[Closed] How many of you have been hit by a car when you've been on your bike?

GW - why does that sound stupid to you? You really have some odd logic.

hit from behind on a fairly wide country road, returning from a night ride just after midnight, high viz clothes, two rear lights, from the first i heard of the engine approaching behind me i kinda knew what was coming so i was right over on the left.

they didnt stop, so i suspect they were drunk and either didnt even notice, or thought the consequences of stopping were too much.

eventually picked myself out of the road found my smashed glasses and rode home covered in blood from head/face wounds, sprained wrist and badly smashed knee/leg

Two and a half
First time someone opened a car door on me and I got catapulted under a Volvo coming the other way (beyond soft tissue damage and scrapes from the sump plate got away without major injury).

Second a van driver managed 'not to see' four of us on Norton Roundabout in Sheffield and took out the back wheels of two of us.

Last time I was given the choice of a head on collision with some teenager coming round a corner on the wrong side of the road or going over a wall (five foot drop into a snow drift).

[i]To be honest you were both to blame. When I ever filter down the side of traffic I always expect a car to pull into my path and reduce my speed. [/i]

Technically I wasn't "filtering", I was in a bus lane (restricted to bikes and buses at that time), the cars were in their own lane and I was already going slowly - no more than 15mph.
The driver pulled straight through the line of traffic a few feet in front of me. You know when you let someone pull out in front of you, the driver usually waves thanks and floors it out without looking - you've let him go so it must be clear is the way of thinking. This guy did that - floored it across a separate lane without looking and straight into my path, I couldn't avoid him.

I did ask him what he'd have done if it was a bus heading down the hill and he hadn't seen that... He admitted he hadn't looked. 100% his fault.

I dun a pickchu

[img] [/img]

My intended route in green. Looking back from x, looking back lots at y and y with a view to cross the sliproad. The only things I can see then are the white lorry and the blue Punto, both well beyond the start of the slip road, not indicating, obviously going straight on, so I set off over the sliproad to rejoin the carriageway.

I hadn’t seen the dickhead in the red 4x4 overtaking the lorry, and I was a bit surprised to find myself being hit by him in the purple area as he tried to make the sliproad over the hatchings.

I lost a fair of skin from my back and shoulders and everywhere else (not skin graft time, but quite a large acreage off blood and weeping grazes) stiches in the head (no helmet).

Luckily, everyone stopped. The guys in the lorry and the punto both said they’d been watching me and that I’d done everything right. The guy in the Punto was on his way to Frimley Park hospital anyway, so he gave me a lift with the bike. The driver of the 4x4 went to write his number on my hand, then didn’t. I think he got waved off by his mate. I was concussed, so wasn’t really in a position remember things or insist on anything. They said they’d see me at the hospital. And didn’t.

Got patched up, rode back home again. Police couldn’t traced the driver, as I couldn’t remember enough of the reg number.

Could have been a lot worse, could have ended up being deaded, given the circumstances. I’m still confused about which bit of the car hit me The bike was pretty much fine, apart from a bent brake lever and a broken squeaky tortoise.

Tell a lie, I've had three road related incidents:

Twice, nudged from behind [SFB to the forum etc] at roundabouts by drivers looking right and continuing to roll forward. Second time, I turned around and saw the passenger say to the driver "you've just hit that cyclist". Same roundabout, opposite junctions.

Only other incident was a pedestrian - chap stepped straight into my path. turns out he was blind (no stick or dog, though) and was trying to cross by what little he could see and sound. I was his silent assasin.

Yep, last year i was knocked off by a white van driver! i wasnt hurt badly just bruised ribs and hip. ripped gloves and endura jacket. Took 2 days of work. He paid in cash for all ripped stuff and my missed time at work! I know this must be rare but it was an accident pure and simple.

Not in the last 15 years. But the 15 before that saw quite a lot of car & hitting the deck action! The main causes were Bristol drivers & me being younger(less careful) & fitter.

Though the worst one was a full on hit and run by a drunk driver, (he got caught & jailed, mostly for previous record I suspect) that resulted in me being punted over the roof of a parked car and landing headfirst on the road without a helmet.
I Spent 1 hour out for the count & woke up to bleeping sounds and an inability to move. That really freaked me out as I thought I was paralysed but it was just the fact I was strapped down to a spine board.

Spent Easter drinking through a straw covered in bandages, still suffer from sinus problems caused by the crash & the repair to the bridge of my nose is a bit scar-tastic.
Took me months to feel anything other than terror about riding on the road, still not the most confident in traffic so I tend to plan my routes carefully to avoid roads I see as dangerous.

Ok, Coffeeking, maybe you're a jedi, from the Matrix or have some other "special" powers but my odd logic tells me that it's far more likely you are simply deluded in thinking YOU somehow have an ability to avoid unforseen freak accidents.

stupid/foolish/naive whatever, you have little to be smug about, that's for sure 8)

That looks well nasty nedrapier. I wasn't knocked off my bike but more scooped up. I was wanting to turn right but there was a car behind me not overtaking. As I decided to signal and begin my right hand turning she decided to overtake so I don't think it was really anyones fault. There was indecision from both parties then decision at the wrong moment too. I was left sprawled on the bonnet of her Volvo with my bike hanging from the radiator grill by the right pedal.

Just once - Land rover decided to pull out of a line of stationary traffic whilst i was overtaking down the RH side.

Difficult to say who was at fault (him for pulling out without signalling and checking mirrors or me for overtaking) and luckily i just rolled across the other side of the road which was empty at the time.

Walked away with minor bruising.

had bottles thrown at me, for no reason, had people desperate to overtake me on my road bike, only to turn left 10 ft later.

I hit a horse once, in the midrif, as I had my head down and pushed on through the pain of a long(ish) hill in the New Forest, only to find myself on the floor with a horse looking down at me with a slightly affronted look on its face.

I got properly hit and runn'd by a couple of drunks in a white van in N Ireland about 18 years ago.

The driver honked on the horn then drove into my back wheel sending me into the brambly hedge. The car driver behind witnessed the lot and took down the reg of the van.

Police were called and apprehended the van.

Both occupants were drunk; they had no insurance on the van; BUT as it couldn't be proved which one was driving at the time the police took no action FFS!

Apart from some scary scratches a trashed jacket, back wheel and helmet I was OK but no thanks to the Police

5 proper, had a few wing mirror/habdlebar interactions when people have pulled left while I was already there.
1 Women turned onto the road I was on, pedal scraped her car (big flatties)
2 Women pulled out of stationary traffic I was overtaking (me over the front wing, bruising and grazes)
3 Guy did a U-turn from a parked position I just bumped into the side of him, he continued, his rear wheel dragged my front wheel under - screwed wheel (paid for by him)
4 Guy pulled out of side road onto road I was on, me off, bruised ankle broken seatpost (paid for by him)
5 Guy took offence to being called a cock (he was driving dangerously whilst texting) drove into back of me wrote off my rear wheel then ran away, had to claim on my insurance, hoping they'd track him down for it - nope.

Oh yeah when I was a kid I did similar to AndyRT but into parked car, face/bonnet not nice, car was fine 6 then.

I broke both arms, my right ankle, dislocated my shoulders, right knee cap and had some brain swelling after being smoked by a car driver at a roundabout. It was an older chap in a big BMW, and a pretty busy island, he didn't stop for the island just slowed and continued thinking it was clear and hit the side of me just behind my legs on the back wheel. Apparently he just didn't see me, despite the fact I had a hi-vis jacket on and was lit up like a xmas tree. To be fair I have no recollection of seeing him either; this said I have pretty much no recollection of waking up that morning, cycling off to work or the 48 hours following the off!

Twice for me:

First was riding a time trial only to wake up lying on the ground, bike wrecked and lots of pain in my arm and hip. Turns out a car clipped me with his wing mirror leaving bits stuck in my arm causing the pain there. The pain in my hip was because a small piece of bone broke off my hip. My minute man stopped and called an ambulance from a nearby phone box, driver didn't stop and was never caught.

Second on the road bike approaching a zebra crossing, bloke in a car over takes me then realises that there's an old woman crossing the road so he brakes hard and slides into me (I'm stopping having seen the old lady). Bike driven over and destroyed, I fell off sideways as I realised he was going to hit me so minor bruising from glancing blow. The old lady collapsed , the policeman walking down the road runs over calls an ambulance for the old lady who'd had a heart attack and arrests the driver.

Insurance (car drivers) paid out for bike and 'good will gesture'.

Hit one of those new Renault Megane Scenic kid-carriers. Bounced right back off it! Lovely soft and squigy thing. If you're going to have a collision with something, then I recommend one of them.

coffeeking - Member
Not wanting to sound smug but no, I've always been able to avoid it, though one or two have been VERY close!

I think you've been lucky 've been able to avoid 99.9% of the times people have come close to hitting me. It wasn't lack of skill or foresight that stoped me being able to avoid it. Sometimes there is just nothing you can do unless you are prepared to crawl past every junction or wait in every cue of traffic. Still not even that would help those who are hit from behind.

5, but having commuted on and off in London for 25 years, not that surprising, worst due to filtering.

(1) Filtered up nearside of lorry, small van turned across in front of lorry into a driveway. Managed to steer in driveway too but not quite quickly enough and launched myself across bonnet and landed in rockery (wore helmet after that and learnt some road craft.). Forks bent but front wheel survived intact.

(2)& (3) Two black cabs taxis, both pulling out without indicating, one from a pickup and one into the right turn lane I was occupying. Saw both happening and as a result only glancing blows with no significant damage.

(4) Filtered up near side to lights, unfortunately they changed as I got to the front and a left turning car cut in front. Managed to turn with it, but my drop bars got hooked up by the wing mirror and I was dumped - that hurt the most. Bike was fine.

(5) Filtering up a jammed road but on a marked cycleway, SUV turned right across road in front of me, managed a slight turn but not enough, launched over bonnet but hit side fairly hard because it was an SUV. Bars and stem totalled but rest of bike survived.

I also ran into the back of car once in France but that was certainly my fault and was the only time I was taken away in an ambulance.

Anyone have a crash on the bike involving a vehicle where it was their fault not the drivers?

fallible.......moi?

I've gone into the back of a couple of cars, once accelerating expecting car to do same, other riding slowly in lane and looking back to see if I could change lane. Neither driver bothered, I may have damaged second (trcuk actually) but there were about 500 other dents in the back of it.

Anyone else seeing the red mist just reading these stories?

Hit by a car from behind on straight road in broad daylight 2 years ago. Woman driver doing about 40 hit my arse with her wing mirror. I backward somersault and land on road on head/shoulder. When she gets out of car tells me her mobile distracted her. She decided not to tell that to police when they arrived. I did but they decided not to investigate further or prosecute.

I get a ride in ambulance with blues on, strapped to spinal board. Nothing broken but still have shoulder pain despite physio. Not got any compensation yet either, although CTC solicitors still working on it.

[i]Anyone have a crash on the bike involving a vehicle where it was their fault not the drivers? [/i]

Well I rode into the back of a car on Monday evening cause I set off too quick from the lights then the driver in front applied their brakes. No damage done though and the driver apologised! as I did.

I know a guy who rode into the back of a parked van, his face was a bit of a mess.

[i]Anyone else seeing the red mist just reading these stories? [/i]

I try not too.

Funny story last week though. Idiot driver of tipper truck parked in cycle lane, parked very far out in lane and then gets in cab as I approach and leaves door open taking up almost all of whats left of the road. Gave the fat git a look of disgust. Further up the road same truck passes me then pulls into cycle path then slows down to piss me off, I play the game for a while and he can see me in his wing mirror. Pass a road on the left and I move to the middle of the truck which is full of old furniture and sit right up his arse and he didn't have a clue where I disappeared to. Sit behind him while he accelerates and get a nice tow. I then moved to the left so he could see me again and gave hime a cheery wave. Fanny.

i was riding on my tri bars down northdeeside road on saturday - tractor came up behind. over took got along side - took him longer than he thought as i was nicking on - cars came towards him and he swept me off the road onto the grass verge with his trailer - cars behind were beeping at him and going mental . caught up with him letting his load of cows out in a field just outside braemar and gave him a piece of my mind and got a SMIDSY out of him ... **** -

I’ve had a few that were the drivers fault...
Guy pulled out on me from a side street which I kind of anticipated so had slowed down he then stopped blocking my way completely to see if there was any traffic coming the other way at which point I road in to the back wing... He paid after the threat of going through insurance.
Had a whole load of clips and near misses I was thinking of wearing a headcam and compiling them all to the sound track of Benny Hill... In fact every near miss I have I get Benny Hill theme tune stuck in my head.

Oh and obviously non that were my fault:-)

[i]Obi_Twa - Member
Anyone have a crash on the bike involving a vehicle where it was their fault not the drivers?[/i]

I'll say - I've ploughed into at least three parked cars over the years, usually when fiddling components or wondering where my riding buddies have got to. I've written off bikes, ended up in hospital & everything. Best one was piling down a hill one night in the rain, vision blurred by the street lights & rain on my glasses & head down to keep dry. When I looked up there was a car a foot in front, didn't even have time to react. When I'd slid down the rear window into a heap on the floor (very tangled up in my bent frame) I noticed 10 or so people with puzzled looks on their faces who had been waiting at the bus stop next to me. I was so embarrassed I just got up, picked up my bike and walked off.. then fainted about 100 yards further down the road..

many years ago before learnt to ride very defensively

accelerated out of side street straight at me as i passed on the main rd
reacted enough to lift leg up as bonnet came towards me - thrown to other side of road and it was a wide road - hit bike hard enough to crack bottom bracket axle
lesson learnt was eye contact and don't forget to get the number plate - the guy wrote down a false address promising to pay for the repair when i got it sorted - eternally grateful to guy with an estate car that stopped and let me bleed on his seat while giving me a lift home

lost count of number of times i've left the road though to avoid a collision

One. Riding home on a sunday morning after night out, maybe ever so slightly hung over as a student. me and a taxi turn onto a street in edinburgh. I'm on the right hand side (to turn right) of a three lane one way road, taxi is on the far left(to turn left). taxi then decides to park on the right hand side of the road. I slide fairly forcably into his drivers door. Amazinly, the bike was fine, I was fine if somewhat shocked, but his door had a large hole where my pedal had gone through. I shouted a little abuse at him, then realised I didn't want this to go any further due to me being potentially over the limit and left.

this thread is now ready for yesterdays potential cycle commuter to email to his missus.

Ah the [url=

response
😆

Not wanting to sound smug but no, I've always been able to avoid it, though one or two have been VERY close!

Me too - tens of thousands of miles - last 10 years commuting in London, Nottingham and Derbyshire, plus using a bike as my main form of transport between the ages of about 8-18.

I'm sure there is an element of luck, but there is also an element of assuming the worst of all the other drivers which I think helps a lot. Oh and not riding like a **** is useful too (not going through red lights / down the left of lorries, filtering when you can't see if there are cars on the side roads etc.)

The few times I've had close calls (I reckon about once per year / 3000 miles), whilst it might not have been 'my fault', I could see what I did wrong in not anticipating the idiot driver - for example deciding too late that I needed to stop at a roundabout, resulting in someone behind nearly rear ending me, or assuming that the person in the side road must have seen my 20W front helmet light pointing directly at him.

Touch wood obviously - hoping I don't get knocked off on the way home today now.

Joe

[i] I was his silent assasin[/i]
Bit jovial for having killed someone 😉

Twice, that I can recall.
Once was my fault, rode out in front of a Golf. Long-ish story, which I won't go into. That was on a MTB ride.
Second was fairly recent on a commute - stupid bint in a Mini signalled to go into a garage, didn't go in. Turned indicator off and then swung into the exit. I was ready though, so it was a gentle nudge which frightened her more than me.

Anyone have a crash on the bike involving a vehicle where it was their fault not the drivers?

* this was the early 90's

Given the mileage I do, I'm still surprised it's only happened the once: motorist pulled out into the road from being parked without checking behind him properly and I crashed into his rear off-side door leaving a nice, me-shaped dent in his car. Cue me ranting about the (non) usage of his mirrors, and much laughing/pointing by nearby Chav-scum. Luckily, neither I nor my bike was badly hurt.

Many, many, many near misses, though...

Also loads of near misses and crash avoidance manouvres here...

Only once been hit - a lady in a wee car approaching a massive open roundabout. I was already on the R/A in the left lane, going straight ahead. Made very definite eye contact as she approached but she just accelerated (!). Perhaps she had seen me but didn't want to stop?

I could tell a few seconds before it happened that she was going to hit me so was able to throw myself onto her bonnet. She still pretended that I was from a different dimension and didn't actually exist. She got all the way over the R/A, still doing about 40 mph, before acknowledging the fact that a guy in a yellow jacket was lying on her bonnet and hollering in a panic stricken fashion - the bike in the meantime had been pinged a good 10 - 12 meters into the centre of the junction.

She then did the obvious thing and slammed on the brakes, causing my good self to slide off at velocity and tumble a good distance over the tarmac. Stood up and shakily began to walk towards the car - the woman began driving off and I had to stand in front of the car. When she eventually pulled over, the first words out of her mouth were, "Where's yer f£ckin lights then?". It was mid afternoon and bright sunlight. She then wanted to know if my insurance was up to date!

Bike was totalled along with my trousers and £200 Berghaus jacket (they were expensive in them days!) but the Polis reckoned that without witnesses, and despite the obvious story told by the damage to car, bike and person, that it was blow for blow. Cr@p.

Three times:-
1 Over taking a long slow que of traffic (me on the on right hand side ) a woman turns right out of que to try and take a side road. She did it quickly and without indicating, i swerved but she caught me and hacked the bike out from under me i took her bumper off, i had a massive hole in my elbow and another in my hip. she said that was my fault for overtaking on the wrong side of the road her insurers gave me £2500.
2 Me in bus/cycle lane a private hire driver in side road to left,the PH driver looks me in the eye then pulls out in front of me i swerve he clips me i land on his bonnet he says my fault as he never moved (his car was 1/2 way across the bus lane with the stop line under his rear doors.)The white wan man behind him offered to help me as a witness.
3 On the same road but at a different side road a people carrier pulls into bus/cycle lane then stops dead i apply massive brake and go sideways into his drivers door . when asked if he saw me before he pulled out he said "oh yes i saw you coming" when asked why then had he pulled out in front of me and then stopped dead he looked away and drove off .

Anyone have a crash on the bike involving a vehicle where it was their fault not the drivers?

Ah yes, forgotten about that one. Many years ago riding back from Students Union down Princes Road in Toxteth, possibly after consuming a few post exam pints. Must have clipped a parked cars wing mirror as i looked behind before turning right.

Next thing i know i'm on the floor between two parked cars with a cut-up face. Racing bike top and down tube was crumpled enough to stop the front wheel turning.

What with it being Toxteth i didn't hang around to assess the damage to any cars i might have bumped 🙄

Ok, Coffeeking, maybe you're a jedi, from the Matrix or have some other "special" powers but my odd logic tells me that it's far more likely you are simply deluded in thinking YOU somehow have an ability to avoid unforseen freak accidents.

stupid/foolish/naive whatever, you have little to be smug about, that's for sure

You really are a complete berk, aren't you? At what point did I say it was entirely down to my own skills and I was some magical person with special powers? I just said I'd not hit anyone but had a few close calls. Talk about making assumptions and when I pointed out that I realised it sounded a bit smug, too. **** me, you don't half jump to conclusions.

3 times.
1 - bumper ripped from car but bike wheel fubared (score draw)
2 - car pulls out side turning on me as I'm going down hill, I hit wing and superman over the car to land in front of car coming the other way. Bike scratched, me lots of surface wounds, A&E via ambulance (car 1, bike 0)
3 - wing mirror hit hand/handlebar...i staid up - no damamge (no score draw)

All 3 car drivers at fault.

Oh and twice hit a car when it was my fault. One stationary - on me paper round with a mahoosive reel to reel Reevox tape recorder in my bag (some fool had binned it). Lost control of my dad's 10 speed Claude Butler (his pride and joy) when the bag swung off my shoulder. Went over the roof of a parked car after fishtailing wildly at high speed.

Second one - car was moving but stopped very abruptly. I hit the back of his car and put a nasty little ding in his boot lid. The guy got out and couldn't apologise enough - got away lightly there - deffo my fault...

[i]Anyone have a crash on the bike involving a vehicle where it was their fault not the drivers?[/i]

Ah didn't see this.
Ok, this was a long time ago, was on a group ride on my sparkly new Pace RC36s (I think). All keen to get going, crossing main road, glanced at my mates, thought they were crossing, moved, bang. Wheee, up in the air, crack, head on windscreen, splat, back on road, crack, chain tool into spine. Further injury saved by fully loaded Camelbak bladder.
Bike and forks totalled. Me on spinal board for extremely uncomfortable trip to hospital..

Once, at night, lit up like a Christmas tree. I saw the driver pulling out in front of me and went into a cool sideways skid rather than t-boning him. Once he heard the thud he slammed on the anchors then sh@t himself as I smashed his rear light with a well aimed size 11 cycling shoe and screamed at him*. No real damage other than ripped Ronnies.

*Not big and not clever, I hardly ever lose my temper and he was very apologetic afterwards.

Knocked off twice.
Nudged but stayed on once.
Forced to crash, rather than go through rear window whilst been cut up on a left turn once.

Once. Wasn't very serious, but still - car hit my elbow, then while cutting infront of me, hit my front wheel resulting with a over-the-bars moment. He was speeding aswell. Later that night saw him again driving like a nutter, probably drunk.