I don't think it's surprising at all. I don't know what you mean by "really fast" but even at 10mph stopping would take more than a couple of feet. So say the driver sees what he or she thinks is an empty spot and is in a hurry for whatever reason. They swing into the space but it's occupied by the bike. Figure in the reaction time along with the speed and minimal stopping distance not to mention possible panic and you've got a serious crash without "serious" speed.
Maybe the driver was impaired. Maybe distracted. Obviously at the very least speed was too fast for conditions.
I guess my wording "too fast" was a bit ambiguous. I agree that 10 mph is fast when you are making a sharp 90 degree turn and stopping 20 feet later. For every 1 mph, you are traveling 1.46 feet per second. So just at 10 mph you travel 14.6 feet in a second.
As a reference, I would guess that it takes me 5+ seconds to turn my pick-up into a parking spot and come to a stop. Thus I would say I enter into a spot doing about 3-4 mph...and since I like to coast, my foot would be near the brake, not on the gas.
Granted, I'm a little on the slow side (in more ways than one) but unless the driver was really distracted, then they were going too fast; probably a combination of the two.
Even at 10 mph though, a car with decent tires and dry conditions can stop an estimated 0.2 feet!
http://www.csgnetwork.com/stopdistcalc.html So from the time the driver fully engaged the brakes, the car will skid less than 3 inches. The big factor is, how long until the driver hits the brakes. If the driver in Joe's situation had been paying attention, they still MIGHT have struck his bike, but should have been able to stop more quickly.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to be callous or over analytical...to the contrary. Joe and others have faced serious injuries and even death because someone was going too fast and/or not paying attention.
I believe people who ignore laws and text/read/shave/eat/etc. while driving a 2-ton machine are self-absorbed and narcissistic. Seriously...they think their phone call or text or make-up or lunch appointment is more important than other people lives; they risk your's and mine and my kids future for selfish, conceited reasons.
Ok, sorry about the long post and rant, but most accidents could be avoided if people slowed down and paid attention.
Joe, I'm truly sorry for your pain...I just wish people would learn from these avoidable tragedies.
