Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Two-Wheel Tuesday: 12

357.9/2500

This post is dedicated to bicycle awareness.

Last week I had a minor incident in which an individual failed to check his mirrors for traffic prior to swinging open his car door. I thankfully had time to maneuver my bicycle's front end away from the vehicle, but the up-rotation of my drive-side pedal made direct contact with the edge of the driver's door. This caused my rear end to swing left and my handlebars to fold inwards, projecting me over the left side of my bicycle. My landing was thankfully spread out between the entire left side of my body resulting only in some minor bumps and bruises. I was lucky.

Days later, I finally met up with a long-time acquaintance, Ricky. Him and I chopped it up for a while, grabbed a late brunch, and road throughout many parts of the city grabbing some photos along the way. Later that night as Ricky was on his way home from work, he was hit by a car and thrown through the air. His shoulder took the weight of the fall and was severely separated, resulting in a 4 or 6-week recovery period.
The worse news: The driver fled.

This should go for all months of the year, but especially as it begins to warm up, I ask that you please pay attention to your surroundings. Triple-check before stepping out of your car, be more attentive at intersections, and pay attention to oncoming traffic before making turns. Bicyclists, baby strollers, motorcyclists, joggers, pedestrians, and even the drivers of other motor vehicles will all benefit from just a few extra seconds of care.

To Ricky and anyone else who has recently been affected, here's to a quick recovery:







"Positive vibes. Positive rides. Positive lives."

- Jason Unoriginal

5 comments:

  1. Now if we could only get these bad drivers to read AND understand this. Part of driver training should be a requirement that everyone ride a bicycle on a crowded street to see what it feels like.

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    1. Yes, yes, and yes! There should at least be a section on the tests that ask "what to do" type of questions in regards to cyclists. Maybe one day!

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  2. Hope he has a speedy recovery! I've actually seen some bicyclists get run over before and it's a precaution that everyone should look out for.
    There are even booklets with rules for bicyclists when using them on the street. Unfortunately, not many people know about them. :(
    This should really be promoted more.

    Vegetarian Courtesy


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    1. P.S: I can't stand when people swing their car doors open without looking! I actually hit someone's car door (and myself) like that once when riding my bike. They didn't tell me anything though because they knew they had the fault.

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