Had a crash yesterday

[Jantar]

Get a brighter headlight, and leave it on fullbeam 24/7.

Steve

Have you heard of target fixation? Do this and you become the target that others may fixate on. The safest way is to have your headlight on dip, next is headlight off. Full beam dazzles oncoming drivers, and seriously annoys those you may be following.

[HTFU]

A badly sprained ankle is probably worse than a broken one (so the Doc said) - mines still a bit gammy, 3 yrs on....

try an Osteo. I twisted mine landing on someone's foot playing BBall and for 2 years it was still tender, especially running cross country. Osteo moved around a few bones and a ligament and good as new.

[Shiny side up]

A badly sprained ankle is probably worse than a broken one (so the Doc said) - mines still a bit gammy, 3 yrs on....

Bugger you are making me feel worried. I rotated my foot 180 degrees and had it pinned under the bike at about 20 Kph a month ago. No break but I was sure it was going to..... Now it gets stiff if not moving for a short time.

I agree about gear though. Got nudged off by a cage hauling in front of me about a year ago. Strange feeling sliding on tarseal and not getting hurt..... Gotta love that kevlar.

[centaurus]

Well done on surviving;

What was the legal outcome of Mr Plod's visit?

The accident report hasn't been released yet.

The f...n cage driver, although on the spot admitted that he didn't even look in my direction and apologized many times, when logging the insurance claim refused to accept any responsibility pending the police report, so now the insurance company won't do anything until the police issues the accident report.

[centaurus]

It feels really good to have so many people inquire about your health and be happy you're ok. It makes me feel part the big "kiwibiker family". Thank you everybody for you kind thoughts.

[jrandom]

It feels really good to have so many people inquire about your health and be happy you're ok. It makes me feel part the big "kiwibiker family". Thank you everybody for you kind thoughts.

You're welcome!



Just a thought for future reference. When faced with the potential of the situation you were in, which as Ixion and others have pointed out happens all the fucking time, the best preventive maneuver I've found is to move right in the lane. It increases your visibility and maximises your swerving options if the car does decide to pull out.

Bicycle commuting gives me useful data; I've found that the further right on the road I am, the more likely a car driver turning from a street on the left is to see me. Makes sense, I guess.

If a car pulls out on you like that and you've already moved toward the center of the road, your best option will usually be to apply full throttle and swerve right onto the other side of the road so that your path no longer intersects the car's.

On the bicycle, I don't usually have the ability to accelerate hard enough to achieve that, so my avoidance plan is usually to do a hard left turn and head up the street the homicidal car came from.

The general rule is, think about swerving, not so much about braking. Look for spaces on the road, think about possible vehicle trajectories and how you can modify yours to not intersect the car's.

Don't get stuck in the "I'm travelling down this side of the road in a straight line, gee I hope the car doesn't hit me" mindset.