Anyone ever hit a pedestrian?

greentyres

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

nitrous

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).

DarrenT

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???

Glowingrod

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.

greentyres

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.

thestretch

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.

drdoug

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.

bikeguy2

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.

greentyres

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

greentyres

i know, i know!
MOST people, sorry.

bikeguy2

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.

jcafcw

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.

bentupright

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) . I can't get THAT kind of cooperation out of many SIGHTED pedestrians !

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??

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

Lord Chambers

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!