Some idiot just ran me off the road!

[Cookie]

And I was on a bicycle. There are laws about sharing the road with bikes. Around here, if you pass a bike, you have to give 3 feet of clearance. It was not in an area I could have ridden on the sidewalk legally. However, people were pointed and yelling at me to get on the sidewalk as they gave me about 3 inches worth of clearance. I was getting F-bombed and flipped off left and right. Finally, one car was just way too close. I would have been hit had I not veered toward a driveway. Instead of getting up into the driveway, I fell over into it. I hit the pavement HARD. My hand, knee, and head hit the ground. My head bounced off the pavement, but thankfully, I have a good helmet and I didn't even feel it. My hand is just scraped, but my knee really hurts. No sprains, fractures or breaks, though. I'm just going to have a massive, nasty bruise and it's badly scraped.

I stayed on the pavement about 2 seconds because I knew some idiot was likely to pull into that driveway (it was a business driveway, not residential). I picked up my bike to get back on to get home to look at the injuries, but my week old, $600 commuter bike was not ridable. The handlebars face one way and the front wheel the other and my front brake won't release. It has an awesome warranty on it, and the people at the bike store are amazing, so despite it being frustrating, I wasn't worried about the bike. The task at hand was walking the last half mile home on a throbbing knee while half carrying my bike. Really glad I went for the lighter frame now!

My husband had told me to ride in front of him, but I don't like riding in front that much, so I was riding behind. It was a little bit before he could pull over and look behind him. He waited about a minute for me to come over the hill and when I didn't he started right back toward me. We walked the bikes home from there. I pushed his and used it for support and he took over mine.

The thing that makes me so mad is that they just kept driving. These f*cking assholes just drove off leaving me on the pavement. Since i was busy with my head bouncing on pavement, I didn't get a good look at the car, much less the plate number. If I had, I would have so called the police on them!

I am not a weepy type, but I was spooked and so incredibly angry that it took me half an hour to calm down and stop crying. The thing that really got me, too, was not being able to see my husband for that first little while and not knowing if something happened to him, too.

[Shalom]

I think you should call the police anyway. Leaving the scene of an accident where injury has taken place is not something the cops take lightly (and I mean the idiot, not you obviously).

Not to mention, possibly the business that owns that driveway may have surveillance video which may be of help in tracking down said idiot.

[Jack]

Ouch, bummer. Are people always so horrible to cyclists where you are?

Remember to replace your helmet if you can detect any cracks or foam crush (some might say replace it anyway).

[Magpie]

Engineer says to replace it anyway! They're designed to dissipate energy internally, like a cushion. Unlike a cushion, they don't bounce back to where they were.

I agree with filing a police report. I know that generally nothing gets done when a complaint is levied about cyclists being run off the road, but with actual injuries and damage they might be able to do something.

[shankyknitter]

I also say file the report. The worst that can happen is nothing, in which case you're no worse off than you were before.

[Andara Bledin]

Chiming in to say file a report. At the least, it should only take a little of your time, and if you're incredibly lucky, they might just catch up with the rat bastard in the car.

Also, replace the helmet. After a nasty knock like that, it won't be worth much if you end up falling like that agian.

^-.-^

[ditchdj]

I'd recommend attaching a video camera to the handlebars. At least you can get it on tape and they won't be able to lie their way out of it next time.

[Cookie]

Thanks everyone. I'm going down by the business it happened in front of tomorrow to see if they had any surveillance. If not, I have nothing. It's all such a blur I couldn't even tell you the color of the car or the gender of the driver. "Some idiot who was driving on this road yesterday" isn't going to help the police any. :sigh: I hadn't even thought of any surveillance camera, though. Thanks guys!

[draggar]

Still - file a police report. They caused an accident with injuries and left (fled?) the scene.

As for your bike - it sounds like the damage isn't too serious. All the repair place will need to do is losten one thing, straighten them out, and then tighten it. My old bike used to do that and I could hold the wheel between my legs and "turn" the handlebars to go they way they're supposed to - the repair shop will at least do it correctly and make sure it is aligned properly.

[Exaspera]

I saw something on TV where a guy had a camera on his helmet. That's how the police got the guy who knocked him over.

I sure hope you feel better. How awful!!

[protege]

I think you should call the police anyway. Leaving the scene of an accident where injury has taken place is not something the cops take lightly (and I mean the idiot, not you obviously).

They sure don't. In fact, they tend to put out notice pretty damn quickly. They don't tolerate that sort of shit...

How do I know this? Well, my dad and I got hit on Saturday. We're coming down one of the last big hills on Route 22 (before the toll road), and at the light, traffic had started to stop. We're slowing down--only about 30-35mph at that point...when we got rammed from behind Some ass twinkie in a burgundy 2-door drove right into us.

The prick was still on the road, so we told him to pull over. By this time, both of us are out of the car. Seems the guy had other ideas...and took off. Now, we're pretty pissed--Dad's 3-month old car is wrecked, we're both in pain, and this pussy (who apparently was in the military, judging by the fatigues) didn't have the balls to deal with what he'd done. He literally laid rubber down the highway, and apparently disappeared down one of the side roads. Quick enough, that neither one of us got the plate number.

It was too late to chase him, so we cruised down the road a bit, hoping to see if someone else saw what happened. That person turned out to be a nurse from the local clinic. She called 9-11, and kept talking to me--I'd already nearly collapsed while standing near the car, and she was worried that I'd been seriously hurt.

Cops came, along with medics and the fire department. They checked out the car, and then said that a guy who matched the description we'd given them...got pulled over further down the road! Unfortunately, it wasn't the car that actually hit us. But, like the ass twinkie who did, he too was wearing fatigues. Seems he was speeding, and the cops detained him until we could get there to ID him. Since it wasn't the guy, he was released.

That fucking prick who caused the accident really is a piece of shit. If he is in the military, I hope an IED goes off in his pants. If that can't happen, I hope the cops hunt his ass down. If he'd decided to "man up" and take the responsibility for destroying my dad's 3-month-old car, and leaving us with whiplash. It could have been a simple traffic ticket and some fines. Instead, he took the coward's way out and ran. Now, if he is caught, not only are we going to sue his ass, but he'd getting *felony* charges as well. Oh, and there's also the possibility that he'd get into trouble with the military.

[Sapphire Silk]

<snip>

The prick was still on the road, so we told him to pull over. By this time, both of us are out of the car. Seems the guy had other ideas...and took off. Now, we're pretty pissed--Dad's 3-month old car is wrecked, we're both in pain, and this pussy (who apparently was in the military, judging by the fatigues) didn't have the balls to deal with what he'd done. He literally laid rubber down the highway, and apparently disappeared down one of the side roads. Quick enough, that neither one of us got the plate number.

<snip>
That fucking prick who caused the accident really is a piece of shit. If he is in the military, I hope an IED goes off in his pants. If that can't happen, I hope the cops hunt his ass down. If he'd decided to "man up" and take the responsibility for destroying my dad's 3-month-old car, and leaving us with whiplash. It could have been a simple traffic ticket and some fines. Instead, he took the coward's way out and ran. Now, if he is caught, not only are we going to sue his ass, but he'd getting *felony* charges as well. Oh, and there's also the possibility that he'd get into trouble with the military.

Ouch. I hope everyone is OK. You're probably feeling more sore today than on Saturday, that's pretty common. But if you didn't get seen in the ER, and you feel worse today, you might want to call your family doc and get looked at.

I can understand the bit about him being in the military and not wanting to get into trouble. A similar situation happened to me when I lived in North Dakota.

I was leaving the base (visiting a friend) around midnight on a weekend, heading to the college campus where I was living at the time. Out of nowhere, headlights are in my rear view. I look back just in time to think, "Uh oh, he's not slowing down. Uh, Oh, he's not going to change lanes in *BAMN!*" Bastard hit me at 90 MPH (I was going 55, thank the gods). I manage to pull over on the right shoulder, my CRV wobbling so madly that to this day I don't know how I managed not to roll over. I pop out of the car inventing new profanities on the spot.

Jerk ends up in a ditch in the median strip. I see someone taking off into the darkness (we were in the country). Hearing that someone in the car is hurt, my heart softens and I grab my EMT bag to see if I can help, since I didn't seem hurt at the time.

There's blood all over the wheel, from the deployed airbag. One guy has blood all over his face. There are two passengers with him, plus the one that took off. All are drunk.

Me: Who's car is this?
Bloody Face (BF): Mine
Me: So you were driving?
BF: Uh, no. Uh, the guy who ran off, he was driving.

Riiiggghht. And I was born yesterday. Don't think so, dude. Car was brand new sports car. Like HELL he was letting someone else drive it.

Highway patrol shows up, Bloody Face continues to deny he was driving; him and his buddies put the blame on the kid who took off (all three of his passengers were under age 21). Cop tells me he can't arrest Bloody Face because he can't prove who was driving.

Me: Oh, yes you can. He's in the Air Force. Call his company commander; he will ORDER this guy to tell you the truth.

Well, nothing much came of it. HP takes a report, I go off to the ER (my neck started hurting once the adrenaline wore off). The next day, I call my friend to complain about how I got hurt.

Turns out, Bloody Face is in my friend's squadron. She put the word out, and he got the silent treatment for awhile. Plus, when his first shirt found out about the accident, BF lost a stripe and his base driving privileges. Every so often I'd come on base to visit my friend and seem him walking on the side of the road.

So, to sum up, I understand why military fatigues took off. He knew what would happen would involve more than the local cops. Still hope you can find out who it was though.

[Andara Bledin]

If you've been in an accident, absolutely get yourself looked at by a doctor. Even if you don't think it's anything more than muscle strain, still go.

First off, they can find things that you wouldn't think would be a problem, and second, if (and in protege's case, when; that kind of damage to the other car won't go unnoticed) they do catch the guy, they can go after him for any medical issues that arise. If you don't get checked, you could get stuck with dealing with that on your own.

^-.-^

[Pagan]

Both of you guys are alright, though? I'm sending healing energies anyway.

This made me laugh though.

If he is in the military, I hope an IED goes off in his pants.

[ditchdj]

wow Protege, same thing happened to us three years ago. Got rear-ended at a red light. So hard, turned out, that the other three cars in front of us all had bumper damage and we all had to get out. This asshole was gonna drive off. I was gonna let him go and report his plate number to the police so that he'd be in a heap of shit. BUT........a woman from one of other damaged cars throws herself on the freakin' hood of his car as he was beginning to move!

She yells, "Oh no. You're not going anywhere! You leave and it's hit-and-run buddy!"

Amazingly to me, he actually stops and doesn't go anywhere! What if he just kept going???