Hit by speeding car on Z10

[Daniel Burkemper]

I want to briefly share my experiance from last night on my Z10.

I was riding in Tampa, FL and a car ran a red light and accelerated into me while turning into the far lane. I was moving to avoid him, but he accelerated to about 20-30mph directly at me. Long story short, I fell to the road and my Z10 became lodged under his car until the local PD recovered it.

I just want to stress the importance of riding gear during these situations. I was wearing adequate lifesaving protection, but not enough to shield me completely. This was at night and I was wearing multiple visibility devices and had all the Z10 lights on.

I was wearing a full face helm with reflective rear (not chin gaurd, but soft muzzle), padded gloves, full leather jacket, reflective LED wrist bands, and a reflective backpack. I can tell you now that all the gear I was wearing helped keep me safer than otherwise. I did impact on helmet, jacket, and hands. Unfortunately, my legs sustained injuries. See picture for the gear I was wearing (what I always wear on the Z10). 

Please do not ask for additional details, as I will likely be filing a claim for damages. 

[Michael Vu]

Too bad you didn't get it on video. But glad you're okay from all of the protective gear you wore.

[Joeyspindler]

Sorry to hear that brother, hope you get well soon.

[novazeus]

damn daniel, coulda been worse, i coulda been riding with u. j/k i never, almost never, leave the ranch.

what, ur here a couple of days and somebody in good ol tampa runs over u, pretty typical.

if u look at some of my many posts about riding around here, just don’t .do it.

i am so sorry that happened to u and i hope u recover 100%.

if u are allowed once all this gets settled, i’d be curious if u being on an euc altered ur legal standing at all.

i’m surprised the driver stopped.

 

[who_the]

Hope you recover, and that the driver faces justice and remuneration. Being on an EUC should never "alter" or diminish your legal status whatsoever. Stay safe and stay strong.

[Marty Backe]

12 hours ago, Daniel Burkemper said:

I want to briefly share my experiance from last night on my Z10.

I was riding in Tampa, FL and a car ran a red light and accelerated into me while turning into the far lane. I was moving to avoid him, but he accelerated to about 20-30mph directly at me. Long story short, I fell to the road and my Z10 became lodged under his car until the local PD recovered it.

I just want to stress the importance of riding gear during these situations. I was wearing adequate lifesaving protection, but not enough to shield me completely. This was at night and I was wearing multiple visibility devices and had all the Z10 lights on.

I was wearing a full face helm with reflective rear (not chin gaurd, but soft muzzle), padded gloves, full leather jacket, reflective LED wrist bands, and a reflective backpack. I can tell you now that all the gear I was wearing helped keep me safer than otherwise. I did impact on helmet, jacket, and hands. Unfortunately, my legs sustained injuries. See picture for the gear I was wearing (what I always wear on the Z10). 

Please do not ask for additional details, as I will likely be filing a claim for damages. 

I'm glad that you are presumably OK. I'll ask anyway but feel free to ignore my question. Since I wear the same helmet with the soft chin guard I would be interested in knowing whether the chin guard played any role in protecting your face.

I know that the Scorpion helmet isn't a full-face helmet but I assume at the speeds that we travel the chin guard still offers protection.

[Marty Backe]

12 hours ago, Michael Vu said:

Too bad you didn't get it on video. But glad you're okay from all of the protective gear you wore.

You never know, maybe he did. Sounds like for legal reason (gotta love the law) we may never learn any lessons from this, even years from now.

[Rehab1]

14 hours ago, Daniel Burkemper said:

Unfortunately, my legs sustained injuries

At your request I won’t ask but this could be serious. Hopefully you’ll be ok. 

[EUCMania]

F*** the driver of that car.

Glad that you survived the car hit and still able to type your message. I hope you get a speedy recovery of health ( and the damage ). I was hit by a car when biking before. My back had some problem since then. I hop you do a check on your back just in case.

I would like to know the protection gears you wear on that day.

[RayRay]

I wish you a speedy recovery.  So sorry to hear about your injuries.  Thank goodness YOU didn't end up lodged under that car.

Sounds like you were well prepared for night riding (reflective wear is important). Unfortunate this drivers bonehead maneuver caused headlights to shine off the mark (until too late).

I sometimes feel like I'm taking night riding visibility to ridiculous extremes with all my lights and reflective gear.  I  may look silly, but at least you see me...

Then again, nothing you can do when horrible Tampa driver decides to pay no attention and hits you. ?

 

[WARPed1701D]

Isn't Tampa Bay great!  Wishing you a speedy recovery. 

The risk of car impact is why I wear full body armor beyond the usual knee and elbow pads including full back protector along with under garment padding for shoulders, ribs, sternum, clavicle, tail bone, sit bones, hip and thigh. 

Trust no one. 

[Daniel Burkemper]

Fourtunately there was an Uber driver that was behind me and saw the whole thing to stop and file a report. I am very lucky about that, and glad that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I would also suggest putting reflective tape on the sides of the Z10. Perhaps the black reflective would keep it still stylish. 

Thank you for all the support. I learned a good lesson of trying to find backroads to avoid traffic, and never forget how unpredicable drivers can be. 

[mezzanine]

You're really lucky about the Uber driver.  I can really sympathize with your situation being a city rider.  When I first got an EUC, I figured learning how to ride it would be the big learning curve.  Nope.  It was learning how to avoid getting hit by a car every-single-day.  The stuff I've seen in my first year riding is utterly insane.  

I still struggle to believe how consistently every driver seems to do every wrong (illegal) thing at all times.  I've spent time trying to deconstruct why I didn't notice how bad it is when I was exclusively driving a vehicle because it surprised me so much. 

I've lived in Tampa and doubt if I'd feel confident riding there.  My current city isn't much better, just less populated.   

 

[Scooter Man Fran]

Yea I’m riding my msx in Clearwater fl right around the way from Tampa and cars here are reckless for sure. My skills are excelling and I’m very comfortable on my first euc but even with that being said I try my best to stay away from major roads. Back roads and the pinellas trail have been my best friend this past week or so since I’ve had my wheel. 

[Cumulus Libre]

very sorry to hear about your accident, I wish you all the best and a good recovery ! 

 

[LanghamP]

Some months ago I had a driver run a red on right; this happens so often that I ghosted the wheel and let the MSuper slam into the driver side door.

At night, I take a powerful flashlight with a variable focus, and hang it downward so I'm essentially floating on a circle of light.

My guess is the downward flashlight works better than anything else at night.

[Esper]

This is why I will never ride in the streets. I can't trust another person with my wellbeing on the road. I stick to sidewalks and bike paths as much as possible. With the advent of cellphones, drivers are as oblivious of their surroundings as ever. 

I'm glad that you are able to talk about your experience. A couple seconds could have changed this to us reading about it in a paper or watching it on the news instead.
Good luck in your court case and I wish you a quick recovery.

[RayRay]

43 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

My guess is the downward flashlight works better than anything else at night.

I still recommend the Veglo (under $10 at Amazon). Very bright beacon with a glowing red X on you back. 

[Siggy]

5 hours ago, RayRay said:

I still recommend the Veglo (under $10 at Amazon). Very bright beacon with a glowing red X on you back. 

paired with a proviz reflective 360 jacket would do the job too

[Andy Crossett]

On 9/13/2018 at 10:58 AM, LanghamP said:

Some months ago I had a driver run a red on right; this happens so often that I ghosted the wheel and let the MSuper slam into the driver side door.

At night, I take a powerful flashlight with a variable focus, and hang it downward so I'm essentially floating on a circle of light.

My guess is the downward flashlight works better than anything else at night.

I'd like to see that setup.  What flashlight do you recommend?

[Steef Klonoa]

@Daniel Burkemper Any updates on this?

[LanghamP]

On 9/13/2018 at 11:40 AM, Esper said:

This is why I will never ride in the streets. I can't trust another person with my wellbeing on the road. I stick to sidewalks and bike paths as much as possible. 

Unfortunately I've come to the realization that sidewalks are also quite dangerous, and possibly even more dangerous than roads, because of the vast numbers of driveways the cross the sidewalk. In other words, the sidewalk isn't really a sidewalk if cars can freely enter and drive on them.

I've counted the ratio of true sidewalk to driveway on an urban block; a place that has, say four fast food stores and grocery store, which is to say a lot of off-street parking, may have a 1 to 1 ratio of sidewalk to driveway.

[Siggy]

5 hours ago, LanghamP said:

Unfortunately I've come to the realization that sidewalks are also quite dangerous, and possibly even more dangerous than roads, because of the vast numbers of driveways the cross the sidewalk. In other words, the sidewalk isn't really a sidewalk if cars can freely enter and drive on them.

I've counted the ratio of true sidewalk to driveway on an urban block; a place that has, say four fast food stores and grocery store, which is to say a lot of off-street parking, may have a 1 to 1 ratio of sidewalk to driveway.

Completely agreed!

Sidewalks aren't safer because you have

1) more potential for blind corners - where pedestrians are coming from the 90 angle

and

2) cars speed to get to the intersection - eager to turn

does this makes sense.

 

designated (barriered) cycle lanes are best

followed by shared cycle lanes

and then roads (which we try our best to avoid)

[Esper]

In most cases of sidewalk riding I've done I don't see many cars crossing them. Also, most of my riding is done in a city where there is hardly any parking for cars anyways. The only real crossings you're describing are few and far between. A parking garage in most cases.

In the areas I ride outside of the city on sidewalks, the suburbs, there are, as you mention, a lot of personal driveways from house garage to street, but these are not always busy. Occasionally I get a car that wants to cross, but perhaps once in a month period or more.

In the instance where there are many parking lots with a lot of traffic, such as a market center or a mall, it would be easier to just avoid the areas where you have problems. It isn't as if going around inconveniences you much with the speed of some of these wheels.

In the suburban setting where there is a driveway every 80 ft or so, I'll ride along the side of the street only because going up and down all those driveway curbs slows me down a lot. But these streets are not very busy at all and I don't have to worry about getting hit on an empty road. 

 

I know that not everyone's town/city is going to be the same as others, but it's best to be seen or heard as much as possible when navigating the streets and sidewalks. People these days are oblivious to everything because their eyes are glued to their phone. When in crowded areas, slow down. Going slow isn't gonna kill ya, it's going fast that can. Whatever important business you're rushing to, leave 15 minutes earlier so you can enjoy your ride a little longer by going slower. There isn't really any need to shoot off like a rocket everywhere you go and doing that can seriously shorten your lifespan.

[Elder Meat]

I think riding anything on sidewalks, even when legal, is a risky proposition. As a driver when I enter or exit a parking lot I look on both sides of the sidewalk for any pedestrians. Bikes, EUCs or anything else on the sidewalk going more than 10mph (3x walking speed) are likely too far away to register as a potential danger. The same applies when I'm a pedestrian--I don't expect fast(er) moving vehicles on the sidewalk.