I guess I was due. I mean I hadn’t been taken out by a car in years, so the fact that a kid in a Nissan, going to work at Magic Mountain on Saturday morning hit me was no real surprise. There I was, moving along at 22 miles per hour, on the shoulder of a section of road that had some sort of construction activity. The traffic was stop and go because of the construction and I started to think about getting over into the left turn lane. I figured I’d pass the next street/driveway (the entrance to Magic Mountain employee parking), and then make my move. However to my ultimate demise, the traffic started to move a little, and a black Nissan turned right, right into me. No warning, no signal, nothing, he just drove into me. I put my left arm out against the passenger’s side rear window as I tried to turn right as well (to avoid getting run over), hitting the rear brake with my other hand. But the gravel on the pavement, and the speed were too much and I lost the bike from under me, crashing on my left side.
I must have laid there in the fetal position for two minutes. I have to tell you, it hurt! I started hearing voices around me asking me if I was okay, and if anyone had a cell phone. Eventually I was able to open my eyes and realize I was still in one piece. At this point the kid driving the Nissan started apologizing, and asking if I was okay and saying this was the “worst thing ever”. “Worst thing ever?” Really? I mean really. We have murder, rape, war, genocide, but this is the worst thing ever? I guess it is a matter of perspective, and franky, from his perspective things weren’t that bad. He wasn’t the one bleeding on the ground. “I didn’t even see you”, he says. Well I hope not. If you did, and still took me out then we’d have to have words. Miraculously, my bike only suffered two very small scrapes on the saddle (I think it fell on top of me or something). It was because of this that I didn’t report the accident and send this kid’s insurance premiums sky high for the next five years. I know I’m a sucker, but it was an accident.
I have to say thanks to the people that stopped to make sure I was alive. That was nice. I especially want to thank the guy and girl (both cyclists) that gave me some water, checked out my bike and offered me some gels. I do have to call the kid who hit me out a little. Everyone else was trying to help me, but once you realized that I was alive, you took off. What is up with that? I know you were scared and you did apologize, but the right thing to do is write down your insurance info and at least offer to give me a ride home. Needless to say, I rode the 10 miles home. And now I am sporting the strangest combination of road rash and bruising on my hip and upper thigh that I have ever seen. My elbow is still oozing miscellaneous fluids but my shoulder seems to be doing well. In the end, I am just happy the car didn’t drive OVER me. It could have been a lot worse!
It’s been many years since I was hit by a car on my bike (knock on wood). An old lady. My bike was damaged. I was not thinking straight and only got a phone number. When I called the number later, the lady on the line said she didn’t know anything about it and I have the wrong number.
[...] Cyclist hit by car: A man who blogs about cycling in Santa Clarita was hit by a careless teenaged driver on Saturday. The teenager, an employee of Magic Mountain on his way to work, simply”drove into” him. The cyclist wasn’t injured too badly, but says the teenager took off after apologizing. The bike blogger says several people stopped to help him. This is why I avoid the west side of town; with the exception of Valencia Blvd in West Ridge, there’s practically no bike lanes. Link [...]
As a cyclist, and former resident of Santa Clarita, I am appalled you DIDN’T REPORT IT! Cyclists have enough problems, but not reporting accidents doesn’t help. People need to know there are consequences for not looking for others, and injuring them. Sadly in Santa Clarita, people just don’t seem to care. Even the head traffic engineer told me to ride on the sidewalk! The bicycle paths are slowly turning into sidewalks themselves, with driveways being built in more places. REPORT ACCIDENTS WITH BICYCLES!
I just read about this on SCVTalk. Glad you’re ok, but I honestly question how friendly the SCV is for cyclists. My brother use to be a bike messenger in Los Angeles, and he rode his bike down here one time and said he will never ride here again.