I've also been a bike commuter and I know what it's like to have to deal with the inattentive and rude cars and pedestrians.

As a driver, it's bad enough to be involved in an accident but it's much worse to be involved in an accident with a bicycle, especially with my son in the car!

I'm glad the cyclist will be OK and hopefully he'll be much more careful about obeying traffic laws. Cyclists who run lights, stop signs, etc are playing roulette and are highly likely to eventually be involved in an accident. Not to mention, they give all cyclists a bad name/image!

The cyclist did receive a failure to yield ticket for this accident. He has admitted to the police and my insurance company that he didn't see the stop sign or the yield sign on 58th Street. I'm glad that he's taking responsibility for causing it.

This accident caused about $2,000 damage to my car and I learned this week that to get my car repaired I need to pay my $500 insurance deductible myself.

Cyclists aren't considered by insurance companies to be “uninsured/underinsured motorists” so if someone on a bicycle damages your car you'll have to pay your deductible out of pocket and hope to be reimbursed later if it wasn't your fault.

The deductible for an uninsured/underinsured motorist is lower, only $100.

In the event that the insurance company can collect money from the cyclist then I'll be reimbursed.

I'm looking forward to putting this incident behind me and not thinking about it!

ps- I am a cycle-commuter and I am so happy there are people like you sharing the road with me.

Also, I'm thinking of printing on my biking bag, in large letters, “You can have my parking spot.” Would that convince drivers to give me more leeway as a cyclist, or would that be perceived as cheeky?

The bike on the bridge is a little odd, but I could see how some experienced cyclists don't like to get stuck in that narrow little crossing path while oversized tourists gawk at the canal, and decide that riding over on the traffic lane is better. A bad choice if you ask me, but again this is something I've never seen either, so I guess it was a one time thing unlike how people daily pull out of the parking spots in front of PCC and drive the wrong way down the one way street thinking the bike lane is a car lane going East. Oh yeah, and how many times you have seen someone try to make the southbound left at that corner into the one way coming from the East?

One of the freakiest things I've EVER seen happend a few weeks ago on the Fremont Bridge. I was crossing North-to South in the far right-hand lane, and there was a guy on a bicycle riding directly towards me IN my lane. For some unknown reason there were no cars in the left lane, so I moved over. (this was about 5:30 PM, so rush hour.) (also he wasn't wearing a helmet- anyone who thinks this is a good idea should visit the rehab units at Harborview or University hospital.) I honked and he just waved at me! How he negotiated the grating on the bridge is also a mystery to me.

IF there had been traffic on the bridge, (as I said, it was quite unusual for rush hour) there was no way I could've avoided hitting him.The passenger in my car just about had a heart attack. I've no idea what this guy was thinking. Probably the same thing that people who drive the wrong way on one-way streets! He went the wrong way all the way across the Fremont Bridge and then turned down the first cross street.
Drunk, maybe?

Anyway, I hope that people will be more concious of what they are doing, and pay a lot more attention to the rules of the road. This isn't Hooterville; there are a lot more cars and bikes on the road than there were 10 years ago.

Damn near hit a cyclist this morning as well. She just zoomed off the trail right into the street without even looking. I had to swerve to miss her.

Its dangerous out there!

That said, speed and tonnage outweigh ROW every time, regardless of the mode of transit. Even if you're the first person at a four-way stop and there's no one to your right, you still check for traffic to your left. And if you see a semi coming at 45mph with no signs of slowing down, you stay put, even if the law says you get to go first. Same goes for peds & bikes. Look both ways, and go when it's clear. Otherwise you're just asking to get hit.

I don't deny that there are plenty of dangerous riders and drivers out there. And we should follow the law to the best of our ability. But the fact is, no one does. What we need is for people (everyone!) to relax and take there time when they are on the street.

I also agree with the posts about not stopping in the middle of the road to let a pedestrian jaywalk or cyclist cross. I hate that. It is dangerous.

The same is true for pedestrians. Most people jaywalk safely, and the cops never ticket for it. At least thats my experience.

Here's a perfect example (and joke.)
Farmer Jones lives down a rural road that connects to an arterial. One morning, he does a rolling “California Stop ” through the Stop Sign onto the road, and Officer Friendly, the State Trooper, pulls him over.
Officer Friendly:” Do you know why I pulled you over? Didn't you see the stop sign?”
Farmer Jones:”Sonny, I've been driving this road for 60 years, and I've never stopped, and I've never had an accident. I alwasy slow down, though.
Officer Friendly then pulls out his nightstick, and starts beating Farmer Jones with it.
Officer Friendly: ” Ok, Farmer Jones; which would you prefer; that I stop, or I slow down?”

Every bike out there means one less car on the road, one less parking spot to fight for.

The rolling stop is legal in a few states and will be here one day too.

Best to everyone involved in the accident, that must have really sucked. Speedy recovery, both physically and emotionally…

“My only comment is that it seems to make more sense that the bulb-out for the northbound lane to be on the south-east end of the intersection instead on the north east end on the intersection. This would then require the northbound vehicle to slow prior to entering the intersection and prior to the cross walk.”

Had the city incorporated this into the intersection redesign, this accident may not have occured.

That being said, the cyclist who collided with the mini missed a lovely opportunity to yield, thus avoiding an accident. (If that is what truly happened).

But really, 14th blows with all of the parked cars. Change it to a boulevard already.

xxoo,
other ballardbiker

That type of thing is illegal, stupid, and counter productive, but when someone is suffering from the “you nearly killed me” rage, they tend to not think straight.

I'd be curious what happened in the 2 miles prior to the cyclist ripping your mirror off.

…or it might not be explainable.