11-09-2020, 03:19 AM
After years of riding, and taking all of the reasonable precautions one is expected to take, I had my first accident this February. As with the previous comments about being close to home, this one happened on my morning commute, right around the corner from my office. An oncoming driver turned left in front of me to enter a parking lot for her office.
As far as my precautions, I was wearing a hi-viz jacket, white helmet, had three LEDs on the front of my bike to maximize my frontal visibility, and was riding at a reasonable speed at the time. Regardless, the driver said "I didn't see you", so despite all of these precautions, they don't always work.
Playing it over and over in my head, I think I did all I could to minimize the impact and damage. I could see her approach in the turn lane, and judging her speed, I figured that she either didn't see me, or thought she could quickly turn in front of me and "beat" me across the street. I didn't have anyone behind me, so I immediately started braking hard, so that I would pass behind her as she completed her turn. I was on my Bonneville, which does not have the best brakes, but I did my best to modulate, and avoid skidding.
Unfortunately, she saw me mid-turn, and panic stopped directly in front of me, making a collision unavoidable. But, I had scrubbed off enough speed that I didn't hit hard, and was able to aim for the opening in her fender just behind her front wheel. The bike planted itself and stayed upright, and I stayed on the seat. Impact speed was minimal, as was the damage to my bike.
I see this as a net positive. Was my reaction perfect? Of course not, but I don't think I could have done anything differently once she stopped with less than 50 feet separating me from the side of her SUV. I even got a pat on the back and a "good job" from the investigating police officer.
How was it positive? It made me realize that I'm not invulnerable. And I'm not as young as I used to be. Despite not coming off of my seat, my inner thighs did a death-grip on the gas tank, and I got two huge bruises on each thigh. And I felt pretty sore for a few days. And, I upped my game a bit. The lady who turned in front of me disputed the accident, claiming that I was at fault. This delayed me in getting my bike repaired until the police report was available, which took quite a bit of time. It was obvious that she was cited at fault, and her insurance company took care of me. I had given some thought to putting a camera on my helmet for my own "insurance", and since then, I bought a GoPro, and never head out on my commute without the camera rolling.
The interesting thing is that, not only does the camera provide me with a way to document anything that might happen to me, it also makes me realize that anything stupid that I do would be documented as well.
As far as my precautions, I was wearing a hi-viz jacket, white helmet, had three LEDs on the front of my bike to maximize my frontal visibility, and was riding at a reasonable speed at the time. Regardless, the driver said "I didn't see you", so despite all of these precautions, they don't always work.
Playing it over and over in my head, I think I did all I could to minimize the impact and damage. I could see her approach in the turn lane, and judging her speed, I figured that she either didn't see me, or thought she could quickly turn in front of me and "beat" me across the street. I didn't have anyone behind me, so I immediately started braking hard, so that I would pass behind her as she completed her turn. I was on my Bonneville, which does not have the best brakes, but I did my best to modulate, and avoid skidding.
Unfortunately, she saw me mid-turn, and panic stopped directly in front of me, making a collision unavoidable. But, I had scrubbed off enough speed that I didn't hit hard, and was able to aim for the opening in her fender just behind her front wheel. The bike planted itself and stayed upright, and I stayed on the seat. Impact speed was minimal, as was the damage to my bike.
I see this as a net positive. Was my reaction perfect? Of course not, but I don't think I could have done anything differently once she stopped with less than 50 feet separating me from the side of her SUV. I even got a pat on the back and a "good job" from the investigating police officer.
How was it positive? It made me realize that I'm not invulnerable. And I'm not as young as I used to be. Despite not coming off of my seat, my inner thighs did a death-grip on the gas tank, and I got two huge bruises on each thigh. And I felt pretty sore for a few days. And, I upped my game a bit. The lady who turned in front of me disputed the accident, claiming that I was at fault. This delayed me in getting my bike repaired until the police report was available, which took quite a bit of time. It was obvious that she was cited at fault, and her insurance company took care of me. I had given some thought to putting a camera on my helmet for my own "insurance", and since then, I bought a GoPro, and never head out on my commute without the camera rolling.
The interesting thing is that, not only does the camera provide me with a way to document anything that might happen to me, it also makes me realize that anything stupid that I do would be documented as well.