Time for the haters to hang their heads in shame. Rachel, the girlfriend of the cyclist we mentioned who got taken out a couple of days ago, fills in the details:
This was my boyfriend, I was riding in front of him.
We had lights on our bikes, were in the bike lane, single file and as far to the left as possible in the middle of the block riding north on Valencia.
I passed this parked car, she zoomed out after me and my boyfriend hit her front tire and went flying.
He suffered multiple facial fractures, some stitches and a bruised shoulder and is damn lucky. He also doesn’t have insurance so there’s that. Probably the worst part of it was being stuck in the emergency room of SFGH for 15 hours.
Thanks for the words of concern and those who realise that it is not always the bikers that disobey traffic laws that get hit. (link)
Its getting kind of gross, this “bike riders are the pinnacle of humanity and can never do anything wrong ever” mentality, especially since many are riding drunk/blazed/dirty and dont obey traffic rules.
Cool the gf of the person who was hit (also on a bike, therefore = better person, am i getting the hang of this yet?) is saying the evil car ran her man down, yeah shes definitely not going to lie here, we cant let a car ever sound like they were in the right, can we?
Wearing a helmet? Just wondering.
So many assholes are quick to hate just because of a few unsafe cyclists. Get the right information and watch your words before you assume anything and then you won’t look like a bundle of dumbshits… Hoping for a speedy recovery to the cyclist (and any injured cyclists whether they are at fault or not)
as a biker and a driver on valencia i have to comment on the use of bike headlights. in the rear or sideview mirror of a parked car, they’re virtually useless. the ambient glare of other cars headlights, street lights, and storefronts drowns out a bike light. it is very difficult to see bicycles in mirrors at night, so please be extra careful when riding at night.
@PN: I would have to disagree with you on this. As a driver I find it much easier to see cyclists when they have proper lights and reflectors. It is true that bike lights are not as bright as car headlights, but a properly lit bike is much more visible than some dude wearing black riding a fixie. So, cyclists should certainly use extra caution at night, but lights are helpful.
BTW, I suspect the cyclist was in the right here. People can be amazingly clueless when pulling out of parking spots; twice yesterday people pulled out of front of me in their cars wtihout signalling from parking spots. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid a collision. A cyclist in a bike lane might not have been able to avoid a collision.
If your mirrors don’t allow you to see well enough to proceed safely, you can’t use that as an excuse to pull out of a spot into a lighted cyclist!
Roll down your window, stick your head out, and look back – or do what ever you need to do – but don’t just drive if you can’t see what you’re driving into!
The same applies to the “I couldn’t see them because of the sun” excuse. If you can’t see, you can’t proceed safely.
Damn. Rachel, I hope your boyfriend is okay. Not having health insurance is a bitch – I know it would be a ridiculous amount of trouble, but I agree with jimbeam above. Get a good lawyer. It sounds like you weren’t doing anything wrong (it’s a little harder to blame fixies and dick cyclists and red light running when the accident is in the middle of the block), so it sucks that he’ll have to pay the incredible medical bills for it.
I ended up in the emergency room after a bike accident (completely my fault, chain fell off when I was in high gear and my feet flew off the pedals; I went over the handlebars like an idiot) and the bills were astronomical. Luckily I had health insurance, but I saw what the bills would have been – $1089 for the ambulance ride alone, not to mention time in the hospital, x-rays, doctors, etc. Best of luck for a speedy recovery.
Dude, seriously, what is going on? I just got off the 22 and a guy on a bike stopped at 16th and Potrero to yell into the door that the bus just clipped him, and spat in the bus at the operator, who sheepishly apologized. A guy in the front yelled at the bicyclist about “learning to ride a bike” all the way to the next stop where ANOTHER guy on a bike rode up to the door yelling that the bus either clipped him or almost did and the guy in the front just kept yelling, “You too, you learn to ride a bike too!” This time the bus driver also engaged in yelling, and a woman in front exclaimed “I just have no respect for bike riders.”
This seems like a bad situation.
As far as not having healthcare, has your boyfriend applied for Healthy San Francisco? (I know it’s a bit after the fact.) It’s healthcare coverage for those of us who are too “rich” for MediCal but can’t afford or get accepted by traditional insurance. I have it, and it’s certainly not dee-luxe, but it’s saved my ass.
I was able to sign up for Healthy SF a few weeks after visiting SF General, and they applied it retroactively, reducing my bill from $3000 to $30. Skip the lawyer and let Gav pick up the tab.
Clayton, can you tell me when this was? I was just in a similar incident sent to SFGH mid-June after being hit by a car, was referred to Healthy SF who enrolled me but said they won’t apply retroactive. Just getting mixed signals.
This was just over a year ago. I’ve heard about some cuts to the program. Hopefully the retro thing wasn’t lost with budget cuts. Best of luck.
Well, as the ‘hater’ (actually I love my bike) who started this please note that I am saying we have too many douches in this town, on four wheels and two, and that physics is not on the bike rider’s side. And since douche bike riders can go all sorts of places that cars can’t, the bike douche factor can nail pedestrians (i’ve seen it) and pets (I’ve seen it) and innocent drivers who are obeying the law and driving carefully (i’ve seen it) and other bikers like me (i’ve lived it). So to close: until there is some sort of accountability in this town for douches on bikes, don’t expect the ‘hating’ to stop.
yeah but one time, a car driver was treated poorly by a cyclist, therefore through the magic of false equivalences cyclists are just as bad as drivers!
(we do realize that this will never be resolved right?)
24th and bryant is where i live,
drunk/blazed and DIRTY? i don’t get it.
COMMENT FIGHT!
Both sides of this argument are stupid. Tell your boo to get a lawyer, keep all his receipts, take pictures of his face and make sure that a police report was filed. I heard that a man named David Anderson is a good one for bike accidents.
Team awesome, I hate your attitude but I love your user name.