Crossings
I still think about it every time I step off the curb. Is someone going to plow into me? Even if I think they’ve stopped?
I haven’t ridden my bike since the accident, because I want to take it in for a tuneup first. I’ve been walking and busing instead. And I’ll definitely be biking again by Tuesday (I have Monday off). But I can’t help thinking about it, especially since I’ve had to pass through that intersection each morning.
It doesn’t help that this isn’t the first time. When I was 12 or 13, I was hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk, right by a school, in broad daylight. I escaped with a broken tooth and a few stitches and scared my mother half to death. The experiences were eerily similar — the awareness at the last minute that it’s coming, right now, and it’s going to hit you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I can live without experiencing that again.
This post has 8 comments
January 15th, 2010
Wait, all you got was a broken tooth and a few stitches? That was, like, one of the defining moments of my childhood.
Wendy´s last blog ..Demand Diversity at Midwinter
January 15th, 2010
You must have had a sad childhood.
January 15th, 2010
No, a happy one. Defining moments skew to the very worst things that happen in a time period, I think.
Wendy´s last blog ..Demand Diversity at Midwinter
January 15th, 2010
Is that the accident where the violin case saved you?
January 16th, 2010
Yes! A viola, actually. The viola was crushed, my leg was fine. Similarly here — my well-stuffed Freeloader bag may have saved my bike.
January 16th, 2010
Sad that we have to worry so much about violent cars. I feel paranoid crossing the street and have never been hit by a car, so I can’t imagine how worried I’d be in your shoes. In Chicago there is a counselor-led support group for bicyclist crash victims. Not saying you need something like that, but I’ve heard it’s very helpful getting over feelings like this.
January 16th, 2010
Thanks, Dottie. The support group sounds like a valuable resource; I don’t know that I need one either, but I might check to see if Portland has one, just out of curiosity!
January 17th, 2010
Very understandable. When I’m in L.A., as I was last week, I can’t drive through the part of the freeway where my car was totaled. I just can’t do it. I end up going around it or taking surface streets or letting someone else drive. Too much anxiety. So I understand.
I’m so glad you’re okay, though.