Hit by car :(

[alison_in_oh]

Sigh. Yesterday on my way to work I was trailing behind a little Honda when it pulled right and stopped. I continued forward but as I drew near the car the left turn signal came on. The car plowed into me as I yelled "Hey! HEY!"

My front wheel went under the front car tire, taking the bike out from under me. I did a good tuck and roll and stood straight up. I thought I had only bruises so I got the driver's phone no. so we could discuss reparations for the bike. But then when I got to work my hand started to hurt.

I went for x-rays and was diagnosed with a carpal fracture. I will go to a hand guy tomorrow and get some more prognostic details. One thing that's sure is that I'm not racing this weekend, however I hope to try spinning class by tomorrow so I don't lose too much fitness.

Hope everybody else is well!

[Pedal Wench]

Oh no! I hope you get better faster. Give yourself time to make sure nothing else is hurt - just the tension and stress of hitting the ground deserves a few days off and cookies!

[FreshNewbie]

Hope you feel better!!! And just like Audio-A said, give yourself time to heal, make sure everything is under check. I would add some chocolate to those cookies too

Feel better

[SadieKate]

Oh, I'm so sorry! So glad it wasn't worse. Have you spoken with the driver or your insurance company yet?

[Grog]

Oh darn! I'm sorry but glad the damage are relatively contained.

Take care, cookies and time. Give us news soon!

[alison_in_oh]

Oh, I'm so sorry! So glad it wasn't worse. Have you spoken with the driver or your insurance company yet?

Yeah, so far we are being super nice, the driver is a grad student, she's apologetic but doesn't want to ding her insurance, so she's just going to pay me for bike damage and probably my copays for the hand.

If she wanted to skive off she could have though. I left the scene without so much as her license plate. Next time I'm calling the cops even just for bumps and bruises.

[Honeywell23]

I am sooo sorry to hear of that car hitting you! People don't watch where they're going. I tell ya though, ever since I started riding I have been more careful to watch for cyclists. It makes you more aware of your surroundings. Thankfully people here are nice for the most part and even let me have my right away. But everyone is going to get their occassional jerks. Good luck with your recovery.

[SandyLS]

Alison,
That must have been so freightening for you. I am so glad you were not hurt worse. Wishes for quick healing coming your way.

[CorsairMac]

{{{{{{{{{{{{ alison}}}}}}}}}}
Sorry I've been absent for a few days hun and I Just now read about your accident! I wanted to post instead of trying to catch everything up - but.....you're in my thoughts and I'm hoping I'll read that you're doing ok!!

[xeney]

Yikes, I am really glad you are mostly okay.

And I guess I am just cold and mean enough to think that woman SHOULD get dinged on her insurance if it was her fault. Or by the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. I have a couple of relatives who seem to always being paying for accidents out of pocket -- because they have a LOT of them and don't want reports filed! My cynical hunch is that most people who have their first accident go ahead and let insurance take care of it; the people who are so eager to pay out of pocket have been through it all before.

Then again, I guess if hitting a person and injuring them won't make you shape up and drive better, probably having to pay higher insurance rates won't, either.

Good luck with your recovery!

[emily_in_nc]

Alison,

I'm coming in late as this has been a crazy week, but I just wanted to add my wishes for a quick recovery. Please keep us posted as to how you are doing!

Emily

[alison_in_oh]

Thanks, guys. I have to admit it was a huge bummer not being able to race this weekend. And then thinking of that gal whose life hasn't been affected one little bit! (She's getting sketchy about communicating with me which is super annoying.) I'm strongly considering going to a lawyer even though with no police report and no witnesses I have no idea what kind of recourse I have. I really bunged things up.

xeney, you're not cold, you're practical! It's just that I've been in a handful of fender benders, mostly when I was learning to drive, and though they were totally my fault, a couple of the other drivers were so kind and understanding that I wanted to repay the favor by being a gracious "victim" myself. I wasn't angry at her, there aren't enough bikes on the road for her to expect to see one and she was probably fuzzy headed so early in the morning -- not excusing her, but understanding that she's human and made a mistake. Now though I'm realizing that injuries are a different beast altogether, she really didn't learn her lesson, she probably really thinks it was my fault for being in the roadway at all (grr), and car/bike (and dog/bike! Poor Emily!) interactions really need to be reported more if we're going to make a dent in the poor cyclist education in this area. Not to mention it was a mistake that could have been SO much worse -- what if another car had been in the lane I was thrown to? What if a body part had gone under the tire with my wheel? It doesn't bear thinking about.

Anyway, I feel like a real whiner in the face of your injury, Emily, and I'm so glad to hear you're back on the road. Out of curiousity, how are the liability details being handled in your case?

[SadieKate]

there aren't enough bikes on the road for her to expect to see one

I'm sorry, Alison, but I have to ask how many cars would it take for her to expect to see one? Or how many pedestrians? She should have been looking before she made any changes in direction.