Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Another Accident Update
A police officer came out. He really did NOT want to file a report. He told me I was riding on the wrong side of the street. NOW….I don’t remember being taught how or where to ride my bike – it made common sense to me to ride so I could see the traffic. WRONG. {G} He told me “in TX cyclists follow the driving rules” and I said, “Well in most states you don’t leave someone you hit even if they were walking or riding in the wrong spot”. I told him I was wrong and won’t ride on the wrong side again – BUT she still should not have hit me and driven off with a wave. He asked if I thought that riding on the wrong side of the road had caused her not to see me. I told him that I thought she didn’t see me because she wasn’t looking…and she didn’t stop to look for oncoming traffic at all. He asked if I really wanted to file a report since I wasn’t hurt. He didn’t even want to look at the bike! I told him I don’t care if she pays for the bike…I want someone to talk to her about being careful and driving distracted and that it easily could have been a jogger or a child or another car. ARGH. He said he wasn’t sure they could do a thing because I was riding on the wrong side of the street. I don’t get that. I guess in TX you can hit folks if they jay walk etc. Mike drove home through the ally and said he is fairly sure he saw the car by my description. Now I doubt that I should turn the report in…the whole thing is very confusing to me. I don’t want her to get in big trouble…I don’t want to go to court….I don’t want to waste the police officer’s time…but it isn’t right for her to hit me and leave….even if I’m not hurt and bleeding.
Accident Update

I called the police and left a message. I'm waiting for the patrol officer to give me a call back.

I can't do much because I didn't see her license. I was righting myself and when I looked up she was waving and driving off - my eyesight isn't what it used to be!

Tonight, we are going to take a family walk up and down the ally and see if we can spot the car. We're going to try to get her license number and address and Mike doesn't want me to try to talk to them but to give the info to the police. I want her to KNOW that it wasn't just a mistake but that she needs to pay more attention when driving and really....it's against the law to drive off without stopping and exchanging info when you hit ANYTHING - or so Mike tells me.

I'm actually really feeling bad about turning in a report because I'm sure she feels terrible...but Mike is sure she doesn't feel terrible - just lucky at getting away. {G}
I GOT HIT BY A CAR THIS A.M. I can’t believe it. I was riding my bike. I was on Southwest – a busy street. I was riding carefully and watching traffic. I saw an older, light blue car with a blonde female driver approaching Southwest from the ally between Clearview and Grandview. I noted that I was in the traffic and she would be entering the traffic so I had the right of way. She continued to come….I was sure she was going to stop and she still had plenty of time to stop. I was already crossing the ally when I realized that she was NOT slowing down and she was NOT looking…..she kept coming and did not look up until SHE HIT MY BACK BIKE TIRE!!!! I was IN THE ROAD!!!! I was doing all I could to get out of her way. She entered a busy street without even LOOKING…..the look on her face when she felt the hit was total surprise…but then she waved and drove away!!!!! She didn’t stop to offer to pay for any damage, she didn’t stop to be sure I was o.k. and that I was not to rattled to ride home…she just waved and sped off. This was NOT a young adult. This was a 30-40 year old female. Good GRIEF! I tried to continue riding (I had done 5 miles and had 5 miles left to go) but realized my tire was wobbling. It’s warped, the brakes are pushed in against the tire, the mark where she hit is apparent…I hope her make up was applied to her satisfaction…thank goodness she won’t be late to work – what’s a little hit and run????? I have no idea what to do – I think I’ll write the editor of the local paper.