Beijing scooter accident

TIC – it had to happen.

Last Saturday, I am on my 125 scooter on a typical Beijing side road. There is one lane in each direction, as well as a bicycle lane (naturally, full of parked cars). There is also one of those white fences down the center of the road, preventing people from crossing over.

I am following a car in somewhat light traffic. We are going no more than 30 km/h. I am on the roadway (not the bicycle lane).

The car in front pulls over into a gap in the bike lane (on the right) where there are no parked cars, and slows to a near stop. It looks to me like he is parking.

I am in the left side of the through-lane and continuing on, still doing no more than 30 km/h.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the car quickly do a U-turn, about to cut right in front of me. There was a little break in the center line fence he was going to squeeze through.

At that point, I couldn’t veer left because the fence was still there, so I just hit both brakes as hard as possible, moved next to the fence (albeit a little diagonally because I was thinking I’d also head to the fence opening) and my little scoot stopped on a dime, kinda sliding me forward on the seat.

My scooter came to a full stop just into the gap in the fence, and I had to put my right leg down, but the car drove into the side of me.

The car pushed the bike sideways maybe a meter, but no big deal. The bike didn’t fall over, nor did I fall off the bike.

Something happened to my right leg, but I am not 100% sure what. I ended up with a couple of scrapes on my leg, probably from a metal bumper that surrounds my scooter. There was a lot of blood running down my leg.

Yes, you are correct – I was wearing shorts and sandals (I know, I know – dumb, dumb and dumber).

So, I am a Canadian, raised playing ice hockey. Bumps, bruises, scrapes and blood are second nature. Saw the blood, quickly checked my leg (nothing broken or sprained), and then focused on the next most important thing – was my pretty little scooter damaged? Nope, not a scratch – nothing - strange. There was a dent and scratch on the car’s driver door.

But there was a lot of blood over my shin, and getting worse. You know how that works – a little scrape that bleeds a lot … making it look much worse than it is.

Take off my full-face helmet and I could see/hear the car driver, car passengers, and the assembling crowd gasp …. omg, a foreigner! My thought – oh shit, here we go.

The driver got out and immediately began apologizing, and admitting he was at fault, although he did try to chastise me for not riding in the bike lane. Until a friend on another scooter (who had now arrived on the scene) pointed out “This is a legal scooter. He should be riding on the road, not the bike lane.” The spontaneous crowd of onlookers (judge & jury) agreed. They see the blood – I have the crowd’s sympathy.

Anyways, I told the car driver “look, there’s no damage to my bike, I have only a couple of scrapes, and I need to go clean and bandage it up, so let’s just go.”

At this point, an old woman from the crowd steps forward and tells the driver to pay up! The driver quickly pulls a few hundred rmb out and offers it. I say “no, I don’t want any money. It is fine, it was an accident, you apologized, everything is fine, and I really need to go clean up, asap.” I didn’t want blood on my fancy-shmancy leather sandals.

The old woman from the crowd, now joined by a parking lot attendant and some business-type woman, all shout in unison “you can’t leave, he has to pay!”

Again, I say “no, I don’t want any money, the guy said he was sorry. That’s good enough.” I am sensing the crowd may turn ugly on this driver. In my simple mind, the driver f’d up, he apologized, shit happens, let’s get over it.

At this point, a really old woman gets out of the passenger side of the car, her hand literally full of cash (no idea how much, but a LOT), hobbles towards me, and starts pushing the money towards me.

I back up, away from her, and keep saying “no, no, no – I don’t want money – please, I just want to leave and go clean myself up.” I’m starting to get visions of germs invading my open wounds.

The crowd was definitely not going to permit me leaving, as I motion to get back on my bike. Damn. It was becoming surreal. My scooter-friend (Chinese) tells me that I must take at least some money, and to definitely NOT just leave.

So, my scooter-friend says … “give him enough for bandages and an ice cream cone, and we’re good.” The driver insisted no less than 200. Fine, 200. I have GOT to get outta here.

Away we two scooterites went to a happy cheer from the crowd, with several thumbs-up. A short while later, cleaned & bandaged, enjoying an ice cream, life was good. I still feel bad, though, profiting from the incident (cost of alcohol, iodine, bandages, tape & enough ice cream for two was about 80 rmb).

China – never a dull day – that’s one of the things I like about living here.

Dear LJH,

Damned good outcome, all things considered. Your suspenseful retelling had me worried till the final sentence that something actually bad had happened. Glad a couple of ice creams were a sufficient cure.

Any thoughts on how to dress better for the next time? I mean that earnestly. Is there a version of ATGATT -- "ATGATT lite"? "ATGATT slow"? -- for small scooters that we ride at only 30kph or less?

cheers!

"All's well that ends well".

By the way, a very important question: is the ice cream on a stick or in a cone?

By the way, Richard, I'm amazed that you managed to stay upright despite being broadsided by a car at any speed. Also amazed that you didn't go down into that metal divider; I can only imagine the kind of chaos that would ensue if a bike hit one of those, since your pegs and other protrusions would like catch, and, well, I just don't even want to think about what that would look like....

Congratulations on keeping a cool head! You deserved that ice cream!

Cheers,
Jeff

Good on you Richard, glad to read you came out of that one ok! Nice to see you using a somewhat common-sense approach as such an accident is easily caused what with so many distractions around at the best of times. I'd hazard a guess though that had the circumstances been the reversed all common-sense would have gone out the window, a long with the bath water. Glad though that injuries suffered on the surface appear to be minor, though I note your sense of doubt over your leg which seems to have taken the impact one way or another. It might be prudent to get an X-Ray just to rule out a partial non-displaced or incomplete hairline fracture. Glad to read that the resulting funds allowed a pleasant relaxing end to the days events. Mmmmm I can taste that Magnum now...

Euphonius, I can relate to your comment re: ATGATT. I'm into my ATGATT lite or may I offer, ATGATT scoota gear. Armoured textile jacket, leather fingerless gloves (ok 2/3 finger intact top 1/3 not), leather and suede type mid ankle riding boots as opposed to calf or mid-calf, and regular trousers. Just can't stand the heat with armoured riding trousers insitu. Too hot! I do have a mesh jacket that I've not worn yet this summer, but then quite a few of the days since I've been back from OZ/NZ (2 weeks), I've driven my car. ok, ok, brick bats...
Even I have ridden, I'm not comfortable with the gear on, plus we've experienced days and nights with thunderstorms (humidity) lightening, heavy downpours.

Might add that last night, a lot of deep surface flooding around near Dongqian Hu, and the mountains surrounding the lake. Tried accessing one mountain road, but a flash flood across the road, turned me back. Took alternative main road between two main mountain ranges, but visibility not good, and numerous trees (bamboo) down across the roadway, just passable in places. Then hit standstill traffic, lots of container trucks and the like. After waiting 10min or so, got out of my car leaving my son in his car-seat in it.

Nasty accident was the cause, ebike rider hit by a vehicle, rider or pillion suffered above knee amputations. Couldn't tell from all the trucks and cars which was the offending vehicle, plus it was raining - not a pretty sight. Tried to assist, but not so easy with so many onlookers and then had my young son too. With 120 (ambulance) in attendance - left with son in car seat, back the way we came. By the time we back tracked, could make it through the portion of road that had flash flooded. Rest of the journey was quiet, and peaceful through some of my favoured mountain roads.

Thanks for the wishes, folks.

First, the important stuff - the vanilla ice cream was in a dish, covered with that chocolate sauce that turns hard. Really tasty.

Second, although I'd like to claim god-like riding skills, the truth is I was just really damn lucky. I've heard people say that things slow down, and they remember things in slow motion. Not me. All I remember was the trigger of "shit, he's going to turn in front of me" and me braking like hell and heading for the opening. I do remember the full-stop-jerk, and I think it was followed by him hitting me and pushing me, but maybe I was still moving forward when we collided and the full stop jerk happened after. I really don't know for sure exactly how everything happened. In my aged brain, it seemed everything sped up. I also think my brain told my body to keep the bike upright, but I am not sure how I did it, but I think this is probably how my leg got scraped.

Third, ATGATT-lite. I ride with a hi-viz helmet and a hi-viz shirt and/or vest, and my headlight on. It is impossible to know how many times someone saw me, who maybe otherwise would have not, but in this one particular case, the guy obviously did not see me. In this case, shin pads and textile pants would have helped me. But, it is just too hot and inconvenient.

In retrospect, I actually blame myself. Usually, I am pretty good at reading traffic and keeping an "out" just in case. I know that last Saturday, my mind was elsewhere and I wasn't really paying attention. Normally, whenever there is a car with people in it on the right side of the road, I expect the worst (pulling out, opening doors, etc).

Reflecting, I think what happened was the guy really didn't see me until after he had hit me, and maybe not even until after he had stopped. Who knows. I don't remember if I hit the horn, but my guess is probably not, as things were happening too fast. I was just really damn lucky.

The upside (in addition to being alive) is that a Chinese sweety offers lots of sympathy ... although I've probably already milked that to the max.

Hey LJH,

glad to hear nothing more serious happened. Did you get an X-ray of that leg already? I can totally imagine how this whole scene unfolded and I guess none of us is always prepared for all the stupidity on the streets of which sudden parking maneuvers and u-turns are probably among the worst.

I guess this still doesn't count as your first get-off?:naughty:

Richard, your sweetie is special. There are plenty of guys who would be permanently grounded after a close scrape like that, not coddled! So that's a huge upside!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fahni

I guess this still doesn't count as your first get-off?:naughty:

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Nope! That is probably why my brain said "stay upright and on this bike, at all costs!"

Nyeh, besides, you know I would never publicly reveal a genuine "get-off" and spoil my perfect record.

Stayed on the buckin' bronco the full 9 seconds! That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

… “give him enough for bandages and an ice cream cone, and we’re good.”

Best line. Wishing I could see a story like this reported in a Chinese newspaper. Way to be a class act LJH.

Again, thanks.

What was most surprising for me was ... the crowd.

I had heard stories of "the crowd" in China, and even passed by what I thought might have been "the crowd" assembling at other scenes.

But I had no first-hand experience with one.

Very interesting social phenomenon. You don't want to mess with them, that was obvious.

hey richard im just glad your safe and sound!

i also have that same experienced but with taxi drivers that dont know where to go and then suddenly turns at your way. i was driving at 90 and cannot suddenly turn like the tron light cycles, do a hard brake and got a lock at the rear and a skid, theres about a meter gap from the cars hood and the sidewalk that im trying to squeeze into as escape route but seems impossible, this drivers when they hear skids or breaks they suddenly stop and wait till you hit them. my front wheel end up under the door area of the car and no scratches on the taxi, no scratches on the bike as well but the right foot peg was broken and some dent on the handles butt, no scratches on me as well as i wear my gear. from then ever since i only drive at 30 to 60 maximum. so far so good, hope it stays that way and to you too - accident free - almost a year now.