There’s this moment between when you see the car door start to open and when you actually finally make impact that you think, shit, what’s going to happen here?
Then there’s the sprawling, slow-motion fall onto the asphalt and the gasp of the surprised (usually) passenger who has opened his door into traffic at a very inopportune time, that time being exactly when you were pedaling along, on your way to meet some friends for lunch, wearing a tshirt and denim skirt, and now, a banged up knee, an irate conscience, a blue, and purple bruised arm, and worst of all, what appears to be a badly sprained big toe. There are scratches on your hands from landing, and a bit of dirt that didn’t come out of the knee abrasion in the café bathroom where you washed it in the sink before eating a really great sandwich, that even had pickles on it.
And now biking doesn’t seem like a great idea, and walking is worse, and you don’t even want to think about what color it’s all going to be tomorrow and you’re just really pissed at how the driver of the car was all, “nothing happened, you’re fine” which is the same thing they always say when there’s no exposed bone or spouting blood. But I know what it’s like to fall, and then get up again, and what it feels like the next day, and the day after, and the limping, and the favoring of the other leg and not being able to live your life as normal, because some schmuck didn’t put on his blinkers to announce that he was, oh, stopping in the middle of the street to let his passenger out.
After it happened, I called my friends to tell them I’d be late, while a group of three police officers stood around trying to decide whether or not to call an ambulance for me. Which maybe I should have let them, but I had things to do, and I wasn’t dying, and I don’t want to go to the doctor and have someone give me a giant boot to wear and charge the driver my medical bills. I just want people to drive carefully and treat each other with care. The best part was when I talked on the phone, the driver went into a flat panic about me speaking English (perhaps I was someone important?) But I bet that panic was nothing in comparison to what I felt in that moment, that split second between when I saw the car door open and when I finally made impact and I flew through the air in slow motion thinking, “shit, what’s going to happen here?”
As a pedestrian, I was hit by a UPS truck once. I know what you mean about slow-mo and instant replay. Also, about nothing appearing to be wrong. My accident was in 2005. Sometimes, my wrist (the one that bounced me off the truck’s grill and spent six months in a cast) still goes numb. ¡Fuerza!
oyyyyy. If there was one thing I’d remove from everyone’s communication manual, it would be telling other people when they are ok. I (and my fred flinstone foot) will be the judge of that!
Yikes, glad you’re OK. Sorry to hear about it. Getting doored sucks, I know, ha! Hope you feel better and get back in the saddle soon.
I definitely thought about you, as you are the person I know who was the most injured when you got doored. I was lucky in that I was able to mostly avoid the impact, just a little bit of my handlebar hit, not my whole body. How’s that collarbone treating you these days? BTW, having a toe injury just feels darn stupid.
Eina fok! (which is translateable, but rude). The mention of gravel getting stuck in cuts and grazes brings back horrible memories. I hope you heal up wolverine-quick, and that day accident + 1 is not too much of a mass of bruises. The tenderness of mass bruising is unbearable.
I was lucky, it wasn’t that bad, really. The main problem is where I hyperextended my big toe, ridiculously. That hurts! I have some pretty bruises, but they’re not too bad, and the abrasion on the knee wasn’t too horrible either, though it made me wish I biked with kneepads like I use for skating! Thanks for popping by. I hope your life is nowhere near as exciting in the coming days!
Sorry to hear about your crash. When my brother was younger he used to work as a cycle courier in seattle and always complained of drivers. Of course cycle couriers are not very popular.
And it really does suck how long it takes are bodies to get better, I was limping for months after twisted ankle.
Hope you feel better soon.
Oh no, I’m sorry you got doored! I can only imagine how annoyed I’d be by someone telling me I was fine – I am not a 5 year old, you don’t need to downplay my injuries so that I don’t burst into tears. Hope you heal quickly.
Oh no!! Awful. I hope your toe heals quickly! I would have punched that guy who told you you were fine…how the heck did he know?
I feel your pain.
A friend is lying in a Clinic right now after being rear ended by a car in a bike lane downtown, he needs 2 vertebra fused, he is lucky his spine is swollen but OK, the car turned right off a side street and stayed in the bike lane “because he was only going 1 block”.
Santiago needs separated bike lanes as it will be a generation for drivers to start watching for bikes.
Over the years it has become obvious why Santiago has less motor scooters than any city its size in the world, it has nothing to do with “well we can afford cars” it is because the drivers don’t see scooters, so why cyclists thought they would see them is beyond me.
In the other summer I live in a cycling friendly city Vancouver, and it has gone to concrete barrier separated bike lanes for safety.
OMG…what is with the ‘you’re ok and your bike is fine’ line? Ahem, but whilst I am conscious please excuse me for being the expert on that matter would ya mister car driver in your metal tank machine that is covered in dents and scratches from where you were unable to even park your car properly. Please use your eyes and mirrors. All The Time. end rant.
Hope your royal purpleness fades fast.
And heal fast toe. Eileen needs to ride! [I can’t comment too much on the toe as the thought makes me feel a bit queasy and why I worry everytime I wear sandals out on the bike]
That sucks! When I started riding my bike to work (and then the bar for happy hour) in downtown Columbus, it made me a much more aware driver. I actually now check my mirrors before opening my car door.
Hope you are not too many shades of purple and blue today.