Someone was killed at the same intersection where I was hit last year. I feel like it's my fault.

I went through something similar — not identical but close enough that reading this hit me hard. I was rear-ended at a merge that I knew was dangerous, told myself I'd report it, never did, and then a few months later there was a multi-car pileup there. Nobody died thank god, but I spiraled for weeks with the same guilt you're describing. What helped me was realizing that the driver who hit you, and the driver who hit that cyclist, made active choices. The hedge was a contributing factor but a human being still had to choose to drive carelessly. You didn't make that choice for either of them.

Please be gentle with yourself right now. What you're feeling has a name — it's sometimes called survivor guilt, and it can be really destabilizing when something like this reopens old trauma. The fact that you're feeling responsible actually says something good about you as a person. But your body and brain went through something serious last year, and this news is probably landing on wounds that never fully healed. If you're not already talking to someone, this might be a good moment to reach out to a therapist, even just for a few sessions. You deserve support too.

To answer your practical question — no, it is absolutely not too late to document the hazard. Those photos you took could actually be significant, especially now that there's been a fatality at the same location. Timestamped photos showing a known obstruction, combined with your own incident, could be relevant to any case the cyclist's family brings against the property owner or municipality. I'd hang onto every single thing you have and talk to someone who handles premises liability or wrongful death cases. Not saying you have to file anything yourself, but preserving that evidence matters.

If you do decide to come forward with your photos or your account of what happened to you, just be careful how you talk to anyone connected to insurance or property management. They will try to characterize your incident as isolated or minor. Document everything yourself first before you hand anything over to anyone.

Not legal advice, but from a legal standpoint: the existence of a prior incident at the same location, with the same hazardous condition, is exactly the kind of thing that establishes notice — meaning the property owner or city knew or should have known about the danger. Your photos and your accident report (if you filed one) could be genuinely useful to the family pursuing justice for the cyclist. You might consider reaching out to an attorney not necessarily for yourself, but just to understand whether your documentation could help. Most PI attorneys will talk to you for free.

Here's the thing: you can't undo last year. But you can do something right now. File a formal complaint with your city's public works or traffic safety department. Send the photos. Write down everything you remember about your own accident and that intersection. Even if it changes nothing for this tragedy, you'll know you did something — and it might actually matter for the next person.

I just want to say — you were the one who got hurt. You were the one dealing with a broken wrist and PT and medical bills. Nobody expects a victim to become an activist while they're still healing. Please don't carry this like it belongs to you. The person who needs to be held accountable is whoever let that hedge grow unchecked, and whoever was driving carelessly. Not you.

I know this feels devastating right now, but the fact that you have those photos, that you remember exactly what the conditions were like, that you're willing to speak up — that actually gives you real power to make that corner safer going forward. You could be the reason the hedge finally gets cut back. You could be the reason the next person walks away. That's not nothing.