Just got back from the hospital. Banged up pretty good but no broken bones. Car hit me at 45 mph. Took out my $3,500 Trek. Paramedics say I'm lucky to survive. The best part: the woman admitted that she has hit another person in the past! My lawyer is going to love this one!

Damn! Id say the paramedic was right. Someone was watching. Hope for the best to turn out from it. After all, I got a 914 out of my last accident.

I'm really sorry to hear that!!! Where did you get hit? In Sunnyvale?

very sorry for you. Happened to me about ten years ago, hit on my road bike, broke my back in three places.

You need a very good injury lawyer. i have used the same one three times (2 auto craches my 61 Bug,and my 70 914 re-ended, and the bike wreck)

The attorney i used was very good, was able to get money from MY auto insurance policy even though i was on a bike, cause the person that hit me only had the minimal $30,000 policy he worked hard,and gave a very good rate. (he discounted his rate at settlement time)

Contact me off the posting by email for his contact info, he is local, I am in redwood city. He is very good.

very sorry to hear about this, but glad you are still with us, prayers for a rapid recovery

Here's hoping you heal quickly!

I bike to work every day, and my Trek is only worth about $800, but I know the feeling of being either not seen or actively attacked by people in cars who are either unobservant or have a bad attitude. Last week some idiots in an SUV threw a ballon full of something warm at me on my way home, hit me in the elbow. Thankfully it wasn't blood or semen, but I really can't rule out urine (ick).

I'm sure the same applies in the 914s you guys drive. (Wish I could afford one, but hey, at least I get to hang out here and look at pics of you guys fixing yours up!)

45mph hit!? On a bike? Man, I'm glad you're ok!!!

Here's to you healing up and her insurance covering all your expenses plus, plus, plus.... just start dreaming about your next bicycle... maybe that will help a little.

Godspeed.

glad to hear you're ok!

Glad you are just sore and not worse On weekends there are packs of road riders out here. They run in groups of about 50 or so. Some of them have the trailers with the kids on the back. They ride on the busiest street around and fill one and a half lanes and will not thin the line so you can get past. I know one day one of the idiot drivers down here is going to take out a pack. I just hope I dont have to see whats left

I cycle around Boston frequently. I average at least one good side swipe a year. So far the shop I use has been able to fix my Cannondale everytime. I'm not an ambulance chaser and haven't sued anyone over it. I've been able to make a deal with every one of them to cover the cost of repairing or replacing the bike or dealing with my lawyer. Luckily I haven't been seriously injured. Each time I've made sure a cop was involved and asked him/her to assist in a follow up call to make sure everything was getting resolved to my satisfaction. The last time it happened the girl that hit me pulled out of a gas station without looking while talking on her cell phone. Her father was the cop that responded. Sucked to be her.

Hope you recover quickly!

My best,
Mike D.

I ride on the road on a regular basis, that's scary stuff man! You are lucky, Cars seem fast just going by at 45 mph I can't imagine the impact . Someone out there is watching you for sure.

Eric

Now aren't you glad you wear that silly looking helmet now. Lucky thing you are not dead or crippled. The way people drive is why I don't ride a motorcycle. Why is it not llegal to talk on the phone and drive?

Glad your OK. I bike to work every day as well. It's happened to me twice, once real bad, helmet saved my life.

I Witnessed and was first on scene at a real bad one here in Boulder two weeks ago, no helmet , It was raining and I covered him up and waited for the ambulance, he was out cold and there was lot's of blood, never found out how he is doing, hospital wouldn't tell me squat.

Wear Your Helmets People!!!

Ferg.

Okay, it's the morning after and I forgot to post this topic as WOT. Sorry about that. To all, thank you for your kind words from the Netherlands to California and everywhere in between. I've heard stories about riding in Boston and TX. You guys are brave. Jeff: I got hit traveling westbound in the bike lane on Homestead Road opposite of Homestead High during the afternoon commute. I was wearing a helment but made no contact with the ground. Still trying to figure that one out. The story continues...

Glad you are still looking down at the grass...

The only time I was ever hit by a car was in England. I had just gotten there and bought a bike. As I was pulling out of a parking lot, being from the U.S. I automatically looked left. All clear and pulled out. BLAM!!! Shoulda looked right...

Glad youre ok! Back when I was riding 250-300 miles a week I was hit by some gang members as I was descending down a hill at about 40 mph. Guy leaned out a big Chevy Impala and hit me which threw me into the back of their car as they passed me doing about 65 mph. Rear bumper took out my front wheel and I did a belly flop onto the pavement at about 40 mph or so. Knocked the wind out of me. The thing that pissed me off even more than the idiots who knocked me down was somone who just drove by as I was lay bleeding in the middle of the road trying to catch my breath. Went to the hospital but amazingly nothing was broken. But man was I sore for the next two weeks! My worst crash was on the velodrome during a madison. I had just finished a sprint and my teamate dropped down for an exchange going too slow and I tried to throw him in the race and ended up throwing him into my front wheel - ouch!

My sister who was also big time road rider had a VW bus pullout in front of her while she was doing about 25 mph and she t-boned him. That was worth a trip to the hospital, but she was ok.

Those were back in the days of hairnet helmets - we were both lucky we didnt hit our heads.

Again glad your ok. So you got this years crash out of the way!

I do 125 miles a week on my road bike and have never been hit. I try not to think about it.

I'm glad you're OK.

glad you're ok... that's some scary shit right there...

Erik, Glad to hear your ok! I always like to hear when things turn out good in an auto/cyclist altercation, I personally have not been hit yet, very close though on several occasions. Cycling is my life and livelyhood. Keep on pedaling.

Taco, no broken bones is amazing! The angels are watching out for you. I'm relieved to read you've escaped fairly unscathed from yet another bay area driver. I sure hope they take away her license for good, or at least duct take tennis balls on the sharp corners of her car to avoid further damage to society.

Here's to good luck!

Jen

Erik, glad you are recovering. Homestead / Southwest Expressway drivers are crazy!

Jenny, Bay Area (native) drivers are gud. Non - Native Californain drivers give us the bad rep, IMHO. All the wacked divers I know are here from Florida, Georgia, New York or other states. Its like they're running moonshine or something, or cars weren't their normal method of transportationbefore they got here. Rant off.
-B

Holy crap! A cement belly flop at 40 mph? Perhaps the same angel is looking after the both of us!

Look at all the cyclists!

Why am I not surprised...

Cyclist = masochist.
914 repair = sadism.



I yam wut I yam an thats all wut I am....

Back from the Sunnyvale Police Dept. The Traffic Collision Report states that "The sun was in the west in front of (driver) which partically obscured her view. As she tried to see through the glare of the sun, she temporarily lost sight of Takaoka. She felt a bump on the side of the car and realized she had struck Takaoka."

Ahem, excuse me? A "bump"? I tore the fixed, non-retractable exterior mirror clean off the car. I love it how the other party always plays down the facts. Just for that, she's going to pay financially.

Also, mysteriously missing is her admission that she has hit a pedestrian in the past.

Now searching for legal represenation first.

Glad to hear you are OK. As much as possible I only ride on trails and not on city streets anymore.

BTW, did you see the Mercury News today? Smack dab in the middle of the front page a big article on bicyclists and cars sharing the roads (and the dangers and problems).

Demick

Yes I did read the article in the SJ Mercury feeling a bit more connected than usual. Looks like my accident occurred on one of the high-incident timeslots on one of the high-incident days. The Perfect Storm. Just my luck.

Wow.. she must have been trying hard to hit you. I used to ride Homestead everyday for a few years.. it's a WIDE street + clearly marked bikelane!

As stupid as it looks, I ALWAYS used one of those little rear view mirrors (on my helmet), so I ALWAYS saw the idiots coming up from behind me.

Thank God you made it to tell the tale.

Once when riding on a weekend "fun ride" The Tierra Bella down in Gilroy, some local got annoyed by hundreds of cyclists (many elderly people AND kids) out on the streets all over the valley. He saw me up in the mountains near the reservoir all by myself and went out of his way to graze me with his right rear view mirror (White Jeep Cherokee, no traffic in oncoming lane). He was going WAY too fast for me to hit him with my pump, and the little helmet mounted rear view mirror isn't worth much when your head is down while climbing.....

Same crap happened on one of the levees up in Sacto except this guy was in a pickup WITH gunrack WITH rifles mounted..

I just let that one go......

QUOTE (SGB @ Aug 24 2005, 12:12 PM)

Look at all the cyclists! Why am I not surprised... Cyclist = masochist. 914 repair = sadism. I yam wut I yam an thats all wut I am....

True..

another thing common between 914 and bicycles is that we both need to PLAN to climb a hill and start spinning up before we get there.....

Good idea. I'm gettting a mirror - geeky as it is. Thanks.

Glad you're OK. When I read the title the first thing that came to mind was "Where was Slits"?

Rest up and drink tons of water.