How many of us have been hit by a car in Chicago?

I haven't but my wife was. Door opened in the parking lane on Belmont near Racine. Knocked her off her bike and into traffic, a car slammed its brakes an stopped just short of her (helmetted) head. She has a deep scar on her shoulder. E.T. said she was lucky, they've seen bikers go through the window of an opened car door before. I've always been most nervous when riding on Wells in the loop because of the big El supports.

Any stories? What % of us have actually been hit or injured?

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Permalink Reply by Leah on August 19, 2008 at 7:51am
The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation has a good resource called The Chicagoland Bicyclist's Legal Guide, which details what you should do. In addition, this thread in the Bike Forums has some good advice from other bikers. And finally (more links), the Chicago Bike Laws blog is a good resource for what to do, specific to Chicago.

Overall, the key points are basically:

Get medical attention and call the police - call 911
Get driver information- name, license plate #, phone... do not depend on the police.
Get witness information - name, phone, etc.
Don't admit fault
Preserve evidence (take pictures with a camera or cell phone camera, take pictures of the driver, the scene, your injuries, and preserve the bike)
Stay calm - don't come out swinging

Somewhat related: while a camera is one way to show what happened in an accident, a GPS-enabled cyclometer is another way. I thought it was interesting that one of the Bike Forum respondents said his GPS-enabled cyclometer showed that he stopped at a light for 10 seconds which, in court, allowed him to dispute the driver's claim that he blew through a light. I've never really thought about getting one of these, but I guess it's more useful than just for speedometer/distance.

Kevin Mulcky said:
So what do you do after being in an accident?
Permalink Reply by Tim W. on August 20, 2008 at 2:58am
I was doored back in late April on Belmont, just West of Clark. A gentleman opened his car door without looking and I flew through the drive-side door window (luckily there was no frame). I landed about 10 feet in front of his car covered in glass. My right leg & arm were cut up pretty bad. Fortunately I had a helmet and gloves on to minimize the damage. I probably should have sought medical/police attention, but was in a daze. I now ride with a new sense of caution while on city streets.
Permalink Reply by natalee on August 24, 2008 at 2:14pm
so i got hit for the first time ever this past Thursday night at Damen and Van Buren. i don't remember what happened because i passed out and didn't regain full consciousness until i got to the hospital. my discharge papers said the car that hit me was probably going around 35mph. given that i wasn't wearing a helmet, i'm lucky that my only injuries are a few stitches and a fractured collarbone. so Leah's guidelines on what to do in an accident are good if you remain conscious... but what are you supposed to do otherwise? i feel like i got screwed over because by the time i was coherent enough to ask to talk to the police they were like "you already filed a police report," and handed me a piece of paper with no driver information on it. i've been trying to call the police to ask for more information, but they're confused since a report was already filed and they don't seem to understand what "i passed out" means. any advice on what i can do?

i want to find that driver. i don't understand how you can hit a girl on a bike going 35 MPH in your SUV (i remember that much) and DRIVE AWAY! what is wrong with people?
Permalink Reply by Leah on August 24, 2008 at 3:33pm
Natalee I'm so sorry this happened to you!!! I can't believe someone could do that. I hope that your collarbone heals well (and karma comes back to get that guy!).

natalee said:
so i got hit for the first time ever this past Thursday night at Damen and Van Buren... i want to find that driver. i don't understand how you can hit a girl on a bike going 35 MPH in your SUV (i remember that much) and DRIVE AWAY! what is wrong with people?
Permalink Reply by Kelly on August 24, 2008 at 4:18pm
http://www.anti-dooring.org/cyclists.php
This is a local campaign to heighten awareness of the issue of dooring.
Leah? passed along a bookmark/flyer for this site this morning near Caldwell Woods. Nice site!
Permalink Reply by Tommie on August 25, 2008 at 2:19pm
As of last Thursday you can add me to the list. Kid made a u-turn then a 2nd u-turn on Elston and Blackhawk... No damage to me but my rear wheel is effed and I have a nice big scratch on my Serotta. He's 17. I opted for him to pay me $400 within 1 day in exchange for me not reporting it to the police and to his insurance. Every 17 year old needs to learn a lesson but they also need to be cut some slack.

I guess its time for me to build up a commuter bike.
Permalink Reply by B on August 29, 2008 at 11:30am
Oddly, never in the city itself, but for sure in da burbs.

My incident should remind people to be alert at all times on the road. Aside from that I think I'll refrain from more comments until the trial is over!
Permalink Reply by Erik on August 29, 2008 at 11:56am
This past winter I was heading south on Lincoln, approaching Belmont/Ashland when a woman in a brand new black BMW decided she was going to nose into a Handicapped parking spot... she didn't have handicapped tags, nor did she look to see if I was there.

Mind you, I'm over 7' tall when I'm on my bike, and I was blinking all over the place (it was getting dark out) - I saw her tire move and I reacted by leaning into her car rather than into the parked cars on my right - this move saved me. My left arm came down on her roof pretty harsh and really freaked her out. We both stopped, she freaked out and held her hands to her face, when I started to yell at her the light turned green and she took off. I wasn't injured, just freaked out... and figured there was probably a dent in her roof - justice enough for me.
Permalink Reply by Ammo on September 4, 2008 at 4:54am
I haven't been hit by a car, but this is still a scary story. I was in the bike lane going within the speed limit. A cubs fan holding 2 cases of beer gets out of a cab in the middle of the bike lane ahead of me. I yell out for him that I am coming and he backs out of the lane into a parking spot.

Fine, that works for me. At least he is out of the lane, right?

Instead, he is yelling at another guy across the street. I yell out again, watch out and I veer around him to get out of the way. At that moment he decided to sprint across the bike lane and jaywalk, throwing me into two lanes of traffic. All my shit that was on me was sprawled out. My handlebars were bent 90 degrees off. I refractured my already fractured ribs from a violent mugging three weeks earlier, and I couldn't lift my left arm for two weeks.

As I drag myself and my bike out of traffic, I ask him if his beer is ok. As he is frantically picking up all the cans I spewed open with my front tire. He fails to help me or ask if I'm ok and leaves. So I was standing in a parking space trying to fix my bars with all the pain im in to ride home. And a car pulls up and asks me to get out of the space I was standing in.

Nice way to help a fellow chicago citizen.
Permalink Reply by Vilda on September 10, 2008 at 6:22pm
To resurrect an old topic I was hit by a car on the way home tonight at 1135 p.m. (wed 10th to thurs 11th). Corners of Sheffield, Wrightwood, and Lincoln. The wonderful Hit-and-Run driver clipped my back tire and sent me flying as he kept going northbound on Lincoln. Oddly no bikers stopped but a few nice guys from the Pub on wrightwood came over and helped my get the chain back on the bike so I could atleast limp home. Save for a badly scraped knee and elbow I'm no worse for wear at this second though I bet I'm gonna be sore in the morning. I can't even give a description of the car cause I never saw it as I flew ass over elbows. I definately used my helmet for the first time which I would rather of never done but thankfully it was there.

I'm not even shocked that it happened cause even though I drive all day I think most drivers are a-holes....More shocking is the guy that heckled me from a cab as i dragged me and my bike outta the instersection...He yelled "Glad I don't care for bikers."

Gotta get my bike chain tightened but I think my lil BMX handled the collision pretty well.

Wierdest sensation was peddling while my back tire was no longer on the ground.

No happy ending here just me cleaning wounds and posting for Chainlink/Myspace/FB...See ya on the roads tomorrow. :-)
Permalink Reply by natalee on September 10, 2008 at 8:33pm
i think the happy ending is being alive and unbroken.

Gabe said:
No happy ending here just me cleaning wounds and posting for Chainlink/Myspace/FB...See ya on the roads tomorrow. :-)
Permalink Reply by Vilda on September 11, 2008 at 2:17am
Well that is partially happy...Though prior to being hit I was alive and totally unbroken ;-) Now i'm alive with serious soreness and some cuts that are pretty gnarly...and I need my chain fixed but I still have my two jobs today...(This isn't sarcasm following) Sorry, I'm just not seeing the rainbow right now is all.

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