Sometimes, good lane positioning (being at least three feet away from the curb or painted line), good visibility (bright colors, reflectors and lights) and good reflexes just aren’t enough to prevent a crash.
On Leah’s way home from work the other night, a giant SUV darted in front of her as she was riding down Florida Avenue in central Tampa. No turn signal — no warning. The SUV made a hard right turn just in front of her, and Leah got to experience firsthand the dreaded “right hook”. Grabbing a fistful of brake wasn’t enough…and Leah bounced off the rear fender of the truck before going down. The momentum of the collision carried Leah with the truck into the turn, keeping her from falling out into the travel lane of the busier road. She’s ok, though…just some scrapes, a deep bruise on her elbow and a smaller one on her hip. She’s still gung-ho to ride, but related to me that when the truck’s driver stopped to see if she was alright, it was less out of concern that she might have hurt someone and more out of concern that she might get into trouble for her actions. Nice, huh?
Leah was so stunned by the incident that she didn’t think to get the license plate or name of the driver. No one else was around and it was getting dark, so a couple salty words were exchanged and both parties went their separate ways.
So, everyone, let’s be careful out there — all the preparation in the world cannot prevent every collision. And remember, if something like this happens to you, PLEASE have the presence of mind to exchange information with the driver or at least try to get the complete license plate of the offending vehicle, followed by a call to your local law enforcement agency to report the incident.
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