Dear Sir or Madame,

I am writing you today to inform you of a few very important key points about me. It has recently come to my attention that you simply must not know this invaluable information.

1. I am a cycle commuter. I live in Austin, Texas, and I have ridden a bike as my main form of transportation since I was in grammar school. I am 28 years old now and I very much love being alive.

2. I am human. My heart beats, and bleeds, and feels emotions just as much as the next person.

3. I have a family and friends who I consider family (and I think they feel the same about me). I have a twin brother (a minute older then me) who I love more than life itself. I have a mother and a father who I love dearly. I come from a huge Irish Catholic family full of cousins and second cousins, aunts and uncles and so on and so forth. I have two adorably loveable cats who are brothers and whom my brother and I have raised since they were kittens.

4. I am an honest, law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizen.

5. I have been hit by motor vehicles while riding my bicycle three separate times since living in Austin, TX the past six years.

6. All three incidents were "hit and runs".


I still suffer night-terrors while re-living two of my accidents. My heart stops every time- EVERY TIME- I hear car tires squeal and spin out. Engines revving and accelerating up behind me send me into cold sweats, and often I suffer anxiety attacks at certain hectic traffic hours.
Every day when I am preparing to ride my bike, even if it is simply down to the corner store, I feel like I am suiting up for battle. I feel I should call my mother and father and tell them I love them because it very well may be my last chance.

My mortality has become painfully clear to me. I consider this a blessing and a curse. I hope to live a long and healthy life just as much as the average Joe, but each day I continue to ride leads me to suspect that my end is nearer then I would like.

I am writing you this letter today in hopes that you will consider my words and my life and see me on the road. See me as one of your own.
I trust you will do the right thing.
Please, do right by me.

I am trusting you not to kill me. If you do hit me some day, please, stay with me. Console my tears and my fears. Don't make me suffer and die all alone and afraid.