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Bicycle accident

Never ride a bicycle against traffic, especially at night!

Transcript

On Tuesday night, May 20th, 2008, I was riding my bicycle home from the train station as usual when I was hit head-on by another bicycle. A high school girl was riding on the right side, which is against traffic here in Japan.

She was blinded by car lights, and she swerved right into me without even slowing down. I have two bright headlamps (one even blinks!), but she didn't see me. As I saw her curving toward me, I slowed to a crawl and shouted to warn her. But she kept pedaling quickly until she hit me straight on, wheel-to-wheel.

Just as we collided, I dived forward and off to my right, away from her. It probably sounds crazy, but a forward flip is actually a good way to dive from a bicycle like mine with dropped, racing style handlebars.

Unfortunately, I hit the girl's bicycle basket, and my glasses smashed into my face, making deep cuts over my left cheeckbone and above my left eye. An ambulance took me to a hospital, where I got some stitches and X-rays. Luckily, my eyes are fine and no bones were broken.

Fortunately, I hit the sidewalk just right. My head was covered with both hands, and I was rolling when I landed. My left hand was sprained and lacerated, and my right hand was scratched. Otherwise, I suffered no damage from hitting the sidewalk. That's not bad.

The best part was that the girl was not injured at all. Since I dived away from her, she didn't hit anything heavy. She didn't even fall down. Our bicycles absorbed the impact. Our front wheels were both twisted, and her bike needs a new basket. I'm really happy to know that she wasn't hurt and that I probably saved her from injury by diving off my bike.

At the accident scene my bloody injuries shocked her, and she began to cry. I think she's a kind-hearted person, and I hope she learned an important lesson about bicycle safety.

Riding against traffic is illegal and extremely dangerous. The closing speed with cars is really fast, and at night you can't see. Always ride in the same direction as car traffic. In Japan, ride on the left side. Remember: never ride a bicycle against traffic!