Got hit by a taxi today

"Baka" == Baka Dasai writes:

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

Dang, sorry to hear that. Hope the back doesn't take too long to heal up.

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

On the roads, yes. Not on bike paths, heck I'm ambivalent about bike
lanes. A wide left shoulder seems to be the best solution I've ridden
on (Nepean Highway springs to mind, safest road I ride).

It's hard for me to comment on what you could have done differently, not
knowing the area. Given the stopping power of a road bike (I'm assuming
it's a road bike?) is travelling at 40km/h in that environment a good
idea? Personally on approaching uncontrolled intersections where I see
a vehicle I moderate my speed so that I can pull clear or brake if the
person does something stupid. Basically at all times I do my best to
maintain a safety cocoon around me. Escape lines, can I brake in time
if an identified hazard moves in to my path? That sort of thing. It's
something I read in a British book called Road Craft (might be one word,
read it when I was in my teens.) Or it might have been Advanced Driving
of something similar.

quick google

Hmm, not what I was looking for but looks like a good read anyway. Got
a section on pace line riding.

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/pamanual.pdf

Well can't find anything online but hopefully you get the idea. It's
how I ride, in nearly three years on Melbourne roads I've had one bump
and that was as a result of a lapse in my safety cocoon. I knew that
when the van that had completely overcooked the corner in the bike lane
recovered I'd have the bike lane. Unfortunately for me there was a
parked car in the bike lane and I didn't have time to stop.

The only other collision I've had was with my geography teacher when I
was 14. Basically I hooned off the roundabout thinking I was Nigel
Mansell and she turned right in to my path.

Me small, squashy and more fragile than I'd care to admit. There's a
lot of hard edges on them roads.
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)