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Raise your hand if you got hit by a car tonight! What, just me?

L

livingfortoday

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 17, 2004
2,903
4
The Msp
Hey everybody. I just need to vent, and have a request, too. Read on...

So today I was riding my bike home from the movies at around 7:30pm, and was on North Ave and Clark (for you Chicagoans), and as I was stopping at the red light, the car behind me plows in to me. Fun. Other than a seat up my bum, I'm ok, but my rear wheel is totally wrecked, the frame is scratched and bent a bit, and the derailleur has seen better days. The guy gets out, and is pretty apologetic at first. I'm pretty stunned at this point, so I don't remember much, but he kept offering to give me a ride to wherever I needed to go.

Well, things were ok, I guess (considering), until I told him that I couldn't afford a new wheel now, and asked if he would help me get a new one. Notice I said help, I didn't say he should pay for it. So he starts yelling "Why you doin' this to me?" and saying it's clearly my fault since I stopped so quickly he couldn't react. I kinda laughed at this, since I'd been braking a while (my brakes ain't that hot) and was going 5 - 10mph TOPS. And he couldn't stop in time? At a red light?! I explained that in an accident like that, if I had been a car, even, he would have clearly been at fault. He keeps yelling and getting mad, and though I try to stay calm, I'm gettin' kinda pissed off that he's trying to screw me over and blame me.

SO! I say I wanna call the cops and file a police report, in case I start hurting later or something, and he says fine, whatever, and says he has to go 'park his car" since he was in the bus lane. Ok. So he drives off. And that's the last I ever saw of him.

I called the cops, they came, let me sit in the back (it was starting to rain), and took down all the information and even gave me and my broken bike a ride home. I got a description of his car, noted that I had damaged it slightly, and the last 4 digits of his plate. And that's all.

If they get him I don't want to go to court, don't want to press charges, nothing like that. I just want him to help with a new wheel. That's it. 50/50, even, I'll do. Was that too crazy for me to ask?

ANYWAYS! So! Here's my request from you, loyal reader who has made it to the end. I'm pretty broke right now, and can't afford a new wheel, and I need my bike as it's my only means of transport. SO. The money I was going to donate to the Rape Victim Advocates of Chicago for the their Chicago Marathon fundraiser will have to go to a new wheel. I'm asking that you guys, if you want to help out, please send them a donation. I'm hoping to raise $250 for them, and can't do it alone. So even if you've only got two bucks you could give them, please help, they do great work.

Here's a link:
http://www.active.com/donate/rapevictimadvocates/alext

Thanks for listening, now I'm gonna go back to stripping down the broken parts off my bike.
 
That's one ****** intersection. I hate that one. Sucks that you got hit. If I had extra money, I'd donate to the fund, but I'm barely getting by as it is.
 
That sucks. I'm sorry. It's totally his fault. He should pay for your new wheel, frame, derailleur, and anything else you need. If you'd been a car and he's gone up your arse, it would be his fault, and same deal. He should count himself lucky he's only paying for a bike rather than a car, (and not for any bad injury charges)...
 
Glad you're okay, though. Sorry, but when I connected the title to your user name, I had to grin.
 
Hit and run, not something to let someone walk away from.

At least if he is found, try collecting the money from the insurance company for a "hit and run."

You have the right to collect from them, they will pay and collect from him.

And probably cancel his ass. ;)

Edit: heck, they would probably pay for a new bike, in return for an injury waiver.
 
Wow.. I never knew that car v bike ended without injury! (I'm glad it does!)

I really hope they catch the scumbag that did this to you..

He's clearly at fault with the speed you were going AND the red light.. if he tries to blame it on you, it'll look like he was trying to run it or something.

Good luck. :)
 
wow, that sucks. I would definitely take him to court if he just drove off like that.

floam said:
Sure, sure. The old "I was hit by a car and just need a few spare bucks for".. oh. Charity.

Nevermind.
Click to expand...

do you enjoy being an ass to people? :rolleyes:
 
I wouldn't have been so friendly. Yes, I would have been calm, but I wouldn't have even offered that 50\50 deal.

The first thing I would have done is take his license plate number. Why should you have? He hit you from behind.....with a car!

After you have his info, he can say whatever he wants. You have his description, his car's description, and his license plate number. You have him by the balls. If he said he didn't want to pay and argued with me as if it was my fault, I would have said, "Pay up bitch. I'm calling the cops."

He did not OFFER to pay for the damages and did not take you to the hospital --- he made 2 mistakes. A 3rd mistake was hitting you to begin with.
 
I think he owes you some Zipp wheels...

Sorry to hear about your mishap, but glad to hear you weren't injured. There's no reason why you should have to share any of the cost of repairs to your bike...he's 100% at fault. Hope the cops are able to track him down.
 
Glad to hear that you are okay livingfortoday. :)

I hope the police find this jerk that hit you, he needs to be taught a lesson. :mad: Perhaps a nice little lawsuit would be in order. ;) :D
 
to many people go unpunished for hitting bikers, what people don't realizes is bikers suffer much more than people in cars, i got hit.

Even if you look at it in a larger group, the josie johnson ride, a ride commemorating a rider who go hit and got killed, 1/3 of the people in the ride had been hit, there were like 2000nd people in the ride, and many of them were hit and runs.

And f*** him, he said that it was your fault, what the h***, bikes are so vulnerable. They have the money for a car, insurance, gas, etc and he can't pay for a new wheel? something is wrong with that.
 
iMeowbot said:
Wow, just wow. It's one thing to have trouble seeing a mud-caked bike with all the reflectors missing, but you have lights and they still didn't notice you? That's more maddening than the mud-caked invisibikes!
Click to expand...

It's also a really well-lit intersection. He said he did see me fine, I just stopped too quickly and he couldn't stop in time. Which again, I could believe if I was a car going 30mph that slammed on the brakes in front of him, but a slowly braking bike at a red light? Riiight...

And yeah, i should have been better at getting his plates. I was just pretty shook up about the whole deal. It's only my second time getting hit by a car, and I really didn't handle it well. Getting hit and yelled at don't exactly put me in my comfort zone, if you will. Well, you live and you learn, I guess.
 
livingfortoday said:
And yeah, i should have been better at getting his plates. I was just pretty shook up about the whole deal. It's only my second time getting hit by a car, and I really didn't handle it well. Getting hit and yelled at don't exactly put me in my comfort zone, if you will. Well, you live and you learn, I guess.
Click to expand...

True enough- there's a very particular state of shock and disbelief that takes over when someone slams a ton of steel into a bicycle. My outrage at the driver can't be expressed in terms acceptable here.
 
I'm glad that you are okay. We've had a high number of biker deaths here in Portland lately, the most recent a guy speeding at about 50mph on a 35-40mph road ran a red light (saying the sun was in his eyes) and hit a female biker with no helmet. The terrifying thing is that she saw him coming and screamed. Anyway, I'm interested in how this turns out; I hope the police get this guy and put him away.

At least you weren't hit by a cop! My friend was making a turn and was hit by a cop car. He broke his wrist. The cops gave him a ticket for not signaling his turn. Lets hope your police are better than ours!
 
Car drivers act like people on bikes don't exist.

The amount of near-misses I've had when people pull out of junctions as I'm riding along is insane. You see them look at you, look away, then pull out as if you aren't there. I've dented a few cars by hitting them with my lock when I've got extreme arseholes.

Part of getting your driving license should be to ride a bike round a city, just to know what we feel.
 
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