Cyclist hit on Chesterbrook in McLean

**musclys** · 11-21-2017, 03:35 PM

Was looking to have hills for lunch today, and was riding down Chesterbrook in McLean when a red Honda pulled up alongside me. Maybe 50 feet from Crescent Lane, he decided to try to quickly shoot across me to make a right turn. It didn't work. I slammed on the brakes and tried turning away from him, but he took his turn way too late and there was no time to avoid crashing into the side of his car.

The driver stopped, as did a witness (*hero*), and acknowledged that he saw me in my day-glo orange jersey and socks. But said he thought he could just jump in front of me and make the turn quickly. We were so close to the intersection, he could have avoided all this if he had waited 1-2 seconds, which also says a lot about how there was no way for turning in front of me to end well. He apologized a bunch, and then blamed the road (that was really out of left field) and noted that a runner was killed by a driver out there last month. Not helping.

Said he was a college kid just trying to hurry home for Thanksgiving. Good reminder: BEWARE HOLIDAY DRIVERS.

**Judd** · 11-21-2017, 04:14 PM

Hope you're ok. Even if you feel like you're okay, injuries sometimes don't manifest themselves until a day later, especially when you're full of adrenaline. I was hit earlier this year by a negligent driver. The ribs didn't start hurting until the next day. It's good advice to not make too much comment publicly about the crash until you're sure that you won't have to attempt to recover damages.

Here's some good reading from WABA on what to do after a crash.
http://www.waba.org/resources/what-to-do-after-a-crash/

**Subby** · 11-21-2017, 09:39 PM

The three rules of smart cycling:

1. Always wear black.
2. Always ride hills.
3. Always call the cops.

Please memorize for quiz when we ride together again.

**huskerdont** · 11-22-2017, 08:52 AM

Glad you weren't hurt too badly, and I hope you're still feeling okay today. The next day really is the test to pass.

It isn't helpful at all to blame the road, but that is kindof a crappy road through there once you cross into Fairfax. Country-style road with suburban levels of traffic. I'm always on edge through there, and often cut through the neighborhoods when I'm not feeling up to it. (Albemarle or River/Highwood/Laburnum/Woodacre/Woodley/Forest). Which is just cowardly and sad when I think about it, but that's reality.

**musclys** · 11-22-2017, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by huskerdont

Glad you weren't hurt too badly, and I hope you're still feeling okay today. The next day really is the test to pass.

I felt about as well today as I had hoped. (I mean, how good can you feel after slamming into the side of a car at 25 mph?) Really banged up, but everything seems to be working. And the bike wasn't wrecked.

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