You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

[Cecilie1200]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Holy shit! Are you okay?

 

[Camp]

What the hell were you doing on a sidewalk? Those things are dangerous.

 

[Ringel05]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

I don't trust anyone to be paying attention especially when they're driving.

 

[bodecea]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

You ok? Of course, any hurts NEED to be addressed. Seriously.

 

[Tresha91203]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

OMG! Are you OK?

 

[WillowTree]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

Glad you are still here to talk about it! Did you call the police? What did they do?

 

[cnm]

That's unpleasant, but I find it difficult to believe you haven't learnt to make eye contact before proceeding in those situations. Especially with old ladies who know the world is made for their convenience.

 

[my2¢]

Just trying to picture this and I have one question. Did the bus stop ahead or beyond the intersection you intended to cross? My assumption is you got off the bus before it reached the intersection which means both you and the lady in the Mercedes (before her turn) were traveling in the same direction. So unless you are an extremely fast walker she was approaching you from the rear and it wasn't a case of you passing her on the right. .

Now if the bus stop was beyond the intersection then you'd be walking back to it and the old lady would have been traveling in a direction coming towards you. This would have made it easy to notice that the lady was looking at opposing traffic which challenges my above assumption.

Just curious. Glad you're well enough to share your story. Being retired myself I'm wondering about that "old lady" part and suspect she may have reached a point where she should be evaluating her mode of transportation.

 

[blastoff]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

Are you sure you’re okay? Pain...aches...emotional scaring...

If I was in your shoes I’d be thinking about what color my Mercedes is gonna be.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Holy shit! Are you okay?

Yeah. Stiff and sore and my right knee is all bruised and swollen. I went to the ER to be checked out, and they said I hadn't gotten any serious injuries. I'm home again today because I woke up really sore. I suspect I pulled my back muscles a little when I hit the ground, and didn't notice it at the time. Fortunately, when I fell down, I landed on the fleshy part of my butt instead of my tailbone.

 

[Cecilie1200]

What the hell were you doing on a sidewalk? Those things are dangerous.

They're marginally safer than walking in the middle of the street.

 

[Cecilie1200]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

Glad you are still here to talk about it! Did you call the police? What did they do?

They filed a report for the benefit of her insurance. I assume they ticketed her, but it was so obviously just a stupid accident, and the poor old lady was just in tears. That intersection and that parking lot are well-known to be a nightmare.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Just trying to picture this and I have one question. Did the bus stop ahead or beyond the intersection you intended to cross? My assumption is you got off the bus before it reached the intersection which means both you and the lady in the Mercedes (before her turn) were traveling in the same direction. So unless you are an extremely fast walker she was approaching you from the rear and it wasn't a case of you passing her on the right. .

Now if the bus stop was beyond the intersection then you'd be walking back to it and the old lady would have been traveling in a direction coming towards you. This would have made it easy to notice that the lady was looking at opposing traffic which challenges my above assumption.

Just curious. Glad you're well enough to share your story. Being retired myself I'm wondering about that "old lady" part and suspect she may have reached a point where she should be evaluating her mode of transportation.

The bus stop is on the east side of the parking lot driveway. In order to go to the corner and cross the street, you have to walk west from the bus stop and cross the driveway to the parking lot. The old lady was coming out of the parking lot and trying to make a right turn. So her car was sitting right next to the side of the driveway at which I entered it, and she was looking the opposite direction to watch the oncoming traffic.

The road starts up a gentle hill at that point, so her car was slightly tilted upward on the passenger side. Even had she looked my direction again, given the tilt and the size of her SUV and the tinted windows, it's possible she might not have immediately seen me.

Basically, though, if you hit a pedestrian who's where she is legally supposed to be, you're at fault. Period. Hitting pedestrians with a car is frowned upon.

 

[Cecilie1200]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

Are you sure you’re okay? Pain...aches...emotional scaring...

If I was in your shoes I’d be thinking about what color my Mercedes is gonna be.

Well, my boss used to work for a personal injury lawyer, and attended some law school herself. Plus, one of the neighbors in our office building is a personal injury attorney. I doubt I'm entitled to THAT much from her insurance, but we definitely won't just be blowing it off. Even she encouraged me to make sure the insurance takes care of me, because she said, "That's what I pay it for."

 

[Cecilie1200]

I'll tell you what's really bothering me, now that I have some distance from the incident. It's how close I came to being seriously injured or possibly killed. The impact didn't do me any serious harm, but she didn't even realize she had hit me and knocked me down. There are only two reasons why she didn't drive that car right over me. The first is that the impact knocked me about a foot away from the car, which gave an extra second or so for the second reason, the fact that there was another pedestrian just behind me who reacted fast enough to run forward and pound on the Mercedes window to stop her. Had I been the only one who got off that bus at that stop, no one else would have been able to stop her in time, including me.

It doesn't do much for your peace of mind to have it pointed out so forcefully how fragile you are, and easily you can be wiped away.

 

[my2¢]

Basically, though, if you hit a pedestrian who's where she is legally supposed to be, you're at fault. Period. Hitting pedestrians with a car is frowned upon.

Got it, I was totally off and picturing the old lady entering, not exiting, the parking lot. Yeah, anyway you cut it the lady's driving was inexcusable. Still in those situations I either stop or walk behind the car, prioritizing safety over being in-the-right.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Basically, though, if you hit a pedestrian who's where she is legally supposed to be, you're at fault. Period. Hitting pedestrians with a car is frowned upon.

Got it, I was totally off and picturing the old lady entering, not exiting, the parking lot. Yeah, anyway you cut it the lady's driving was inexcusable. Still in those situations I either stop or walk behind the car, prioritizing safety over being in-the-right.

You're actually not supposed to walk between cars sitting in a line like that (there were at least two cars behind her, also waiting to make the right turn). Believe it or not, it's more dangerous. At that driveway, taking myself off the sidewalk to walk between her and the car behind her would have made me less visible to the people who typically roar INTO there off of the street with far less deceleration than is safe.

Normally, I try to make eye contact with people in cars when I have to walk in front of them, but her windows were really tinted, and I couldn't see her clearly. Because we were right next to a very busy intersection, and the light had just changed to let through a bunch of traffic in the direction she was trying to go, it didn't occur to me that she was going to try to pull out at that time. I guess someone changed lanes or something at just that moment, and left a break in traffic she decided to use.

Of course, had I been driving, I would have taken another glance to my right to check for pedestrians before moving, but what do I know?

Not saying I couldn't probably have done other things, but they're really only better choices in hindsight. In the actual moment, with no way of knowing what's going to happen, you either have to do the best you can and expect other people to do what they're supposed to, or wind up paralyzed and unable to leave the house. What can I say? Human beings are dangerous creatures, and interacting with them is always a risk.

 

[Manonthestreet]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

Glad you are still here to talk about it! Did you call the police? What did they do?

They filed a report for the benefit of her insurance. I assume they ticketed her, but it was so obviously just a stupid accident, and the poor old lady was just in tears. That intersection and that parking lot are well-known to be a nightmare.

Keep talking like that your lottery ticket will be cancelled....first thing ya do is go into the oh my back routine....add a limp while moaning loud …...

 

[petro]

So I got off the bus on the way to work this morning, and headed down the sidewalk to cross the street. As I approached the driveway into the supermarket parking lot, an old lady in a Mercedes SUV who was looking the other way (at the oncoming traffic), started her right turn and hit me. Knocked me on my ass two feet away from where I started.

Worst thing was that she didn't even realize she had hit me. Had there not been another lady who had gotten off the bus right behind me and who ran up and banged on her window, shouting that she had hit someone, she'd have driven right over me before she even realized I was there.

What a way to start a day.

Glad you are still here to talk about it! Did you call the police? What did they do?

They filed a report for the benefit of her insurance. I assume they ticketed her, but it was so obviously just a stupid accident, and the poor old lady was just in tears. That intersection and that parking lot are well-known to be a nightmare.

Keep talking like that your lottery ticket will be cancelled....first thing ya do is go into the oh my back routine....add a limp while moaning loud …...

Exactly. ..
Just talk to Ross...