Rear ended by a sleepy driver

[UrbanEngineer]

Got rear ended last night by a driver who said he “fell asleep at the wheel”. Lights, reflective gear, safe riding habits…none of those will stop a car from rear ending you if the driver is asleep. Thankfully his car was small and was only going 10-15 mph, so I got hit up onto the hood of his car instead of dragged underneath it and walked away just bruised not broken.

The other cyclist involved was also fine, but had his bike totaled. My bike had no visible permanent damage. My bike went up onto the hood with me while his rear stays & tire got smushed under the car.

Topic

[jrenaut]

Glad to hear the people involved are all okay. Bikes are replaceable. . .

[rcannon100]

b][color=”#ff0000″]oye![/color][/b

[KelOnWheels]

Eesh! Glad you are OK!

[eminva]

Very happy to hear you are feeling well, but keep in mind some injuries might not show up right away. Have your bike checked out carefully by a bike shop to make sure there is not any hidden frame damage, etc.

Sorry about your accident but happy it was not worse.

Liz

[KLizotte]

I second eminva.

I hope the driver was ticketed appropriately.

[UrbanEngineer]

I feel it’s worthwhile to note where the bikes ended up because if me and my bike had gone under it could have ended completely differently, as I was hit about 10 feet before the other cyclist. Not sure what to take away from this though. Why his bike went under and mine didn’t. Just dumb luck? Bike/car geometry? Clipless vs. platform? Who knows. It’s an odd feeling. Hope it never happens again.

The driver was ticketed. Not sure with what. 3-5 days is the timeline I was given for when the police report would be ready.

I already received a call from somebody asking if I’m looking into getting legal counsel. I’m not use to these situations (I’m happy for this, who wants to be use to getting hit by cars). I don’t care if you feel fine or not, don’t tell somebody you don’t know whether or not you’re seeking legal counsel. Wish I knew calls like this were coming.

[mstone]

@KLizotte 33332 wrote:

I second eminva.

I hope the driver was ticketed appropriately.

Well, first it’s important to make absolutely certain that the cyclists weren’t breaking any laws. If cyclists are scofflaws, we can’t expect any respect from motorists, can we?

Anyway, this is a good illustration of the concept of “maybe bikes and cars aren’t the same”. This could easily have been much worse, and I’m really glad that it wasn’t.

[Terpfan]

@mstone 33335 wrote:

Well, first it’s important to make absolutely certain that the cyclists weren’t breaking any laws. If cyclists are scofflaws, we can’t expect any respect from motorists, can we?

Anyway, this is a good illustration of the concept of “maybe bikes and cars aren’t the same”. This could easily have been much worse, and I’m really glad that it wasn’t.

That’s correct because in this area there is contributory negligence laws–something I find patently absurd, but they exist.

Either way, I was told by attorneys at my work in those sort of situations to always say you’re not a medical professional so you cannot give an accurate assessment of any injuries you sustained or did not sustain (unless of course you a medical professional, then I don’t know what you say).

[Certifried]

Sorry to hear you got hit! But very happy you’re OK. Getting mowed down from behind is my worst fear.

I used to fall asleep at the wheel, well… honestly, just about every single day. It didn’t even matter much how long the drive was, 15 minutes, 30 minutes… Hopefully the driver (sorry, not meant to be a pun) takes this as a wake up call and gets checked out. I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea. I wear a BI-PAP machine every night now. I can’t even sleep without it anymore. I sleep like a baby, no more falling asleep at the wheel. Safer for everyone around me. If you get a chance to speak with the driver again, please ask him to get a sleep study. If he doesn’t, he will eventually kill someone.

[rcannon100]

An attorney is likely to give you a free consultation in this situation.

Do not make any statements about this – even here (you might want to delete some stuff) – to anyone other than your attorney. You have no idea whose on the other end of that phone and whether they are recording your statements.

This is WABA’s Crash FAQ http://www.waba.org/resources/crash_faq.php

Here is LAB’s directory of attorneys http://www.bikeleague.org/action/bikelaws/legalnetwork.php

American Bar Associations Find Legal Help.

NOLO’s article: Bicycle Accidents: What to Do After the Crash

Bicycling Magazine’s How to Handle a Bike-Crash

[RESTONTODC]

@Certifried 33346 wrote:

…..If you get a chance to speak with the driver again, please ask him to get a sleep study. If he doesn’t, he will eventually kill someone.

Or ride a bike. It’s more cost effective. I always feel sleepy when I drive more than 50 minutes, especially when it’s dark. I don’t have this sleepy issue when I commute on a bike.

[Riley Casey]

Hope the driver was scared s#%*tless and won’t be doing that again.

@KLizotte 33332 wrote:

I second eminva.

I hope the driver was ticketed appropriately.

[Arlingtonrider]

Tim,

Could you make RCannon 100’s post above into a sticky? OK with you, RCannon? I think it would be a good one to have handy. Maybe it could even be edited to include the reply suggested earlier if a stranger asks how you are after an accident. That’s easy to forget if not reminded about it.

Kathy

[Tim Kelley]

@Arlingtonrider 33381 wrote:

Tim,

Could you make RCannon 100’s post above into a sticky? OK with you, RCannon? I think it would be a good one to have handy. Maybe it could even be edited to include the reply suggested earlier if a stranger asks how you are after an accident. That’s easy to forget if not reminded about it.

Kathy

Good idea.

RCannon–if you’d like, I’d recommendation starting a new thread with the information above and a title like “What to do in case of a bike crash.”

Once you’ve made it, I’ll stick it.

[rcannon100]

Tim

Ok. I will make it look spiffy. It’s always a panic when it happens.

B

[Author]

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