I need to write a post. Hmmm, what should I write about? Oh, I can write about how I was hit by a car today, and live to write about it!

I usually think about this when I bike: Always assume drivers can’t see you.

Today I didn’t…I guess. I can’t remember exactly what happened before the crash. I was on my way to work. I hadn’t been awake for more than 10 minutes. I was having trouble switching gears. I was driving on the wrong side of the street (in the bike lane (it’s what I always do for the first couple of blocks)). I had only gone a block. I saw a car stopped on a neighborhood road, waiting to turn onto the road I was on. I was in clear view, and I just went in front of her. She wasn’t looking. She started pulling out. I thought she would see me then, but to my horror she didn’t. I put out my left hand and said, “No!” She kept going. The front of her car hit the side of my bike. She kept going. I fell on the street, and skidded a bit. She stopped.

I heard voices from down the street say. “Stop! Don’t move her. I’m a nurse!” The driver and her teenage daughter got out of the car. Two nurses who were talking a walk came up to us. Someone called 911. They helped me move to the side of the road, and they moved my bike. They made sure I was breathing alright. The driver kept saying she was sorry. I got my phone out of my backpack and called my husband. I just said calmly, “Can you come down the street. I got into a little accident.” I didn’t want to freak him out by saying I was hit by a car. He later told me he knew I was OK by how calm my voice was.

I was pretty calm. I felt OK the whole time, but didn’t know how bad my scrapes were going to be or if I had other injuries I didn’t know about. I wanted to tell the people around me, “I can’t believe I just got hit by a car.” When Josh came some police were there. Then the fire truck came. A kind man from the fire truck checked me a little bit to make sure I was alright. A police officer talked to me, had me sign a paper that said I refused an ambulence ride, exchanged information with the driver, and told her and her family that it was alright.

Josh walked my bike as we walked home. Then I cried. I stayed on the couch in the trailer for and hour or two. I felt a little nascious. My coworkers had insisted that I not come into work. I didn’t want to miss a whole days pay. I was planning on coming in later, but I took their advice and didn’t go in. I wouldn’t have been able to do my work with my sore elbow and knee anyway. I think it was good to play it safe and just give myself time.

What a beautiful day to miss work though! Soon I was feeling better and limping around the house. Josh and I went to Starbucks and sat outside to read. We had exceptionally warm and sunny weather today.  Then I got dinner out of my tragedy from my parents. It ended up being a pretty nice day. I probably had a better day than that lady who hit me.

I do feel bad for getting hit. It was partly my fault. Everyone has moments in driving/biking where they are not paying attention or doing all the things they’re supposed to. We just happened to have our moments at the same time.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.