One of our readers was hit by a car

May 5th, 2008 by Moe · 32 Comments

David Bates sent us this disturbing email last Sunday, thankfully he is OK and lived to tell us about it:

I had a rather dramatic Friday night and thought it would be of interest to the bikecommuters.com readers. Editors feel free to whittle down whatever you feel necessary. My name is David Bates and I comment under the name Jamis_Bater.

This past Friday I rode in to work like any other day. A group of guys took off early that day to go see Iron Man. It’s a sweet movie, two thumbs way up. Anyway, I rode to the theater 9 miles away. After the movie I had planned on riding home, but realized I forgot my garage door opener at work and had no other way in to my house. So I returned to the office to retrieve it.

About a mile from work I was heading down a hill and picking up speed quickly. I moved to the center of the lane as I was moving past some parallel parked cars on the side. As I was approaching an intersection up ahead I could see an SUV in the opposite lane slowing to take a left. It appeared that he saw me and was waiting for me to pass. There was also a red car at the intersection to my right ready to pull out across my path. I wasn’t quite sure if she could see me through the parked cars. So I had my attention on her as I was preparing to grab a handful of brake just in case. As I came past the cars I could see that she had seen me and was waiting, when all of a sudden out of my left vision I saw the SUV come right into my path.

I was traveling about 20-25 mph at the time. I had almost no time to react. I grabbed the brakes and stood up and a bit to the back. It happened so fast that all I thought was “this is gonna hurt bad.” I slammed into the side of his truck which was at a slight angle to me. He later admitted that he saw me at the last second and foolishly slammed on the brakes. That works OK if you are about to rear end someone, but not so much if you are crossing the path of oncoming traffic. I hit his truck midway, slid down the side of it, and was shot out the back. I landed on my rear in the middle of the intersection.

I’ve never hit anything so hard in my life, I was probably still going at least 20 mph. I think standing up on the pedals may have saved me from a closed head injury. I still slammed my face pretty hard on his truck, but it hit on the roof and not against the side where I’m sure I would have broken my neck. My shoulder, chest, right thigh, and right foot took most of the force against the side of his truck. In the photo I think you can see a dent in the roof-line that my shoulder made.

I never lost consciousness. I landed on the ground facing the rear of the truck. I watched the driver continue through the intersection and stop. I saw him jump out and saw a bunch of bystanders come running to help me out. I sat there on the ground for a while just slowly checking to see if everything was OK. I hurt, but not like anything was broken. Everything moved OK. So I stood up on my own, and was helped a bit to a corner. Someone took my bike to another corner, so I walked over to there. I couldn’t believe nothing was broken. I thought for sure just before impact that I was gonna break something, but nothing was broken. I’ve never broken a bone, so I was strangely thinking “well at last I’ll get to experience that.” I thought for sure I’d broken my nose or lost some teeth, but those were fine too. I was bleeding bad out the nose, but that was pretty much it for parts that were bleeding. I was hurt, but actually quite OK. I was pretty shocked. At some point I stood up and grabbed my phone from my trunk bag. I walked over and used the camera to take a shot of his license plate, and the damage to the side of his truck.

Now for the driver—I was obviously angry, but I didn’t want to get into it with him. But then he started in with the tired old “Are you OK man? I didn’t see you. I had no idea you were there until it was too late.” That’s when I laid in to him. I just looked at him and said firmly “I’m wearing a bright yellow vest, coming down the center of the lane, and was right in front of you. You didn’t see me because you didn’t bother to pay attention. You should try looking.” He was less than willing to accept his negligence and just kept saying “Look, it was an accident. I didn’t mean to hit you.” I got really hot at that. I told him I didn’t care if he meant to do it, he still did it. He wasn’t paying attention and almost killed me. He shot back with “you act like I meant to do it. I guess you aren’t the type that can accept an apology.” I really couldn’t believe it. My nose is gushing blood and he wants to chastise me because I’m not quick to absolve him of his guilt. I stopped talking to him and he went a few steps away.

One of the ladies that stopped to help me was a nurse. She took good care of me until she realized I was OK and the police had shown up. Paramedics also arrived and looked me over. I told them I didn’t think I needed to go to the emergency room. They couldn’t believe I was OK either. The police took our statements, to his credit the driver admitted to everything, and got a ticket. Everyone who saw it happen had this huge stare on their faces, like I should be in pieces. It was kind of funny and annoying at the same time.

I looked at my bike expecting the worse and found it to be in good shape too. The handlebars were headed in the wrong direction, so I straightened that out. Other than a nasty scratch on the right fork leg everything seemed to be fine. So I got back on it and rode to work like I had intended. That was one of the weirdest parts of the night. I was riding away from the wreck. People were offering me rides, but I figured “I’m actually OK, so why not?” I got my garage opener, then rode seven miles home. That was probably a good thing. It kept me loose and helped keep the blood flowing to my bruised up muscles. I’ve taken my bike to the shop for them to take a good look at. I think the right pedal got tweaked and the front derailler is bent.

For some added irony, that night on that road our city was having what is called “First Friday Art Walk.” All the art galleries and restaurants coordinate on the first Friday night of each month. It’s very popular in our town. This particular night being in May was being used to showcase bicycle awareness and advocacy. Advertisements were posted everywhere to encourage people to bring their bikes and ride the road I got smashed on.

It’s now a couple of days later and I feel OK. Any serious injury should have surfaced by now. I’m still very sore, but more like I feel when I do a heavy lifting workout or something. My neck hurts a bit and I have a slight headache which I will keep an eye on. But really with Tylenol I’m feeling good.

I’m a religious man, and I thank God for sparing me. Whether He miraculously spared me or just made me a rather flexible guy that can take a hit really doesn’t matter. I am just thankful that I was able to get up and ride away. Never let it be said though that roadies are a bunch of Lycra clad pansies. I slammed in to the side of a truck, got up, and finished my ride. I’m kinda proud of that.

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32 responses so far ↓

1 Arnie // May 5, 2008 at 9:18 am

Damn….I glad to read you’re ok. God indeed spared you from serious injury. Kudos to you for remaining composed and having the good thought of using your camera phone to document his license plate!
2 Tom // May 5, 2008 at 9:55 am

Buy a lottery ticket. You should be dead.

Thanks for the story. It’s always good to be reminded that cyclists are only stealth “moon-walking bears”. As much as we try to make ourselves visible there is nothing we can do for normal inattention on the part of drivers.

By the way, I’m glad you read him the riot act. I’m sure it made him even more sorry and he will never do it again.
3 Michael // May 5, 2008 at 10:03 am

Thank God you are ok. That must have been really scary. I hope you recover quickly, we need you to keep carrying the torch for all of us commuters and roadies alike. Mike

(bikejournal.com)
mjschlei - commuter
mschlei - roadie
4 RL Policar // May 5, 2008 at 10:09 am

Oh man…I would have gone ape nuts on this guy….I’m surprised you didn’t go after him!
5 Elijah // May 5, 2008 at 10:18 am

yikes! I just got hit by a car a couple weeks ago. I was riding in the bike lane, when a car that was next to me decided to turn right into a driveway. I yelled at him through his open window right before I went over the hood of his car and onto the sidewalk. I got bruised up and scraped my hand, but was ok. I had a really hard time controlling my anger, but he was genuinely concerned and sorry, so I didn’t tear into him. He even offered me money, but I could tell he wasn’t exactly wealthy, so I told him it was fine. Both my wheels were out of true, but good enough to ride home, and my handlebars were crooked. Whew.
6 Erik Hovland // May 5, 2008 at 10:26 am

I hate to ask. But I need to know to satisfy my own curiousity. Did you have any active lighting (headlamp)? Was it twilight or at night?
7 Jamis_Bater // May 5, 2008 at 10:28 am

RL, He was bigger than me. He had forearms like Popeye and the adrenaline was wearing off.

I should add that I decided to approach the guy after I had calmed down. I shook his hand and let him know that even though I was banged up and still quite angry, I could at least appreciate that he stopped to help, and admitted to the wrongdoing to the police. I could see that meant a lot to him. His eyes got quite red and he apologized like crazy at that time. I’m pretty upset still when I think about him, but realize that I could have been him just fifteen years ago when I didn’t ride.
8 Jamis_Bater // May 5, 2008 at 10:35 am

Erik, it was 5:30 PM and full sun. I wondered if a headlight would have helped, but I doubt it.
9 RL Policar // May 5, 2008 at 10:39 am

So will his insurance pay for any damages to your bike?

RL
10 Donald // May 5, 2008 at 11:05 am

Wow, crazy story. You’re lucky, not only that you’re alive but that the driver stopped at all. Many kudos for continuing the ride. You should look into getting some sort of a horn for your bike, it seems to help me sometimes. It sounds like you handled the whole situation like a saint (both in the respect of being immortal and dishing out the right amount of righteous anger and mercy =P).
11 ragged claws // May 5, 2008 at 11:48 am

While I am an athiest myself and I feel compelled to point out that it would have been nicer of some hypothetical omnipotent being to have given the truck a flat ten minutes before the intersection where he hit you, I still–moronically–want to thank something or someone that you escaped with relatively minor injuries. In any case, I am very happy that you are alright.
12 Jamis_Bater // May 5, 2008 at 12:29 pm

I hear you ragged claws. Christians, which I am, certainly don’t corner the market on “thankfulness,” some don’t even display it. But that’s for another blog.

Donald, I’m not sure about the horn. I had almost zero time to react. So unless I was just blaring a horn while approaching on the off chance…well I’d just be blowing the thing for nearly all seven miles of my commute.
13 Clancy // May 5, 2008 at 12:40 pm

Glad you are okay. I am not doubting you or your story but would like some further clarification. Was the intersection controlled-lights,stopsigns, 2-way or 4-way?
14 Jamis_Bater // May 5, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Clancy, I had just come from a red light about 1,000 feet behind me, and this intersection was without a light. The road I was on did not stop at the intersection. The red car was stopped at a 2 way stop sign and the truck I hit was crossing my lane to make a turn onto the other road.
15 Jamis_Bater // May 5, 2008 at 1:02 pm

RL, As for damages to my bike…we’ll see. There really wasn’t much terribly wrong with it. It’s a 2001 steel Jamis Ventura, steel is real…real strong. Considering what could have occurred, I would hope that the insurance will cut a check without batting an eye. But who knows?! I believe the front derailler is bent out of shape as I can’t get on to the large chain ring. My pedal is tweaked ever so slightly, it feels like my ankle is rotating a bit on each pedal stroke. The guys at my LBS are checking it out carefully.
16 trafficcasarus // May 5, 2008 at 1:17 pm

can you link to a map online like google maps to show where you were?
17 joe // May 5, 2008 at 2:56 pm

Jamis_Bater,

I have to ask in what state did this occur? i live in burlington VT and we have the friday art walk here. if it was in VT what was the intersection?
18 Jamis_Bater // May 5, 2008 at 5:38 pm

I should have mentioned that before, but I live in Springfield, Missouri.
19 wannaCmore // May 5, 2008 at 7:04 pm

Jamis- 1)Glad you’re ok, 2)Go see a chiropractor, 3)you’re lucky that you were able to ride off. If you hadn’t, you would probably need something stronger than just Tylenol.
20 tad // May 6, 2008 at 4:57 am

Biking home after that accident? David, YOU are Ironman! I’m glad you’re okay. It’s a real shame to hear about accidents like these but in any case, they serve as very potent reminders. No cyclist can afford to be complacent! Thanks for sharing and good luck for a speedy recovery. I’ll be extra vigilant at intersections today…
21 Mike Myers // May 6, 2008 at 9:32 am

I was hit by a truck. My bike was damaged, so I gave it to my LBS for an insurance estimate. They wrote everthing they found and the insurance company paid me without batting an eye. They are totally unfamiliar with higher end bicycles so they didn’t question the estimate at all.

Worked out WAY in my favor.
22 Avi // May 6, 2008 at 9:50 am

I’m glad you’re OK, and this reminds us to be alert at all times, but i do have one question.

where do you get insurance for your bike?
23 Mike C // May 6, 2008 at 10:09 am

“where do you get insurance for your bike?”

It’s usually through your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. Check your deductable, too–my $500 deductable didn’t cover anything when a city bike I had was stolen a while back (bike cost $499 off ebay…). Save receipts for bike plus any upgrades.
24 Avi // May 6, 2008 at 10:11 am

Thanks Mike.

Avi
25 Mike Myers // May 6, 2008 at 10:15 am

The driver’s insurance company paid me.
26 Jamis_Bater // May 6, 2008 at 10:48 am

I’m learning as I go on insurance. One thing Missouri does is that my health insurance will pay for my medical costs (at my discounted rate) and his auto insurance will pay my medical costs to me (at the non-discounted rate). I’m learning, but it sounds like money could be coming my way from all this. It’s our state’s way of paying out the pain and suffering stuff. I don’t know the full story yet though.

Basically I’m getting paid for getting my butt kicked.
27 Pete D. // May 6, 2008 at 11:58 am

God bless, hope all is well. Very cool to not walk away, but ride away. You are ironman.
28 RL // May 6, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Mr. Bater, Since so many people have said it, I think you should change your name/handle on the site to be “Iron Man.”
29 Jamis_Bater // May 6, 2008 at 2:30 pm

Done. I’ll post as Iron Man from now on. I’m definitely naming my bike that. It’s already red.

I have found a couple of sites for cyclists on what to do in case they get hit. How to handle the insurance, when to get a lawyer. I’ve only started in with the insurance and I’ve yet to contact the driver’s company. This is all so strange. I’m not looking for a lottery ticket, but I just want to make sure that my expenses are covered.

http://bikeportland.org/2006/01/12/what-to-do-if-youve-been-hit/

http://bicycleaustin.info/justice/whattodo.html

http://www.dot.state.co.us/bikeped/Manual/08%20Crash%20Information.pdf
30 Johnny // May 6, 2008 at 5:19 pm

I think what is most impressive is how you kept your cool in not throwing you bike at the driver. I’m serious. I wouldn’t have the strength to not throw something after what happened to you.
31 Iron Man // May 7, 2008 at 5:57 am

I’ve got the new tag going. I’m no fighter by any stretch, I was always the kid that could clown his way out of a fight or have my older brother beat the snot out of the guy. But I was so hepped up on adrenaline that I had considered taking a swing at the guy…until I saw his Popeye sized forearms. The guy was rather ripped and I was already behind in the count. So I settled for giving him the stink-eye.
32 Johnny // May 7, 2008 at 7:56 am

Dang, I meant “youR bike”.