Sobering and scary: accident scene

It was a perfect afternoon for a ride here... until I passed by the scene of a vehicle-cyclist accident that must have happened a very short time (minutes) before I passed.

It was on the other side of a busy road, and I didn't stop as there were at least half a dozen people, including other cyclists and motorists helping with the victim and the traffic. I have no idea how serious the rider's injuries were- but they did not look trivial as he was lying on the road. Although that was the way I had planned to return, I could not bring myself to ride that route today - it is not possible to avoid crossing over a lane of merging traffic at that spot.

I was already becoming more of a "defensive rider" - assuming that drivers do NOT see me and don't expect me, but this really made me hyper alert for the rest of the afternoon.

{{{{AZFIDDLE}}}}

no kidding.

Update to my the accident I passed yesterday. I rode with a group today and quite coincidentally, the ride leader was in the group at the accident scene. Turns out, it was NOT a vehicle-bicycle accident, but the cyclist's wheel got into a longitudinal rut in the road. He was seriously injured (broken collar bone) and will need a couple of months to recover.

Still a very chilling reminder to pay attention on the road.

((((azf)))) Sorry you had to see that, but glad the rider is pretty much okay.

I had looked for info on local news websites after you posted it and hadn't found anything, so thank you for posting an update azfiddle. Sounds like the rider will be ok with time, so I'm glad to hear that.

(Did you ride with the Cactus club? I overslept.... :rolleyes:)

Yes, I rode to the Mission with the Cactus Club, and Eddie, the leader had actually been riding with the guy who had the accident- that's how I found out what happened. What are the odds?