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!

[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.

[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.

[DeniseGoldberg]

That is so frightening. I'm sorry to hear about your fracture (and your bike!), but I'm glad you seem to be mainly OK. I'm joining everyone else in sending wishes your way for fast healing.

--- Denise

[Lynne]

Um, Allison, I work in insurance. You need to turn that in. I work in commercial lines, but it's the same concept. My only concern would be if the fracture does not heal as it should and you are left with any kind of permanent impairment of use of the hand (carpal so I assume it is the hand and not a finger, metacarpal).

It's very sweet that the girl wants to help, but a fracture to someone who bikes as a significant lifestyle activity is a serious injury.

I hope the healing goes well and it doesn't impact you for too long. I truly feel for you-can't imagine being injured-out for any length of time. I'd go stir crazy!!

Oh, and if you are married or have a SO or even some pets...work it, honey! roflmao! No cooking! No cleaning!

[bikerchick68]

alison...how scary!!! I'm sure you didn't feel the fracture right away as you must've had a TON of adrenaline pumping thru you at that point... yikes! Ugh! I've had a couple close calls and my heart was racing for a good 20 minutes from it!

Hopefully it IS something that will heal well... breaks usually take 6 weeks and if casted then atrophy has to be dealt with as well... definitely take it easy for a couple weeks!!

Is the bike damaged bad? How 'bout your helmet... need to replace it now too? Was her car messed up? I understand she doesn't want to ding her insurance but I gotta agree, now that you know there IS an injury, I'd strongly consider turning it in... especially if the doc thinks there is ANY chance that there may be future negative impact from it...

dang, sure hope your better soon..

[alison_in_oh]

I have full contact info and if things look complicated we'll pursue this further. At this point though it looks like a few hundred bucks to the bike and a triquetrum fracture that will have me back in action ASAP. Didn't even hit my head, was glad not to have to replace the helmet!

I'm already going stir crazy though!

[newbiechick]

I'm so glad to hear you were not more severely injured ... although a fracture is nothing to sneeze at.

I am about the least jaded and cynical person I know ... I believe that people are basically good and that MOST will the do right thing given the opportunity. Having said that ...

Shortly after we were married my ex-husband was hit by a car while crossing the street on foot. The cops came, a report was written, my ex was taken to the ER ... fortunately nothing serious, but bad "contusion" on leg, lost a day of work, ER bills, ambulance bill, etc. The driver was a nice young man who didn't have insurance, he promised to pay everything .... they'd work it out ... yada yada yada. He didn't pay. More promises. Still didn't pay. My ex finally filed suit in small claims court. Nothing. We paid to have papers served. The guy showed in court and made more promises. Still nothing. Another court date. This time he didn't show. We finally had to just write the whole thing off 'cause Scott was having to take time off work to go to court, pay to have papers served, etc., etc. Don't know how much we finally ended up spending on the whole mess.

I know the nice young woman doesn't want it on her insurance. But there are reasons that these systems exist. And someone else made a great point when they said that you need to be covered in case there are longer term issues with your hand.

Guess I'm just saying ... I think people's intentions ARE good ... I also think that in spite of the best intentions, you could end up with the short end of the stick. So be careful and make sure you are covering your bases from a legal perspective. Don't mean to be a downer; just want to make sure you take care of yourself on ALL fronts.

Shelley
aka newbiechick

[trigurl]

I have worked for attorneys for years now, personal injury for several years. If you know an attorney you can ask questions about this DO, if you have anything long term you will need the insurance later. This might lead to you having problems with carpel tunnel years later - you changed jobs and insurance, waaallaaa, no coverage b/c prior condition been there done that.

Chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream will fix about anything that hurts

glad you are basically ok.

[SadieKate]

I hate to be so negative also, but did you get her driver's license and car license number? A friend was recently rear-ended and only got the "name" and phone number. You can guess where this is going. He's had to pay for some very expensive damage to his car out of his own pocket. Fortunately, he was not injured.

Here in California, drivers are also supposed to have proof on insurance with them. How 'bout there?

Have you had the frame of your bike inspected? A fall like this could have damaged the fork or cracked a crank arm. Hubby was hit at a very low speed once but the fall onto the pavement cracked a crank arm. I'd make sure that the phone is real and that you get more identification. She can always change the phone number.

I always want to believe others would behave the way I would and pay up, but it doesn't always work out that way.