Another day, another bike accident.

[Susie]

One of my training buddies was hit by a car on her bike on her way to work this morning.  She will be ok; she's being discharged from the hospital with nothing broken, she's just bruised and sore.  Don't know yet about how her bike fared.

She was hit riding straight down a road, by a car next to her that was turning right onto a residential street.  I don't know all the details to know if the car signaled, how/why she didn't anticipate it, etc.  Apparently she and the car collided right around the car's passenger side mirror.  The driver was deemed "at fault" but not ticketed.

It is a good reminder, albeit at her painful expense, of how careful we need to be as drivers and cyclists (and runners too).  As a cyclist-driver, I have become super careful about right hand turns when I've passed a cyclist, to make sure they haven't caught back up/gotten into my blind spot while I was slowing for a turn - but I know other drivers aren't, and this is the result.  

Most of my friends who have been hit, have had it happen in low speed residential areas.  I almost was when running a week or two ago, in my neighborhood, by a woman who rolled a stop sign as she turned right, and she only looked left.  She almost turned right, right into me.  I swear, the residential stuff causes more accidents than the state routes that my mom worries about me riding on!

Hug your bike and run friends and stay safe out there!

[Mushe]

How scary! I'm glad your friend is okay, but yikes!

[clseale]

It's so scary, because I can see how something like that can so easily happen. Glad to hear that it's not anything serious. I'm sure she's pretty shaken up over the whole thing!

[gt7301b]

That's so scary, I'm glad she is okay!!!

We can all use a reminder to careful out there and to share the road/trail. I am terrified when I park my car near the trail. There is a crosswalk, but I'd say ~1/3 of the drivers don't even look for runners/bikers. I make sure to make eye contact before I cross.

[sadlebred]

That is very scary! I'm glad she is only bruised. I've been hit, and it's no fun!

[bostonmichelle]

That is scary! I hate running in my neighborhood as people just fly around corners. I don't know how I'm going to be able to start biking and not be worried about drivers.

[Wines Not Whines]

That's very scary. I'm glad she's ok.

[shorewife]

I have a friend who was hit the same way. Its like they pass you and forget about you I guess? I'm glad she'll be okay. Too many stories like this

[kams]

Incredibly scary. So glad she is ok. I also worry more about the slow-moving traffic in the city than I do about the highway traffic when I get way out of town on a wide shoulder. There's never a risk-free moment though, unfortunately.

[mainewifey]

Apr 29, 2014 14:05:00 GMT -5 shorewife said:

I have a friend who was hit the same way. Its like they pass you and forget about you I guess? I'm glad she'll be okay. Too many stories like this

I guess if you aren't in a community that has many bikers or pedestrians or if you simply aren't used to sharing the road, you don't think to look right or check your mirrors before making a right hand turn. It's just not an automatic thing to do.

I'm sure that I'm probably guilty of passing and then forgetting about a biker, and I live in a very bike/pedestrian oriented community. This is a very good reminder to be more vigilant, and I'm going to make a point to make checking my mirrors a habit.

Thank God she wasn't seriously injured.