Hit and Run: Adventures with Automobiles

All things being equal, I prefer not to get into any sort of collision with a vehicle, whether I am in one or not. But we can’t always have it our way.Given the number of miles I have run over the last five years, I am sort of surprised I haven’t been hit more often, but even so, my grand total of four seems high. Four times I have been hit by a car while running. There has to be a way to avoid this.

AVOIDANCE STRATEGY #1: TRAIL RUNNING This is a foolproof plan. No Honda Civic is going to run you down out there in the mountains as you switchback your way to the summit. However, unless you live in the black bear’s backyard, you have to drive to the trailhead, thereby opening yourself up to unnecessary car-on-car violence and reducing the opportunity for spontaneous bouts of running from your own front door.

AVOIDANCE STRATEGY #2: SIDEWALKS. This is great theory! If you run on the sidewalk, you are separated from the traffic and therefore are less likely to be clipped by a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 16 year old on her cell phone. Like most great theories, though, this has some serious problems in reality. First, most neighborhoods have no sidewalks at all. Second, even if there are sidewalks, eventually you have to cross a street, and it’s intersections that get you. Third, where there are good sidewalk systems they are heavily used by dogs pulling their owners around the neighborhood, babies in $400 strollers, kids on $400 BMX bikes, and the occasional Ford F-150 that can’t be bothered to park on the street or in a driveway.

AVOIDANCE STRATEGY #3: TRAFFIC FREE ROUTES. Mmmm Hmmm. Right. Let me know when you find one of these. This strategy is flawed in part because those quiet country roads that you are envisioning right now are narrow and have no shoulders. And I have it on good authority that when young men get brand new sports cars they tend to seek these same routes out for their early adventures in high speed cornering. So while a good portion of this run might be traffic free, the one car you do see is being aimed right at your kneecaps.

AVOIDANCE STRATEGY #4: GADGETS. Flashing lights, reflective vests, whistles, signs. These are all great ideas, but if that driver wants to take you out, no blinking LED is going to stop him.

AVOIDANCE STRATEGY #5: RAIL-TRAILS. Many of us in the Northwest are lucky enough to live near a nice rail-trail like the Burke Gilman or the Interurban. But not only do repeated runs on these trails get so boring that I sometimes wish for a car to come along and sideswipe me just to break up the monotony, most of them have frequent intersections with streets and driveways (the stretch of the Burke Gilman Trail just south of Lake Forest Park comes to mind). And it’s the intersections that get you.

AVOIDANCE STRATEGY #6: DRIVE. Cars cover miles faster, are dry and warm inside, and don’t make your muscles and tendons hurt. It takes about an hour to run 6 miles, but you can drive it in mere minutes. Why are you running? Sheesh.

But so long as you insist on running, and as long as there are cars out there, you run the risk of getting hit by what motorcyclists not so lovingly refer to as “cages”.

Three of my four “unplanned car strikes” occurred at intersections or driveways where a car was turning right into the flow of traffic. Since their focus is on the traffic coming from their left, they just don’t think to look for pedestrians coming from the other side. I don’t think I need to tell you that in cities that are more car-friendly than people-friendly (LA, I’m looking at you) this happens with more frequency.

The fourth car contact happened at an intersection near my house. I was crossing the street with the light, in a marked crosswalk, in the middle of the day, in a bright yellow shirt. She saw me. She came to a rolling “stop” at the light. She looked me square in the eyes, and she sped through her “free” right turn right in front of me. The driver’s side mirror clipped me in the side. How I avoided getting run over by her back tires I will never fully understand, but I lucked out I guess.

Unlike cyclists, who are the unfortunate targets of idiots who think the road is for SUVs only, runners tend to get a pretty wide berth from drivers. With the exception of jealous ex-boyfriends or husbands, I don’t think there are many drivers out there looking to take out innocent runners. So we do what we can:

• Run against traffic when there isn’t a sidewalk. Look the drivers right in the eyes and make yourself obvious. I actually choose to run IN the street rather than on the thin shoulder quite often just to make sure I am seen. But be ready to bail out if necessary.
• Avoid major roads during peak travel times.
• Cross streets carefully and use crosswalks where they exist. You’ll get very little sympathy if you are hit while trying to outrun a truck just to cross a street.
• Wear bright clothing. Wear reflective clothing at night.
• Consider another hobby or exercise option. Because as we all know, running isn’t very smart.

THIS WEEK'S RUN REPORT...
...isn't so much a report as a destination. I used to protect this information out of pure selfishness, but given the number of people I saw last time I was there, I think the secret is out. The Port Gamble trail system on the Kitsap Peninsula is just plain fantastic. Mostly overgrown old logging access roads, the system carves its way through acres of second growth forest just behind the old mill town of Port Gamble. Bring your GPS and your trail shoes and just go running. I love to get lost on these trails, and it's possible to link up long runs that don't get repetitive. There is a lot of elevation gain to be conquered, and there are no sweeping panoramic views, but on the right day you will have a lot of solitude and some challenging runs. There are even some really, really nice single-tracks that link up some of the old roads.

If you find yourself over that way, give it a look.

Have a running route or destination you would like to see featured at Real Running? Send me the information and I'll check it out!