Saturday, September 17, 2005

Another bike accident

This is the 2nd bike accident I've blogged about in 4 weeks time. What're the odds?

Thursday night, in the middle of a wicked downpour, I witnessed a bicyclist speeding down a slope that intersected into a busy, 4-lane road. There was a van stopped at the intersection, waiting to ease into traffic, and ka-BAMM!! The cylist crashed right into the back of the van. Hat & glasses went flying, and he ended up face down in a pool of water.

I pulled over and met a few others who'd gotten out and were already calling 911. The cyclist came to quickly enough, but was groggy and disoriented, and just wanted to lie down for awhile. Sirens were heard in the distance soon enough, and our biker became amazingly willing to declare himself just fine; if we would help him up, he would mosey on home.

I'm not sure when I realized our biker was shit-faced drunk, but it might have been the jovial "UUUUpsy-daisy" he exclaimed when we pulled him and got him on his feet. Thanks, thanks, he said, and began hurrying away, walking his bike about 10 feet before he attempted to get back on the seat..

Just as he began to peddle off, a squad car pulled up. Our biker made a wobbly attempt to nonchalantly peddle his way back the way he came. It was still pouring down rain, so it would have been a precarious climb for even a sober biker. He ignored that squad car, trying to keep his balance and an innocent look on his face. Cop finally honked that earsplitting airhorn of his, BRaaaaaapppppppp!!!, which startled the bejeesus out of Mr. Drunk-in-Pubic, and sent him crashing over again. It was, by then, somewhat Laurel-and-Hardy-esque.

Lots of fanfare ensued; more squad cars, a firetruck, and an ambulance. Once it was determined that my presence was not needed, I moved on, to the restaurant across the street.

I'm not sure why I'm blogging this. I just keep thinking about the circumstances of that accident...

Guy had too much to drink. Bad.

Guy doesn't get into a car, and jeapordize everyone else on the road. Good.

Guy has a van right in his way, and smashes into it, breaking the window and denting the car. Bad.

The van stopped him from racing out into 4 lanes of 40 mph hour traffic. Thank God that van was there. Good.

Same laws apply for bicyclers as for drivers of automobiles. Guy gets his bike confiscated, and arrested for driving under the influence. Weird.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:19 PM

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  2. It's Champaign, IL the odds are pretty high you are going to see or be involved in a bicycle accident!

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  3. Yeah, this town really isn't very biker friendly, considering that we have 30,000 students using them as their main mode of transportation. The campus area improves, but the outskirts can be treacherous.

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