Please, please be careful

[EvilTwin]

Ladies... please be careful. I had to go the the ER today to answer a trauma call. A 39 yr. old woman cyclist was badly injured in a bike/car accident. She had been coming down a hill, continuing straight at the bottom. Knowing the hill, she could easily have been doing 30+mph. A van also going down the hill passed her, and decided to turn right.... directly in front of her. She smashed into the van. Fortunately, she had a helmet on, which saved her head, but she broke one arm, and her collarbone and femur on the other side, as well as having a major laceration near that collarbone on her chest. She spent several hours in our OR getting patched up. As a side note.... please always carry contact info. with you... we had some difficulty finding family quickly. Anyway, just a reminder to be careful.
Barb

[SnappyPix]

This is so spooky because I narrowly escaped a similear accident on my commute this morning.
I was pedalling down a hill, on through a green light, van turns right in front of me from the opposite side of the road, narrowly missing me by a millimetre as I swerved wildly to avoid him. A split second earlier and I'd have been minced meat under his big, fat, scary wheels. It was so close I felt the wind brush past my face as he accelerated in front of/towards me.
I was so shaken afterwards, at such a close call, that my knees began to knock and I burst into tears (I'm not normally that emotional and have a close shave most days with car doors or impatient cars - Auckland is NOT for the feint hearted cyclist!).
As I was coming home, I checked the timing on the lights, and it seems the van must've gone through completely on red.
It was just one of those "There but for the grace of God" moments.
It makes me so angry that despite being a vigilant, safe, conspicious rider (I was wearing a flourescent green jacket at the time), I'm still at the mercy of idiots. I try not to get bitter and twisted, but it's so hard when the thing you love is spoiled every day be someone doing something stupid. Thankfully up to now I've avoided injury.
Rant over.

I'm so sorry to hear about the lady cyclist who wasn't so lucky. I truly hope she heals quickly and that the injuries don't leave permanent physical/psychological scars.

Thanks for the reminder about being vigilant - we can only try our best - I already feel like a meerkat on wheels, but sometimes we're reminded just a little bit more to be that one step ahead.
Let's be safe out there.

[Duck on Wheels]

Oh gosh! That sounds very much like my husband's accident, only "his" driver made a left turn in front of him. The results were similar though -- broken right clavicle, open fracture upper right arm, four broken ribs on right side and one on the left, cracked and bleeding liver and kidney, cut inside the chest lining, fluid in the lungs, laceration on his face. But the good news ... He was wearing his helmet, and in a matter of weeks he was back on his bike! All sympathy for your patient. May she heal as fast as my DH.

And "SnappyPix", your emotions were a good barometer of the situation. Those situations are scary in the extreme and your relief must have been the balance of that. I'm so glad yours was just a "nearly" accident and not the full impact version!

[Grog]

All of these accidents are really scary. And your near-accident, SnappyPix, chilled me out. The same thing happened to me (with a minivan, though, and I screamed to the top of my lungs to make the driver stop, which she did - I may have caused her a heart attack).

This may sound a bit strange, but in these cases I am an advocate of taking the lane. Period. There is an intersection where this happens very often around here: cyclists are going downhill and gaining speed, drivers come from behind, accelerate a little bit to pass them and make a right turn right in front of them. The drivers totally SEE the cyclists most of the time, but they totally underestimate their speed and/or overestimate their capacity to slow/stop, or just don't think and are plain idiots on the phone. So anyway, going through this intersection, I take the lane for myself whenever possible. I am riding down faster than the speed limit anyway so I don't feel bad about slowing down traffic. I'm so much into the lane that a driver just could not imagine he has the space to pass me. Or, in the worst case scenario, he'll pass me on the right to turn right at the insection. But I'll stay in one piece.

Also, if I feel stable enough, I extend my hand in a stop signal to drivers that I think may be about to make a wrong guess about my speed or trajectory (ex: cars coming in the opposite direction that may be turning left on me as I go straight through the intersection). I make sure I smile and wave or send a thumb up or thank you sign to them as I pass them to show that my gesture was friendly. (I also use that motion when I need to get into the lane and also make sure I thank the drivers afterwards... Positive reinforcement!) So there is no ambiguity about my intentions, and even the most agressive driver will have a second thought, just enough time for me to go through the intersection.

The right-turn without yielding to going-straing cyclist is THE most common cause of bike-car accidents. Being visible (wearing bright colors, avoiding to ride on the extreme right of the road where the drivers are not looking, etc.) is certainly a great way to avoid them. Being assertive about taking our spot in the traffic is another. The it's a delicate balance, hard to strike... and sometimes it ends badly.

[Tuckervill]

I visited a bike shop in Little Rock last weekend. The guy who greeted me was really friendly. Later he caught up with me coming around a corner and he was putting on a neck brace. I said, "That looks really encouraging...a guy in a bike shop wearing a neck brace!"

He said, "This is better than it was. I used to be in a halo."

"Bike accident?" I asked worriedly, and he said yes and described the exact downhill/right turn accident described above. oy. The accident broke his back, but he said, "I was wearing my helmet, so my brain is okay!"

Glad to see you walking around, buddy!

I have to remind myself that I wouldn't know about so many bike accidents if I didn't read here. I also wouldn't know about how safe cycling really is if I hadn't read the link posted here not too long ago that puts bike accidents in perspective with other activities we take for granted that are far more dangerous.

Karen

[DeniseGoldberg]

This may sound a bit strange, but in these cases I am an advocate of taking the lane. Period...

I'm with you on that behavior Grog - thanks for reminding us! I ride as far to the right as I feel is safe, but there are situations - especially coming up on intersections - where I also will take the lane.

--- Denise

[SpinSis]

What a scary story (and set of stories). I hope that woman recovers well. Commuting on Boston city streets sounds like Auckland...I always have to be on the alert. But whether I am in the suburbs or city, I do just as Grog suggested. I own the lane that represents the direction I want to turn...especially if it is a left turn (or crossing traffic). I smile, I gester largely, and put on my best "I mean business" look. And on city streets where there are parking spots--I always ride well outside of them, even when there are no cars parked. I want to stay visible rather then suddenly pull pack out with each parked car.

On a related note, I am constantly amazed at this time of year by the college-student-summer-residents of the city who ride bikes with flip flops, no helmets, and ear phones. They seem to assume that the bike lanes in Cambridge mean they will be safe...even though those lanes are filled with debris, manholes, and opening doors. Does it always have to take an accident for people to learn?

-s

[yellow]

I have near-misses at least twice a month. The neighborhood where I live is in a hilly area and because it's "residential", many folks believe that stop signs are not mandatory and don't really have their "driving" brains fully engaged. I had a near miss on Tuesday, coming down a hill, taking the lane, going at the speed of traffic, and I had someone from a side street pull out right in front of me. Luckily there wasn't anyone in the opposing lane, and I swerved into that (and locked up the brakes at the same time). Several pedestrians and other motorists saw it...but even though I yelled at the driver, I think he had no clue he almost hit me. I never saw him look in my direction.

Young kid, with other young kids in the car. We both got lucky.

I don't really react anymore, which surprises me. I get a little mad and let it go. It's a wake up call for drivers too (hopefully). I just keep my fingers crossed that they will remain near misses.

[SJCzar]

One of our guys was hit by a car on our weekly group ride last week. The accident was a bad combination of obstructed views and the cyclist's incorrect assumption that the driver of the car could see him. The rescue squad and hospital aren't too far from the parkway where he was hit so we didn't have to wait long for help at least.

I knew from speaking with him last weekend that he had a compound fracture of his femur. Found out last night that with the plate and all the screws he will not be able to put any weight on it for 3-4 months. Probably won't even get out of the hospital until the end of the week or later.

But the true cyclist that he is, while laying in pain on the road he asked numerous times how his bike was and who would be taking it home. He also had to complain how his whole biking season was going to be screwed up. When I spoke with him on the phone he wanted a full damage report on his bike. The bike ended up taking the hit alot better than he did.

We were all much more over-careful (probably no such thing as too careful) this week on our ride.