[Scalded Dog]

Yesterday, as I was heading home from work, there was a bicyclist, about age 30, on the road, riding (mostly) on the right shoulder. I was going about 25 MPH, he was at about 15 MPH. Just before I overtook him, he hit a bump in the road, and suddenly there was bike flying one way, and biker flying in MY direction. I swerved hard (no time to check for traffic there, but hitting a car would be far superior to running over a person... luckily, no cars anyhow). For a moment, I thought that I had run over him after he hit the ground. Luckily, no...


I parked so as to prevent other cars from running over him, and went to check on him. He was laying in a pool of blood, teeth knocked out, abrasions and cuts everywhere, mostly on his head. He was conscious, though. I called 911, and blocked traffic. Rancho Cucamonga does not take long to respond: In just a few minutes, cops, paramedics, and fire trucks were on scene. Lots of motorists also stopped to render aid.


The question was, how did he wipe out? He responded to the cops' questioning that he "just crashed." Cops asked him if he got hit by a car, and he said that he did not think so. He thinks that he just crashed, but he did not know how or why. They eventually hauled him away in an ambulance.


The scene, however, LOOKED like I had just hit the guy: Bike and bloody dude laying on the ground, with my car parked all funny next to him. I am sure that the cops who took the report (including my witness statement) must certainly THINK that maybe I hit him. And, since we live in an age where everybody wants to get paid, I am aware of the distinct possibility that the victim may, at some point, determine that since he doesn't really know what happened, that maybe he DID get hit by a car.


However, faster than a speeding bullet, wearing a cape, and some tights, my dashcam is there to come to my rescue! I have it all on video, downloaded and now saved to multiple computers. It clearly shows that I had nothing to do with his crash, and that he simply hit a bump, and wiped out.


I intentionally did not mention to the cops at the scene that I have dashcam footage: I do NOT want them confiscating the camera as evidence, where it will not only be lost forever, but would also render me unable to use that footage in any way. Instead, I gave my statement, was released, and went home to view and download my video. It is simply saved as an insurance policy, just in case anything else ever comes up.


Maybe nothing will ever come of it. Perhaps there will never be a need for it. I just installed the camera a few weeks ago. But... I certainly have far less worry over this incident, knowing that I have video proof of what happened!