# A truck just ran over me and my bike **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927 "2012-07-01T18:35:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/61 "2012-07-02T16:36:27Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > edit: Damn the google maps link isn’t working Don’t copy the URL in the URL window. Just to the left of the picture is a little button that looks like a short section of chain. Click that. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/62 "2012-07-02T16:41:40Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Is it legal in your area for you to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk? > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > There are places where it\* isn’t \*legal??? > [@Rick](#): > > Honolulu for one. But he wasn’t hon a lulu, he was on a bike. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/63 "2012-07-02T16:46:04Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I think you have me confused with someone else on this one. I’ve never been almost run over with my own car. :smack: sorry bout that - but get off the damn sidewalk already and don’t ride on the tracks! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/64 "2012-07-02T16:53:25Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > You’re lucky that you were hit by someone that’s ignorant of the law and feels guilty for hitting you. If I’d hit you, you’d have to take me to court to pay for your bike, and you’d lose, because you were in the wrong here. Your value judgment doesn’t really matter. If there is no law against riding on the sidewalk in his jurisdiction, then the onus is on that driver to avoid hitting him. There’s also the argument that a driver is still obligated to avoid hitting a parked vehicle, even one that’s parked illegally. Even though the OP may be on the wrong side of the law, the driver still had an obligation to yield to pedestrians/bicycles, and to avoid hitting him. Also, nobody would “have to” take you to court. They’d just report a claim to your insurance company and, if you were found liable for the accident, they would pay for his damages (or a portion of them, if it was found that you had partial but not total liability). ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/65 "2012-07-02T16:58:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > **Sir T-Cups** , I’m glad you’re still alive. Stay that way, OK? > > I agree with your entire post, except for the quoted part. There are many drivers who are not used to looking for pedestrians. I’ve been in the situation you describe many times, only on foot. There are a lot of drivers who not only do not stop at the stop sign, but actually speed up through the intersection while only looking left. > > I trust no one. I was giving the benefit of the doubt and using an above average driver as my example. 😃 It doesn’t matter if it is legal or not, the question really is “Is it smart?” The answer to that is a resounding no, riding on the sidewalk is industrial grade dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/66 "2012-07-02T17:00:02Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > [Right here is exactly where it happened.](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&authuser=0) Am I the only one who found it amusing to click on “Right here is exactly where it happened” and get a map of North America? > [@](#): > > And holy hell I am still overwhelmed with the amount of responses that it is illegal to ride a bike on a sidewalk. I never, in a million years, would have thought this…ignorance fought I guess. I was taught, when I was a kid with a bike, that a bicycle is a vehicle, is part of traffic, and as such is supposed to obey all traffic laws, including riding in the street (not on the sidewalk), riding with the flow of traffic, obeying all traffic lights and signs, etc. Some of this made more sense to me when I later got my driver’s license and gained more experience with how traffic actually works. I also remember being taught in Driver’s Ed that, when driving over a sidewalk (e.g. when pulling out of a parking lot) I should always stop before crossing the sidewalk and look both ways for pedestrians before proceeding. I remember this being stressed as one of the things they checked on the behind-the-wheel driving test. But, as **Rick** pointed out earlier, you were probably going several times faster than anyone the driver would have expected to see coming his way on the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/67 "2012-07-02T17:00:19Z")
[The Code of Alabama 1975](http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/codeofalabama/1975/coatoc.htm) Section 32-1-1.1 (81) . . . a bicycle or a ridden animal shall be deemed a vehicle, except those provisions of this title, which by their very nature can have no application. Section 32-5A-52 No person shall drive any vehicle upon a sidewalk or sidewalk area except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/68 "2012-07-02T17:09:16Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > You’re lucky that you were hit by someone that’s ignorant of the law and feels guilty for hitting you. If I’d hit you, you’d have to take me to court to pay for your bike, and you’d lose, because you were in the wrong here. That’s just terrible. That’s a terrible thing to do. You would hide in the fine prints of a law simply to get out of paying 150 bucks for something like this? That just isn’t right. I don’t give a shit about legalities, or rights of way the number one thing about this whole situation that actually hurts is the fact that he (and I guess you) just don’t care. It sounds stupid to phrase it this way but it’s just downright mean. You’re spitting in the face of the PERSON YOU HIT because you have some uppity complex about being right. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/69 "2012-07-02T17:11:05Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The two main rules of operating a motor vehicle: > > 1. Look where you’re going > > 2. Don’t run into stuff > > The problem here happened because the driver was looking left while moving forward. No, the problem is that Sir T-Cups rode in front of a moving vehicle. Hence your (1) isn’t particularly valid because Sir T-Cups wasn’t where the vehicle was going. > [@Sir T-Cups](#): > > I wasn’t in a roadway. It was on private property. I didn’t jet out in a three lane traffic or anything. Right here is exactly where it happened. I was on the sidewalk (come towards the camera) dude was right where the thick white line is and he pulled out and hit me as I was crossing in front of him. Look at the street, there is NO room for me to ride there. And how do you think I was riding? going 30MPH with my eyes closed? I clearly saw the guy, like I and others have said my only fault was assuming the driver wasn’t a goddamn idiot. Your fault was riding in an unsafe manner. It doesn’t matter that it was private property or a roadway. You were going from a place where no cars are driving to a place where cars are driving. In that situation you always yield to the cars in the place where they are driving. Doesn’t matter if it is a parking lot, coming out of a driveway, coming from off road, or a sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/70 "2012-07-02T17:12:06Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > That’s just terrible. > > That’s a terrible thing to do. > > You would hide in the fine prints of a law simply to get out of paying 150 bucks for something like this? That just isn’t right. I don’t give a shit about legalities, or rights of way the number one thing about this whole situation that actually hurts is the fact that he (and I guess you) just don’t care. It sounds stupid to phrase it this way but it’s just downright mean. You’re spitting in the face of the PERSON YOU HIT because you have some uppity complex about being right. I don’t wish to speak for Alice the Goon, but I personally have little desire to pay to fix something caused through the fault of another person. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/71 "2012-07-02T17:23:36Z")
> [@treis](#): > > In that situation you always yield to the cars in the place where they are driving. Doesn’t matter if it is a parking lot, coming out of a driveway, coming from off road, or a sidewalk. I always thought that vehicles coming out of a lesser area yield to those on a more main thoroughfare. In this case the driver’s obligation was to pull up to (not in) the road, stop, look both ways, and then proceded. Traffic on the street has no obligation to yield to him. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/72 "2012-07-02T17:28:20Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I always thought that vehicles coming out of a lesser area yield to those on a more main thoroughfare. In this case the driver’s obligation was to pull up to (not in) the road, stop, look both ways, and then proceded. Traffic on the street has no obligation to yield to him. The sidewalk isn’t a more main thoroughfare. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/73 "2012-07-02T17:31:24Z")
> [@treis](#): > > The sidewalk isn’t a more main thoroughfare. From a parking lot? It certainly is. No one on a sidewalk has a duty to yield to someone who is in a driveway or parking lot and stopped. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/74 "2012-07-02T17:41:26Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I wasn’t in a roadway. It was on private property. I didn’t jet out in a three lane traffic or anything. I was on the sidewalk (come towards the camera) dude was right where the thick white line is and he pulled out and hit me as I was crossing in front of him. Look at the street, there is NO room for me to ride there. And how do you think I was riding? going 30MPH with my eyes closed? I clearly saw the guy, like I and others have said my only fault was assuming the driver wasn’t a goddamn idiot. This is the major point that you are not getting. One of the reasons riding a bicycle on a sidewalk is so dangerous is that every driveway becomes an intersection. Combine that with riding against the flow of traffic I don’t understand how you find it surprising he missed seeing you. Looking at the street I disagree there is no room for you, it’s a 4 lane road with 2 lanes going each direction with an extra turn lane in the middle. As a vehicle, and a bicycle counts as a vehicle so it shouldn’t be on the sidewalk, you are entitled to use one of the lanes. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/75 "2012-07-02T17:43:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > From a parking lot? It certainly is. No one on a sidewalk has a duty to yield to someone who is in a driveway or parking lot and stopped. How in the world is something you can’t drive on a more main thoroughfare than one you can? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/76 "2012-07-02T17:45:11Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > That just isn’t right. You’re the one asking someone to lie so you can screw a guy out of more money than is necedssary. > [@](#): > > “listen…just tell the guy it’ll cost more than the bike to fix and I’ll go to Target and buy a new one”. > [@](#): > > I don’t give a shit about legalities,… Apparantly not. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/77 "2012-07-02T17:49:32Z")
> [@treis](#): > > How in the world is something you can’t drive on a more main thoroughfare than one you can? Take a look at [this](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.454779,-70.601315&spn=0.000466,0.000833&hnear=Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachusetts&t=h&z=20) picture. Let’s say I am walking north on Water St., on the left. Assume the purple car exiting the parking lot and is stopped a few feet back from where it is in the picture. We arrive at the same time. Who yields to whom? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/78 "2012-07-02T17:50:33Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > You’re the one asking someone to lie so you can screw a guy out of more money than is necedssary. Who is he asking to lie? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/79 "2012-07-02T17:58:39Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Take a look at [this](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.454779,-70.601315&spn=0.000466,0.000833&hnear=Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachusetts&t=h&z=20) picture. > > Let’s say I am walking north on Water St., on the left. Assume the purple car exiting the parking lot and is stopped a few feet back from where it is in the picture. We arrive at the same time. Who yields to whom? Pedestrians have the right of way when they are in the crosswalk. This is something written into the law of most states, and is a generally accepted rule of the road. Bikes don’t have the same protection, as they are vehicles not pedestrians. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927/80 "2012-07-02T18:01:51Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Who is he asking to lie? He’s going to ask the bike shop guy tomorrow to say that the bike is totaled, so that he can get a new bike. > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So on Tuesday I am going to go to a bike shop and say “listen…just tell the guy it’ll cost more than the bike to fix and I’ll go to Target and buy a new one”. If the dude is still being a dick I’ll…I dunno…figure something out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-truck-just-ran-over-me-and-my-bike/626927.md?page=5)