Editorial: I Got Hit By a Car and All I Got Was a Renewed Sense of Purpose
Posted By Thomas Bahde on February 12, 2010
So yeah, I got hit by a car last night. It wasn’t serious, I wasn’t hurt, and I don’t think there was any serious damage to my bike (30 lbs. of British steel, they don’t build ‘em like they used to). I was crossing a quiet residential intersection two blocks from my house, on the way out to meet a friend. I was fully lighted, the intersection was well lighted, and I had the right of way.
The driver who hit me had not even reached his stop line when I entered the intersection. I was ¾ of the way across the driver’s line of sight when I realized that he was not fully stopping. I yelled and pushed hard to get out from in front of him, but he clipped my rear wheel. The bike went down, but I was able to step off and stay on my feet.
As I stumbled to keep from falling, the driver crept through the intersection, looking back directly at me. Once he realized I was still standing (not broken or bleeding on the pavement), he accelerated and left the scene. Fully aware of the futility of doing so, I shouted at the disappearing car: “What the f*ck? That’s a hit and run!” as loud as I could. It all happened in about five seconds. I didn’t even get a plate number or a useable description of the car.
I shouldered my disabled bike and walked the two blocks back to my house. My heart was pounding; I felt shaky. This was the first time I’ve ever been hit by anything. I walked in the door and told my wife, “I just got hit by a car.” Maybe that was a little dramatic, but it was true.
Later, I tried to figure out what I might have done differently. I might have evaluated the intangibles of the drivers’ demeanor better as he approached the stop sign. I might have yielded the right of way. I might have tried harder to make sure of eye contact before I assumed the driver would see me. I might have done all of those things, but I was within my rights to cross when I did, and it was the driver’s inattention that caused him to hit the lighted, legal vehicle in front of him.
A lot of debate occurs within the bicycling community about safety, and most of it centers on what bicyclists can do to be safe. I’m a huge advocate of not taking chances on a bicycle, especially when riding in an urban environment. I’m about the most conservative, safety-conscious bicyclist I can imagine. And yet, it took just one inattentive driver to knock me down and then drive away as though nothing happened. Five seconds was all it took. Everything I could do to be safe disappeared in five seconds.
Until our society begins to yield some of the privileges it affords to automobile travel, those of us who travel by bicycle will continue to be among the most vulnerable road users. We can do everything right, and we can still get hit by a car. We need infrastructure that is designed for multiple road users traveling by different means. We need as much as we can get, and we need it as soon as possible. We need better public education and outreach. We need to create awareness that there are other vehicles on the road, other people to watch for, than simply those in cars.
I’m not just pumping through an adrenaline-fueled rant. I’m not angry and I’m not scared. I’m writing this well after getting hit, and I felt this way long before. I’m writing this because in the five seconds it took for that car to hit me and drive off, I also realized that I’m more determined than ever to change the way our auto-centric city and our auto-obsessed culture view the rights of other road users. I have no doubt that the driver who hit me thought, “oh, it was just a guy on a bike, and he’s still standing, so I’m off the hook.” I’d like to see a world in which more people will consider the human factor as they move through their world by whatever means they choose. It’s not about bicycles, automobiles, or pedestrians, it’s about quality of life, humanity, and creating the kind of society we want to be a part of.
Excellent piece. I especially liked the ending:
“It’s not about bicycles, automobiles, or pedestrians, it’s about quality of life, humanity, and creating the kind of society we want to be a part of.”
A very big part of the problem causing accidents is that policy makers and bureaucrats rely on a degree of risk when designing spaces and flow for motorized traffic. You experienced a fender-bender (quite literally), which happens between cars thousands of times a day in the US. Its almost accepted. But when people choose ethical, sustainable forms of movement – walking & cycling – their risk is much higher. So, as you say, spaces should be designed to account and be held accountable for that risk.
Anything close to a description?
The car had doors, four wheels, and windows. The guy had a head, short hair, and probably all the other usual stuff. I don’t mean to be sarcastic, but this is literally all I could get. I tried to get a license plate, but all I could see before he was gone was a “5″, which doesn’t do any good. Honestly, in that nano-second that I looked at him and he looked at me, I was still thinking “I just got hit by a car” and was still trying to make sure I wasn’t hurt. I’m hoping there’s some little human part of this guy that went to bed last night thinking, “oh man, I just hit somebody with my car and didn’t even stop. What’s wrong with me?” Maybe he’ll change his behavior in the future.
I’d suggest calling the police. Things like this NEED to be reported. Even a vague description is better than none. If they aren’t getting reports, how will they know things are happening?
Where were you in your lane when you started across the intersection? While there is no excuse for the driver NOT to stop when he had the obligation to do so, would an extra millisecond from being further left and more visible have helped in any way?
The same exact thing ALMOST happened to me today. I was in a Land Rover so it’s not just a bike thing…
[...] Warren Olney dooring, then again, the Culver City PD doesn’t get it, either. A San Diego cyclist tells a first-hand tale of a thankfully injury-free hit-and-run. Amgen’s Tour of California unveils it’s toughest route [...]
Karma is a cold bucket of water, I’m sure one day, he’ll figure it out. Good is your OK, with a small prize of the bike is unscathed as well. Which, somehow, matters more than anything else.
I am so sorry to hear about this, Thom! How could they just drive away? I get my feelings hurt quite easily over even small things, but this would have definintely hurt my feelings that someone would just leave me out there in the road after almost killing me. You’re much more pragmatic about it which is good. I just have to remind myself that there are just some cretins in the world. Maybe this one was on parole and his PO wouldn’t look favorably on this?
Glad you’re ok.
I know you know this, but I’ll say this again: Thom, you did nothing wrong.
Every time I have gotten hit–yes, more than once–I get the feeling that _I_ was somehow at fault. I spend a great deal of time trying to figure out things like what Steve A asked. Where was I in the lane? Should I have waited a few more seconds at the light? Should I have been over to one side a few feet? A few inches? It can go on and on, forever.
The thing is, nobody drives their car perfectly, and nobody rides their bicycle perfectly. We are all making reasonable compromises based on our schedules, road conditions, and our states of mind. Usually this is for the best.
The more I examine the bicycling community, the more I see the underlying belief that we are the masters of our own fate. This is only partially right. There are things that can go wrong that we have no control of. I think that part of being an adult is realizing this scary truth.
Anyway, not to be so long winded. The point is that you are well. Your bicycle is in good condition as are you both physically and mentally. The notion of a renewed sense of purpose, IMHO, is the best possible outcome.
Sorry to hear about the hit-and-run, Thom. Glad to hear you’re still alive.
The ideas conveyed in this piece are excellent.
Unfortunately, cyclists are often viewed as second-class citizens. Not to divert too far away from your particular issue, but it’s pertinent and worth noting that auto-centric biases are often institutionalized. Consider the California Level of Service (LOS) system which rewards automobile-traffic-engineers points for serving a high volume of automobile traffic. The institutionalized bias is that LOS does no reward traffic engineers for facilitating bicycle traffic. Why not? Are we a less important than motorists? The insinuation is that we’re a lesser class of citizen.
So, to curb auto-centrism I believe we need to (1) start getting more serious and rally behind policies that undue the auto-centric biases that impact our lives as vulnerable road users and (2) we need to utilize mainstream media to convey the ideas laid out in the Bicyclists’ Bill of Rights written by Damien Newton who helped found LA Streetsblog.
The Lose The Roaditude campaign is not nearly enough. The intentions were great, but the overall product has been lackluster. I would be very interested in reading a report that looked into how it was that certain Lose The Roaditude ads were selected and where/when they’d be placed. I’ve seen very few ads which encourage motorists to drive the speed limit. By the way, as I’ve claimed before, there is no law more commonly defied in society than motorist speeding. Speeding puts innocent peoples’ lives at risk and reduces the fuel efficiency of one’s vehicle. The case for speeding is extremely weak. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that the Lose The Roaditude campaign would focus on the most defied traffic laws in society that jeopardized the well-being of innocent people?
Are there any Bike San Diego plans for a comprehensive review of Lose The Roaditude?
*The institutionalized bias is that LOS does not reward traffic engineers for facilitating bicycle traffic.
I meant to say ‘does not’ rather than ‘does no.’