I was hit by a car tonight

WineGlass wrote:

Dang. I'm glad that you're (relatively) ok.

Get Even soon!

Fixed for accuracy/truth.

Ah hah! Next thread - "Help design DSGamers new bike! - Death Race style!!"

Glad to hear that your incident wasn't as bad as it could have been! Make sure the bastich that hit you has insurance! I was in a similar accident (minus the bike and add a car) and the dude who hit me did not have insurance whatsoever. And upon investigation learned that he didn't have much of anything worth suing over, so I got nothing out of the deal.

Make sure you get a good attorney, takes lot of pictures of your injuries and track any financial losses due to missed work etc.

And best wishes on a full and speedy recovery.

Ouch. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Yikes! Glad you're doing ok-ish. Get some rest, play lots of games. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

This has got to suck. However, the ex-lawyer in me does smell something delicious in the water. My advice is to sue everyone.

IMAGE(http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/lawyers.jpg)

Get well soon DS, you'll be in my prayers.

DSGamer wrote:

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You actually kind of look like the Doom marine after getting into it with a pink demon. Let that be a lesson to you; carry a chainsaw when you go biking next time. I'm never without my BFG 9000 when I go jogging, though it kind of slows me down a little.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers.

A few more details now that my BP has returned to normal and it appears DS will recover. Yesterday after getting the horrible phone call and racing to the scene not knowing what I would find, I'm so thankful that it wasn't worse.

The driver did have insurance, he stopped immediately and called 911. He was ticketed on the scene for a reckless left turn and the police say he's clearly at fault. So from that standpoint I guess it's good.

The biggest take away from me is if you are riding your bike, make sure you have ID. Preston had left his wallet at home on accident. Luckily he was conscience enough to give them my phone #, otherwise they might have struggled to ID him.

He may be getting a PS3 today but he's also getting a RoadID

Sorry we'll miss you guys at PAX - enjoy!

SpeedLeopard wrote:

The biggest take away from me is if you are riding your bike, make sure you have ID.

Whenever I take a "quick ride down the block" I always grab my ID just in case. It feels kinda morbid, but stories like this one help remind me that it's always a good idea. Plus, my bike is registered w/ the city, so they could probably look up info from that.

Can someone outline what exactly the rules are for bicyclists on the road?

Most people just edge by them no matter what. I usually slow down and give them space until there's a clear passing option, just like a slow car - I've gotten honked at by impatient drivers behind me while doing that though.

Kilaban wrote:

Can someone outline what exactly the rules are for bicyclists on the road?

Most people just edge by them no matter what. I usually slow down and give them space until there's a clear passing option, just like a slow car - I've gotten honked at by impatient drivers behind me while doing that though.

The rules likely change from state to state, but in general, if there isn't a bike lane, then bikes may have two options: ride in the road if they're reasonably within the speed limit range of the road, in which case they are considered another vehicle on the road (like a motorcycle), or ride along the side of the road, in which case cars should give care when passing, switching lanes if possible to do so (much like passing a car that's emergency-stopped on the side of the road).

At intersections, bikes are like pedestrians unless they are riding as a vehicle: if a pedestrian has right-of-way to walk, then a bike has right-of-way as well. However, if not, then the bike should yield to cars. This is where I've run into trouble; one intersection in particular has a protected right-turn arrow for the right turning lane, and most bicyclists know to stop and wait for a general green light to cross the intersection (at which point right-turning cars should yield to pedestrians and cyclists). But some cyclists seem to think that "protected right turn for cars" means "bikes may now drive straight through the intersection".

The first time I nearly hit a bike was due to that; I falsely assumed that they would stop for the intersection as I had right-of-way. I hit my brakes just in time but still had to go partially straight through the intersection (and the cyclist looked at me as if I was the one in the wrong, pissed me off because it scared me badly to think I almost hurt someone, regardless of whose fault it was). Since then, I've had a couple other sort-of-close calls, but have learned that to protect the stupid people from themselves, I need to assume they're going to keep going until I see them slowing down, even if I've already passed them enroute to the intersection (that was the case the first time; dude would've run right into my passenger side door if I hadn't stopped in time).

Everyone needs to learn and remain familiar with traffic laws. Too few people do. I've yet to see an accident that would've occurred had people been following traffic laws.

Oso wrote:

Second, I'll PM you with my cell number. We just moved so I know the work and stress involved. I can offer an extra back to lift things and occasional use of my pickup truck. I wouldn't be surprised if we couldn't get a critical mass of PDX GWJers for workday to help w/ the move, but I also have a decent moving company to recommend. After using them a couple of times, I know I'll never move myself again!

Get well dude!

Ya, let me know as well. Oso helped me on my recent move, and we're doing a dump/Goodwill run on his tomorrow. Give us a shout out if there's something we can do.

Damn! Good to hear you're relatively alright. Also good to hear they guy that hit you stopped and did the right thing.

Hope your spine and all check out okay.

Lighter note: Horray, PS3!

I always bring my wallet with me when I bike. It's just common sense. You never know when you may decide to stop at the strip club on the way home.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I always bring my wallet with me when I bike. It's just common sense. You never know when you may decide to stop at the strip club on the way home.

This man speaks the truth!

Kilaban wrote:

Can someone outline what exactly the rules are for bicyclists on the road?

Most people just edge by them no matter what. I usually slow down and give them space until there's a clear passing option, just like a slow car - I've gotten honked at by impatient drivers behind me while doing that though.

http://www.massbike.org/bikelaw/stat...

Just as there are a certain percentage of car drivers that a) are ignorant of the law or b) choose to ignore the law, the same applies to bicyclists. The only difference is that you don't have to get a "bicyclist's license", so many people never even make an attempt to learn the laws that apply to them.

gtnissanfan wrote:
SpeedLeopard wrote:

The biggest take away from me is if you are riding your bike, make sure you have ID.

Whenever I take a "quick ride down the block" I always grab my ID just in case. It feels kinda morbid, but stories like this one help remind me that it's always a good idea. Plus, my bike is registered w/ the city, so they could probably look up info from that.

I was reprimanded a number of times by well-meaning old ladies in my old (bad neighborhood) for not always carrying ID. As they put it, "You don't want to be a John Doe."

Strap on a bandoleer a red shirt take a new picture and send it to valve with the caption "Friends don't let friends go without a medic."

Farscry wrote:

Everyone needs to learn and remain familiar with traffic laws. Too few people do. I've yet to see an accident that would've occurred had people been following traffic laws. :P

I've seen a couple people (one of my accidents included) driving perfectly cautiously and hit bad ice and have the car completely out of their control. That they were going 40 in a 55 zone helped, and the road was completely ice free until that patch.

What sucks is that most of the time it's good drivers that have accidents. A moment of carelessnes or distraction (or even medical problems), and you hit and injure someone. I almost never see the people acting like complete pricks that hit someone. Well, once I saw an idiot drunk driver take out the pole across the street from me. (Sucker took out my power too).

Devmani wrote:

Strap on a bandoleer a red shirt take a new picture and send it to valve with the caption "Friends don't let friends go without a medic."

That would easily be the most epic picture currently on GWJ.

Jebus, drivers need to wake the hell up. I'm really sorry to hear about this, DS. It's pretty scary how inattentive people can be.

One of my best friends has been hit on his bike twice in the last three months. The first time, he was crossing an intersection (on foot, guiding the bike) when a truck tried to make a left turn through the red light. He mostly just got bumped and scraped as the driver slammed on the brakes at the last second.
The latest time wasn't so nice. He was again crossing an intersection when an SUV peels out of a gas station and makes a left coming toward him. They hit him hard enough to pin his bike under the car and throw him up on the hood. The two women driving both begin screaming, throw the SUV in reverse causing him to roll of the hood, they then drive over him (luckily he wasn't hit again) and head back they way they were going at what a witness estimated was over 50 miles an hour. The story gets even worse from there but I'm not really going to talk about that. Sufficed to say, he's okay and his wife has now forbidden him from biking anywhere.

Wow! I wish there was more I could do for you than just send along get-better-soon wishes, but you know we're all thinking about you.

Did the guy in the car at least stop, or did he drive off?
With the picture, I was thinking more on the lines of............

IMAGE(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/mills_fokk/kanecopy.jpg)

Wow, glad you're doing ok.

Wow dude, that sucks. I hope everything heals up good.

On a side note, I almost got doored toady...

Holy hell DS. I think this officially makes 2008 a roller coaster for you.

Best wishes, and good luck.

Hey, at least you closed the house, right?

sh*t, DS, so glad you're ok!

If this was Wolfenstein, you'd be at like 35% heath. Try to avoid any SS guards this weekend.

I blame video games.