Spartan Daily

It was just before 6 on a cold drizzly Friday night.

I was out riding my bike while I completed some errands, decked head-to-toe in cold weather and safety gear, from a skateboard helmet to reinforced steel-bottomed shoes.

I was waiting at a light just over the limit line when the light turned green.

I slowly crept forward on my bike, clipping my feet into my pedals, ready to continue on my journey.

Suddenly, bright headlights of a silver SUV blinded me. The red-light runner had his sights set for me.

I stopped in my tracks and scooted back, in fear of getting hit.

But little did I know, it would be too late.

Smash! The impact of a 4,000-pound destroyer struck me.

I fell back and out, landing on my head.

My bicycle's platform pedal wedged my leg to the ground, sprouting up a series of bruises that appeared immediately.

I stood back up, picked my bike up and moved out of the street. My front wheel was mangled, closer to what a sculpture student would find after working with wire.

I looked southbound and saw the vehicle stop. The driver put its hazards on, stayed for about thirty seconds, and immediately took off.

"Get in," said Mary, a a good Samaritan who had witnessed the crime. "Let's get him."

I threw my bike into her SUV and we chased the criminal who struck me.

The SUV-on-SUV chase sped toward the on-ramp of 101 South.

The driver, who likely sustained damage to the passenger side, had successfully fled the scene.

Mary drove me home while I called the police.

A San Jose police officer was waiting for me when I got home.

"Where's your car?" he angrily asked. "You fled the scene."

"I wanted to catch the criminal who tried to kill me," I retorted. "Wouldn't you?"

I gave him the full details of the event, explaining in detail what had happened and recounting the scariest thing I have ever experienced.

"If I was a foot up further — if I hadn't backed up, or if I wasn't wearing cycling shoes or if I was without helmet, I probably wouldn't be talking to you," I told him.

"Yeah, whatever," the officer said. "You fled the scene and we're probably not going to catch him."

He told me that I had violated a stipulation of intersection traffic law, and it is in my duty to know about the concept of "all clear." According to him, I took off too early.

But I argue two things: first, the red-light-running-attempted-murder monster is at fault. A person driving a car also wields a weapon when used incorrectly.

The officer noted that this week, there were five traffic-related fatalities in San Jose, and those would be investigated before my incident.

Death and injury reminds us of our fatal existence and that we must live each day to the fullest.

When Zoe Lofgren, the U.S. Congresswoman for San Jose, visited San Jose, she discussed at length the lack of police funds to pay for everything they need, citing that that SJPD opted against renewing and applying for grants it could have tried for.

As a San Jose resident and a victim of a crime that nearly ended my life, this fact infuriates me.

But unlike lightning, where cars strike, they tend to collide again and again. I argue, secondly, that the intersection of Brokaw Road and Junction Avenue, like most traffic lights, needs to be safer and more functional.

I disagree for being at fault; There was no car moving as I started to roll on the green light.

An "all-red" period for San Jose streetlights would be a good start. All-red periods are typically a three-second period between traffic switches where no vehicles are allowed to travel in any direction.

That means people like myself don't go on green, and don't get struck by red light runners.

I thank my lucky stars I did not meet my maker this past weekend, and that my protective gear held up and kept me from being more injured.

There needs to be a major reform to the system in San Jose, because I don't want to almost die ever again.

I will eventually go the way of all flesh, but I'd like to not do it at the hands of a broken system with dysfunctional roads.