Saw a bad stack today. 1. Always wear a helmet. 2. Get a RoadID

I say always wear a helmet because this accident happened right in front of me on the way home from work, on the Westside bike path. A couple was walking towards me in the opposite lane, and a bike, seeing the way was clear went out to go around them. At that point, the pedestrians decided they suddenly wanted to be on the other side of the path and stepped directly in front of her. She did her best to avoid hitting them, and barely touched them, but unfortunately it was already too late for her and she lost control. I think for a while she thought she was still going to correct it, so she didn't put her hands out at all.

She landed on her face.

I don't think I'm going to forget the sight of her head bouncing off the path. She slammed her head down HARD. My first thoughts were 'there is no way she is not unconscious and she's probably lost some teeth.' I stopped immediately, along with two guys who were quicker because they were on foot, and someone called 911.

This is where the helmet comes in. When I saw her hit, I actually thought her face took most of the impact, and for a second I was filled with a horrible sense of dread. I mean sickening dread. But then she sat up. She was bleeding pretty badly from her left temple, which I guess is the area where she actually hit, but by the looks of it her helmet took the brunt of the blow. And it was SHATTERED at the impact point. I picked up a bit of foam from about a foot away, and the helmet itself was cracked all over. Not hairline cracks. Chasms.

She was dazed, and had some blood in her mouth too so I'm guessing some injury in there, but she seemed reasonably alert. There were a lot of witnesses. After about a minute, she looked up at the guy, blood streaming down her face and teeth covered in blood and said with genuine puzzlement:

"Why did you do that?"

It's a fair question.

I'm not telling this story to be ghoulish. More to put out a bit of a plea to us all. Please be alert - cyclists, runners and pedestrians. The weather is beautiful right now, and we should all be able to enjoy it. Just look before you cross a shared bike path, if you're a cyclist just announce your presence and intentions with a hearty 'on your left' (although pointless with headphoned people, so be vigilant and watchful) and let's all be predictable in our actions out there.

Because that was really fucking horrible to watch.