Got a call from my wife around 4:15 yesterday afternoon. "You're not going to believe it..."
Ugh.
Banged up but ok... she was on Hazelwood Ave headed east to Beechwood Blvd at the Browns Hill intersection, stopped at the light in the right hand lane, dude who hit her was in a pickup with a loaded landscaping trailer in the left lane on Hazelwood beside her. Light changed, she went straight to Beechwood, dude made a right (!) to Browns Hill from the left lane, crossing over a lane, obviously at fault. Doing so, he clipped her rear wheel with his front right bumper & knocked her & the bike to the road in the middle of the intersection... thankfully he stopped immediately, otherwise she would have likely been crushed by the truck or trailer or both.
She's got a good lump on her left elbow, scrapes / bruises on her back & hips at the bony protuberances, cracked open the back of her helmet clean through 2 inches of the dense impact foam.... pretty much hit the road flat on her back. Without the helmet, I am convinced that it would have been a very bad scene.
Helmet lesson for all the free spirits... it doesn't take much to be free of this mortal coil. Ride at your own stupid peril.
We're not going after the driver yet, as he admitted fault, wanted to call an ambulance (wife denied), then took her & the bike to the shop to pay for repairs, and drove her home. According to her, he was genuinely upset (but we're wondering if there wasn't something else on his driving record that he was worried about).
As a cycling safety advocate, I'm really torn about whether to file a police report or not - at this point I am deferring to her judgment.... but if it were me, I would have been instantly incensed, would have caused a huge scene and shut down traffic at that intersection for a good while; she gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. She's a fairly experienced cyclist, city riding for 20 yrs with this being her first accident.
Her attitude is - why bother with the cops, because they're not going to do anything except f*** with the other guy (who in this case was genuinely sorry and helpful despite his dumb mistake). What's the effing point anyway when you can just roll over a cyclist and kill them with no repercussion?
Seriously. If VEHICULAR HOMICIDE - whether it's the result of texting or a stuck flip flop in the case of Don Parker - doesn't carry any charges, why bother reporting a little bump on the road?
No wonder cyclists feel so isolated and angry around here. Given the events of the last week, I am thoroughly convinced that there are ZERO laws to protect us. People in vehicles can essentially run you down with no fear of repercussion. OOPS! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I DIDN'T SEE THEM! Same thing the dude who hit my wife yesterday said.
