Carfight! Mano e Auto

So, I finally got involved in my first bike/car collision - an event I was hoping never to have, and one which, fortuately, ended up a lot less damaging to me than it should have been.

The frustrating thing is that generally, I follow the rules. I usually stop for stop signs. I signal my turns. I generally don't ride like a nut, and I usually wear a helmet. Now, that last item isn't against the law, but I personally believe that helmets are a good idea, even if I am adamantly against the government making it mandatory.

I was on my way to the bank to deposit a check. I bank with WAMU, and there is a branch at SE 39th and Hawthorne that I usually go to. Rather than taking my usual route, and popping out onto 39th at Main and riding south to the bank, I decided to ride along the west side of the Fred Meyer on 38th and turn left onto Hawthorne. It being about 10 minutes to 6pm, there was a lot of traffic. I was sitting patiently at the stop sign at 38th, waiting for my chance to turn left. I'd signalled my turn to the car(s) behind me, and traffic was clear to my left but not my right. I saw the end of the cars coming to the right, and then there was traffic on my left. No problem, I can wait.

The traffic on the right-hand side then stopped, someone was going to let me cross the road. On my left, two vehicles were in the near (outside) lane (lane two in traffic-speak), both were turning right. I didn't see anyone in the far (inside) lane. I looked right, and traffic was still stopped, and the guy in back of me honked at me. I started out into the intersection to turn left, and looked right to make sure traffic was still stopped, returned eyes to forward and heard at least one yell at the same instant and then my front wheel was impacting a car and the bike turned and I went down. Never saw it. Apparently she never saw me either.

The car was a gray Mercedes, and the driver was an older woman who looked to be in her mid to late 50s. After a couple bystanders helped me get over to the curb (I was slightly shaken), I heard one of the bystanders telling her that she couldn't go, that she'd just struck someone. She seemed pretty calm and we really didn't exchange a lot of words after the incident. A few of the bystanders stood around for a couple of minutes to make sure I was alright, and several gave me their name and contact information.

The front wheel of the bike was partially taco'd, and unrideable. The impact had torn the cover of my Ortlieb handlebar bag partially away, and dumped the contents all over the street. The GPS flew out of its cradle and had hit the street, as well as my Kryptonite lock. As near as I can figure, she must have been going at least 20-25 when we collided. I was going maybe 5mph. My right thumb hurt, and I had sore spots on my left arm and left hip where I contacted the pavement, but no broken bones and no road rash. My head never got near the pavement, which was good because I was not wearing a helmet. Why wear a helmet when you're riding less than 10mph on local streets? Well, apparently this would be the why.

One of the bystanders had called 911 and I spoke with the dispatcher and let her know that I didn't need an ambulance, but yes, I still wanted an officer to come out. She (the officer) showed up about 20 minutes later, which I thought was pretty good for an incident with no ambulance call.

The motorist's Mercedes had lost its cowling to the passenger side mirror due to the crash. The motorist wasn't aware of that, and she'd thought I was in the crosswalk at the time of the collision. I did the right thing, and not only informed her that I was not in the crosswalk, and also informed the officer of the same. Legally, I was required to yield to the automobile, since she was on the through street, I was on the side street with a stop sign, and acting as a vehicle and not a pedestrian. I have no idea where the motorist came from - if she was traveling straight down Hawthorne, or is she came out of the side street or the bank parking lot on the other side, or wherever. When I looked left, the road was clear in that lane - I started to cross and looked right to be sure that traffic was still stopped, and then BAM!

My feelings after the incident are a bit conflicted. Certainly I was trying to make a left turn at a BAD intersection. The incident definitely reinforces my opinion that speed limits on roads are too high, and that helmets are a good idea. While I didn't hit my head, if I had, I'd have a serious head injury right now. Had my bike been 2 feet further into the intersection at the time of impact, I'd have bounced off the hood or spun off the front corner of the car - both situations would have been MUCH more serious than what actually happened. I made every effort to be aware of the traffic situation, and I started from a dead stop. I'm not sure what more I could do in the situation other than choosing a different intersection to enter Hawthorne. I can't look left AND right simultaneously,

So, I'm left with an unrideable bike, and I'll be heading to Sellwood Cycle in the morning to replace the wheel. My hand doesn't appear to be serious, and hopefully I won't be getting a call from the motorist or her insurance company. She's probably got a few hundred dollars of damage to her car, and I've got at least $150 damage to the bike, maybe more. Hopefully this is a case of live and let live.

In any case, even though I'm not sure what more I could do, I'm going to try to be more alert when pulling out into traffic - and I'll probably always be wearing my helmet again.

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Postscript: So, it was $360 damage to the bike, and I was only able to get it fixed due to the generosity of an anonymous group of my friends. The driver put in a claim on her insurance, and State Farm is looking to have me pay for it. Uh... no.

The motorist did not exercise due care when approaching that intersection, and bears some legal responsibility and liability in the incident. Not to mention that since she pays insurance premiums, State Farm has already been paid. Not sure where this is going to go, but I'll be seeking legal assistance if necessary. I'll keep ya'll posted...

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Post-postscript: My insurance (State Farm - renter's) paid for the damage done to her vehicle ($2,100 - WTF?!?) and I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket. My premium went up $10 per month. Amazing.

OUCH!

Well, I guess every year I need to have an accident on the bike, to remind myself that I'm still human or something. Today was that day - my first ever bike/bike collision. The funny thing is, I was just telling Steph the other day that I've never had a bike on bike crash. Well, I can't say that anymore.

I was riding westbound on the Springwater Trail, after passing Tideman Johnson nature area (which has been gutted by the sewer project - I hope it recovers this year), and had a good tail wind going. So, I decided to open it up a bit, and cracked it to about 27-28 mph. I was crossing the first of the three bridges over McLoughlin and Johnson Creek, catching up to a cyclist ahead of me and preparing to overtake and pass him on the left. All of a sudden, he started drifting to the center of the trail - so I drifted further left. He was slowing for the turn onto the ramp down to McLoughlin, which has a really sharp approach. I didn't really realize it at the time, and in any case I was now overtaking him by at least 20 mph and couldn't go any further left without going over the steep embankment. So I passed him on the right. Unfortunately, this was the instant when he made his right turn, and we had a spectacular glancing collision which I tried to avoid by braking - no such luck. I did, however manage to lock the front wheel and go end over the handlebars.

The bikes are ok. The other rider is uninjured. I'm ok but a bit shaken up, having had a 20mph crash with steep embankments on either side and a sharp drop to a busy road only 15 feet past where I landed. I'm alive! I remember my last thought before the crash was "uh oh - this is gonna hurt". Fortunately it was a very mild crash, and not at all like the one I had last year in February where I wiped out at the Salmon Fountain in Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The other rider and I pointed out our missteps to each other, made sure we were both ok, and apologized to each other, and went on our way. Man, cyclists are so much more polite than drivers. Then again, neither of us was seriously hurt and both bikes were virtually undamaged. Maybe totally undamaged - I haven't had the chance to closely examine my Wahoo, but she appears to be ok and nothing was out of alignment. I rode another 6 miles to work with no issues.

Details:

Crash Location: 45 degrees, 27 minutes, 34.6 seconds N latitude, 122 degrees, 38 seconds, 30.8 seconds W longitude. Roughly near the intersection of SE Clatsop and McLoughlin, about 10m east of the east end of the Springwater bridge over McLoughlin.

Crash Time and Direction: Approximately 7am, January 30th, 2007. I was overtaking the other rider, both of us were westbound on the trail.

Conditions: Dark but not full night. Visibility clear to about 20', diffuse out to about 100'. No clouds, dry pavement, no precipitation. Roadway was a paved chipseal path approximately 8' across, with about 2-3' of grassy shoulder on each side, flanked by a steep (45 degree or more) embankment dropping more than 20' to either side.

Safety Equipment: He had operating lights and a helmet, but no rear mirror. I had operating lights, helmet, bell and mirror. I used the bell as audible warning of my impending pass.

Cause(s) of Crash: There were 4 factors that caused the crash. First, I was riding very fast - closure speed was approximately 20mph. Second, the other rider crossed the centerline and moved all the way to the left of the lane without checking behind him for other cyclists. Third, the other rider did not signal his intent to turn right, nor that he was slowing down. (At this point there was enough light for me to make out hand signals) Fourth, and the immediate cause of the crash, I passed on the right.

Notes: By the time I realized that the other rider was going to continue drifting all the way left and leave me with no room to pass, my options had narrowed to A: Maximum braking (unsafe), B: Continue left onto the grassy shoulder (unsafe, and likely to put me over and down the embankment), or C: Pass on the right. I chose C, and had I reached him 1 second earlier, I would have passed him without contact, though I would have scared the heck out of him. He and I both broke cardinal rules of cycling, which is the real cause of the crash, but it would have been better had I been riding slower.

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As far as 2007 riding is going, I've managed almost 200 miles in January. Not great, but pretty respectable considering the average temperature of my rides the last 3 weeks has been 38 degrees. Overall average speed 10.3 mph, 14 rides in 29 days, for a total of about 6.5 miles per day. My weight got back up to 256lbs in late December, but I'm back under 250. I've lost some definition in my thighs, quads & calves, so it's definitely time for me to get back on the bike regularly.

Anyway, that's my morning, hope everyone else's is better!

Oh, and what happened to me? I have an impressive black spot under my left middle finger, some light road rash on my lower right leg, and a couple of bruises - left ankle, right elbow, right hip, right shoulder.

Compared to last year's hand injury, that's alright. :-D