First collision in a while...

So, riding north tonight on Clark, I had my first collision in a long while. I was riding along the bike lane, minding my own business when I saw a passenger side door open up. I started to slow down and a guy popped out of the car. He closed the door pretty quickly but he didn't see or hear me coming. He jumped in front of me as I was getting ready to stop and we collided. He knocked me into the car parked on the right and I hit the rear view mirror. Luckily I was going slowly enough that we weren't hurt and the car I was hit up against had the kind of side view mirror that collapses and no damage was done.

At first, he went running away but apparently his conscious to the better of him and he came over to make sure I was ok. I was still standing and yelled at him to look next time. I was lit up like a Christmas tree...

Grrr, thanks for letting me rant for a minute.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on December 13, 2012 at 3:44pm

Happy you are ok Kara.  I take Clark all the time and am always weary of a situation like yours happening.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 13, 2012 at 4:36pm

I'm glad you weren't hurt.

Permalink Reply by Tim S on December 13, 2012 at 6:14pm
I will often thank a driver that stops opening their door and waits for me to pass.

Happy to hear you were aware enough to notice the situation develope and prevent it from being worse than it could be.
Permalink Reply by Kara on December 13, 2012 at 7:04pm

Thanks all for the good thoughts, I appreciate it. It never hit the front of my mind to be wary of a dooring from the passenger side in the middle of the street.

It did happen so fast. I was busy assessing damage to me and the car I was forced into. I am not sure what I would have done if anything was hurt. The car was long gone and the guy was being very fishy and I imagine he would have ran off. That is the thing that I am most afraid of on the road is a hit and run...

Permalink Reply by We all have an inner Beast... on December 13, 2012 at 7:51pm

Glad that you are okay, Kara.

As for issues like that, I yell "Hey !" or "Hello !" while they are opening to get out or trying to get in. If they are on the phone or "busy" letting their mind wander, it usually gets their attention back to their task at hand. I then say thank you as I ease past them. I used to have my neon yellow Fox 40 whistle in my mouth whenever I rode (it helped me to NOT say something that everyone would regret), but stopped using it when I started riding "harder" and I started whitsling while breathing heavy and hard. (LOL !)

Every now and again I get a total jerk that wants to talk some smack, but they realize that I have slowed down to avoid either of us coming into physical contact with each other. (At least that is what I think is going through their head, while I am slowly rolling towards them on my "Beast")

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