Clipped while Riding Cokey

4/29/02

Well, police were involved again, but I didn't get a summons (sorry, I forgot to assault them). But I did manage to get hit by a van van while riding my Coker to school this morning. Who's ever been hit by a car while riding a unicycle? Amazingly, not only wasn't I hurt, but it wasn't even my fault. However, I am quickly running out of extra lives.

I was pedaling down Flatbush Ave at 7:20 this morning. Even then, this avenue is pretty dangerous. I was in the far right part of the far right lane, but a school 'bus' (actually a van) clipped my left elbow (which is attache, via my left arm, to my left hand, which was holding onto the extension built on to my uni). I felt a little nudge and wasn't sure what had happened, but it became obvious soon enough when the idiot who hit me then veered further left (probably his poor judgment or instinct, since he had already hit me) and tore off part of the back bumper of a passing car. I hopped off the Coker safely and examined my elbow to make sure it was ok. There was a tiny scrape; no bruise.

You might think that the bus driver would apologize and feel bad, but he was a total jerk. He kept saying that it was my fault for getting hit, just for riding 'one of those crazy one-wheelers' on Flatbush. My arguments were wasted on him. The guy whose car he hit was naturally aware that this man was a bit nuts, so we avoided him. Partly because of the bus driver's terrible attitude, I decided to stick around so that when police arrived, I could tell what happened as the first step in getting this bad driver (and jerk) off the road.

My advice, however, is if anything similar ever happens to you, there is no point in staying. I wasted an hour and was late for school. When the cops finally arrived, they did nothing, and this guy will drive that bus until he causes a major accident.

By the way, I always wear a helmet and wrist guards, and I try to ride carefully when in traffic. This on wasn't my fault. And no, I am never riding on Flatbush again. But I should be able to.