered area so i was temporarily blinded too, i think. I did try to swerve but it was inevitable; he kept coming. I don't think i did any real damage to him and maybe he'll cross roads more carefully now.

However, the strangest cyclist/pedestrian collision I saw was severalyears ago. It happened one lunch time on the middle of a busy Sydney CBD street. Strangely, there were no motor vehicles nearby having been stopped at lights about fifty metres either side of this intersection. The pedestrian lights were still red and a lone cyclist was rolling along one of four lanes (two lanes each way) toward the crossing. A lady decides to step out onto the road, gets about two metres across, looks up and notices the cyclist about 15-20 metres away. Mind you, he is not going fast at all. She stops like a rabbit caught in the spotlight, the cyclist looks at her but doesn't swerve as though he's waiting for her to move and then Bam!!...they collide. Well, they go down in front of a large crowd of stunned onlookers (none of whom go to either ones assistance; I guess we were all to stunned) but not long after get up again. Neither were hurt but it was such an odd thing as they both seemed to have plenty of time to react but chose not, instead awaiting the other to make a move.
Funny you mention this! The only pedestrian accident I've had is very similar, except at a higher speed, probably 25km/h or so... there was a 4-way intersection with my direction having the green light, and there were three jaywalkers crossing; two had the good sense to get the heck out of there once they noticed the road wasn't clear, and one had the "deer in the headlights" look and stayed right in the area I turned in order to help avoid the others :rolleyes:

Ended up being able to turn just that little more and miss them, only hit their backpack.. they got twirled around almost like a spinning top, and I ended up skidding down and came off the bike.. interestingly enough the other pedestrians couldn't give a stuff about the jaywalker, they were more interested to make sure I was OK :D

I hit a paper boy on his bike when he rode off the pavement without looking. Also the same year I hit one of a group of five running across the road at the bottom of a hill. Scariest of the lot was a near miss with a push chair - the mum had her back to me walking along the pavement, she turned, pushed the front wheels of the buggy into the road and then looked.:eek:
People like that should be banned from breeding.:mad:

I ran into one guy who couldnt get out of my way when I turned right he did so too. I was on the side walk at the time but luckily I slow down to a leisurly 15mph (which I think is about 22kmh) on the side walk. He was not hurt and I think he found it more funny than anything else. I was just thanking god I didnt hurt him.

I clipped another guy with my handlebars and had one guy catch my bars after I started skidding into him this saved us both from alot of pain.

If you lived in Orlando you would understand why I am on the sidewalk alot. We have five of the top 20 most dangerous roads in the US. It's so insane on the road here and the city doesnt recognize how benificial promoting a safe road for commuting is. Hopefully this changes in the future with $4.00 per gallon gas prices.

I would have to say feel lucky. My sister hit a kid on his bike in her car and mangled his leg up badly. He sped out in front of her on his bike with out looking. The opposite side is pretty scary.