February 10, 2006

• ...so I'm driving to work, making pretty good time. About 8:56PM, I get
  to my exit's off ramp, the signal light is red, so I stop before I make
  a right turn. I was at the light maybe no more than two to three
  seconds, which consisted of me glancing left and noticing that there
  are no cars going my way (as there are no headlights in sight), and
  proceed to make that right turn. BAM! I hear a thud on my car, see a flash of black on my
  driver side's window, and immediately thought "OHMYGOD, did I just hit
  someone on a bicycle?!" Looking at my rear view mirror, I see someone
  on the ground with a bike. I immediately pulled over my car, rushed to
  the person (it's a Mexican woman), and with the help of two motorists
  got her over to the side walk. She is limping a bit, and the only blood
  I could visibly see were from some scrapes on her hand (I don't recall her with any protective gear). I apologized
  profusely to her saying that I did not see her at all, which is
  unfortunately the simple truth. At that moment, two off duty patrol men
  were already there. I requested to one of them to call 911.

  The firemen and paramedics arrived, and there were at least EIGHT
  police officers at the scene. Ofcourse I had to go through the motion
  of giving them my driver's license, insurance, and registration. I must
  have given my statement of what happened to at least five of the
  officers, while the paramedics were checking up on the woman's
  condition. It appears that except for some scrapes, aches, and some
  dizziness, she claims to be okay and absolutely refuses to go to the
  hospital. The paramedics can't force her to go either, so they let that
  be. At that point, the police officers started asking for her statement
  of what happened. I should note that she doesn't really speak much
  english (although she understands it), so while I got the gist of the
  conversation with my limited Spanish, I was completely lost on the
  details.

  Apparently, the off ramp of a freeway is still considered Highway
  Patrol jurisdiction, so while we collided by the crosswalk, the police
  officer had to make sure where the impact actually occurred.  I
  said it happened a little past the crosswalk, and the woman confirmed
  it by saying she was bicyling on the road itself as opposed to the
  crosswalk. So, local city police it is. She was asked some more
  questions, and the officer found it interesting that she did not have
  any identification at all. She had to give them her phone number and
  home address, and that's all she could offer. The officers also checked
  her bike and my car for any damages, which there was none at all (very
  minor scratches maybe, but not even a dent). After several more
  questions, we were given an incident number, and was told that we were
  free to go.

  Considering she is unable to get on her bike, she accepted my offer to
  give her a ride to her destination (which was her home). Her bike was
  able to fit in my back seat, so that was no problem. Right before we
  took off though, the officers had just one more question to ask the
  woman. They asked her whether the front light of her bicycle was in
  working condition prior to the collision. She said no it wasn't, and
  they reminded her that she shouldn't be driving without a light. It
  dawned on me at that point why I must not have able to see her (she wasn't exactly glowing in the dark). We went on our way,
  and about three miles from where it happened, we got to her home. She told me that she
  had a son, and I didn't know for the life of me what he would do when
  he is told what happened. To my relief, her son wasn't some big hulking
  behemoth, but someone who was actually friendly. I told him what
  occurred, and to my surprise he told me that this wasn't the first time
  this happened to her (three other times I believe). After thanking me
  for bringing his mom home, we parted ways and I proceeded to drive to
  work (30 mins late by that point).

  Now, I have this dark cloud over me, haunting me about the idea that
  this might not be over. Guilt and doubts about why this happened. I'm hoping that she simply gets better with no
  complications, and hopefully she won't get any ideas to bring up a
  lawsuit (it's the U.S.A. after all). I don't even know if I'm completely to blame or not. *sigh* Just when things have been
  looking up for me, this has to happen. Life simply sucks.

  • 10:22 am
  • 3 Comments