Happy endings after a crash

[wilesto]

Hey! I’m still pretty new around here, so I thought I’d tell my tale of woe about the pretty serious crash I had back in May.

I live up in the Columbia Heights/Petworth area, and I commute to Dupont. Every day I would ride my beautiful LeMond Poprad South in the bike line on 11th St NW past Meridian Pint, Red Rocks, Wonderland, and all of those other wonderfully hip places that young people like me supposedly frequent. About 7:45 one morning I was approaching the light at Park Rd, and checked my 8 o’clock to make sure no one was about to right-hook me. As I entered the intersection, an SUV coming the opposite direction decided that was the perfect moment to make its left turn.

As I don’t remember much of the next minute or so, I can only assume that my thoughts were “How dare that vehicle get in my way! I will teach it a lesson and ride straight through it like the Juggernaut that I am!”

Well, I woke up on the ground with the driver & other bystanders wiping up my blood and waiting for paramedics. Perhaps luckily, the SUV-nature of the vehicle meant that I didn’t go flying through the air over ther car, which at 6’4″ is a real possibility with a sedan, and instead I went *splat* into the side and fell like a slab of meat to the pavement. I ended up with a seriously broken collarbone (required surgery + titanium plate) along with 6 stitches in my chin and 14 in my ear, but no road rash! How wonderful. Oh, and the Poprad was totalled.

Nasty scars and bionic attachments aside, I’m pretty much back to normal and back to normal and on my spiffy new CrossCheck (thanks, GEICO!). The real takeaway from everything was the fantastic treatment I experienced, from the driver herself, good samaritans, and the paramedics, nurses, and doctors who treated me, but most especially from the MPD officer who ticketed the driver AT THE SCENE. How wonderful is that? I haven’t once been questioned about fault or the legitimacy of my insurance claims.

So here’s my question for everyone else is this: We hear all the time about bikers being mistreated and wrongly ticketed when they are in fact the victims, but how many stories are there like mine with a happy ending? I guess “happy” is a relative term, but you know what I mean. Any other good-ending stories out there?

p.s. If you guys are interested, I’ll post some pics of the bent-up bike frame

Topic

[JorgeGortex]

All I can say is that I’m glad it came out OK in the end and you are here to talk about! I admit, your story sounds like a fairy tail ending compared to most. Cheers.

ps- cool photos are, well, always cool!

[wilesto]

Here’s a few pictures of the damage to my bike. The bent steel in the pics is the easiest damage to see, but my brifters/handlebars/front wheel were bent up as well.

The impact was almost directly head-on and I was probably going about 15mph, maybe more.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1573[/ATTACH] The downtube folded underneath as the headtube was pushed back. Yikes!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1574[/ATTACH] It’s a little out of focus, but the headtube was dented around the top tube as well.

Any other stories? I know it’s a little grim, but I do like to hear other crash stories so I have a better chance of avoiding them myself.

[Timur]

Glad your crash worked out well for you, although the injuries sound rather painful.

I was hit by an SUV just two weeks ago (posted here about it already), but my accident was rather minor compare to yours. But, I still got a new full carbon fuji 2 professional (and a cheapo mountain bike) out of the deal. I don’t know about you, but I avoid the road where I was hit from now on, and I am extremely cautious when riding in general. Seeing a big SUV heading your way when you are locked into the pedals of a 25 pound frame that you balance with your own body is quite scary…

P.S. “happy endings” may be poor phrasing. I for once through that GEICO truly went above AND beyond when responding to your claim…

[DismalScientist]

My last, and only, car/bike crash was similar to yours. Happened about 35 years ago. I got left hooked. Left turns were illegal at that intersection. Can’t say I remembered it, even at the time. I went to the emergency room and had a mild concussion. I got my front wheel trued for the effort. Those old Le Tours are tanks: there was no other damage. I probably put a good dent in the lady’s rear quarter panel. As expected, no problems with insurance.

Left hooks are the hardest crashes to avoid. You just need to make yourself seen.
(Right hooks are easier to avoid: just don’t put yourself in situations when it can happen.)

[krazygl00]

I was lured to this thread by the phrase “Happy Endings”. I am sorely disappointed.

[eminva]

Well, since you live in the Columbia Heights/Petworth area, and that is where I had my one and only dooring, here goes if it can help you or anyone else.

This happened just a few weeks into my fledgling bike commuting career. I was riding north on 14th Street NW in the bike lane, on one of those four block long uphill stretches (I think it was north of Spring Street a couple of blocks). I was scanning the row of parked cars to be alert for possible doorings. However, as a new commuter on a heavy hybrid on a long hill, I was probably going about 6 mph. That should have given me plenty of time to see cars arriving into spaces and anticipate a driver exiting the vehicle. You can imagine my surprise when, near the summit of the alpine climb (well, that’s what it felt like at the time), a door was suddenly flung into my path. I guess the guy had parked a while earlier and had been sitting in the car on the phone or doing paperwork or something. Because of my slow speed, no harm was done to me or my bike, although a pannier bungee broke and the pannier went flying. The driver was super apologetic and friendly.

Since then, I may ride in the bike lane, but I’m usually a little farther to the left if cars are parked to my right. I try to stay out of the door zone.

Liz

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I don’t believe any of that story. It’s like some sappy, impossibly optimistic Disney movie. Like the Apple Dumpling Gang.

[Author]

Replies