Hit and Run

Claire Petersky

I was coming down Dearborn at about 20 mph in to work this
morning, 8:45 AM, full morning daylight, and was right
hooked by someone turning in to Chinatown. He didn't use a
turn signal. I could see him angling in to make the turn, so
I was braking hard.

I nearly managed to miss him. I hit the back of the guy's
car at a pretty low speed considering, then hit the ground.
Me, I'm fine, just a scrape on the elbow. Bike appears fine.
Water bottle is totaled, though -- rolled out into the
street and got run over by a truck.

The driver didn't bother to stop to find out what might have
gone thump on the back of his car. Instead, he high-tailed
it out of there. I filed a hit-and-run police report this
morning: license number 275 LUM. Police seemed to take it
pretty seriously.

There was a witness, another cyclist right behind me on
Dearborn. He was a young fellow, long hair and beard, pant
legs rolled up with bright red socks, beater bike. I was
ahead of him, then he passed me, then I passed him. I was
thinking that if he had been in front, maybe he would have
been more likely to have gotten seriously whacked -- a
beater bike might not have the same braking power; he might
not have noticed the car starting to make the turn. Better
my scraped elbow than his brain like jelly on the pavement.
A construction worker was another witness, and confirmed my
license plate
ID. The police have the witnesses' names and phone numbers.

When I went to get my bike to ride home, I had pangs of
irrational panic. I had no problem completing the ride in
to work after the accident, but I was still on adrenaline.
By the afternoon, all that wore off, and I approached the
bike with a very weird feeling. But my life is structured
on using the bike to get home, so I got on. Then, I was
sure to ride through the same intersection as the accident,
just to affirm that I was not going to be all freaked out,
and it was okay.

I rode in sort of a "letting it all go" mode in the
afternoon, feeling very easy-going about traffic and cars.
Maybe that's the head space I really need to be commuting in
these days.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato
and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm See the
books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

P.S., don't tell my mom. She freaks out enough about me on
the bike as it
IE.

Topcounsel

>When I went to get my bike to ride home, I had pangs of
>irrational panic.

This stuff passes. After bike spills, I'm always freaked by
every patch of sand for awhile. It happens with car-driving,
too. After 30 years of driving accident-free, I got T-boned
in an intersection a month or so ago, and I was freaked
every time I got behind the wheel for a week or so. As I
say, it passes....

John Allen

> As I say, it
passes....

Happenned to me last July and broke a couple bones
(fractures) Took 2 months to get the car's ID I often
worry about being rammed by a 60 mph car from behind Has
not happenned yet and if it ever does I probably wont
remember, haha

Chris

This sure does sound like a lot of people getting whacked by
cars. Let's here the others. Bring your tales. I was
thinking about getting a road bike but I definitely can't
aford a huge accident( 3 children).

Chris

"John Allen" <lavignea@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message news:Bv8vc.51958$Np3.2256056@ursa-
nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
> > As I say, it
> passes....
>
>
> Happenned to me last July and broke a couple bones
> (fractures) Took 2 months to get the car's ID I often
> worry about being rammed by a 60 mph car from behind Has
> not happenned yet and if it ever does I probably wont
> remember, haha

Frank Krygowski

Chris wrote:

> This sure does sound like a lot of people getting whacked
> by cars. Let's here the others. Bring your tales.

Let's also hear the "NOT getting whacked by cars" tales.
There are two sides to the story, no?

Do I need to go first? ;-)

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot
com. Substitute cc dot ysu dot edu]

Collin

Claire Petersky wrote:
> I was coming down Dearborn at about 20 mph in to work this
> morning, 8:45 AM, full morning daylight, and was right
> hooked by someone turning in to Chinatown. He didn't use a
> turn signal. I could see him angling in to make the turn,
> so I was braking hard.
>
> I nearly managed to miss him. I hit the back of the guy's
> car at a pretty low speed considering, then hit the
> ground. Me, I'm fine, just a scrape on the elbow. Bike
> appears fine. Water bottle is totaled, though -- rolled
> out into the street and got run over by a truck.
>
> The driver didn't bother to stop to find out what might
> have gone thump on the back of his car. Instead, he high-
> tailed it out of there. I filed a hit-and-run police
> report this morning: license number 275 LUM. Police seemed
> to take it pretty seriously.
>
> There was a witness, another cyclist right behind me on
> Dearborn. He was a young fellow, long hair and beard, pant
> legs rolled up with bright red socks, beater bike. I was
> ahead of him, then he passed me, then I passed him. I was
> thinking that if he had been in front, maybe he would have
> been more likely to have gotten seriously whacked -- a
> beater bike might not have the same braking power; he
> might not have noticed the car starting to make the turn.
> Better my scraped elbow than his brain like jelly on the
> pavement. A construction worker was another witness, and
> confirmed my license plate
> ID. The police have the witnesses' names and phone
> numbers.
>
> When I went to get my bike to ride home, I had pangs of
> irrational panic. I had no problem completing the ride in
> to work after the accident, but I was still on adrenaline.
> By the afternoon, all that wore off, and I approached the
> bike with a very weird feeling. But my life is structured
> on using the bike to get home, so I got on. Then, I was
> sure to ride through the same intersection as the
> accident, just to affirm that I was not going to be all
> freaked out, and it was okay.
>
> I rode in sort of a "letting it all go" mode in the
> afternoon, feeling very easy-going about traffic and cars.
> Maybe that's the head space I really need to be commuting
> in these days.
>

Yup, the Right Hook turned me off from riding for a long
time. I almost slid under the wheel of a monster truck.
Figuring I'd rather have a broken arm than a crushed thorax,
I just launched into the truck's fender instead. I guess it
fended me off successfully!

My boss one day expressed her concern for my safety as a
bicyclist because most drivers, in her opinion, are not
paying attention (including herself!). In a way, this firmed
my resolve to commute even more, because I am not about to
stoop to the lowest common denominator of stupidity.

I really like the hightened level of attention required to
bike around. Driving (or, if you live in Chicago, parking
your way to your destination) is pretty darn boring.

I think slowing down a little bit is a great tactic to keep
yourself on the bike. Just cruise along, and soon enough
you'll be pounding the pedals again. I did that after a
broken collarbone and it worked great.

Alfred Ryder

Chris wrote:
> > This sure does sound like a lot of people getting
> > whacked by cars.
Let's
> > here the others. Bring your tales.

Frank Krygowski wrote
> Let's also hear the "NOT getting whacked by cars" tales.
> There are two sides to the story, no?
>
> Do I need to go first? ;-)
>

No, let me go first. I have put between 2 and 5 thousand
miles a year on the road bike for the last 20 years or so,
which is a lot of hours, and have not come close to being
hit by a car. I wish I could say the same for my time in the
car and on the motorcycle. Got busted up with both of them.
The clear conclusion is that bicycling is safer than any
other mode of transportation.

Joel Solomon

Sorry to hear about your accident. I have had 2 near misses
in the past 3 weeks. Both were in broad daylight where I
was riding in an obvious, predictable way. In one instance,
I was signaling that I was taking the left fork in the
road. Without warning, some jamoke accelerated around me to
the left and made a sharp right turn in front of me. I
jammed on my brakes and was balancing on my front wheel on
about a 30 degree angle with my back wheel off the ground.
Somehow I held it together. I still don't know how I didn't
get killed.

My favorite recent experience was last Tuesday afternoon. I
was riding along a 2 block stretch of busy road that I
needed to transit to connect a couple of less traveled
roads. A woman in a Mercedes slowed down, rolled down her
window and shouted "Get a car!" She turned onto the road
that I was turning on to. As fate would have it, she got
stuck at a red light at the next corner. I rode up along
side of her and replied "Get a life, Cow!" This woman spent
the next half mile driving alongside of me, honking her horn
and screaming about "How dare you speak that way to me with
a child in the car." I thought that her kid didn't need
anyone else to learn bad behavior from.

Ride through it, Claire. Be careful, but ride through it.

Best,

Joel Solomon

Collin

Joel Solomon wrote:
> Sorry to hear about your accident. I have had 2 near
> misses in the past 3 weeks. Both were in broad daylight
> where I was riding in an obvious, predictable way. In one
> instance, I was signaling that I was taking the left fork
> in the road. Without warning, some jamoke accelerated
> around me to the left and made a sharp right turn in front
> of me. I jammed on my brakes and was balancing on my front
> wheel on about a 30 degree angle with my back wheel off
> the ground. Somehow I held it together. I still don't know
> how I didn't get killed.
>
> My favorite recent experience was last Tuesday afternoon.
> I was riding along a 2 block stretch of busy road that I
> needed to transit to connect a couple of less traveled
> roads. A woman in a Mercedes slowed down, rolled down her
> window and shouted "Get a car!" She turned onto the road
> that I was turning on to. As fate would have it, she got
> stuck at a red light at the next corner. I rode up along
> side of her and replied "Get a life, Cow!" This woman
> spent the next half mile driving alongside of me, honking
> her horn and screaming about "How dare you speak that way
> to me with a child in the car." I thought that her kid
> didn't need anyone else to learn bad behavior from.
>
> Ride through it, Claire. Be careful, but ride through it.
>
> Best,
>
> Joel Solomon

See what I mean? Driving is so boring that the cow has to
hassle you for something to keep her mind occupied. Her
pathetic life has driven her to being a butthead.

Patrick Lamb

On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 23:25:51 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
<cpetersky@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

>I was coming down Dearborn at about 20 mph in to work this
>morning, 8:45 AM, full morning daylight, and was right
>hooked by someone turning in to Chinatown. He didn't use a
>turn signal. I could see him angling in to make the turn,
>so I was braking hard.
>
>I nearly managed to miss him. I hit the back of the guy's
>car at a pretty low speed considering, then hit the ground.
>Me, I'm fine, just a scrape on the elbow. Bike appears
>fine. Water bottle is totaled, though -- rolled out into
>the street and got run over by a truck.
>
>The driver didn't bother to stop to find out what might
>have gone thump on the back of his car. Instead, he high-
>tailed it out of there. I filed a hit-and-run police report
>this morning: license number 275 LUM. Police seemed to take
>it pretty seriously.

More than anything, I'm glad you're still well enough to
post tonight. Hope they catch the jerk!

Pat

Email address works as is.

R15757

Joel Solomon wrote in part:

<< Mercedes slowed down, rolled down her window and shouted
"Get a car!" She turned onto the road that I was turning on
to. As fate would have it, she got stuck at a red light at
the next corner. I rode up along side of her and replied
"Get a life, Cow!" This woman spent the next half mile
driving alongside of me, honking her horn and screaming
about "How dare you speak that way to me with a child in the
car." I thought that her kid didn't need anyone else to
learn bad behavior from. ...
>>

May I ask: where did the incident with the cow occur?

Robert

Curt

> My favorite recent experience was last Tuesday afternoon.
> I was riding
along a
> 2 block stretch of busy road that I needed to transit to
> connect a couple
of
> less traveled roads. A woman in a Mercedes slowed down,
> rolled down her
window
> and shouted "Get a car!" She turned onto the road that I
> was turning on
to.
> As fate would have it, she got stuck at a red light at the
> next corner. I
rode
> up along side of her and replied "Get a life, Cow!" This
> woman spent the
next
> half mile driving alongside of me, honking her horn and
> screaming about
"How
> dare you speak that way to me with a child in the car." I
> thought that
her kid
> didn't need anyone else to learn bad behavior from.
>
> Ride through it, Claire. Be careful, but ride through it.
>
> Best,
>
> Joel Solomon

I must say, I wouldn't have been so nice.

Curt

Claire Petersky

"Frank Krygowski" <frkrygow@mousepotato.com> wrote in message
news:40bd2612$1@news.ysu.edu...
> Chris wrote:
>
> > This sure does sound like a lot of people getting
> > whacked by cars.
Let's
> > here the others. Bring your tales.
>
> Let's also hear the "NOT getting whacked by cars" tales.
> There are two sides to the story, no?

Hey, I've been riding for 35 years (not continuously, you
comedians) or so, and this is the first time I've had a
bike/car collision.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato
and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm See the
books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Cheg

"Claire Petersky" <cpetersky@mouse-potato.com> wrote in message
news:3g8vc.28341$3x.5282@attbi_s54...
> I was coming down Dearborn at about 20 mph in to work this
> morning, 8:45 AM, full morning daylight, and was right
> hooked by someone turning in to Chinatown. He didn't use a
> turn signal. I could see him angling in to make the turn,
> so I was braking hard.
>
> I nearly managed to miss him. I hit the back of the guy's
> car at a pretty low speed considering, then hit the
> ground. Me, I'm fine, just a scrape on the elbow. Bike
> appears fine. Water bottle is totaled, though -- rolled
> out into the street and got run over by a truck.
>
> The driver didn't bother to stop to find out what might
> have gone thump on the back of his car. Instead, he high-
> tailed it out of there. I filed a hit-and-run police
> report this morning: license number 275 LUM. Police seemed
> to take it pretty seriously.
>

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope there is some
repercussion for the driver, sounds like the police have all
the info if they want to pursue it.

Some years ago I was riding down Ballard Avenue at around
20 mph when a guy in a shiny new BMW came up to a stop sign
on a crossing street. He looked me right in the eye and
pulled out in front of me. I don't know how fast he thought
I was going, but there was no way to miss him. I was
braking with the rear wheel in the air and still hit him
pretty hard, square in the middle of the driver's door. The
stem was not too tight so the handlebars got twisted off
center. I was about a few feet from his car straightening
the bars when he got out to inspect the damage, with an
expression of dismay. The bike was OK. He, on the other
hand, was looking at a sizable bill to fix his stove-in
door. I said: "You're lucky I'm not injured, you should be
more careful." And I rode away...