Well it was bound to happen, after years of commuting on the city streets of Atlanta and its surrounding neighborhoods, I was finally hit by a vehicle. I may sound philosophical about this; I always expected to get hit and I just hoped it wouldn't be bad.
And so it happened, as I was riding down Eastbound on Edgewood, I was making a left turn onto Euclid. And yes, I used hand signals to go into the lefthand Eastbound lane and making the turn. It is a 3-way intersection with curb islands in place. I looked back and saw the pickup as I was making the left. I passed one set of islands and on the next set, the pickup squeezed in, bumping me to my right. I pulled me left hand off my brake hood so he/she wouldn't rip it off. The driver kept driving off Eastbound, down the hill on Euclid. Unfortunately, I could not get a license number. But...
If you see a Forst Green Ford Ranger pick-up with tined windows including dents on the right side of their truck (probably from hitting other cyclists) and silver scrapes along the side (that's my handlebars), let me know about it.
This isn't going to stop me from riding, I really can't stop, it's my commute. And comparitively, I got away pretty lucky. I have heard of worse stories than mine. I am a stereotype commuter with brakes and a backpack. I ride safe and use hand signals, unfortunately this does not save me from being hit by a car. This won't change the way I ride nor does it change my views on cars, bikes, sharing the road, bikes belong, respecting traffic (cras, trucks, pedestrians, and bikes), and so on.
I will continue to ride and ride safe.
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