How to Handle Bike-Car Accidents, Part 1 | Road Rights | Bicycling.com


How to Handle Bike-Car Accidents, Part 1

Flickr image courtesy of Joseph Nicolia.

I Was In A Collision—What Should I Do?

By Bob Mionske

It was an unusually bright sunny February day in Portland; I was on a ride and had a tailwind, so I was moving along pretty well. Suddenly, without warning or signaling, a driver made a right turn in front of me—a classic “right hook.”

I had a moment where I saw what was happening, and attempted to turn right along the trajectory of the car, but just before impact I had to accept that I was not going to make it. She stopped mid-turn and I t-boned her right front quarter panel. I did a long flying aerial somersault and landed flat on my back and back of my head.

After paramedics checked me for head and spine injuries, I went to emergency for x-rays. I was “lucky”; when my head hit the pavement, my jaw snapped shut, and I “only” broke my front teeth, dislocated my shoulder, and had my hips slammed into the pavement.

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