Girl down!

[cyberknight]

Ouch! A variation of the classic SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) accident, or in your case, SLIDSY. Or to put it more correctly "sorry love I didn't look." In case anything comes of it, he admitted that he was negligent. As previously mentioned I hope that you took his details. You might be OK today but by tomorrow you could be quite stiff and sore, or worse. I certainly hope that you will be OK. Since you're not invisible, perhaps he will be more aware of cyclists next time.

When you say you got hit by a car for the first time ever, I hope this doesn't mean you're going to make a career of it. It could be a short career, and there is no pension scheme! There is an old motorcyclists' saying (being an old motorcyclist myself), "If you're not there, they can't hit you" which is not to say you should go around with a sense of impending doom but to think, "What stupid/ unpredictable thing could this other person do, and how could I best avoid being in a place where if he does, he could cause me harm?". This is a school of thought that assumes that other road users are all incompetent idiots. 99 times out of a hundred they aren't, and even if they are, most of the time nothing will come of it. Just occasionally, as you've just found out, when all the factors are in alignment, something does occur.
You almost end up thinking for other people, and after a while it becomes second nature, something that runs in the background.

So don't let this incident spoil your enjoyment of cycling. You just have to put it down to experience, and avoid it happening in future.

I assume now it's dilligaf rather than smidsy 🙁
Glad you're ok !

 

[MichaelW2]

Any time you have a car collidion, you MUST take id and insurance details, photograph the car from multiple angles, driver, and 360 view from crash location.
Send them to yourself time stamped.

I had a car rear end me and the driver's insurance company denied the event ever happened, until I showed copies of the notebook of passing policeman.

You never know if damage or injury will show later.
With front wheel impact, check forks and head tube. Both can cave in under frontal crash.

 

[a.twiddler]

Dilligaf*. Hmm. That's a new one on me. Sounds like a creeping Americanism. Fortunately most people do care that they've hit someone and torment themselves as to how it happened and how to avoid doing it again. Others play the blame game abetted by the insurance companies who tell drivers never to admit liability.

Then there is the minority who truly can say they just don't care. Maybe to the extent that they drive away, due to being banned, or having no tedious necessities such as car tax, insurance or MOT. Cloned plates even. Perhaps they have lived under the radar for some time and the last thing they need is to draw attention to themselves. It's possible that this type of person is a very unobtrusive driver and least likely to be involved in an accident but I wouldn't count on it. Probably they're unlikely to be bothered about consequences or responsibilities to others.
Then again, there are some fully legal drivers who just have a sense of entitlement and no regard for "lesser" road users.

It would make a neat name though, perhaps with an extra F. That could still work, if in the acronym it stood for "Flying".
*Do I Look Like I Give A (expletive deleted).

 

[Badger_Boom]

It finally happened and I got hit by a car for the first time ever today!

The car was coming towards me and wanted to turn right into the petrol station. He just swung in front of me. I slammed the brakes on and ended up hitting the back of his car behind the back passenger door. Hit the ground.

Remarkably I’m totally fine - a scratch on my elbow. My bike was also fine, just needed to straighten the wheel slightly. The chap was apologetic and immediately took the blame. ‘Sorry love, I didn’t see you’.

So all fine but a little shaken up.

I'm glad you're in one piece (and your bike of course), and that the motorist took it on the chin, but... "I didn't see you" scares me every time I hear someone use it as an excuse. In a situation like turning accross traffic, it either means their eyesight isn't up to the job, or that they simply didn't look.

 

[alicat]

I'm glad you're in one piece (and your bike of course), and that the motorist took it on the chin, but... "I didn't see you" scares me every time I hear someone use it as an excuse. In a situation like turning accross traffic, it either means their eyesight isn't up to the job, or that they simply didn't look.

It can also mean that the motorist isn't expecting a cyclist so they aren't looking for one. Our brains are programmed to only see things that we expect to see such as pedestrians or other motorists.

Or that the motorist is worried e.g. about the cost of fuel so he is looking but not concentrating.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I'm glad you're in one piece (and your bike of course), and that the motorist took it on the chin, but... "I didn't see you" scares me every time I hear someone use it as an excuse. In a situation like turning accross traffic, it either means their eyesight isn't up to the job, or that they simply didn't look.

It can also mean that the motorist isn't expecting a cyclist so they aren't looking for one. Our brains are programmed to only see things that we expect to see such as pedestrians or other motorists.

Or that the motorist is worried e.g. about the cost of fuel so he is looking but not concentrating.

Although I agree in principle I've yet to meet a person who if being truthful have never made a mistake whilst driving/cycling/walking in their life.

 

[presta]

"I didn't see you" scares me every time I hear someone use it as an excuse. In a situation like turning across traffic, it either means their eyesight isn't up to the job, or that they simply didn't look.

Like it or not, it's by far the most common cause of accidents, whether it's the motorist at fault, or the cyclist:

 

[a.twiddler]

Got anything more up to date than 2009? It's a bit woolly with regard to fatal collisions. Fatal to Whom? The vehicle driver? A pedestrian? A cyclist? A motorcyclist? Some apparent victim blaming here, too with "cyclist wearing dark clothing at night". If it was more up to date, mobile phone use might feature large in the contributory factors. Surprising to see that some collisions are attributed to cyclists "failing to look properly" when they have most to lose. It's all a bit loose. If the cyclist is dead, is it someone else's opinion that they didn't look properly? And so on.

 

[tyred]

Glad you're okay and it really does shake you up. It's difficult to think clearly at the time too. Hopefully you won't have too many aches and pains tomorrow or nothing more concerning shows up.

When I got t-boned by a driver that pulled out of a junction in October, I knew he was going to hit me and I couldn't get out of the way in time. It was all a very slow motion thing and very strange.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

How are you doing today @Cathryn ? Hope all well

 

[Cathryn]

How are you doing today @Cathryn ? Hope all well

Thank you so much for asking. I'm fine. Nice bruise on my left leg. My shoulders and arms ache like I did push ups (which is weird) but absolutely fine.

 

[Cathryn]

Glad you're okay and it really does shake you up. It's difficult to think clearly at the time too. Hopefully you won't have too many aches and pains tomorrow or nothing more concerning shows up.

When I got t-boned by a driver that pulled out of a junction in October, I knew he was going to hit me and I couldn't get out of the way in time. It was all a very slow motion thing and very strange.

Yes! I saw it happening, I knew I'd hit him but it was all very slow and I wasn't scared. So weird.

 

[cyberknight]

Dilligaf*. Hmm. That's a new one on me. Sounds like a creeping Americanism. Fortunately most people do care that they've hit someone and torment themselves as to how it happened and how to avoid doing it again. Others play the blame game abetted by the insurance companies who tell drivers never to admit liability.

Then there is the minority who truly can say they just don't care. Maybe to the extent that they drive away, due to being banned, or having no tedious necessities such as car tax, insurance or MOT. Cloned plates even. Perhaps they have lived under the radar for some time and the last thing they need is to draw attention to themselves. It's possible that this type of person is a very unobtrusive driver and least likely to be involved in an accident but I wouldn't count on it. Probably they're unlikely to be bothered about consequences or responsibilities to others.
Then again, there are some fully legal drivers who just have a sense of entitlement and no regard for "lesser" road users.

It would make a neat name though, perhaps with an extra F. That could still work, if in the acronym it stood for "Flying".
*Do I Look Like I Give A (expletive deleted).

mate uses it on his online prescence , i really thought it was a welsh name till i googled

 

[Ming the Merciless]

mate uses it on his online prescence , i really thought it was a welsh name till i googled

Can’t be Welsh, it has vowels

 

[cyberknight]

Can’t be Welsh, it has vowels

dilligough gough gough ?