I got hit by a car.

[soberpete]

I was involved in a little RTA last night and am proud to say that I have no serious injuries after being knocked off of my bike by a speeding VW Santana! This is the fifth time that I’ve come off of my bike (unwillingly), the second time that I’ve come into contact with a car but the first that a car has hit me.

It was around 20:30 last night (Tuesday 29th March) and I was riding my 150cc cruiser back home from a dinner that I had with some friends. My wife had decided not to join me for dinner because she was tired and I’m bloody grateful that she made that decision after what happened:
I was stationary at a T-junction getting ready to turn left as soon as the green light switched from ‘Straight ahead’ to ‘Turn left’. My apartment is very close by so I have used this junction about 100 times before. I would usually use the far left hand lane (car lane) to turn left here but in this case the car lane was pretty packed and the bike lane was completely empty so I used the bike lane.

The light changed and I immediately pulled away. I’d made a few meters across the junction when I heard the screeching of tires followed by the illumination of my left hand side by this car’s headlights and then, finally, the collision. I felt the impact of the car and suddenly felt as though I was flying through the air sideways ( together with the bike) for a second or two before I hit the ground and scraped to a halt on the road.
*If anybody knows how I can get hold of some traffic camera footage then please tell me because I’d love to what it looked like.*
I’ve made a little diagram using Microsoft Paint[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]. The green line is me on the bike and the route that I wanted to take but didn’t quite make. The red line is the Santana. I made a little chalk outline of my landing spot.Meeting point.JPG



I looked up and saw the bike on-top of my left leg. The hazard lights had somehow switched themselves on (which I thought was very fitting for that particular time) and petrol was drizzling out of the tank all over my leg. I cursed a little after I’d realized what had happened and tried to push the bike off my leg which I could feel was in a bit of pain. This all happened right next to a small police station where a couple of traffic police officers had seen the whole thing. They helped me get the bike off of my leg, get me up, move my bike to the side of the road and traffic was moving again before I had a chance to get my camera phone out to take some pictures. The guys in the car that hit me parked and helped me up too. There was discussion between them and the traffic police about whether or not I wanted to take legal action against them. When they realised that I could speak a little Chinese they asked me what I wanted to do. I could see how guilty the driver looked and I felt like I was in a power position from that moment on. I immediately called my wife and asked her to come right away. The apartment was only a 4 minute walk away (I was almost home) and she was there pretty quickly.

Another long part of the story short:
The driver and his mate took me and my wife to hospital, paid about 450 for some x-rays and gave me another 500 for repairs to my bike. I doubt I’ll spend more than 100 on repairs my coat and jeans (about 350 together) also got ripped and scraped a bit too so it was nice of him to have covered them too. I’ve been left with a sore left calf muscle, a sore left arse cheek and some x-ray photos.
The guy and I exchanged numbers and he severely apologized for everything. He gave me a call this evening around 18:30 to check up on me and told me that we should go out for dinner together sometime. I don’t know if I want to but he’s a really nice guy I think.

[moilami]

TIC is all I can say.

In Finland the car driver would had been innocent in that kind of situation.

Very good that you are safe and did not get hurt badly anyway. However please don't do that kind of maneuvers anymore especially in China unless you have some 600cc supermoto which you can push to do it and get away from the cars. And still better not do it unless you check your six for inc cars and drive accordingly.

Actually I don't want to say anything because I haven't seen traffic in China myself and maybe don't really have a clue how chaotic it is and how much "creative driving" is needed there.

[td_ref]

i always tell my rider buddy stay as close as in middle for left turn. How many lanes did you cross? Things could have got worse if it was a another speeding bike.
TD

[euphonius]

Dear Pete,

Very glad you are OK and able to file such an upbeat "ride report". I'd say you were damned lucky, too. Did you get anything in the way of a police report? I ask because some injuries take a while to reveal themselves, including torn ligaments. In any case it would be good to just have the peace of mind of having a document asserting that you were 0% at fault and the driver was 100% at fault, just in case.

Glad your wife was there to help out too.

How are you feeling today, apart from lucky?

cheers

[andre555]

Hey Pete, that could have gone differently. Good to hear that you are fine. Some examples from your homeprovince, Shandong.
As you see the cages win all the time!

[barnone]

soberpete,
Glad you got away with just a few injuries.

Am I wrong but did you make a left hand turn from the right bike lane? If that is the case then it seems to me that the bike rider would be at fault.

Dense me is starting to get the impression that I should not be riding or driving in the PRC.

[euphonius]

Dear Andre,

I'm afraid I'm unable to watch that video clip in one sitting. I'm speechless.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Hey Pete - ditto - very glad you are apparently ok but, IMHO, Euph's advice is worthwhile heeding.

Man, I don't like the looks of how this riding season is starting off - first Slabo, now Pete.

Maybe it is time to go join the Libya opposition for excitement - probably safer than riding a bike in Chinese cities.

[soberpete]

I agree with everyone. I was lucky and that video is pretty damn gruesome.
I forgot to mention that the car ran a red light and hit me while I was taking that left turn after the 'left turn' signal went green. Still, if I had merely turned my head to check my corners or stuck in the car lanes (furthest left)...

"i always tell my rider buddy stay as close as in middle for left turn. How many lanes did you cross? Things could have got worse if it was a another speeding bike.
TD "

...just like TD says. I had to cross 4 lanes: 2 straight ahead lanes and two left turn lanes. I was following the traffic rules (a foolish thing to do in this situation, riding in the bike lane) but after watching that youku video provided by andre555 I feel like I was really asking to be killed.

I feel damned lucky euphonius!
I also had to stop that video after the first 20 seconds. I'll watch the rest after I send my wife to bed.

Lao Jia Hou. In future I won't be so relaxed while riding and so I'll keep my eyes open much more. Poor Slabo wasn't given the chance that I was. That girl jumped into his way from out of nowhere. I could have just looked before pulling away.

Thanks Barnone. I'm glad too. It's a stupid thing to have done what I did (learning from last night) but I was in fact following the Chinese rules. Ultimately, it's much better to follow your common sense on any road in any country.

By the way andre, I do appreciate your comment and that video even though it terrifies meI'm gonna be much more careful in the future.

[andre555]

Dear Andre,

I'm afraid I'm unable to watch that video clip in one sitting. I'm speechless.

That video was released by the police of Heze, Shandong - seems thats the way the try to waken up the people.

Slowly but surely I believe this hole traffic law enforcement is a secret trick by the government to replace the one child policy and still keep population growth in control

I was in Vietnam last week. Lots, lots of bikes and everybody had a helmet! A thing unheard of in China.

@all not in China riders: Thats whats going on here, watch out if you ever come over!