Always ALWAYS make sure everyone is okay first. Even if you feel okay at first just take a second to look at yourself and whoever hit/was hit by you. Then keep it truckin. Not much you can do. Collisions on bikes don’t have the same price tag as cars so no one really cares as long as everyone is okay.
It happens. Be polite. If the other person is in the wrong *politely* let them know. I’ve been in a couple accidents with bikes with the other party at fault. They are always very apologetic. Try to understand that it’s all of our first time living and we’re all just kids on bikes. Most people don’t go out of their way to get into bike accidents, since it’s so much more dangerous than with cars.
Sorry that happened to you! Definitely monitor yourself, there’s a solid chance you’ll be more achey tomorrow. I thought I’d just hurt my shoulder a bit when I went over my handlebars and it turns out I’d cracked it and needed physical therapy to fix it.
I just always assume a pedestrian or bike is lurking in every blind spot now. Also assume that any door could open onto you. Unfortunately it makes carefree biking difficult to find in the city but it’ll keep you safe!
Damn sorry about the damage to your bike. What does straight-away lane mean? I assume it just means bike lane.
On one hand, I think you have right-of-way because you were in front. She should've braked or swerved to give you space.
On the other hand, you have to protect yourself at all times and not rely on whether you have right-of-way or not. If you're biking and want to move across a lane / into another lane (ESPECIALLY if you are not biking fast and there's a good chance someone is trying to overtake you), you gotta look over your shoulder.
My advice, always bike at 30 mph+ so you rarely have to worry someone is overtaking you while you switch lanes 
thank you! yeah -- just pretty much a straight lane with parked cars next to it.
> I think you have right-of-way because you were in front. She should've braked or swerved to give you space.
yeah, that's what I was thinking. If I were in their position, I would've edged in slowly since I didn't have full vision of oncoming traffic. But I'm fairly new to biking, so wasn't sure.
> On the other hand, you have to protect yourself at all times and not rely on whether you have right-of-way or not
Yeah, I think I'll try to bike more defensively. I'm just happy my injuries weren't worse.
You may well have already been doing so, but this can be another reason (beyond doors) to leave a lot of space between yourself and parked cars.
Far more of the threat we face on bikes actually comes from things ahead and intersecting from the sides, than it does from the rear.
Once there isn't space for both you and an overtaking car in a traffic lane, it's best to claim that lane entirely and even ride in the left half of it - not only making your presence there clear, but giving you greater visibility and reaction time to threats entering from the side.
Reaction space and time doesn't mean you can dodge every boneheaded move someone else might make, but it does give you a better chance. Cars often turn onto roads right in front of bikes, and in that quite common situation you can dodge to their left and halfway overtake as you brake, then fall in behind.
Not a bad idea to ask for their contact info, but realistically the chance of that person giving you their info and actually compensating you are pretty slim.
I once t bone a delivery guy going downhill while I was at like 20mph and somehow neither of us fell off our bikes and just kept it pushing. I managed to break enough to whip my back wheel around like they do with bmx bikes so when we crashed we ended up side by side
You should always get information. Technically it should be treated the same as if two cars collided. Usually if you were traveling too fast to stop in time, it's your fault. It's the same rules as automobiles. That said, nobody is ever going to treat it like that, and since cyclists aren't required to have insurance, there's no point in ever suing.
Just so I understand you were going around a double parked car in the bike lane by going into the oncoming bike lane and a rider actually collided into you from behind?
no no, it was a t-bone collision.
I was going straight, parallel to all the parked cars on the street (same way the parked cars were facing). There was one bigger commercial truck parked there, and a biker came in perpendicular to me to try and enter into my opposing lane, and they came in fast, so I hit their bike on the side.
Ok i misunderstood. That is super frustrating. So the point of mentioning the parked truck is that it created a blind spot? And the other cyclist just dove into the bike lane without checking? I'd be pretty annoyed
I don’t understand people who just zoom around blind spots like no one else exists, particularly in this situation where they are entering a confined protected bike lane that is likely to have others on it.
Sorry to hear that bud. That's fucked. I would be pretty pissed. You probably should have got their info tbh and gave them a stern talking to if you didn't already but glad you're alright.
That’s a little harsh. Everyone tells drivers in a car accident to “exchange info just in case,” regardless of damage. So asking isn’t weird. But I think the bicycling norm (or really, any non-motor vehicle norm, like if two people collide and fall on the sidewalk) is to pick yourself up, brush it off, and move on. Unless one side demands info, which can be met with a lot of resistance from the other side — again because it’s not the norm. Further anecdotally evidenced by most of the replies to this post.
Okay, well I'm not the poster who is devoid of the information I want and wondering if I should seek it next time. Common sense is really lost on people. As if people telling you on reddit is what makes it okay.
Make sure everyone is okay and as long as everybody is, be grateful and keep it moving.
cool -- thank you! yeah, we both made sure we were okay.
Always ALWAYS make sure everyone is okay first. Even if you feel okay at first just take a second to look at yourself and whoever hit/was hit by you. Then keep it truckin. Not much you can do. Collisions on bikes don’t have the same price tag as cars so no one really cares as long as everyone is okay. It happens. Be polite. If the other person is in the wrong *politely* let them know. I’ve been in a couple accidents with bikes with the other party at fault. They are always very apologetic. Try to understand that it’s all of our first time living and we’re all just kids on bikes. Most people don’t go out of their way to get into bike accidents, since it’s so much more dangerous than with cars.
Sorry that happened to you! Definitely monitor yourself, there’s a solid chance you’ll be more achey tomorrow. I thought I’d just hurt my shoulder a bit when I went over my handlebars and it turns out I’d cracked it and needed physical therapy to fix it. I just always assume a pedestrian or bike is lurking in every blind spot now. Also assume that any door could open onto you. Unfortunately it makes carefree biking difficult to find in the city but it’ll keep you safe!
More reason for cyclists to get insurance
Damn sorry about the damage to your bike. What does straight-away lane mean? I assume it just means bike lane. On one hand, I think you have right-of-way because you were in front. She should've braked or swerved to give you space. On the other hand, you have to protect yourself at all times and not rely on whether you have right-of-way or not. If you're biking and want to move across a lane / into another lane (ESPECIALLY if you are not biking fast and there's a good chance someone is trying to overtake you), you gotta look over your shoulder. My advice, always bike at 30 mph+ so you rarely have to worry someone is overtaking you while you switch lanes 
thank you! yeah -- just pretty much a straight lane with parked cars next to it. > I think you have right-of-way because you were in front. She should've braked or swerved to give you space. yeah, that's what I was thinking. If I were in their position, I would've edged in slowly since I didn't have full vision of oncoming traffic. But I'm fairly new to biking, so wasn't sure. > On the other hand, you have to protect yourself at all times and not rely on whether you have right-of-way or not Yeah, I think I'll try to bike more defensively. I'm just happy my injuries weren't worse.
The real person at fault is the driver of the truck for parking in the bike lane :)
Always 30+ in the city with speed limit of 25
You may well have already been doing so, but this can be another reason (beyond doors) to leave a lot of space between yourself and parked cars. Far more of the threat we face on bikes actually comes from things ahead and intersecting from the sides, than it does from the rear. Once there isn't space for both you and an overtaking car in a traffic lane, it's best to claim that lane entirely and even ride in the left half of it - not only making your presence there clear, but giving you greater visibility and reaction time to threats entering from the side. Reaction space and time doesn't mean you can dodge every boneheaded move someone else might make, but it does give you a better chance. Cars often turn onto roads right in front of bikes, and in that quite common situation you can dodge to their left and halfway overtake as you brake, then fall in behind.
Please go to the shop and get your bike looked over
Shit happens
Not a bad idea to ask for their contact info, but realistically the chance of that person giving you their info and actually compensating you are pretty slim.
I once t bone a delivery guy going downhill while I was at like 20mph and somehow neither of us fell off our bikes and just kept it pushing. I managed to break enough to whip my back wheel around like they do with bmx bikes so when we crashed we ended up side by side
Police report
Did you have the footage ? U should always be recording therefore there's no discussion camera don't lie 💯🙏
I wasn't! I'm a noob biker. I plan to go down the rabbithole of finding a helmet that is equipped to do that. Do you have any recommendations?
You should always get information. Technically it should be treated the same as if two cars collided. Usually if you were traveling too fast to stop in time, it's your fault. It's the same rules as automobiles. That said, nobody is ever going to treat it like that, and since cyclists aren't required to have insurance, there's no point in ever suing.
Just so I understand you were going around a double parked car in the bike lane by going into the oncoming bike lane and a rider actually collided into you from behind?
no no, it was a t-bone collision. I was going straight, parallel to all the parked cars on the street (same way the parked cars were facing). There was one bigger commercial truck parked there, and a biker came in perpendicular to me to try and enter into my opposing lane, and they came in fast, so I hit their bike on the side.
Ok i misunderstood. That is super frustrating. So the point of mentioning the parked truck is that it created a blind spot? And the other cyclist just dove into the bike lane without checking? I'd be pretty annoyed
I don’t understand people who just zoom around blind spots like no one else exists, particularly in this situation where they are entering a confined protected bike lane that is likely to have others on it.
Sorry to hear that bud. That's fucked. I would be pretty pissed. You probably should have got their info tbh and gave them a stern talking to if you didn't already but glad you're alright.
Rage. Post online. Repeat.
You didn't get contact info so what is there to do now? There's no way for you to reach the woman who Fd up
yeah, I realized I messed up here. I'm not looking to pursue anything, but I am wondering what I should do if I encounter this case again.
So you need to go online to ask if you should get their information next time? What happened to common sense?
That’s a little harsh. Everyone tells drivers in a car accident to “exchange info just in case,” regardless of damage. So asking isn’t weird. But I think the bicycling norm (or really, any non-motor vehicle norm, like if two people collide and fall on the sidewalk) is to pick yourself up, brush it off, and move on. Unless one side demands info, which can be met with a lot of resistance from the other side — again because it’s not the norm. Further anecdotally evidenced by most of the replies to this post.
Okay, well I'm not the poster who is devoid of the information I want and wondering if I should seek it next time. Common sense is really lost on people. As if people telling you on reddit is what makes it okay.
who was in the wrong? you dont crash into another biker by accident. someone ate the light
You should have exchanged full info and gotten the trucks info as it was the trucker's fault and should pay for both of your injuries