Have you ever had a collision with a car on your bike?

Kieran_Burns

Had a few near misses and this near hit:

http://youtu.be/HRBQq1jQlNU?hd=1

Just brushed my bars with the rear wing (you'll need sound to be able to understand it all - SAFE for work, there is no swearing. Honest.)

B3rnieMac

Yup, got doored by a female doctor, was only going about 17mph or so but ended up with the shape of the door on my chest. Luckily for me, a traffic cop was across the road getting coffee and saw the whole thing, laid the blame squarely with her.

Completely buckled my front wheel, it was a bog standard aluminium Scott at the time with hefty wheels on, LBS managed to get me a set of ksyriums out of it :-D

Best (and only thank god) crash ever.

what brakes

I had one where a car pulled onto my side and hit me headon as he wanted to park on my sid of the road.
hurt my head and my knee.
finally having an op to repair the cartilidge on my right knee, then need to get op done on my tendon, however my left knee is killing me too now exactly where one of the probs are with my right knee (cartilidge) so i will have to see docs for them to look into this so god knows how long that will take as i had the acident march 10!

tigerben

Just the one and minor at that

Hit car on blind bend on narrow country lane - both driver and I were in middle of road so not sure who was to blame.

No real damage done as car was going sufficiently slow to stop and I managed to scrub off most of my speed so ended just bumping the front of car and falling to the side.

No harm to me (only my pride) - I think I may have damaged the car but driver drove off before I had time to collect my wits together

tigerben

Just the one and minor at that

Hit car on blind bend on narrow country lane - both driver and I were in middle of road so not sure who was to blame.

No real damage done as car was going sufficiently slow to stop and I managed to scrub off most of my speed so ended just bumping the front of car and falling to the side.

No harm to me (only my pride) - I think I may have damaged the car but driver drove off before I had time to collect my wits together

wisecrack

Yes car turned infront of me causing me to fly into the windscreen and through the air like an untrained swan :shock:

Broke my ribs in eleven places front and back, rib through lung, broken scapula, broken bones in my back and lacerations to my stomach etc.

rf6

Once at 8 years old. T-boned by a car, thrown over it and onto the road.

Only independent witness was one of Strathclyde Police's finest on foot patrol.

Driver failed to stop, but was identified by the copper. Not sure what happened, but remember the police coming out to speak with me and think he went to court. I was very lucky by all accounts. Don't think I'd bounce that well these days.

balthazar

First- I rode into the back of a Maxi, showing off. Luckily, they were built so poorly that the extra panel-shaping incurred by my impact went unnoticed, on inspection. Had the driver taken a "hooligan" perspective, he'd have been justified.

Second- the usual. I was 14-15. A driver pulled her car out from a side road into my path, hesitated, panicked, and floored it at the last (worst) moment. I left my bike neatly at the offside wing and landed a few feet to her left. I was young, bendy, and unbroken. She was old enough to know better than to leave a child by the side of the road with no more than a brief "are you ok?.. good... right then".

Third- A small white van accelerated hard to overtake a bicycle courier, then braked even harder to turn left immediately in front, initiating events thus: the cyclist hit the van, bent his bike, got totally fed up with being a courier anyway because he was spending more on food than he was earning, gave up dreams of being a fearsome road warrior, and went back to gentle jobs in the arts.

mattv

Once, a little old lady drove over me as we both pulled out of a carpark onto a dual carriageway. She was behind me to begin with, then finally stopped when the frame of my MTB was crushed onto my leg under her peugeot. I now have an impression of that bike on my shin forever and get cramps in the damaged muscle behind it when its cold.

Dave SS

I was hit by an uninsured driver that fled the scene after sending me flying over the bonnet and onto the tarmac hard at about 20mph. Numerous witnesses got the reg of the car but no trace could be found when the police tried to trace said owner.

I claimed on my own insurance for damage to the bike - courtesy of a very helpful LBS that itemised the damage - and with the help of a local solicitor the Motor Insurance Bureau settled the claim 18 months-2 years later after several physical examinations confirming the physical damage and covering the wages I'd lost in the two weeks off work.

No permanent damage to myself, thankfully, but the bike - a Klein - snapped for no apparent reason at the rear chainstay several years later. Replaced under warranty before Klein disappeared completely

mattv wrote:

Once, a little old lady drove over me as we both pulled out of a carpark onto a dual carriageway. She was behind me to begin with, then finally stopped when the frame of my MTB was crushed onto my leg under her peugeot. I now have an impression of that bike on my shin forever and get cramps in the damaged muscle behind it when its cold.

I wince just thinking about ending up underneath a car :shock:

john_kline

Last serious one was about 20 years ago. Driver approaching me from opposite direction turned right, right in front of me. Remember flying through the air and squashing apple pies in my back pockets. Everything on bike more or less bent. He willingly coughed up the full replacement cost admitting it was his fault, although he did say he didn't see me until the last minute because "I was so thin...!"

mattv

Somehow I went under the side of the car, hit my head on the door. I think she turned over me.. Will always remember it though!

elmsallmissile

John Kline wrote:

Last serious one was about 20 years ago. Driver approaching me from opposite direction turned right, right in front of me. Remember flying through the air and squashing apple pies in my back pockets. Everything on bike more or less bent. He willingly coughed up the full replacement cost admitting it was his fault, although he did say he didn't see me until the last minute because "I was so thin...!"

Should've ate all the pies

max888

One near running over when an Addison Lee Ford S-Max mini cab decided to reverse suddeny back down a one way street. He only stopped once I was punching his back window while sliding down the road.

Another time a dopey woman stopped dead after a speed bump and then indicated to turn right. The road was very greasy as it'd been raining and so my attempt at stopping was ineffective to say the least. I skidded over the speed bump and hit the car sideways.
No damage to the car or bike. A bit of bruising to me, shock more than anything. It happened 500m from home so I didn't bother going to school as it was a half day and I'd "been hit by a car"

Headhuunter

John Kline wrote:

Last serious one was about 20 years ago. Driver approaching me from opposite direction turned right, right in front of me. Remember flying through the air and squashing apple pies in my back pockets. Everything on bike more or less bent. He willingly coughed up the full replacement cost admitting it was his fault, although he did say he didn't see me until the last minute because "I was so thin...!"

I had a similar accident a couple of years ago. Car turned right from opposite direction across my path, then pretty much stopped dead in front of me so I hit the left wing, smashed the windscreen and landed on the other side of the car near the kerb. I was pretty lucky, was rushed to hospital on a spinal board but no damage other than heavy bruising to my left hip which somehow has affected my ITB (at least I think it's my ITB) which now stiffens up sometimes requiring me to roll it on a foam roller. Also needed 6 stitches to a gash in my right shin which later got infected and required me to take antiobiotics. Driver would only pay a "couple of hundred quid" and the bike was worth at least GBP550 (bike was a write off - ovalised front tube, bent forks and eliptical front wheel), so I got the no win no fee guys in and ended up with 5500 + new bike + med expenses. Bet he wishes he had just accepted my 1st offer and just paid for the bike....

mrushton

A few!!

Only one really fast one and I can remember seeing the bike bounce down the road and thinking how much this would hurt. It did but I rode home and let the driver off. WTF was I thinking??? Now I would lie on the road and wait for the Police/Ambulance. Last one involved a van overtaking me and then forgetting I was behind him as he pulled over without signalling. I felt my vertebrae compress all the way down as my head hit the back doors. Ambulance/spinal board etc. Now I ride more assertively than ever and move over only if it's safe to do so and the traffic is faster than I am.

mroli

Yep - Country lane - me going one way, pick up type truck the other way. Both hit brakes, he skidded a bit left, my rear end fish tailed a tiny bit and we had a front wing/hip saddle scrape. No real damage to me, small dent on his wing (and apparently other damage to bumper not noticed at time). Conversation subsequently (by email) went along the lines of
Driver - you owe me x.
Me - I don't think it was my fault, but am prepared to give you half of x.
Driver - you what? Your fault.
Me - don't think so. Prepared to pay you half cash, or you can pursue through insurance if you want my details.
Driver - I think it is bad form of you.
Me - if you hit a car, it would be through insurance. I have insurance OR you can take half cash out of my own pocket.
Driver - took cash.
Why did I pay half? Genuinely don't think it was my fault, neither of us had completely stopped - but I came off out of it alright, so was a gesture of good faith.... Oh - I had a garmin running which proves I wasn't speeding (was doing under 20mph)

hstiles

A few. Cycling home from work along the north embankment/grosvenor road when a neanderthal van driver suddenly swerved to the left and made contact with my shoulder. I elbowed the side of his vana nd managed to stay upright. He shot off and then 30 seconds later did exactly the same thing. I caught up with him at a set of lights, got off my bike and put a nice dent in his bonnet.

Had a nasty one just over a week ago. Was heading into work and crossing a roundabout when a woman, who hadn't seen me, drove straight onto the roundabout and collided with my front wheel. I was doing around 20mph, she was doing around the same. I use SPDs with single release cleats and high tension, so I stayed attached to the bike. My bike looks OK, but is a write off - it was a BMC Streetfire in fantastic condition, but front forks have a couple of nice big chips, so are unsafe, frame has, according to bike shop, been bent, wheels are trashed and groupset all dented. I have a very nasty sprain to my ankle.

I'm currently dealing with her insurance an d waiting for confirmation of the payout on my bike so I can pick something nice up in the sales. I'll deal with the PI element later, once I have a better idea of the extent of the ankle injury.

EKIMIKE

One minor one really. Coming through Clifton main street, Bristol, guy pulls out from a road-side parking space doing a U-turn. I must have been in his blind spot (what were the chances?!). Anyway i brake frantically and trace his arc into the middle of the road and think i've got away with it then boom, my wheel gets munched under his wheel and i'm sent sprawling across the road.

One severely buckled wheel with severely gauged braking surface. 1 bruised shoulder. All in all, very minor.

He had a dented wing and smashed lights. He paid for a replacement wheel, bar tape and tyre after admitting it was totally his fault. We all make mistakes and this guy was decent enough to apologise, admit fault and check i was alright.

The scariest moment i've had coming down Park Street, someone again parked at the side of the road suddenly pulls out and head for a side street on the opposite side of the road. I was pretty much sideways and missed her by inches. She shouted at me to 'f**k off' out her window when i looked back (I shook my head, said nothing). Lovely.

Ollieda

Got left lying in the middle of a road on a roundabout by a hit and run driver, nice chap.

Also had a wing mirror clip my elbow once, luckily i was going fairly slow and could control it - his wing mirror was less well off!

yenrod

Many yrs ago i used to ride to my Sisters which was about 5ml away - and so on a Friday id look forward to it, quite.

On Saturday morning, I'd wake up hit the bog then get on the bike and race it home...

Their wasn't really many red lights & as it was Sat morn. things wouldnt be 'in the week traffic...'

So, i was about a 1/3 into the the ride & I noticed the lights so I had to be mindfull of this; instead of thundering at them at 25' I slowed and they took longer to to go Green...I didnt want to slow further than I was riding at and i wasnt cruising...so at the last minute I HAD TO BRAKE really hard !!! so hard i hit the back of a car...this gave even more probs as the bloke got out of the car & started to check his car by which time I was off...mouthing the words 'it was only a tap, pal, anyone would think i was a HGV they way you're reactiing...'

I went faster after that soo he couldnt catch me ~ I was pushing near 30 thereafter LOL...