Hit and Run Driver (1) Luke on GS (0)

[Foreverunstopable]

I have to say that its been a hell of a week. Where to start....



I was on my way to sell the bike, headed into St. Pete to meet the guy at Quaker State bike night. I was in the center lane following Rick, about 10 feet back. A white Navigator with 30-day tags turns into my lane from my right, there is a car on my left, only option as I was low on the rpm's "not enough to accelerate out of danger" is to slow down. I get out of the way, guy looks into his side mirror, smiles and waves... Really if you cut off a motorcycle, dont smile and wave, just continue on your way as if you never saw me in the first place like you already didnt, not to mention I was laying on he horn and he noticed me mid lane change but still continued to come.... Moving on, so I slowed down, put on my right signal after checking to see if it was clear, turned into the right lane, cleared my signal, accelerated to 35mph, "the speed limit" saw a gold Camry pull up to the street, Gold Toyota Camry looks at me, turns into my lane... its possible he didnt see me but ohh well. I start slowing down, I have 35-40 feet and was in control until I get thrown on my handlebars, I was hit from behind. The force of the hit stopped my rear tire leaving a large black mark on the street, subsequently stalling my engine, the car pushed my bike tilting it to the left and I high sided "basically flew from the bike into the air" I remember the large slam of the bike into the pavement. Sounded like an I-beam falling, then I saw the sky, the ground, the sky the ground, SPARKS!!!!! the sky the ground, SPARKS! a white sedan 4-door, "2in from my head" passing me, then my bike sliding at me sparking, tumbled a few more times stopping in the street, looked over and traffic was still coming at me, got to my feet and stumbled to the sidewalk. The bike ended up about 2 feet from where I stopped, a guy in a blue van helped me get the gs onto the sidewalk and I saw Rick coming around to check on me. In the distance I noticed that same gold camry off to the side of the road about .2miles away, hazzards on, and an old man was walking back towards me. little less than a min later the ambulance arrived, Paramedics "who i became friends with over the two hours we were together" Travis and Derek asked if I was ok... I said I think so, then the pain started, I decided to get in the ambulance, they laid me down on a back board, put me in a neck brace, and if your interested you can see the rest in the video section on my myspace. I'm tired and want to go to bed. Overall. No broken bones, no road rash, not even a bruise.... WEAR YOUR GEAR!!! NO EXCEPTIONS GET A HELMET, LEATHER JACKET WITH INTERNAL PROTECTORS, LEATHER GLOVES WITH KEVLAR AND CARBON FIBER, BOOTS, BACK PROTECTOR, LEATHER LOWERS OR ATLEAST KNEE GUARDS!!!

Just to add. I requested to be taken to the VA Bay Pines medical center, I'm a disabled vet, they took me to their ER, I laid for 45min in the ER on a backboard and in a neck brace while doctors yelled at the ambulance staff for bringing me there only to then come up and ask me to sign a waiver releasing the GOVT of all liability in my case and then they would treat me... total BS, finally I told the medical staff at the VA they were spineless and unfit to call themselves and ER I asked my ambulance guy Travis to take me to another ER that would see me as I would hate to DIE in a perfectly good hospital because the staff were worried about accepting the responsability to see someone that is actually in need of emergency care... Anyone know a good congressman ect.... If any good can come from this it would be to get Bay Pines and other VA centers better ER staff.

Not sure who has myspace but I got everything after the crash on Video. Its like 22 min of stuff.. Watch if you want, I think I kept my self from going into shock as a result of playing with that camera... The last one sums everything up and shows the damage to my hear and bike....

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770684111
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770716151
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770748166
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770773308
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770807552
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770821511
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770836704
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770842238
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770850263
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770857050
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770864723
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1770876868

[EdChen]

whoa, look at that gas tank!!  glad you're alright!! 

So the guy that got you from behind didn't stop afterwards??

[pantablo]

dude, that SUCKS. looks like your junk mashed the tank up good. hope it turns out well for you.

[Jarrett]

That sucks.  Glad to see you're ok.  Yes VA hospitals suck.  Never ever go to the VA ER unless you don't have health insurance, then just go and wait.  Your best bet if anything like that ever happens again is to go to the closest county hospital.  They can not turn you away.  Glad you're not hurt too bad.                                      Hit and run driver

[nightrider]

Did you file a police report? Were there witnesses?

If I were you I'd do everything possible to find the person who hit you, even if you can't do much. There must be at least some damage to their front fender... at least some of the time these people are found.

[Stephen072774]

the hit and run driver didn't win, you did.  Count your blessings and hug a loved one, your a lucky dude

[ajaxgs]

glad you are ok man

[annguyen1981]

I'm glad to see you're ok after that.

Get some rest and take it easy for now.

[natedawg120]

yeah man from all the damage you are a lucky guy.  Bikes are replaceable, people aren't.  I assume police and paramedics were involved because of the ER trip and all.  And yes VA ERs suck, i was in a bad car accident right before college with a compound fracture of the tib/fib bones in my right leg.  The paramedics thought it would have to be amputated and i was Hellivaced to Fairfax where i layed on the backboard with a neck brace on from ~9:30pm to 7am the next day, without pain meds - all the staff kept telling me was to stop playing with my heart rate because it was tripping their alarms, i replied then give me pain killer cause broken legs really don't feel fun.  They ignored me a lot ...

[Blu_Spd_Dmon]

the hit and run driver didn't win, you did.  Count your blessings and hug a loved one, your a lucky dude

+1 nicely said Stephen

Im very sorry to hear about this Luke. You wanted to get away from riding for this very reason. f%$ked up and ironic...
But im glad to hear your going to be alright!!

I can't get on myspace from work (violation and what not.) ill check out the videos when i get home.

Once again

the hit and run driver didn't win, you did.  Count your blessings and hug a loved one, your a lucky dude

+1

as far as the VA, just call a local news station tell them the story and show them your videos. then tell them how the VA ER TURNED you away. You could probably ask for any witness to come forward, or if any one notices a their neighbor/co worker with new front end damage to report it.

oh and

the hit and run driver didn't win, you did.  Count your blessings and hug a loved one, your a lucky dude

+1

[GeeP]

Damn. 

Sounds like you came out OK in the end though.  You're lucky, go buy a lottery ticket.  Be sure to give both the hospital and the driver that hit you hell, and buy those ambulance drivers a nice meal at a bare minimum.  It would have made their night a whole lot easier if they just left you at the VA.

I hope you got a police report and a witness list.

Obviously, this means the end of riding for you.  Hopefully, one day you'll move away from there to a rural or semi-rural area and you'll be able to rediscover your interest in peace.  That kind of traffic is not normal, nor is the total disregard for other road users.  From my experience, it's a symptom of heavily overpopulated areas.

Let us know how things go in court.

[Squirrel]

DANG!!  Glad you are okay.  Very lucky!  +10 on always wearing your gear.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Holy crap dude. Glad you're alright. I could have told you to stay out of St. Pete traffic... I've done it twice, and was more terrified there than I am here in Atlanta. The bike looks like a mess, but at least you're mostly unharmed. Like someone else said, I hope you get back into riding someday in the future. Did you have full coverage?

[Foreverunstopable]

Well here is the low down,

Contacted the VA, they are going to take care of the bills. Thank God! Also talked to the I.G. on the issues with waiting in the ER for 45min then being sent away. Police report did not find the driver or plate from the Hit and Run driver. Ohh well. I called the local news and am waiting for a call back to see if they will run a spot asking for any witnesses to come forward. The insurance agency said my coverage will pay for my bike impacting the Gold Camry... as there was no way to get insurance from the Hit and Run so it defaults to mine. Sucks but thats why I have Insurance. As for the bike, I did not have coverage. The bike started up today on the first crank, sounds great, no loss of oil, front forks are good, rear is good, frame is good. I just need handlebars, turn signals, spedo case, tank which I have a new one already, left peg which I also have. Other than that the bike is good. So all in all 150.00 in damage and the bike will be good as new. I'm not sure I want to ride in the city ever again, but I'm open to riding in the future when I get away from here. As for my gear, its toast.

[Onlypastrana199]

Better your gear than you! Glad ur ok..thats a nasty looking accident....the same kinda things happen at the VA's here, our congressman from the past ten years voted to cut health care beneits to vets and VA funding...he was prompt ousted...

[pandy]

Hit and run drivers   

Luke being not too worse for wear 

This totally sucks, but I'm glad you didn't come out too injured.....karma will take care of that hit 'n' run driver. 

[jazerr]

1) forget Karma...where's St. Pete? I'll get out there with my 30-30 and take out every camry I see.

2) You have inspired me to buy knee and elbow guards. Ordered...

[Foreverunstopable]

Yeah, if you can afford the gear and you dont already have it, get it. I cant say enough about how I was able to walk away because I had protection head to toe. Thanks for the support guys. Now I need to start finding parts to get the GS rolling again....

[nightrider]

What, it didn't burst into flames? Must have been a dud. 

[annguyen1981]

Hit and run drivers   

Luke being not too worse for wear 

This totally sucks, but I'm glad you didn't come out too injured.....karma will take of that hit 'n' run driver. 

+1

My hit and run @$$hole is in court battling for his freedom.  I hope they find your asshat.