A 39-year-old San Francisco woman probably feels like she is recovering from a nasty hangover this morning. After being struck by a U.S. Postal Service truck Tuesday afternoon, she's lucky that's all she is dealing with. When a person is hit by a truck, or any motor vehicle for that matter, the result often is catastrophic brain injury, spinal cord damage or even death. That this bicyclist escaped with what appears to be minimal injury is all the more amazing because authorities note she wasn't wearing a helmet.

According to police, the woman was biking east on Clement Street late in the afternoon Wednesday. At the same time, the Postal Service truck was headed north on 18th Avenue. Officials say the truck apparently failed to come to a complete stop and the bike and truck collided in the intersection.

The bicyclist was taken by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital. Officials say she was treated for head injuries but was released sometime later. According to news reports of the incident, the driver of the truck was not cited for any traffic violations, but officials say the accident is still under investigation.

Accidents involving bicyclists and motor vehicles have the potential to be particularly disastrous. According to 2009 statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the latest that are available, 630 bicyclists died in these kinds of accidents. Another 51,000 suffered injuries. That's on the national scale. In California, NHTSA reports that 99 people were killed in 2009 and an equal number died in 2010.

If you're a bicyclist and are involved in a crash with a motor vehicle, ensure that your rights of recovery and compensation are protected by contacting an attorney.

Source: San Francisco Examiner, "Bicyclist injured in collision with postal truck," Bay City News, Feb. 1, 2012