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An Industry Bike Accident Story

Published July 15, 2011

This post by Brett Lindstrom, national/international sales manager of Speedplay, was in response to this recent story

"I read your story this morning about the shop owner in Mississippi getting struck from behind and I felt the need to chime in on the injustice bicyclists are being served. Three weeks ago I was commuting to work in the morning on Mission Bay Drive in San Diego when a motorist struck me from behind traveling “35 mph” (the posted speed limit). The driver did not apply the brakes until I was on the hood of the car—it was apparent that the driver was distracted and was not paying attention to the road. When the driver finally applied her brakes, I was sent flying through the air 25 feet ahead of the car.

Because of my condition at the time of the accident, I was unable to give an account of the accident. I was taken away in an ambulance on a back board and neck brace. When I finally received a copy of the police report, it said that the driver was not sited. I still have been unable to give my statement as an addendum to the report and have received little to no cooperation from the San Diego Police department. I was fortunate that I escaped the accident with only a badly bruised tail bone, back pain and road rash and that I wasn’t killed in the accident. What amazes me is that the driver will see no repercussions from the accident; somehow rear ending a cyclist is not the same as rear ending another vehicle.

I’d appreciate it if you could share my story, so that other cyclists who are experiencing the same injustice wouldn’t feel as though they are alone."

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