The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsThey say that riding a bicycle is good for your health. LIARS!
Coming back from a local rails to trails and turning left from the main highway to road only 800 feet from home. In the turning lane and using my directional signal. As the opposite traffic finally cleared, I started turning then realized that the car stopped at the stop sign decided to go. I screamed at him to stop but he didn't and rammed into my left leg.
Apparently, he had just come from opthomologist and had his eyes dilated. Worse, as soon as he started moving, I saw he was looking left and not where he was going.
From the ground, I yelled at him to call 911 repeatedly and said I was badly hurt. He couldn't even do that so I grabbed my phone and called, begging them to get me an ambulance. Luckily the local Rescue Squad was close by with full equipment including IV.
No broken bones but I'm in severe pain, bike broken as is phone.
Interestingly, I have a dashboard camera on my bike and it recorded until the bike hit the ground and the battery pack went flying. Great video caught everything.
SheltieLover
(79,275 posts)So sorry you were injured, but glad you're ok!
Fucking idiot driver!
Take good care of yourself.
The Roux Comes First
(2,256 posts)I had a couple experiences in the same category a few decades back, when bike-riding was still in my "wheel-house." The most memorable was a car backing out into traffic and across the sidewalk I was traversing. No consideration at all dedicated to the sidewalk! It bought me a new bike, but also an extended session of rehab.
Like they say, "guns don't kill people|"
sinkingfeeling
(57,626 posts)malaise
(294,927 posts)My bike is very healthy - its stationary😀
surfered
(12,727 posts)Hoping for a full and speedy recovery!🙏
malaise
(294,927 posts)I ride the stationary bike at home. Gave up riding on the road decades ago.
surfered
(12,727 posts)Same here😀
multigraincracker
(37,312 posts)But I'm religious about it. Every day, weather permitting.
surfered
(12,727 posts)Chemical Bill
(3,145 posts)Stay where you are and sing something.
(There are lots of YouTube videos of wild animals enjoying people singing, so it must be true)
dflprincess
(29,281 posts)When out for walks I've have nearly as many near misses from adult cyclists not paying attention as I have from cars when I'm crossing a street.
surfered
(12,727 posts)Figarosmom
(11,167 posts)Sorry you were hurt. These days the roads are so crowded and not as safe. If I can't get somewhere on just side streets I don't ride my bike. I've had enough of grown assen leaning iut their car windows trying to grab my ass or not recognizing the bike lane and bfollowing way to close especially on hills.
Wonder Why
(6,745 posts)First thing I bought after buying the bike last year.
Both our cars have dashboard cameras.
When we rent a car, I take the packed camera out of the luggage and mount it in the rental before leaving the lot.
People that don't have one are very foolish IMHO.
Figarosmom
(11,167 posts)FemDemERA
(760 posts)I couldn't find a bandaged emoji
swong19104
(603 posts)Maybe wait the hour or so for the dilation to wear off.
LoisB
(12,715 posts)MLAA
(19,703 posts)ProfessorGAC
(76,380 posts)Glad you weren't hurt worse.
Engineer where I worked retired. Was an avid bike rider, so I'm retirement he rode everywhere..2 months into retirement a guy opened his car door as he was going around the parked car.
Went over the door, landed head first and died from head & neck trauma.
Only 2 weeks of retirement!
Made me buy a helmet for bike riding.
Wonder Why
(6,745 posts)FYI, I looked up state law in NC and failure to render aid if you even suspect that the person you hit is injured is in itself an offense. He never called 911 even after I twice told him I was hurt and needed an ambulance. Law requires him to see if he can help me and he never did.
Medical sites in most states say that one can be charged with reckless driving if one has eyes dilated and causes an accident with injuries.
ProfessorGAC
(76,380 posts)Makes sense, too. They were directly involved.
Liberal In Texas
(16,154 posts)if a door opens I can clear it easily.
ProfessorGAC
(76,380 posts)I live in a fairly docile small town.
There is seldom so much traffic that one can't give a parked car a wide berth.
It happened to that guy in a similar town. I guess it never occurred to him to create more space. A real shame.
NNadir
(37,731 posts)...in the hospital, blood transfusions, collapsed lung, huge gash on my head, broken ribs.
I don't want to do one upmanship, but I will: That was my bicycle accident.
To this day, I joke that I failed the brain activity, but they decided not to take my organs lest they be poisonous.
Other than that I was OK.
After that, I moved to LA, sold my van, bicycled everywhere, for three years, my private little (failed) revolution against the internal combustion engine.
The bicycle accident was my fault, however. I was being stupid, going too fast down a hill, and couldn't stop when I hit sand in the road at the bottom. The car that hit me was totaled, (a Volkswagen bug).
There's probably nothing more stupid than a 22 year old provincial in good shape, bicycling at high speed down a hill. That was me.
Every day after my survival has been on borrowed time.
Wonder Why
(6,745 posts)NNadir
(37,731 posts)WestMichRad
(3,125 posts)
not the bike riding.
Crashes happen, unfortunately
when walking, driving, etc. Motion creates potential hazards.
Hope22
(4,617 posts)Nothing is broken and that is good but you have more than bones to repair. You may already notice other problems since the accident. Follow up with your doctor and monitor any changes. And dont sign off with the insurance company until you know for sure that all is good. Also if their insurance person calls you, refer them to your agent. I had an agent call me the day after my bike accident. I had a concussion (even wearing my helmet) and he started asking me questions about the accident. They would love to get you on record while you are still shook up. Refuse the interview.
Liberal In Texas
(16,154 posts)This is one of the reasons I won't ride on roads or main streets. It's bad enough crossing them with a stoplight. I stay in my local neighborhood or ride on the hike/bike trail I can get to in about 4 blocks or so.
I can sympathize as one who had a spill and broke a finger about 2 years ago it's no fun. The finger isn't the same and still hurts all the time.
One of the reasons I stopped riding busier streets was once as I was riding on one that is 6 lanes wide on as far right as I dared, some ass tried to sideswipe me on purpose. Too many assholes and poor drivers out there.
mwmisses4289
(3,774 posts)Wonder Why
(6,745 posts)My condition: Saw surgeon. Very professional and thorough. Each time he touches me or asks me to move a muscle, he explains what he is looking for. Hospital didn't get full coverage with trays so he did more but they were negative. Ordered MRIs of knee and hip because it could catch something CAT scans and xray could miss.
Police: Local chief wants video to attach to police report. Wants to talk to me about accident. This is the service you get with a great female chief and a department with fewer than 10 officers.
Me: Pain level the same but ibuprofen controls it.
Charges: I don't know yet what they charged him with but I found more to discuss with her
1) Driving while impaired because he should not drive after dilation, was only 100 feet from doctor's office and causing accident with injury because of it.
2) Failure to signal a turn. Clearly visible on video.
3) Failure to render aid when causing or suspecting that he caused injury or at request of injured person. That alone is a Class 1 misdemeanor. His only defense to that would be that he couldn't see to call because of dilation which is an admission of being visually impaired and not fit to drive.