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I got hit by a truck... literally...

Peter Gariepy

By Peter Gariepy
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Peter Gariepy 25,000+ Points

Peter Gariepy

Posted
Posted

Got hit by a truck Tues evening. LITERALLY.  (Dodge full size, late 1990s)

I clearly had the right of way.

I'm recovering from a bunch of injuries related to the accident, but I'll heal, I'll live.

I was on a bicycle, and I was wearing a helmet.  Had I not I would not have survived IMHO.

 

Please.... be aware of bicycles and motorcycles on the road.

And if you're riding a bike or cycle... please... for god sake, wear a helmet!

 

 

 

 

 

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1912Staver 25,000+ Points

1912Staver

Posted
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When I was a college student many years ago I was a reasonably serious cyclist . Never raced but used to tag along on training rides with a couple of friends who did. Put on lots of miles, hit by cars twice. Long before cell phones. Some drivers just don't see people on bikes. I am very careful about where I ride these days.

I always wear my helmet. As much to send a message to my son as anything. If you get run down by a car there are lots of parts of your body where the injuries can be fatal apart from your head. But no one wants to live their life with a brain injury.

Edited by 1912Staver (see edit history)
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Matt Harwood 25,000+ Points

Matt Harwood

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Glad you're OK, Peter. As someone who often walks to work, I'll vouch for the fact that black Dodge Ram pickups are by far the worst in terms of trying to "put a scare into" pedestrians and bikers. I'm hoping he stopped after he hit you and appropriate citations were written.

 

Best to you and hoping for a speedy recovery.

 

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SC38dls 25,000+ Points

SC38dls

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Wow, lucky you have a hard head and were wearing a helmet. Now you should get a new helmet as that one is stained besides being broken. Is a new bike in order? From the insurance $$ I bet you are going to get the one you always wanted! LOL

 

Seriously, glad you are OK and recovering. Hopefully he stopped and you called the police. The way some of these guys in trucks drive scares the heck out of me especially the jacked up ones with the oversized tires.  Get better soon. 

dave s 

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9F94M567042 500+ Points

9F94M567042

Posted
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Peter,

Also pleased to hear you are OK. Bike's & vehicles certainly don't mix. I had a near miss in downtown Denver a number of years back where I was making a right turn and a bicyclist was on the sidewalk and decided they had the right of way to just go ahead and cross the street without looking at the light or who might be around them. Luckily I took a second or maybe it was a third look before turning and saw them in time. I don't take off from a red light either. Always try and look and see who is around me. Pisses people off, but I don't really care much.

P.S. I don't want this to sound like you were at fault. I'm just saying that sometimes folks on bikes (pedal or motorcycle) think they are above everyone else on the road.

Edited by 9F94M567042
spelling correction/added text (see edit history)
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edinmass 25,000+ Points

edinmass

Posted
Posted (edited)

Where I live, Palm Beach County in Florida, has the highest accident rate in the country with pedestrians & bicycles. We don't even walk down 95 percent of the sidewalks here......too many people on the phone, texting, and watching video while driving. It's insane. 

 

Peter, hope you are feeling better soon. 

Edited by edinmass (see edit history)
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Walt G 25,000+ Points

Walt G

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Hope your recovery goes well, pretty scary to read this. People driving are way to focused on their cell phones for any and all reasons. People on bicycles need to know that even if they have the right of way the chance that the person in a vehicle is just to numb/dumb to think.   I hope you heal fast.

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30DodgePanel 25,000+ Points

30DodgePanel

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, Walt G said:

Hope your recovery goes well, pretty scary to read this. People driving are way to focused on their cell phones for any and all reasons. People on bicycles need to know that even if they have the right of way the chance that the person in a vehicle is just to numb/dumb to think.   I hope you heal fast.

I've seen far too many bicyclists who think that just because they technically have the right of way, they actually think they can and should compete with a 3-10,000 lb vehicle. Now that is insane. 


Hope you heal quick Peter and glad you're ok, but IMHO bikes are meant for parks, not to be shared with raving lunatics driving steel projectiles.

Edited by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)
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charlespetty 1,000+ Points

charlespetty

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One of my good friends was killed March 23rd when he pulled out in front of a pickup while on his bicycle and he was wearing a helmet.  Cars and bicycles don't mix.  Too much distracted driving these days.  

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Flivverking 5,000+ Points

Flivverking

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Shxt!

I hope you recover well and quick..

I will send you my prayers.

 

I have been/was a diehard cyclist since ,what 4 or 5 till 58.

 I ride/ road after 12 years old ,on old school classic  ten speeds..

 After 55 years old of inner city riding(i road l/drove like a car and followed traffic rules..to extreme),

 I gave it up, after being cut off by too many socker moms in SUVs cutting me off while on a cell phone and me crashing into thier door ,hanging on over the window edge,screaming at them,hanging on.

 Last time I attempted a ride at dusk,I was pushed over to curb by a trucker passing me and ran over a storm grate with open slots the entire length of the 3 foot long grate!.

 At 18mph my wheels l hit the grate, double ditched and I went head over onto the street.

 The rims egg shaped and me with a jaw that clacked for over a year.

I lay on the road and know one stopped.

  If I want to pleasure ride I have to strap on the bike and drive several miles  to a canal railroad right of way, made into a walk path.

I have yet to do it.

 GodsSpeed to you.

 

  

 

 

 

Edited by Flivverking (see edit history)
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John Byrd 2,500+ Points

John Byrd

Posted
Posted

Hope you heal quick Peter, it's a mighty dangerous world out there for almost anything less than 3000 lbs.... Over here in Hawaii, the Ironman event has literally thousands of bikes on the road and streets "practicing" for their big day. I have seen ONE of them stop at both a stop sign and a pedestrian cross-walks in the 11 years I have been here. I never knew when I was a kid riding bikes that around 150 or so lbs. ( average size rider and bike total ??? ) were so completely exempt from all traffic rules, courtesy, and multi-thousand pound vehicle inter-actions. All us locals usually just try to stay home during the 2 week period it is in town. I have also nearly hit a small motorcycle because it was completely hidden behind the windshield post of my old Falcon at an intersection, and I would have quit driving if I had hit that kid...scary.  I am not usually a "control" person...helmets, safety belt, and other "personal" rules, but if folks on bikes are going to completely ignore everything around them, then let them get "legal" with helmets, license plates, inspection stickers, turn signals, lights, etc. like all other vehicles..... OR.... have actual controlled, designated, separated areas to ride in. I'm afraid America just plainly is not ready for the freedom that foreign bike riders are used to. And yeah, take away cell phones, "screens", and tuneable radios from most "steering wheel holders" as my truck driving Dad used to call drivers, ha ! Get well quick, and watch close when you get back out. As my wife and I are also on our little 50 cc scooters, you are pretty much invisible.

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hidden_hunter 10,000+ Points

hidden_hunter

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Glad to hear you’re ok

 

 we’re one of the only places with mandatory helmet laws on bikes but in recent years usage has dropped off because apparently your hair do is more important or they’ve done their own “research “ . Why you wouldn’t do something so simple to minimise your risk I don’t understand (as you have shown!)

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trimacar 25,000+ Points

trimacar

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So sorry to hear, hope you heal quickly....with today's egocentric drivers (do they teach that in driver's ed now, along with tailgating and ignoring traffic signs?), being a cyclist is a hazard unto itself.

 

Very glad no major damage, stay safe...

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Billy Kingsley 5,000+ Points

Billy Kingsley

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Yikes, get well soon! 

 

A few years back I almost got run down by a 48 Buick at Rhinebeck, looked like the original owner...as I was running out of his way I literally thought "well, at least I'm going to get run over by a cool car"

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TAKerry 25,000+ Points

TAKerry

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What everyone has said, wishing you a quick recovery. I have driven my motorcycle all over the country. I was warned when I was in Pheonix to be extra careful. They told me no one pays attention to traffic laws. I survived but was overly cautious during my time there. I have seen a lot of posters in a 10 mile radius of my house popping up over the last 2 days. I think there is a bicycle event going to happen this weekend. I will keep an extra eye out for safetys sake.

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wayne sheldon 25,000+ Points

wayne sheldon

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Hoping for a fast and thorough full recovery!

I still have several small scars on my face from horsing around on my bicycle when I was still in high school!

 

I don't know which I disdain worse? The idea of self driving cars? or the fact that so many drivers today NEED them?

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60FlatTop 25,000+ Points

60FlatTop

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Posted

I have a bicycle. They told me I had to ride with my back to the traffic. I thought they were kidding. Ain't no way.

 

That's right in there with two 75 year old guys talking about the best ladder to buy.

 

Don't do that stuff.

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9F94M567042 500+ Points

9F94M567042

Posted
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2 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

 

 

I don't know which I disdain worse? The idea of self driving cars? or the fact that so many drivers today NEED them?

Slightly off topic here, and I know we all wish Peter a speedy recovery, but, If you need/desire a self-driving car, you should NOT be allowed behind the wheel. PERIOD!

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DGPoff 1,000+ Points

DGPoff

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A simple suggestion from a 1500 mile a year rider (@60), for your next helmet get a “MIPS” system helmet from someone like Scott. I consider a $200 bike helmet the best insurance policy ever. 
 

I hope you have a speedy recovery, and return to the bike soon!

 

DGP

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TAKerry 25,000+ Points

TAKerry

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When my son was about 15 (hes 30 now) he was hit on his bike riding along the road. He had no helmet and only suffered A LOT of road rash. Driver sped on, never slowed down. A couple of years before that his best friend at the time was hit in his wheel chair a few hundred feet from his house, my son was right beside him when this happened as well. Fortunately the boy was not seriously hurt but his chair was destroyed. Again, driver kept going. 

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