CARMEL, Ind. — Steve Hershberger, of Carmel, has been an avid cyclist for decades, competing in national and international competitions.
In recent years, he started gravel racing.
"It was this emerging sport with a lot of really interesting people from all over the world, so I fell in love," Hershberger said.
In May, his love of cycling took a tragic turn.
Hershberger was riding home from Boone County on County Road 1100 East.
"When people brush up close to us, especially in larger trucks, you don't see them at first, you hear them. Pickup trucks have big flat grills, so there's this large sound of air displacement, and many times when they blow by you, there's this big rush of wind," Hershberger said. "As I was riding along, at the last minute what I heard was this large sound of displaced air, and it wasn't off to a side, it was directly behind me, and so I knew, in a second, that was going to be a problem."
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Hershberger was hit by a vehicle.
"You don't feel this tremendous impact. What you feel like is that you've been picked up and tossed into a very large commercial washing machine. It's very dark, and you're tumbling and bouncing off the sides," Hershberger said.
The driver didn't stop after hitting Hershberger.
"Based on the bruises and contusions all up my back and a fractured vertebrae in my neck and one in my back, it was probably a mirror. No idea, but that's probably what it was," Hershberger said.
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Hershberger also suffered injuries to the front of his body, including broken ribs, collar bone and a concussion.
"There were two large 55-gallon trash containers on the side of the road. They were full, and so I went straight into those. It was like a bowling ball going into a series of bowling pins," Hershberger said.
He was alone.
"I remember my headset was going off, which means, hey, accelerometer, have you been hit? Yes I have. Messages go out, which is a great safety feature," Hershberger said.
Through excruciating pain, Hershberger managed to stand and get out of the road.
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Thankfully, another cyclist passing by came to his rescue.
Hershberger spent three days in the hospital.
Indiana state law requires drivers give cyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing.
Three feet is equal to a baseball bat, three footlong sub sandwiches, a guitar or even a 3-year-old child.
The distance might not seem like much when you're behind the wheel, but it can make a big difference for safety on the road.
In Indiana, a bicyclist always has the right to occupy the full lane, even when there is a bike lane or a sidewalk. It's a way to keep themselves safe and visible.
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Hershberger says he holds no animosity toward the driver who hit him.
"Look, I forgive you. I don't know what you were going through. I don't know what happened. Let's not worry about that. Let's worry about how do we educate people and how do we keep people from doing this again," Hershberger said.
According to data tracked by Indy Pedestrian Safety Crisis, through the month of May, there have been 319 total reported incidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists this year.
Their data also shows 19 of those incidents were fatalities.
Hershberger says road safety signs, bike lanes and blinking pedestrian lights, for example, are important, including signs alerting drivers to put down their cellphones.
"That will help the 80% of the people that are doing the right thing, but every once in awhile, we all have a bad day, but there is some smaller percentage of people, they don't care," Hershberger said.
Hershberger says it's important to pay attention and take their time, not only when passing a cyclist on the street, but construction workers, state police or others on the side of roadways and highways.
"If you (have to) slow down a little bit, 30 seconds isn't going to kill you, but on the other hand, 30 seconds could kill somebody else," Hershberger said.
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Hershberger says vehicle technology could be another safety measure.
"I think there are things we can do from a technical perspective inside of vehicles that could be a good deterrent and might keep people, the very very small percentage of people, that are repeat bad habit individuals," Hershberger said.
Hershberger offers these tips for drivers who encounter a cyclist on the road:
- Turn on your vehicles bright lights, even during daylight. That will give a cyclist or a runner a cue that a car is coming.
- If you can't pass safely, wait 30 seconds until you can.
- Not every cyclist will see a vehicle, but will move over as far as they can to give the driver enough room to pass.
- If a driver gets too close to a cyclist or runner, and they raise their hand, "give them grace. You may have scared them."
Hershberger says it could take about 10 weeks or longer to heal from his injuries.
"I think what this incident as terrible it was has reminded is, a couple things. There's a lot more to life than the daily repeat that we go through, and sometimes, it's helpful to take a step back and think about what else do I have in my life that's important," Hershberger said.
Hershberger also plans to get back on his bike in the future.
"It's going to give me an opportunity to literally push reset and start again from scratch as I go into fall and winter and next season to do it differently, maybe do it better," Hershberger said.