Got hit by a taxi today

"Baka Dasai" wrote in message
...
Riding my bike down Campbell St in Surry Hills, Sydney. A taxi was
stopped at Give Way sign on Commonwealth St. The taxi-driver made eye
contact with me, and then started across the intersection right in front
of me. I hit the brakes and slowed from about 40 kmh to about 10 kmh
before I t-boned the taxi. My left arm went into the open
passenger-side window of the taxi (probaly giving the passenger a bit of
a fright), while the rest of me and my bike slammed into the door, and
partly slid over the roof, before sliding back down to the ground.

No major damage to the bike, but I've tweaked my back pretty severely,
enough so that I can't sit down for any length of time.

I exchanged details with the taxi-driver, who was somewhat apologetic,
and got the details of a helpful witness.

Spent the day at the police station (they were helpful, and said that
the taxi-driver would get a ticket), and the hospital.

The taxi-driver told me that he saw me but thought I was "far away". I
think it was a case of him seeing something (a bicycle) that didn't fit
his mental model of what should be on a road, and in the general stress
of navigating a busy and complex intersection decided to ignore what he
couldn't immediately understand.

Solution? I don't think I could have done anything differently. I
think there needs to be many more bikes on the road so that
car-drivers start to expect them and take them into account.
--
What was I thinking?

Sorry to hear your news. I doubt you could have done much to prevent this.

I guess it is a good thing that most truck drivers don't drive like our car
drivers. Otherwise the road would be littered with flat cars ...... but
then again.... nah

Cheers

Kev

Sorry to hear that...


Classic case of how cyclists are ignored.

They see, but they don't compute.

Hope you mend quickly.

Scotty


--
scotty72

they're drivers as a profession, every day out on the roads, clocking up
more miles than many of us will see in a lifetime, in all conditions, at
all times of the year.
But the horror stories go on & on.
I can't work it out.


And it's not that there are a few 'bad apples', taxi means danger, it's
just that sometimes you can't predict everything -that should not
happen-.


--
Marx SS

Not good Baka... hope you mend soon and get back on that bike. I've heard
it said that the speed of a cyclist is extremely difficult for a car driver
to determine accurtately given the complex thought processes that "should
be" going on in their minds. Eye-balling was the right thing to do. Looks
like we'll have to do it from way off in the future.

--
Bean