Have you crashed?   Whose fault?   What could you have done as a rider to avoid the crash?   Let's leave all the vitriol about other motorists, brands, etc. out of it.   EVEN if it were someone else's fault, how could YOU have prevented the accident?

Rando

In 1997, I had my "near fatal" crash. Some ignorant kid turned left in front of me and I totalled a fully customized chopper... He took off, and no one "saw him" after the wreck. I could have prevented it by not riding my bike that day. That's about it. Now we all can prevent it by standing together for stiffer punishments for drivers who disobey laws and cause harm to bikers.

http://www.saveabiker.com

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Doing my part to save a Bikers life!
www.SaveABiker.com

I didn't have time to post my crash earlier, but here we go:

 May 31, 2006, going on vacation with wife and kids.   I'm on bike becasue I have to return a day early.   I'm in front.  7PM, sunny, dry.   Going up US52 N thru Facy Gap, VA, fast curvy mountain road.  Can run at 70ish easily.  2 lanes going north, one running south   Posted at 55 mph.   I'm running 55.  Since wife is behind me, I figure I'll run it at 55 exactly, no more, no less.  10 miinutes in to the trip.

  I come around a corner and there is an old motel with water wheel onright with a roped off parking lot.   Parallel to the road is a car that begins a U turn across the road.   As I see it happen, I realize I can't swerve left in front of them.  I'm in left protion of left lane, so swerving right will put me and bike UNDER car.  So I brake hard, thinking for a split second that I will be able to stop and then as quickly realize I won't.   They are perpendicular to my path now and not moving, both of my lanes blocked.  I hit them between the front wheel and front door of a 2004 Honda Accord. 

Canadian tourist couple in their 70s.   Going back to their motel for the night.   Of course, they "didn't see me".  

 I broke wrist on impact and hit groin on tank of 02 Vstrom on the way over. 

On reflection, I realize that the rear brake locked for the last few feet.  I remember the tail starting to swing out as I hit.   I did slow enough that I did not slide after I tumbled over car.  I landed face down on the centerline.  I was glad to have practice/training with braking that I did.   Crash could have been much worse.   The damage to my person was done at moment of impact, not after.  Okay, I did have a quarter-sized strawberry on my knee and a wicked bruise on forearm and shoulder.   Obviously being somewhere else at that exact moment would have been an alternative.  But since that's where I was, maybe I could have squeeezed brakes more, maybe I could have been going slower initially.   You can "what if" a crash to death - it doesn't change the outcome.   HOPEFULLY, ALL riders take the opportunity when in a crash or even a close call to think back over what happened and try to improve their riding, instead of letting blind luck decide their fate. 

 Helmet had one ball=point pen sized mark on it and one 1/2" scratch.  I will not wear it again.   Pants had hole in knee - were not motorcycle pants, but lightweight carpenter jeans - my bad.   Gloves were unmarred til EMT cut the one of broken wrist.  Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket was unhurt.  So had I had on properly armored m/c pants, the knee might not have got it's scrape.

Bike was totaled, forks bent under and to the left.   All plastic busted, frame bent, front wheel into radiator. 

There's my crash story.

Rando

 

I personally can't buy that there was nothing else you could have done.  BUT, I will not argue that point since I was not there.   I also don't think that stiffer penalties will help necessarily.   How will that make people use their brain? the average motorist already thinks they are above average skill.    So they will continue and the lawyers will continue to get them off.   the ONLY person who can do the most to protect ME is ME.   I have to be ever-vigilant for everything happening around me.   I can't say that there was nothing I could do in my case.   There were other actions I could have taken that would have possibly stopped my accident from happening.  I could have been going faster and been BY THE people before they made their U turn.  Or slower, etc.   I assessed my risk and made my choice and now must live with the consequences.   how would stiffere penalties affect the Canadians that hit me?  Stiffer fine?  Will they even pay for hte ticket they got in my case?  They wouldn't have likely know had we had stiffer penalties, so how would that affect them?  It wouldn't.  Stiffer penalties ocvcur AFTER the fact.   Look at DWI.   How has stiffer penalties affected that?   People still drink and drive everyday. 

 Education and training, however one gets it, is the only thing a rider can do to minmnimize their own risk.   Stiffer penalties, woould be nice.  But wouldn't help prevent crashes in my opinion. 

If the only way to prevent a crash is to not ride bike, then let's outlaw bikes so we don;t have motorcycle crashes.  That's preposterous of course.  And I don;t mean to make light of your crash.   Everyone will feel differently about this and the best way is probably a compromise between all our ways.  hopefully someone will use the information in this forum to do some good and not just spew marketing facts and quotes.  hopefiully it will make a difference

Glad you;re still with us to talk about it though. 

Rando

 

So far my only "crash" has been at less than 5 mph while turning into a friend's driveway.  It had rained for 40 days and 40 nights and I was a noob rider.  I turned from the road onto his gravel driveway and my front end washed out in the greasy mud.  No damage to me other than ego-bruising.  My friend's wife laughed her caboose off once she realized I was fine.

 I am aware however that in this sport I am vulnerable.

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Practice random acts of defenestration

Yup, sure did.  My crash was completely my fault, I was simply going TOO fast was too inexperienced to know how to deal with the first indicator of trouble.  What could I have done?  Slowed down!  I was not in a race, and wasn't prepared for the consequences.  I got out lucky, and the longer I look at it the more I learn from it.  Why push your bike to the point of being unsettled?  It's not worth it.  Far better to be able to take a few extra minutes on a ride, get home, and ride another day.

Rando... Now that I think about it, Maybe if I had been riding a safer bike... Bike had a drum brake in the back, no front brake. I watched the guy the whole way. He was rolling, and I was slowing. As soon as I got there, he bolted left in front of me. Car to my leftt, slamms on brakes, car to my right slams on brakes... With the rake I had, manuverability was non existant. All I could do is try and lay the bike over, it caught the kick stand and flipped the bike over me. My helmet was destroyed. Good thing I had loaned my skid plate to a friend the day before. I can honestly say, the helmet saved my life... I was going under 20mph when it happened. So, yeah, If I had been riding another bike, I may have been going faster, and would have t-boned the guy. The outcome would probably been worse in that case. Who knows, but I am truly lucky to be here. Respects.

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Doing my part to save a Bikers life!
www.SaveABiker.com

Yes on two occasions. One was when I was young and dumb at the age of 17 in the Air Force in 1981. A couple of other Airman and I were on separate bikes riding on a dirt road in Wichita Falls Texas outside of Sheppard AFB after a night of drinking at the Airman's Club. To make a long story short I hit some kind of bump or rut in the road and went down. My fault, complete stupidity, no injuries. I got lucky.

 On the second occasion I was leading a pack of bikes at the Palm Springs Biker Rally in 2000. I was in the front left. Some idiot who was in the pack that I had never ridden with before that night decided for some inexplicable reason (probably alcohol) to accelerate real fast and then promptly turn left (he was beside me on the right) right in front of me. I had two choices; (1) Lay it down, or (2) T-Bone him. I layed it down. Minor road rash, sore for about two weeks, and minor damage to bike. Got lucky again.

I have had many many close calls which could have resulted in disaster over the years. Some were my fault, some were the cagers fault, some were other bikers fault, and some were due to road conditions and weather. There is an old biker saying "It is not a matter of if you are going to go down, it's a matter of when." I am very cautious when riding my motorcycle because of the close calls I have had. I write a blog about Motorcycle Safety issues, which is what brought me here. the URL for the blog is http://www.bikerlawblog.com .I am a motocycle accident lawyer and an actual rider. I see the worst of what can happen every day.

Motorcycle safety is critical along with Cager education.

 

 

 

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Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq.
Biker and Motorcycle Lawyer Blog
www.bikerlawblog.com

OK August 9th 2004 I buy my first ever bike a Honda Aero 750. Have it "delivered" to home because I can not ride. Sign up for MS class. Start to ride bike a little while waiting for class.

Thanks for the replies, folks.   Hopefully, we can all learn from one another and from our own experiences.  I try to learn from "close-calls" and I have certainly dissected my crash to try to know what to differently if it ever happens again.   Crashing is definitely not a fun experience, be it a slow speed drop or a high speed collision. 

 I read a quote once that says "You can never hit something too slow" and I think that is true.   Laying it down never occurred to me as that is not how I have trained myself.   So my option was to slow as hard and quick as I could.  

 Laterrr.....
Rando

 

 

I bought a brand new street bike off the showroom floor at age 16 and "high-sided" it the second day of ownership (circa 1978). 100% my fault. Trying to hurry up and make that left turn on the "yellow light" on the way to show off my brand new ride to my "Biker" uncle. My impatience and lack of any kind of formal training were major contributors to that incident, IMO. (Not to mention that I thought that I could be Kenny Roberts on that thing)

Let's not count the mishaps during "wheelie" practice shall we? 

Two years later, one evening after work, in a hurry to get home to go out and “party” with some friends, I took my favorite "S Curve" in my own residential neighborhood a little too fast. OK, way too fast.  The gate of the chain-link hurricane fence only slowed me down. It was the tree that stopped me. The full-face helmet was a major contributor in saving my life; that and the grace and mercy of God. (Why wasn't my neck broken?) Again, my fault. Familiarity, impatience and speed became my enemies.

Fast forward to 1996 when for the very first time I took any form of motorcycle training, the MSF Advanced Safety Course. (I never took the beginner's course). It was there that I performed my first "stoppie" quite by accident in an overzealous stopping exercise.

Three months following my completion of the course, two vehicles made a U-turn from the right shoulder of a divided 4-lane hwy directly into my path. The first one made it fine; the second one took me out. Had there been only one vehicle, I would have been fine; but, guess what the driver of the second vehicle said... Thaaaaat's right, "I didn't see him". This time, not my fault. The only place I could have gone to escape collision was straight up!

Now in 2006, I have recently taken the MSF Advanced Safety Course again (after 9 years) and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. I found it was very effective to have someone watch me ride and provide positive criticism to help me improve my techniques.

I realize there is no way we can ever really eliminate all the risks, however,  we are compelled to reduce our risks by whatever means at our disposal.

Thank you for addressing this topic.

 

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Doug Coles
CycleSpace.com

Crash, sure years ago.

Yes, legally, in many cases, a crash is someone else's fault, but we, the riders, pay the price.   In my case, the other driver was at fault, but We all need to try to figure out what we can do to be prepared NEXT TIME.   And yes that sometimes meaning looking at yourself and taking a bit of the blame yourself.   I';m sure INSURANCE companies will love to hear that.   Then they can deny benefits and payments. 

 Rando

I had mine in April.  Ultimately, it was my fault, but the other drivers in my immediate vicinity contributed.  I was riding to work and had just turned onto a 4-lane road (2 eastbound, 2 westbound).  There was a black pick-up behind me who was driving somewhat aggressively, so I was keeping an eye on him in my mirrors.  As I approached a 7-11 lot, another pickup pulled out of the lot.  He was a little way ahead, but he was moving much more slowly than I or the other truck was moving.  I got into the left lane to pass, and just as I did, the SUV in that lane stopped and put on her left turn signal.  I saw it and started to brake with both front and rear.  I managed to scrub off some speed, but the rear wheel locked up and started to swing around to the right.  I got off the rear brake for just a second and got control, then reapplied it, but I was too close and hit the back end of the SUV.  I came off the bike, did a flip, and ended up sitting up on the center line.  I'm lucky the pickup trucks either stopped or made it past in the right lane.

I ended up with a badly broken left wrist, but otherwise just bruises.  I didn't even have any road rash to speak of, and no one else was injured.  The bike was repairable, too.  I went through two surgeries on my wrist.  It will always look a little crooked, but at least it's 90-95% functional.  I got back on the bike at the end of August.  I am so nervous sometimes.  My confidence to react in an emergency situation is pretty low.

What could I have done?  I could have been more patient and slowed down rather than try to go around the truck that pulled out.  Although the other drivers may have exercised some poor judgement, the real fault was mine.  What AM I going to do to avoid this in the future?  I'm going to take the Advanced Rider MSF course as soon as possible.

Bikers often repeat, with great convistion, foolish sayings such as : " It is not a matter of if you are going to go down, It's a matter of when" and " There are 3 types of bikers , those who have crashed, those who will crash and those who lie about not crashing". I hear this so much that I am inclined to believe that many motorcyclist actually beleive that they are incapable of vertically operating a motorcycle for any sustained lenght of time. I am glad that airplane pilots don't live by similar credos.

 

Staying off the Pavement

OOSOUL