What can I say. Sometimes I am amazed at humanity, other times I think there is no hope for humanity. Monday’s ride home definitely tarnished my hope for humanity.
Read on to find out what happened
I witnessed a vehicle strike a cyclist. Then I witnessed said vehicle leave the scene. I witnessed a hit and run on a cyclist while I was on my bike. At the time I couldn’t believe it was happening.
Let’s backup and give a more detailed description. The cyclist was waiting for hte lights to change, and was doing some loops on the road. Not very smart (the guy looked a little sketchy). As he lost his balance, he moved over to the left lane. The traffic in the direction I was going got the green, and the car that was in the left lane proceeded as he should. I watched the car approach the cylcist, who was quite oblivious to the car (he was looking the opposite direction). As the car got closer and closer I kept expecting to see the brake lights and hear the horn.
I never saw the lights, and the horn never sounded. I did hear a sickening crunch, and did see the cyclist on the hood of the car. The driver then braked, and the cyclist tumbled to the ground. I was stunned. I was still riding at this point, and I approached what had happened.
I saw the car backing up, and immediately I thought that I should look at the plate in case he took off. I started reciting the plate number to myself. The car pulled around the cyclist on the road, and turned off. I thought/hoped that maybe he was simply getting out of the road. The driver never came back.
As I got close to the guy on the ground I yelled for him to lay still. I put my bike up on the sidewalk, and went over to the guy. Here we were on Esquimalt Road, cars passing within inches, barely even slowing down. What the fuck is wrong with people? I was incredulous that people were so callous about this. So conceited that they couldn’t even take a second to slow down and make sure everyone was alright. I slipped off my pack, then my jacket and put it over the guy.
I started retreiving my cell phone from my pack. As I was doing this drivers were now asking me if I had a cell. Still, noone else had stopped at this point. They just kept driving by. Finally another car stopped on the other side of the street. The cyclist and me were still standing/laying in the middle of a very busy street with nothing but hope that noone else will hit us.
Finally some guy in a Dakota pulled up and blocked us from traffic. I was shaking from adrenaline as I dialed 911. I gave as much information as I could, but I was trying to remember the plate number, talk to the guy on the ground, talk to 911, and field questions from passersby, and drivers going by (a bus driver was asking if we needed help). Too much for me to handle all at once. I asked someone for some paper, and wrote down all the infor I could think of. As good a description of what happened, when, who did what, the plate number, and a description of the car.
More people showed up. A pedestrian saw the car pull onto a sidestreet, and followed them on foot,but the car never stopped. The police showed up, and started filtering things out, getting some of the people on their way. The ambulance showed up. I gave all the info I had to the police. The whole time I was there I was hoping Sox wouldn’t drive past and see me at the scene of an accident (I knew she would worry). I asked the police officer if I could take my jacket and go. I was still shaking at this point.
I am still pretty incredulous at what happened.
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One thing I have to say though. I hope the driver is OK. I also hope he turns himself in. I know what it is like to be involved in an accident. When I was I was pretty shocked, but rendered aid as best I could. This guy got spooked and took off. I just hope he does the right thing.
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I am most upset at the people and cars that just drove by right after it happened without helping at all. They just didn’t want to get involved at all. It riles me up when I think about that.
I am also dissapointed in myself that I never asked the guy his name. It never occured to me to do this. When I talked to him I let him know help was on the way, that I had called 911, that I had seen everything. Never asked his name though.
I am proud that I was together enough to get the plate number. However after I gave it to the officer, I began to doubt that I memorized it correctly. Adrenaline does funky stuff.
Anyway, be careful out there folks. Don’t be afraid to get involved. I thanked the Dakota driver for shielding us from traffic. Simple things can make a big difference.