getting hit by cars

This past winter I was very excited to try my hand at cold weather bike commuting.  A friend of mine set up a beautiful Bianchi Volpe for me, complete with fenders and studded tires.  On my own I installed a total of 8 blinking lights on all sides of the bike because I'm a safety nut.   

On December 2nd I was biking home from work at 8pm.  I was lite up like a Christmas tree, wearing a helmet, and was following every rule of the road.  At this time of night there were a number of cars parallel parked on the street so like any safe cyclist I kept my distance from the line of cars.  Looking in my rear-view mirror I saw headlights coming up.  I kept a careful eye on the lights but maintained my position.  I realized the car was moving very quickly but I was sure they would slow down since there were cars coming in the opposite direction.  Less than 300 feet before I was to make a right hand turn onto a quieter street I heard the engine rev.  I watched in terror as the car sped up.  The next thing I knew there was a huge CRACK and I was catapulted from my bike.

I looked up as I landed and saw the huge Mercedes SUV that had hit me swerve into oncoming traffic, narrowly avoiding a collision.  At that point I realized I was screaming and crawled out of the street to avoid getting hit by the next car.  The SUV never stopped.   My bike, shoe, and various bike parts were strewn in the road and witnesses helped to collect them and pull be further into the grass.  My adrenaline was so pumped that besides the screaming and crying I figured I was fine, just really shaken up.  

Once the ambulance arrived I realized I was in worse shape then originally thought as they took me to the hospital.  I was almost positive my leg was broken as any pressure at all sent shocking pain up my calve.  Thankfully it turned out to be a bad muscle contusion that put me on crutches and then a cane for a few weeks.  I had a concussion from hitting the pavement and there were various bumps and scrapes on my arms and legs, but I was alive.

A closer inspection of my bike gave more insight into the accident.  The car had hit me so severely that he/she broke my rear rim.  As the wheel continued to turn the broken rim hit my seat stays, getting wedged in place and throwing me off the bike.  By some miracle I fell to the right and not the left, otherwise the car would have driven over my body.

I fought for months to get video footage from traffic lights further down the street hoping to catch a license number.  Unfortunately the video was of such terrible quality that all you could see were shaky headlights.

I'm re-hashing this story in all its long-winded glory because a friend of mine recently connected me with the CAUTION WOMEN CYCLING group.  They gave me a "Caution, women cycling" sign to post at the place I was attacked at.  I'll be placing the sign in the next week and will blog a bit more about the group as I find out more about them.

And just a word of advice I'd like to leave you with.  If you do see a cyclist get hit by a vehicle and there are others around to help the injured person, PLEASE go after that car and get the license number!  I am so thankful to those that stopped to help me but wish someone would have gotten that damn number...