Oh yes. It was. I actually told the tale here 10 years ago. It had happened several years before that.
I gave him the chance to do so.
It was not retributive vandalism. It was a consequence of his actions. I had a choice of going under his wheels, getting knocked aside and risking unknown injuries, or jumping up and landing on his hood and hoping the landing was not too rough. I chose the latter, and thankfully it was not too rough too hurt me. To call that vandalism is like complaining that someone got blood all over the knife you stabbed them with.
There are times I will ride on the sidewalk, and EVERY TIME there is a car exiting a driveway I stop for them. I also come to a complete stop at pedestrian crossings…but then, when I am breaking the law already, I don’t expect others to make accommodations for me.
Sorry for multiple responses. But this is what you don’t quite seem to be grasping.
From the description I don’t see that HE hit YOU, more that YOU “jumped” infront of his car.
YOUR actions created the accident, not his. If it’s YOUR fault, you are the one taking advantage by expecting your bike to be paid for.
I am reminded of the time I had an accident on my bike. I was in the middle of my lane (a vehicle lane) approaching a roundabout, where a lady turned left across my lane. I crashed into the side of her. She blamed me, even though I was behaving exactly how a car would in the same situation. THAT is her fault.
Not someone riding a bike in front of an exiting vehicle at a sidewalk.
Sorry I can only hear these words as a sniveling tweenager would deliver them. Maybe that’s just me.
This thread gave me much to think about, as it wandered all around and all over, the law and it’s interpretation.
It reminds me of the bike riding thread where the rider fell off, and got some hot, about a big wad of gum, some kid spit into the roadway, and it stuck to his tire and threw him from his bike. Had to go to emerg for his scrapes and get prescription drugs! Anyone else remember that one? It was very amusing too!
I’m glad he’s OK, and that he got another bike out of it all. But seriously, in the same circumstances I think I might also have run a bike over without realizing it was there. Even if I had seen the bike while stopping before the sidewalk, depending on how far away it was I would likely still cross the sidewalk while pausing again to check the road, expecting the bike to go behind me.
I’m curious whether the OP has a current driver’s license, and whether he’s been a car owner/regular driver for any number of years. If not, it really would explain a lot. I find non-drivers to be very dangerous to be around in a vehicle, and they’re also very unhelpful passengers. Of all the regular bikers I know around Chicago (and I know a lot), the ones who do the dumbest things also don’t drive. Those with significant driving experience know better than to go around the front of a vehicle without making eye contact with the driver.
Oh I’m sure you and lots of others do too I’m well aware of that. I’m just trying to put an end to it. I’m done defending myself and my opinions to everyone. Fine I’m wrong…whatever…I got my bike and got what I and I alone think I should have gotten in the first place. The ordeal is done, and I got to learn that it’s, for the most part, illegal to ride on the sidwalk…so neat.
I do have my license and have been driving for almost ten years now. Aside from the fact that I would have looked in the first place I would have immediately offered to get a new bike right then and there because that’s the decent and right thing to do. Apparently I’m wrong in that sentiment but that’s what I would have done.
Now that you are informed of the law, for the love of Pete, follow it! You (and every other cyclist who ignores the law) are making it bad for the rest of us law-abiding cyclists by contributing to the poor attitudes drivers have toward cyclists in general. It’s bad enough dealing with inattentive drivers to have to suffer the animosity of drivers who get to bitch about how they think that cyclists are hazards and should just stay off the road. FFS, the law is there for a reason and if you can’t figure out that it’s for your safety, my safety, and everyone else’s safety, you need to scroll back up to the top of this page and remind yourself what the hell everyone is doing here providing you with links to your own goddamn state law. It applies to you, too, bub.
Not “for the most part,” unless you’re a child. For me, the biggest issue here is that you were riding against traffic. Drivers look left and glance right to make a right turn. That’s fine, when they’re dealing with pedestrians, because pedestrians are slow. Bikes are faster than pedestrians. No one expects a bike to come sailing up a sidewalk (or across a crosswalk) especially against the flow of traffic. That’s how accidents happen, as you’re well aware now.
Ride WITH traffic, run/jog AGAINST traffic. I see people getting this backward every single day.
How have you still not figured out that it only matters if it’s legal in the state you were doing it in?
I’m certain the fellow felt awful for hitting you, even though you were, at the very least, partly to blame. And I say that as someone who ride the sidewalk all the time. The difference is that I don’t pull in front of vehicles pulling out unless I make eye contact with the driver. Because I’m more interested in being alive than being technically right.
I’m of the opinion that you took advantage, of his good nature in having him foot the entire bill for your bike, when it’s clear you were in part at fault. You probably can’t see it just now, because you’re so invested in being ‘right’, but I’d wager in the future you will and you will feel chagrin for the part you played in causing this accident and especially the advantage you took of this man’s good spirit.
In a comparative negligence jurisdiction I’ll bet it’s at least 50/50. But for T-Cup not paying much attention, and illegally riding on the sidewalk, would this accident have happened?
The good news, bikes can be fixed, people not so easy. Thankfully, T-Cup is okay.
Just had to ask. Now for the tougher question: what kind of bar calls itself the Pink Pony and doesn’t have a sign outside that says “Girls! Girls! Girls!”
As I mentioned up thread this exact scenario happened to a buddy of mine while he was driving a company car. The cyclist was cited at the scene by the local police, my buddy was not. This was in Texas BTW.