What Do You Do When a Car Hits You?
I just got hit by a car. I was biking across Euclid at 16th Street NW, and everything seemed to be in order: I was in the crosswalk, Euclid had a red light, I had a walk signal. Prime crossing time, I thought, dutifully looking both ways. Nevertheless, a bouncy old Cadillac, which was stopped at the intersection long before I started crossing, still managed to lurch forward just as I rolled in front of it, thereby hitting me.
It's not a huge deal. I didn't fall over; I didn't lose consciousness; I simply extricated myself from his grill and made my way to the corner.
What surprised me most was my own reaction to the incident. I've never been hit by a car before, but had you posited the scenario to me in the hypothetical, I would have certainly imagined myself enraged and vengeful. This morning, however, once the hypothetical became a gruesome reality, I found myself timid and awkward. As I waited at the corner for the light to change, I could not bring myself to make eye contact with the driver who had just hit me. Even though I was in the right of way, I still hung my head in a backwards kind of shame. It felt like the moment after a drunken hookup at a bar that both parties regret and neither wants to talk about.
So, in order to take my mind off a mildly throbbing right hamstring, I wonder: was I wrong? Should I have put this irresponsible motorist in his place? Pounded his hood? Kicked his windshield? Twisted his tailpipe?
And the question that is truly pestering me: if I, the hapless victim, was catapulted into such a moral quandary after this encounter, what is going through the driver's head? Anything? Anything at all?
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9:59 am
The reality is you never know the mindstate, attitude, and or how the person behind that wheel will react. So sliding a glare to the wrong person, even when they are in the wrong could illicit a confrotation that could be more damaging then the mild tap you speak of.
At the end of the day its your decision..
10:29 am
I agree with Dc Biker - as long as you weren't seriously hurt, its better to just move on. DC Drivers - oh and MD and VA drivers are loony and you might end up with a fat lip instead of just a sore leg.
10:35 am
Your instinct is correct: You wussed out. The driver had a cuss-out comin'.
11:36 am
As long as you weren't hurt, I agree that it is best to move on with your life. Too many people angry over too many things in this city Not that you would not be in you rights to be angry, I'm just not sure it would serve a better purpose.
11:42 am
I am the driver. I sincerely apologize. Yet I still choose to remain anonymous. Don't ask me why. It's obvious you'd forgive me. You're a nice, young man, it seems. I even noticed your sparkling green eyes when I hit you. But the time has passed. And we were not destined to become acquaintances.
12:04 pm
Had a close call yesterday evening, about 8:45 at 9th and Florida/U. I'm southbound on 9th heading through the intersection on a green light when a northbound Escalade (or some similar large luxury SUV) guns a left turn through the intersection onto U, missing me by less than a foot. I'm pretty sure the guy saw me (that's why he gunned it methinks). I wanted to smash his window or dent a fender, but all I could manage was a "Jesus Christ!" Shook me up pretty good.
12:12 pm
Nice try with the flattery, DCCrazy, but I'm not going to let you get away with this again. Let me tell you that my eyes lose a bit of sparkle with each shot of pain that runs up my ailing leg. You have cut me down in the prime of my youth, DCCRazy, and I am not sure I can ever forgive you.
1:29 pm
Legally, you shouldn't have been biking in the crosswalk. I know that stretch of 16th is really busy and so riding on the sidewalk is tempting (I always rode up the hill on the sidewalk), but once you go outside the law, you can't really complain. So, good call on not confronting the driver.
1:34 pm
I just got hit on Thursday. It was a bit more than what you describe, but I was wondering the same thing. The person was very nice about it (as nice as one can be given it was that person's fault), but I failed to get any sort of insurance type information. I probably should have since, after feeling fine initially, my wrist got pretty messed up and my front wheel is in awful shape (though I was able to ride home). But, like you said, at that initial moment, I just didn't know what to do other than get out of the intersection and check to see if any major bones were broken. It was only after I got home and my wrist was hurting and I noticed the severity of my wheel problem that I thought exchanging insurance info may have been handy. I should say that normally when I have been involved in close calls, I let motorists know with some words or a fist pound/kick to the side of their vehicle. This time though, I was for some reason surprisingly more timid after getting knocked around by a vehicle.
1:42 pm
Ex-DC Cyclist,
Though perhaps not ideal in most parts of town, bikes are allowed on the sidewalk in D.C. (with the exception of the downtown business district). Some parts of town, like where I got hit, stupidly advise bikes to ride on sidewalks (though they call them "multi-use trails"), where (aside from being in terrible shape and being littered with broken glass) cars certainly are not on the lookout for bikes in the cross walk.
11:11 am
Mr Reed,
In response to your posit above, I posit another posit for your consideration. What do you do when someone runs into your parked car in a parking lot?
The law requires that you call the police to the scene to file a police report, so that insurance claims or damage suits are legally enforceable. But suppose said event occurs in a small town - let's say Homer, Alaska - where people know each other, where a level of trust borne out of the the shared small town experience almost requires informality in such cases. Suppose a struggling young college student drives his pickup into your parked car and you're there to see the whole thing. The young man gets out of his car and seems nice, apologetic, and sincere in his desire and ability to handle the transaction with a gentleman's handshake rather than a police report. You exchange contact information and agree to get the damage estimated. A check covering these damages is promised in return.
Suppose then that after taking your car to the repair shop, getting the damage repaired, and calling and mailing the young offender repeatedly to cover these costs that the punk delays, evades, and ultimately reneges on his promise to pay for his mistake? What then Mr. Reed? What do you do when a car hits your parked car? Do you track the driver down? Do you count on karmic forces to handle your revenge? Do you sit and laugh at your computer 5000 miles away when the punk blogs about being hit by a car?
What do you do?