Please be careful out there folks.

[Kris Pistofferson]

Okay, I finally got the Buddy back. I was taking a joy ride over to Target to get a couple t-shirts for yoga class, and there's a guy on a crotch rocket about 40-50 feet in front of me. All of a sudden this guy in a sedan pops out of a sidestreet leaving him about 6 feet of stopping distance. (I was going about 40, he was going a bit faster.) I watched him hit and fly over the car onto the pavement of a very busy four-lane road.

Well, I had time to turn my hazards on, pull in front of him to block traffic, and by the time I fished my phone out somebody told me they'd already called 911. Around this time an off-duty EMT shows up to interact with him, so I direct traffic, and I'm also obviously sticking around to:

1. Make sure the police get my report and contact info.

2. Make sure the guy who pulled out in front of him isn't going anywhere. (I realize after a certain point I'm the only one who saw everything and fully knows what's going on. )

To make it even more surreal, I was in EMT school before I decided to switch to nursing school, and who shows up in the ambulance but my old teacher? Didn't have much time to shoot the bull, though. Anyway, the guy can wiggle his fingers and toes, which is a good sign, but he's definitely not getting up to dance a jig, so he goes in the back of the ambulance, I fill out my police report and go on.

I just can't get it out of my head, though. It's been two days ago, and I just feel responsible for this guy wrecking, although there is no good reason why. It's sort of bizaare and irrational.

Also, I spent years bicycling and always sort of laughed at the negative connotations other cyclists had for the term "cagers," but now that I've added an engine... The wreck I saw wasn't even an isolated incident. Just in the last two days I've had a pizza boy almost repeat the wreck above, except he left me a bit more stopping distance. I looked at him and he looked into oncoming traffic after he pulled out. Very smart. Also, I've had two people ride my rear, honking and wildly gesticulating as far as I could tell in my rearview, irrespective of the fact that I was already going the speed limit, and there were several cars right in front of me going the exact same speed.

I don't know if people are losing their minds because of the weather changing or what. My years spent cycling has always given me an extra caution about people on sidestreets wanting to pull out, but, I just sort of can't get the wreck out of my head. I don't even really have a point to this except I wanted to vent to people who understood and to remind everyone to be very careful out there.

PS-Nice to have the Buddy back. The TGB loaner was nice but it was a pig compared to the Buddy as far as gas mileage and smoothness of operation. Also, I have stubby little legs, so the Buddy's low center of gravity fits me better. The new chrome racks look sweet, too.

[smokin_cannon]

glad to hear you have your buddy back and empathize with your experience.
i think drivers in cars become so comfortable driving that they forget their operating a dangerous piece of equipment.
i honestly believe that the drivers test should be much more rigorous. if you're not responsible enough to handle a car, you simply shouldn't be able to.

[ItalianBoy]

yeah. It's way to easy to get a driver's license in this country. In Germany the tests are very difficult and they don't believe in doing anythign else while driving, where as, in this country we have people who are reading a book, eating a hamburger, and talking on their cell phone all at the same time while driving.

[ericalm]

It's really hard to get these kinds of things out of your mind once you experience them either as a witness or a victim. The rider was lucky to have you and the others who knew what to do around.

It's also why, regardless of how good or experienced a rider you are, proper gear is so important. There's always that cager that's not looking.

Sorry this incident had to spoil some of that "got my scooter back! " joy for you.

[poop colored buddy]

CRAZY! im glad you're ok! im a cyclist as well and i cant even count how many times I've had some sorority girl pull out right in front of me. defense is the name of the game.

[ryder1]

Eric makes a good point...think and rethink on all the positives of the mishap.

Think what if you hadn't seen it or been there to assist in all the ways you did.

The person was very fortunate you reacted the way you did.

[jrsjr]

...I just sort of can't get the wreck out of my head. I don't even really have a point to this except I wanted to vent to people who understood and to remind everyone to be very careful out there.

That's a perfectly normal empathetic reaction. If it starts to keep you up nights, have a chat with somebody about it. Welcome back to riding and, as you say, let's be careful out there.