Nearly hit by car - now scared to run

I've been in that situation before. Sucks cause your adrenaline is going so you're not necessarily thinking straight. It happens to me on a regular occasion so I've just become accustomed to people doing stupid things...

Just keep aware of your surroundings and extra careful when you go to that same intersection. I'm sure the guy was half asleep. Don't be intimidated by an idiot.

You're fine. He is probably more scared of you.

I was out running late the other night (9:30 PM or so) and rounded a blind curve around some tall bushes and almost ran into a lady walking her dog. I jumped into the street and said, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She screamed and started recording me with her phone. I just apologized again and continued on with my run, but she kept recording me as I ran down the street. It was weird. People are acting very oddly right now.

When running at night, you need to be super extra careful!

.

I have almost always run during the daytime. A few years ago I decided to try a few runs at night, just to see how it went. I carried a flashlight, and flashed it anytime there was a car coming anywhere towards me. Well, I almost got run over several times the first night, because the drivers did not see me at all. It was as scary as heck, and that was the last time that I tried running at night.

.

You need to at all times be thinking the drivers don't see you, because usually that's true, and stay far, far, far out of their way.

I did what you did re slapping the back of the car to a delivery truck driver and that driver tried to run me over. Police arrested him for aggravated assault, attempted murder etc. I've now learned no matter what, don't say or do anything, no matter what.

Today I was on a training ride, turning left at a light in a so-so area. I pulled into the middle of the intersection, if a car wanted to go around they had room. Car behind me lays on their horn for me to go - the gap was less than 3 -4 seconds, if I missed clipping in, i'd be F'd. I waited for the car to pass and had a full 10+ second gap. I go, car follows me less than one bike length behind. Empty two lane quiet straight road. I stay full right on the shoulder to let them pass, they don't pass. I slow down, they slow down. I pull into a restaurant parking lot. They follow me in the lot. I turn around, they turn around. At this point I have no idea what they are trying to do. I saw an unmarked car and went towards it - they left. If I lost my bleep or flipped them off, I think they would have tried to fight or run me down. Keep your head, idiots are not worth it and won't learn by yelling and screaming.

Know how you feel. I got hit on my bike last year after many close calls. After recovering, I was scared at first but I'm jumpy now and I hope that I'm more careful at intersections. It's just our natural way of slowing losing our fears as time goes on.

Just lay low for awhile and switch up your route and time and reflective gear. If anyone recognizes you from the incident, just feign ignorance because they have no evidence it was you. Act like it's mistaken identity.

I also recently made the mistake of slapping a car that was being a jackass. I was on a run and had a couple of the usual close calls during the run. Then some driver was completely over the crosswalk at a red light with no one behind her. I slapped the hood of her car and a couple blocks later she come screaming down the street yelling at me about kicking her car (yea right), pulls in front of me, and then as I go behind her car, she tries to back into me. So basically tried to run me over twice. I'm sure that I would have come out on top if law enforcement got involved, but not worth trying to teach people a lesson.

Yea, if you feel the need to teach people a lesson when they almost hit you, try to hold back. Maybe an initial reaction yell to let them know you are there, but do your best to keep your cool. People are nuts.

I dated two women whom were hit by cars and one that died.

You be careful

I run defensively, a faster split isn't worth being sidelined.

Correction, my father dated the runner that died. The comments online were brutal. Nobody cares..

i have fairly good peripheral vision but still gotta be at least a little paranoid about cars its a natural survival instinct so you stay conscious of your surroundings. dont let it tense you up and effect your running form/enjoyment though. just stop at blind corners no matter what to look, and whenever crossing look anyway because ive seen plenty of numb nuts driving without their lights on at night.

Hun!

you may or may not be fine. If there's an angry husband you'll be easy to find. Wear a headlamp when running in the dark. You can see what your sticking you feet into and cars USUALLY pick up on you much fast and more often

Runner turned cyclist here. I know it's difficult to not respond when you're being terrorized by a sedentary bully surrounded by two tons of steel, but there's nothing to be gained by engaging with a motorist, no matter how blatantly illegally and dangerous their actions are. You're not going to change their behavior, ever, even if you calmly and logically point out the error of their ways, and most motorists are heinous individuals who would think nothing, and lose no sleep over, killing or maiming you with their assault vehicles.

I've had the following scenario happen to me about half a dozen times: A motorist does something illegal and unsafe, such as running a red light or stop sign, making a U-turn over a double yellow line, speeding in reverse down a one-way street, backing out of a driveway with their head up their ass, hooking me at an intersection, etc., and I only narrowly avoid being struck by taking sudden evasive action such as swerving, hard braking, and skidding. If I merely reflexively yell "Watch it!" at the offending driver, he -it's always a he, in either a pickup, massive SUV, or muscle car- then attempts to follow me and deliberately strike me with their vehicle, which I avoid by riding against traffic in the other direction or getting up on the sidewalk. This sort of driver behavior has been getting geometrically worse the past 2-3 years, for some reason.

I was hit by a car driving 100km/h. I looked over my shoulder before beginning to cross but failed to look back far enough. The bumper hit just above my ankle causing segmental fractures and the hood hit me just below the knee again breaking both bones. The car slammed its brakes on and I landed about 80 feet in front of it. Blacked out for a few seconds and then looked up to see a car that was totaled but initially I was confused not knowing what it had hit. Gore Tex jacket minimized abrasions from the asphalt just like a motorcycle rider and leather jacket. Then I saw a pair of running shoes still tied in front of the car on the road. Then I realized they were Nike shoes identical to the pair I had purchased the day before. I was extremely fortunate to have survived the accident (studies show you have a 1 percent chance of surviving a pedestrian/vehicle accident at this speed). I was even more fortunate that the accident happened in Germany where external fixation was a new medical procedure to essentially replicate bones outside the body and allow them to grow back together. Be very afraid of cars. My right leg is about one half inch shorter from the knee to the ground. After the accident I could only run a 1 hour 15 minute half marathon so it slowed me down a little but I’ve run about 45,000 miles since it happened 35 years ago

We all spend many, many hours on the roads running and today attentiveness of drivers is far worse than it was even 10 years ago. Wear stupid looking LED flashing lights or whatever catches drivers attention. Assume all drivers are drunk and legally blind and behave accordingly. 150 lbs runner vs. 4,000 lbs car made of steel - the momentum equation is not in your favor

Running Into Cars wrote:

She screamed and started recording me with her phone.

KAREN?!