Have you ever hit someone on your commute?

[dantheman]

OK, it's time to confess..

About a year or so ago, I hit a yr7 schoolboy (11/12 y/o).

I came out of work on a Friday and thinking of getting home powered down the road, down a hill and there's a bridge, I was doing about 35 and was looking at the road only a couple metres ahead of me (the traffic was light, no cars very close).. I looked up at the traffic lights as I came under a bridge (they were green) and then as I looked back down there was a group of 4 or 5 schoolchildren ahead of me, as my brain thought "what the? " and "ride around them" and "sh*t, no space ahh I'm gonna hit" I broke and must have hit one at around 20-25mph.. I did call out...

I was wearing no helmet and flipped in the air landing on my rucksack, still clipped in I skidded down the road on my back/rucksack..

I immediately got up, took bike off road and turned around to shout some abuse etc......

Then I saw the boy, who was apologising, had blood covering half of his whole face, and a massive puddle of blood on the road about a foot long by half that wide... OMG...... I scraped him up and obviously waited for ambulance and police etc. When his dad turned up and went in the ambulance he thanked me for stopping which was nice, but after having to go police station etc it was late when I got home and I was obviously shaken, and ached for a few days after..

The boy ended up having scans and such but was just cut and bruised, nothing permanent - there is no crossing there, and I was not charged or anything like that...

It's amazing how much blood can pour out from your head and I was lucky not to have hit mine, and will always remember this...

Surely I can't be alone in having done something like this?

 

[slowmotion]

Luckily not yet. Every time I overtake a London stationary double-decker in London traffic, I'm acutely aware that somebody could step out into my path. I don't think that either of us would come off well from the collision, and I don't ride quickly.

 

[lazyfatgit]

30+ yrs ago, travelling downhill, pedestrian crossing, cars on left and right parked up, light traffic, green light, elderly lady crossed road, I saw her late, braked hard and we did a sort of slow motion dance with her weaving backwards to avoid me when I had committed to going behind her whilst trying to stay upright. I bumped her gently, she stayed on her feet, but we were both a bit shaken.

Could have been a lot worse. No doubt the experience taught me about my lack of ability and awareness of others.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I was ‘jumped’ by an airborne pedestrian on Oxford Street. She had jumped out the back of an old style Roadster bus while it was still moving. An amused, bemused heap of humans and a bike littered the road. I thought it was one of those ‘get lost in each other’s eyes’ and fall madly in love moments you see on the movies. Sadly not. Sorry, no Mills and Boons romance ensued.

 

[Drago]

Commuting to school, aged c.13, I hit a Vauxhall Viva and squashed my undercarriage quite painfully.

 

[vickster]

Thankfully not, but it's why I have 3rd party indemnity insurance in case of being sued for large sums

 

[ianrauk]

Cycling to work overtaking stationery traffic, a ped decided to dart out in between two cars, ran into me and sent me flying. He was a big bloke and I just bounced off him. I got knocked over to the other side of the road but luckily lights were red so no oncoming traffic. No injuries apart from being a bit winded. The chap wasn't even apologetic or stop to see if I was ok. Tosser.

 

[Drago]

Sorry about that Ian, I was late getting home to watch The Bill.

 

[mjr]

I have never hit someone as far as I can remember. People are pretty big and I aim to ride so that I can stop in what I can see to be clear - that is, the space that no-one else can reasonably reach before I can stop. If they were fired out from a cannon hidden round a blind corner or something silly like that, that's a different matter.

I've bumped over a couple of small wild animals that ran out (even though I try to ride clear of overgrown verges that can hide them - I've avoided many more) which continued their runs when I looked back and I once accidentally smacked a terrier with a pedal after it misjudged its lunge to bite my foot, but I can't feel too sad about that one!

 

[I like Skol]

Not yet thankfully, but have had to perform a few emergency evasion manoeuvres when people have randomly stepped in to my path without looking (although, as has already been suggested, this is almost to be expected so is something to plan for). I think the lack of noise from an approaching cycle fools some people, but this doesn't excuse it, or explain the people that have stepped out in front of my chuggy old landrover?????

About a year or so ago, I hit a yr7 schoolboy (11/12 y/o).

I have one of those myself and they can be spectacularly unaware of their surroundings and dangers so don't feel too bad. But hopefully you both learned something from the incident.

I thought it was one of those ‘get lost in each other’s eyes’ and fall madly in love moments you see on the movies. Sadly not. Sorry, no Mills and Boons romance ensued.

Did she not feel the same, or did you have to stop stalking her after she filed the restraining order.....

 

[Arjimlad]

I clobbered a lecturer's leg whilst riding to poly once. It was on site, I was climbing a hill through the car parking area.

To my left, people were waiting to cross the road I was using. The lady was walking towards the road & the waiting pedestrians, looked me square in the eye and stepped right out in front of me giving me no time to brake. My front wheel hit her leg, she squawked & I rolled off sideways.

Thankfully she was fine because I was going very slowly uphill.

Taught me not to think that eye contact means that you've been seen.

 

[Arjimlad]

OK, it's time to confess..

About a year or so ago, I hit a yr7 schoolboy (11/12 y/o).

I came out of work on a Friday and thinking of getting home powered down the road, down a hill and there's a bridge, I was doing about 35 and was looking at the road only a couple metres ahead of me (the traffic was light, no cars very close).. I looked up at the traffic lights as I came under a bridge (they were green) and then as I looked back down there was a group of 4 or 5 schoolchildren ahead of me, as my brain thought "what the? " and "ride around them" and "sh*t, no space ahh I'm gonna hit" I broke and must have hit one at around 20-25mph.. I did call out...

I was wearing no helmet and flipped in the air landing on my rucksack, still clipped in I skidded down the road on my back/rucksack..

I immediately got up, took bike off road and turned around to shout some abuse etc......

Then I saw the boy, who was apologising, had blood covering half of his whole face, and a massive puddle of blood on the road about a foot long by half that wide... OMG...... I scraped him up and obviously waited for ambulance and police etc. When his dad turned up and went in the ambulance he thanked me for stopping which was nice, but after having to go police station etc it was late when I got home and I was obviously shaken, and ached for a few days after..

The boy ended up having scans and such but was just cut and bruised, nothing permanent - there is no crossing there, and I was not charged or anything like that...

It's amazing how much blood can pour out from your head and I was lucky not to have hit mine, and will always remember this...

Surely I can't be alone in having done something like this?

That must have been very scary for both of you ! Hopefully lessons learnt

 

[mjr]

Not yet thankfully, but have had to perform a few emergency evasion manoeuvres when people have randomly stepped in to my path without looking (although, as has already been suggested, this is almost to be expected so is something to plan for). I think the lack of noise from an approaching cycle fools some people, but this doesn't excuse it, or explain the people that have stepped out in front of my chuggy old landrover?????

It's easy to explain: people are free to use the streets and you and your chuggy old landrover are only permitted there by licence. Walkers are there by rights, not licence, like cyclists, plus they get priority over everything except wild animals. I admire walkers who are willing to assert their priority by defying King Car and walking out into the road, although I only do it rarely myself as I get slower. Norwich used to be fantastic for this, but even there, so-called "road safety" campaigns like "THINK!" ("OBEY!"?) have mostly scared people out of doing it on busy roads.

But hey, if you hit someone, it's OK with government because casualties aren't caused by people driving too fast, but "dangerous actions of pedestrians" which children are encouraged to denounce in official FUN games like this one handed out in Scarfolk - sorry, I mean Somerset:

 

[DCLane]

I commute through Leeds city centre at rush hour, right through the main points where pedestrians cross. Who generally aren't looking, have headphones in and are staring at their phones whilst following the pedestrian in front.

Inevitably, yes. Or I'll give a 'shock' to someone as I'm passing with the intention that next time they'll look. And maybe survive.

A couple of times a year the local news has a story on someone who's been killed by a bus/car/van whilst crossing the road on this route. And I can understand why unfortunately.

 

[Rooster1]

No.