Fastest Crash Into a Big Object + Lessons Learned

[IMHooker]

I'll start:
Speed: 30mph
Trying to break my personal record between my apartment and the La Jolla Cove (near San Diego), I was hammering along at ~30mph (wind at my back) when an 18-year old with exceptionally poor judgement pulled out from a side street; he didn't bother looking left until he was right in front of me. Despite having great reflexes honed as a bicycle messenger years before, nothing I did or could have done would have prevented it.

I hit that car without ever touching the brakes... although I did manage to produce a chilling, feral howl just before impact.

Lessons learned:
(1) There is no value in "being in the right"; only in being alive and healthy.
(2) There is no limit to how unobservant other drivers may be.
(3) That fraction of a second required to push up off of your aero bars to grab the breaks is all the difference in the world.
(4) Never say no to an ambulance if you've hit your head. Waving off an ambulance is an incredibly poor decision as the pain caused by an accident doesn't kick in until much later... you could easily have a broken neck.
(5) Helmets DEFINITELY save lives... my first impact with the asphalt was fully on my head with my legs straight over my body (pile-driver style) with 20-30 mph horizontal velocity.
(6) An automobile quarter-panel is no match against the legs of a 185lb cyclist travelling 30mph; the legs will put a 4" deep dent in the quarter-panel.
(7) Having the driver who caused this mess come up to me after I waved off the ambulance say "You are one tough m&*^%$ f&*^%$" felt good.

 

[cydewaze]

Wow! Sorry to hear, and glad you're ok.

 

[g8000]

Did you fly over the hood of the car?? What happened to the kid??

 

[IMHooker]

Yeah, I flew over the hood of the car and landed right on my head. The kid? Funnily enough, the owner of the car was seated in the passenger seat and had to helplessly watch the thing unfold in front of her... it must have been awful sitting there unable to change the course of events. Anyway, both of them were alright of course... and I bet they'll never forget it! I would have enjoyed learning the cost of repairs to that car.

I had a badly tweaked neck and some left-side numbness for 6-8 weeks... but it mostly all got better. Now -more than a decade later- I continue to have some stiffness from time to time... but that's it. I consider myself very lucky because things could have been much worse.

It was my last bike-car accident. Since then, I never hammer when there is any chance of a car shooting out from a side street.

Oh yeah: my bike: the top tube and down tube were bent; the top tube so much (30 degrees) that the front wheel overlapped the down tube by more than an inch. But the weirdest thing is: the front wheel was totally undamaged; I'd hit the side of the car fully square. I rode that wheel for years afterwards. Wheels are incredibly strong in-plane.

Originally posted by g8000
Did you fly over the hood of the car?? What happened to the kid??