We were both on bikes; I was the blue line, he was the red line. I was riding faster than him, so I decided to pass him on the left. Bad idea when the guy you want to pass doesn't bother looking before he turns to his left.
After examining myself, feeling the knee and elbow that had taken the brunt of the fall, I determined I was OK, nothing broken, and tried to assuage the pedestrians' concern. Some weren't convinced and waited around till both of us had gotten up and were walking. I found myself in good-enough shape, and my bike, being the 1976 Schwinn it is, made of solid steel, only received cosmetic damage. The other guy didn't do so well. He himself seemed to have fared without a scratch, but his newer mountain bike took a nice beating. His left peddle shattered, a spoke on the front wheel popped out, and apparently his disk brakes got damaged.
Since I was in decent shape I told him to not worry about anything and to just make sure he looked next time. We awkwardly parted ways, but somehow he found me on campus 15 minutes later by the SWKT and asked for my name and number. At this point, I couldn't see why he'd want that information since he'd caused the wreck, so I gave it to him. Bad idea.
A couple hours later, I got a text from him, and it quickly became evident that the worst damage of the day hadn't been physical at all -- but rather his ego. Here's our entire text-message conversation for your reading pleasure. It really is a gem, although it made me sick to my stomach for a day and a half. I've replaced his real name with Kevin.
Kevin: Hi sean. This is Kevin.
Can you meet me today around 4? 3:37 PM
Me: I'm in class till 4:45. What's up? 3:38 PM
Kevin: Just wanted to talk over
what happened. Find out what happened and what needs to be done 3:45 PM
Me: From my perspective, I was riding faster than you, so I was
passing on the left. You began turning to your left without looking or
indicating your intention to turn. I yelled to watch out but it was too late.
Does that differ from your perspective? As for next steps, we both have some
patching up to do, but I don't see why we need to be involved with each other's
repairs. I have no plans to seek damages. Do you? 3:54 PM
Kevin: Meaning you have no
intentions of making amends. Understood. I had control of the lane in which you
were already dangerous position of being too close next to an exit turn.
Overtaking at an exit at close distance to another biker is basically asking
for a collision 4:06 PM
Me: I'm sorry if you're new to street cycling, but solo cyclists only
control designated bike lanes, not lanes on a road and much less the ill
defined spaces in parking lots. Second, there was at least 3 feet of space
between us which is the rule of thumb for bikes. Thirdly, in a parking lot
there are no designated exits. [there are, my mistake, but where he was turning wasn't an exit. Exits go to roads, not more of the same parking lot] All of that said, I have enough sense of duty to provide amends if
I can be convinced that amends are due. I simply said that I had no plans of
seeking retribution for being hit. 4:23 PM
Kevin: Control of the road does
apply because there is still direction applied to traffic even in a parking
lot. Any break in a road whether on a highway or parking structure that is
marked is a designated exit. Direction still applies in a parking lot. By
direction you hit my left side. Even when i checked you were not in my
radius of sight while i checked for my turn. The speed you were going
compensates for the lack of me seeing you even with the three foot bubble
that bikers are supposed to have. A would have had to have turned my body 90
degree as well is turn my head to see you coming. 4:34 PM
[At this point I thought things were just getting absurd, so I called him and left a voice-mail reminding him that I hadn't murdered anyone and that we could probably resolve the issue without hiring lawyers. My goal was to get him to calm it down a notch or two.]
Kevin: I've just finished running
some errands. I just want to know what can be done to fix this. I'm sorry if it
felt heated. But I've been biking in more in heavy traffic situations since i was
13. The insult plus this happening in a parking lot just don't sit well with me 6:02 PM
Me: I intended no insult. Sorry about that. The way I was taught to
cycle on roads was that unless there's a designated bike lane, bikes ride on
the far side of the lane and have no control over it. Being passed by cars or
bikes is par for the course under that understanding. You are absolutely right
about exits, and I certainly would not have tried passing you as I did if that
was an intersecting road to our left. I did not consider that portion of the
parking lot to be an exit, merely an out-jutting of the same parking lot. 7:37 PM
Kevin: The only thing I'll ask
is for 20 dollars for new pedals. I have to replace on front tire and the disk
break. But could you help me on the pedals? 8:05 PM
Me: Sure, if you give me $20 for my handle-bar tape and a new pair of
jeans (tongue-in-cheek). Honestly, I still don't see how I'm at fault for this.
Both of us made mistakes, you didn't check over your shoulder before turning
and I didn't make my passing known, we both have costs to deal with 8:23 PM
I haven't heard from you in a
while. Can I assume we've reached a consensus on this? (albeit an uncomfortable
one) I don't want to leave this unresolved 4:28 PM
And that's where we stand. I still haven't heard from him since he demanded payment in return for him hitting me, two days ago now.
Awkward....man.
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