Okay, I realize people are really wierd, but today I had my first accident on a motorcycle involving another vehicle and it was really wierd.
So I'm driving back to the house after a short 15 minute ride, I turn on my signal and start slowing for the right turn into my driveway noticing in my mirror that a couple of cars are behind me. As I pull off the road and turn onto the gravel of the drive, I hear a screech of tires behind me. I remember thinking great I'm gonne be rear ended, so I center the bars, relaase the brakes, pop the clutch and drop the throttle. The bike spins gravel like crazy. Then I notice a glimpse of red in my right mirror. :? WTF, I start turning back towards the road when the car goes flying past me on the right at about 20 MPH. It was close enough that I thought we touched,. I pull the clutch and slam the brakes. By then I was already leaning to far the other way and ended up setting the bike down on its side. It was relatively gentle but the engine reved up like crazy, so I hit the kill switch and stood up. The car stopped about 20 feet away after sliding off the road, down into my 4 foot deep ditch, up out of the ditch and onto my drive going over a steel culvert, and into my yard.
The lady was an older grandma, with her kid and three grandkids in the car, she hops out and start saying my turn signal wasn't on and she didnt see me stopping. Her daughter is like, "Mom, we tried to tell you, just look at the motorcycle, it's signal is still blinking."
Someone else stopped and helped me pick up the bike which didn't look in bad shape, but was leaking gas from the gas cap. I let the gas dry then had to switch to PRI and use choke to start. It seemed to run okay. I ran it around the yard in first and second gear later. I hope the reving was caused by an overflow of gas into the carbs, but at this point, reflecting back on it, I may have just been cranking the throttle without realizing it as the bike went down. I'm pretty sure though, that I didn't have my hand on the throttle and the bike was reving like crazy. :dunno:
Later my wife was looking it over and noticed a nice little red line accross the fairing on the right side, really faint, but there. Maybe she hit me a little harder than I thought and that's what knocked me over. I also noticed that the foot peg on the left side is bent back about 15 degrees. It looks like the bracket is bent, not the peg though, so I should be able to bend it back with a little effort. The handle bars look straight and the fairing on the left looks okay other than about 4 or 5 scratches.
We didn't call the cops, her car looked like this was it's 10th wreck, but we did trade insurance info just in case. I probably wouldn't file a claim with insurance anyway, unless the bike was totaled. I run a $1000 deductible to keep cost way down.
I had all my gear on, which wasn't really needed, but it did make me stop and think. I don't always wear my gear when going for small jaunts around the area. If she would have been an inch closer and I was wearing shoes instead of boots, ouch, I could be like that video of the guy losing his foot... I think I will wear it from now on...
Reflecting back, I can't help but wonder what makes a person ditch there car like she did. If she would have just stayed on the road, there wouldn't have been a problem. I was off the road and onto the shoulder before she even locked up her brakes. I'm pretty lucky she wasn't pointed at me when she locked it up, her car went straight from the point they locked to the point she stopped.
I think the main thing that keeps going through my mind however, is whether I should be riding at all. I've got 3 kids, and one on the way. Today was my middle childs 4th birthday, I'm not sure she would have wanted to see Daddy as a hood orniment in the front yard. Most accidents aren't caused by us, but by them, so can I really justify riding at this time in my life...ouch...I really, really love to ride!!! Anyway, sorry for the long post, I just needed to get this out of my system.
Glad you ok. Report the accident cause it wasn't your fault. Her insurance will pay for everything and you don't have to pay a deductible. As for if you should ride or not it is a risk everytime you get behind the handlebars or wheel for that matter. All you can do is be safe and watch out for people like her. But really, get it fixed, since it was her fault you won't have to pay a dime.
If you worry about the kids, the most important thing you can do is wear full gear, head to toe, every time you get on the bike. The ground doesn't mitigate the hurt according to how long you've been out.
As far as not riding - she could have gone screeching around another car and hit you while you were walking across the driveway. You can't make your risk 0. You can minimize the risk through constant attention and judgement, and minimize the damage from something that happens nonethless via gear.
E.g. when you have your brake lights and turn signal on, you should see the cars behind you slow down or turn to go around. If someone isn't slowing down in your rearview, get ready for him/her to do something stupid.
Edit - and I agree, she should pay for the damage to your bike. Maybe this will be a wakeup call. She sounds like she shouldn't be driving.
There are soo many people that shouldn't be driving...I used to work at fred meyer a couple years ago and when I would have to help the old people out to their cars with the stuff, i would see scratches and dents on every corner and every side. I don't see how they still even want to drive. Also, there is a really old guy in my neighborhood and sometimes I am behind him when he's trying to make a right turn out onto the main street, he will gas then slam on the brakes, then do that like 3-4 times because he finally sees the oncomming car. I'm glad to hear your ok, how old do you think she was? Even the kids in the car said that your signal and brake lights were on....isn't that enough proof that it's her fault?
Ummm........wow
You should have called the cops. Sometimes it takes incidents like this to get someone to have thier eyes checked, or if need be their license suspended.
Sounds like her reaction time was about 2-3 behind real time.
Quote from: natedawg120But really, get it fixed, since it was her fault you won't have to pay a dime.
Quote from: Roadstergaland I agree, she should pay for the damage to your bike. Maybe this will be a wakeup call. She sounds like she shouldn't be driving.
Quote from: porsche4786Even the kids in the car said that your signal and brake lights were on....isn't that enough proof that it's her fault?
Quote from: vfrocketYou should have called the cops. Sometimes it takes incidents like this to get someone to have thier eyes checked, or if need be their license suspended.
I hear what you're all saying, but Michigan is a No-Fault insurance state. If I turn this in, it has to be fixed by my policy. The most I can get from her insurance is my deductible. I doubt the damage is over my $1000 deductible, so her insurance would end up paying it all, but I if I do that, my rates go up because I have a claim on my policy. Same with the police report. Even if I'm not a fault, and there wasn't really any question that she was at fault, my rates will still go up because I was in an accident. I've had this happen to me a couple of times in the past. Now, I pretty much don't use insurance unless something major happens.
The police report would have made her have to take the license test again and get her eyes checked, but I guess I'm not willing to get her off the road at the risk of higher costs to me...sucky system...
Quote from: porsche4786I'm glad to hear your ok, how old do you think she was?
She wasn't really that old is one of the weird parts, maybe 50 to 60ish.
One of her granddaughters said something kinda funny after, she says "They say most accidents happen close to your home." The kids Mom says, "Yeah, but this is ridicules, he's in his driveway..." :lol: Okay, maybe I didn't laugh at the time, but it's kinda funny now.
Hey I understand Texas is a no-fault state as well, However if a crash report indicates that one driver was at fault, and this one is pretty obvious, the insurance companies sebrigate ( i think that is how you spell it) and they will duke it out over who gets to pay. unfortunately it may be too late to do an accident report. Does michigan have the Drivers accident report like Texas? It is a form that both parties fill out in an accident where there is minimal damage and no one is hurt. The police dont fill it out, we just hand you the form and let the parties exchage information.
I must say I see this in most accidents I have worked. One person, usually the one who is at fault, simply is just not paying attention. Unfortunately this lack of attention sometimes totals cars and kills or injures others.
I'm glad you are ok, it could have been much worse. I dropped my 2000 VFR a few years ago and caused $800 worth of damage.
A couple years ago I was clipped on the rear as I turned off one road onto another by a 20 year old hit skip kid, similar to your situation. Got a totalled out bike, a broken collar bone, and torn rotator cuff out of it.
Went back to look at the skid marks and like your case he locked up and slid right clear acoss the berm to clip me. Would have missed me if he kept it straight ahead.
I've known a lot of people to quit riding till their kids grew up or as I did more for economic reasons than fear of accidents, wait till they are grown up to start riding. I personally wouldn't quit because of the danger unless dissabled and had to. There are many things in life more dangerous than riding a motorcycle.
When stuck behind a very slow older driver in traffic, I frequently say they should get all them old people over 73 off the road. Next year I'll say older than 74. :lol:
Truth is the most dangerous group in number of fatalities is the 16-25 group as it has always been since I started to drive over a half century ago. Maybe they should raise the age to start driving to 26 instead of 16. :lol: :lol:
One of her granddaughters said something kinda funny after, she says "They say most accidents happen close to your home." The kids Mom says, "Yeah, but this is ridicules, he's in his driveway..." Okay, maybe I didn't laugh at the time, but it's kinda funny now.
"....And what exactly are you doing on my property?"
When stuck behind a very slow older driver in traffic, I frequently say they should get all them old people over 73 off the road. Next year I'll say older than 74.
Well...not all old people. Just the ones that can't see and have no reaction time. Is that too much to ask?
Hmm. According to VFRocket Texas and Michigan have the same no-fault insurance thing, where if you make a claim, your rates go up because there is an accident on your record. Can you not just file a claim against her insurance on your own accord? Not even involve your insurance company? When a guy knocked my bike over I filed a claim against his insurance policy without talking to my insurance company. I did all the dealings with the agents and pricing and got a check made out to me for $1600. That was just from a tip-over. You might want to consider looking into doing that because those parts can add up quickly. The fairings alone are $300+ each.
Quote from: porsche4786"....And what exactly are you doing on my property?"
Exactly. Ask her if someone can bring a couple hundred from a cash machine to cover your repairs. If not, then call a tow-service to come tow her car away. It's on your property. Unless she wants to call the cops and report an accident, she has no authority or reason to be there.
Quote from: AlphaFire X5Can you not just file a claim against her insurance on your own accord? Not even involve your insurance company?
You can definitely do that. Involving your own insurance is just a convenience for having them handle it.
Quote from: gsJackMaybe they should raise the age to start driving to 26 instead of 16. :lol: :lol:
No laughter necessary - I've been in favor of that for some time now. There have been studies done that show that judgement does not develop fully in most folk until after the teen years. Not old enough to vote, not old enough to drink alcohol, but old enough to pilot a ton and a half of metal at high speed? Nope. Everyone says "Oh, but my kid is responsible..." but we can all agree that everyone else's isn't. :lol: Teenagers don't need to drive. Get 'em on a bike and cure our obesity epidemic, too.
Yeah, that would be a nice rule, but, I am 19 and I don't see how I would get around if I couldn't drive, and walking in the rain (i live in oregon) is not fun. I have never been in an accident, and my close friends have not either. I think a lot of accidents are caused by distractions, cell phones, food, make up, radio, cell phone, reading, cell phone, cell phone. I do not talk on my phone or mess around with other things while driving. If I need to change the station or CD I try to do it when I'm at a stop light, not while going around a turn at 35 mph. Or sometimes I just listen to my car for music. Almost everybody that has cut me off while on my motorcycle and in my car or almost caused me to get into an accident were on a cell phone.
EDIT: How old were you when you got your license? I'm guessing not 26.
Quote from: RoadstergalTeenagers don't need to drive. Get 'em on a bike and cure our obesity epidemic, too.
In my first college experience in the late 70's I had an instructor that kept two kinds of statistics, motorcycle deaths and skydiving deaths. We had a large number of both participants in Florida so "Hutch" had plenty of data to pull from. Another instructor, Sumner, taught Physics and Math, did
both.
Whenever another "statistic" showed up in the newspaper, Hutch would take the clipping and tape it to Sumner's door. It was hilarious, but seriously sobering.
I've got loads of "Hutchisms" penciled in my books from those days. One of his favorite was "Do you have a teenager that is giving you trouble? Buy him/her a motorcycle and
let nature take its course. He/she will think you are the greatest parent in the world. In time, your problem will be solved."
That was WAY before good gear and training was available or even considered a good idea.
Don't fear riding for your kids sake. I just found out today a friend from my NASA training died of cancer. I never new she was sick. I wish now I had called her more often. Ride on my friend.
Leading causes of death, per the CDC:
QuoteHeart Disease: 696,947
Cancer: 557,271
Stroke: 162,672
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,816
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 106,742
Diabetes: 73,249
Influenza/Pneumonia: 65,681
Alzheimer's disease: 58,866
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 40,974 (often a complication of diabetes)
Septicemia: 33,865 (severe infection: bacteria in the blood... lots of causes)
(comments in parens are mine)
Motorcycling will increase your risk of death due to accident; maybe even enough to tie with "stroke" (but nowhere near cancer or heart disease). That's right, if you're a motorcyclist, then you're just trying to get yourself killed... with congestive heart failure, lung cancer or colon cancer.
If you really want to increase your chances of becoming the family patriarch or matriarch, then the most important things you can do now, are to quit smoking, get yearly proctological exams (or mammograms), start caring about what you eat, and get an hour of exercise each day. And, as Starwalt said, "Ride On!"
However, it's always sad when a parent outlives his child; or a young parent dies, leaving his family. Accidents make up a bigger part of those tragic deaths, so ride safe. Speaking of safe riding, I'd like to see accident/death stats of just MSF grads... I bet that it's lower.
Well, I rode in to work today. There is no way I could quit riding. Worst case senerio, I've got a really good term life policy for the wife and kids... ;)
Thanks for all the replies everyone, I think I will look into getting the lady's insurance company to cover the repairs. It looks like as long as I don't go over my deductable then my insurance company will not even be involved. If the amount goes over my deductable, then my company picks up the rest. What really changed my mind was the loss of resale value on the bike. While I'm not thinking about selling it, and don't forsee selling it ever, the value is less because of the scratches on the fairing.