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I posted this in my local Ducati forum and hoped it might help someone out up here too. This seemed like the best forum for it even thought it didn't happen on my Duc, Thank God! You can obviously ignore the references to Seattle streets.
Usually, I feel like I’m just giving this money to the insurance company and never getting anything in return. Currently, I'm very glad I paid twice what liability costs me for uninsured motorist. I'm also glad I wasn't riding the Duc (for one day anyway, I’m happy it was in the shop).
Last Thursday afternoon, it was just too nice not to go for a ride. I purposely avoided I-5 and Aurora as it was approaching rush hour. I just went for a nice little ride around the neighborhood and then Greenlake. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon. I was headed North on Lynden (1 block west of Aurora) and about 73rd when I signaled a left turn. I thought about darting out in front of a car, but I decided I’d better wait. I slowed down to 5-10 mph and the oncoming car was about even with me when I felt a large force and crashing sound from behind (best guess is that he was going 15-35 mph). As I was rolling backwards I remember thinking to myself , “SH*T this is NOT GOOD”.
The next thing I know I'm flying through the air and land on the outside of my left thigh and my hands. (I've heard people describe motorcycle crashes as happening incredibly fast and now I know what they mean. I've swerved and avoided auto accidents before and it seemed like time slowed way down. Here it was the opposite; it felt like time speed WAY UP!).
The next part is hard to describe, because it seemed to all happen in a fraction of a second. I’m not sure how long it actually took. I landed in the road (about a foot on my side of the centerline – Thank God! – and I’m an agnostic
), on the outside of my left thigh. Simultaneously, I was thinking this is good , I'm basically okay (it’s weird to say, but there was a split second where I was expecting impact from behind and was very elated when I realized it wasn’t going to happen – adrenaline I guess). Great, nothing’s hit me from behind, (my bike, following traffic) and all of my limbs appear to be fine.
Then about 20% of my brain was saying, "Relax, take inventory, nice and slow, just like you see the racers do on TV". The other 80% was saying "Are you F*cking kidding me, you're sitting in the middle of a five way intersection! " Obviously, the 80% won out and I dashed to the side of the road.
On the sidewalk, I took inventory and realized I appeared to be basically okay, except for a bruised/swelling thigh and a tweaked right side of my back. The driver pulled over and we both called 911. Obviously, I was a little shaken.
The 911 operator asked if anyone was injured and I said I thought I was ok. She then asked if there was more than $750 damage. I said I didn't know, I’ve just been THROWN FROM MY BIKE! She said we should just exchange information and that they didn't send the police out for minor accidents (less than $750 dollars damage). I told her that I still would like a cop to show up and write things up. She took my cell phone number and said she'd see what she could do (I was there another 45 minutes and the cops never showed up or called me back! ).
I turned around to find that no one had bothered to stop, offer assistance, or bear witness (Gotta love the big city). Traffic was just going around my bike (which was straddling the center line). The guy who hit me was nice enough to get my bike out of the street while I was double checking my back. He also said, several times “It sure is a good thing you’re wearing all of that protective gear”. NO SH*T!
The guy who hit me, lets call him Richard, was then eager to exchange information and wanted to get going. He wrote down the information, which I double checked several times. Richard claimed to have insurance with Vern Fonk, but did not have a card. I was taking things at a leisurely pace and hoping the cops would show up. Richard wanted to keep this off the record, so it wouldn’t affect his insurance. He said he had the cash to pay for the damage, which he thought was fairly minor.
I was mulling over what to do about this, feeling apprehensive about a number of things. I was also unsure how to get my bike home. I called a friend and ended up talking to his wife, she told me to make sure that I didn't let him leave the scene without taking pictures (she said trust me, I know from experience). She offered to bring me a camera, but this made me remember that I was only a few blocks from my girlfriend’s mother’s house. My girlfriend’s mother bought me a camera, which I used to take the attached pictures. She was also able to at least be a witness to the scene, after the fact.
The pictures may come in very handy, it appears Richard was uninsured (I have pictures of the car and him). I am glad he didn’t hit and run, and he seemed like a nice enough guy (aside from his driving), but it appears my insurance will be doing all of the work. At the moment, my best (non-expert) guess is $1300 in damage to the bike and $250 for new gloves. At the moment I appear to be fine except for a lovely 5”x5” bruise on my thigh. I’d post the pictures my girlfriend took, but I don’t want anyone to lose their lunch.
I know this is a bit of a book, and it was somewhat therapeutic to write, but the main reason I wrote it is I was hoping that some of you could avoid making the mistakes I did if you’re ever in a similar situation (I sincerely hope you aren’t).
The main lessons, as I see them, are -
1. Make sure you have uninsured motorist coverage! Who knows if this guy has the money and how hard it would be to get it on my own, especially if there are serious injuries involved.
2. Do whatever you have to do to get the cops to show up. (Tell them there's thousands of dollars worth of damage, you're hurt, whatever. You just got tossed off of your motorcycle and you're not thinking straight, this wasn't a bumper scratcher between cars).
3. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. If the guy can’t produce an insurance card, he’s probably not insured. The cops (I have learned after the fact) will show up and write someone up for this. Don’t even think about doing the other person a favor, you don’t know them. There’s little upside for you, except being a nice guy/gal and there’s a giant down side. Decide all of this stuff ahead of time, because you probably won’t be thinking clearly in the middle of an accident.
4. Wear good gear (even the guy who hit me seemed to know this). The Dainese textile pants don’t have a scratch on them and are as good as new (I’m not sure how, I guess I came straight down on them). While I have a bruise, there’s no pavement in my leg. The Held racing gloves are probably overkill for the street, but the left hand scraped the slider rivets (just like they’re supposed to) and the right hand lost one rivet and loosened a couple of others. The important part is my hands appear to be fine. Fortunately, due mainly to the way I was thrown off the bike, my full face helmet never hit anything.
5. Only make left turns at major intersections (just kidding)
6. Get lucky!!! (not kidding)
PS The great irony in all of this is that I took the ERC a couple of weeks ago and they told the class to stop being paranoid about getting rear ended , because only 3-4% of accidents come from behind you.
Stay safe and Good Luck,
Ciao
Usually, I feel like I’m just giving this money to the insurance company and never getting anything in return. Currently, I'm very glad I paid twice what liability costs me for uninsured motorist. I'm also glad I wasn't riding the Duc (for one day anyway, I’m happy it was in the shop).
Last Thursday afternoon, it was just too nice not to go for a ride. I purposely avoided I-5 and Aurora as it was approaching rush hour. I just went for a nice little ride around the neighborhood and then Greenlake. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon. I was headed North on Lynden (1 block west of Aurora) and about 73rd when I signaled a left turn. I thought about darting out in front of a car, but I decided I’d better wait. I slowed down to 5-10 mph and the oncoming car was about even with me when I felt a large force and crashing sound from behind (best guess is that he was going 15-35 mph). As I was rolling backwards I remember thinking to myself , “SH*T this is NOT GOOD”.
The next thing I know I'm flying through the air and land on the outside of my left thigh and my hands. (I've heard people describe motorcycle crashes as happening incredibly fast and now I know what they mean. I've swerved and avoided auto accidents before and it seemed like time slowed way down. Here it was the opposite; it felt like time speed WAY UP!).
The next part is hard to describe, because it seemed to all happen in a fraction of a second. I’m not sure how long it actually took. I landed in the road (about a foot on my side of the centerline – Thank God! – and I’m an agnostic
), on the outside of my left thigh. Simultaneously, I was thinking this is good , I'm basically okay (it’s weird to say, but there was a split second where I was expecting impact from behind and was very elated when I realized it wasn’t going to happen – adrenaline I guess). Great, nothing’s hit me from behind, (my bike, following traffic) and all of my limbs appear to be fine. Then about 20% of my brain was saying, "Relax, take inventory, nice and slow, just like you see the racers do on TV". The other 80% was saying "Are you F*cking kidding me, you're sitting in the middle of a five way intersection!
" Obviously, the 80% won out and I dashed to the side of the road. On the sidewalk, I took inventory and realized I appeared to be basically okay, except for a bruised/swelling thigh and a tweaked right side of my back. The driver pulled over and we both called 911. Obviously, I was a little shaken.
The 911 operator asked if anyone was injured and I said I thought I was ok. She then asked if there was more than $750 damage. I said I didn't know, I’ve just been THROWN FROM MY BIKE! She said we should just exchange information and that they didn't send the police out for minor accidents (less than $750 dollars damage). I told her that I still would like a cop to show up and write things up. She took my cell phone number and said she'd see what she could do (I was there another 45 minutes and the cops never showed up or called me back!
).I turned around to find that no one had bothered to stop, offer assistance, or bear witness (Gotta love the big city). Traffic was just going around my bike (which was straddling the center line). The guy who hit me was nice enough to get my bike out of the street while I was double checking my back. He also said, several times “It sure is a good thing you’re wearing all of that protective gear”. NO SH*T!
The guy who hit me, lets call him Richard, was then eager to exchange information and wanted to get going. He wrote down the information, which I double checked several times. Richard claimed to have insurance with Vern Fonk, but did not have a card. I was taking things at a leisurely pace and hoping the cops would show up. Richard wanted to keep this off the record, so it wouldn’t affect his insurance. He said he had the cash to pay for the damage, which he thought was fairly minor.
I was mulling over what to do about this, feeling apprehensive about a number of things. I was also unsure how to get my bike home. I called a friend and ended up talking to his wife, she told me to make sure that I didn't let him leave the scene without taking pictures (she said trust me, I know from experience). She offered to bring me a camera, but this made me remember that I was only a few blocks from my girlfriend’s mother’s house. My girlfriend’s mother bought me a camera, which I used to take the attached pictures. She was also able to at least be a witness to the scene, after the fact.
The pictures may come in very handy, it appears Richard was uninsured (I have pictures of the car and him). I am glad he didn’t hit and run, and he seemed like a nice enough guy (aside from his driving), but it appears my insurance will be doing all of the work. At the moment, my best (non-expert) guess is $1300 in damage to the bike and $250 for new gloves. At the moment I appear to be fine except for a lovely 5”x5” bruise on my thigh. I’d post the pictures my girlfriend took, but I don’t want anyone to lose their lunch.
I know this is a bit of a book, and it was somewhat therapeutic to write, but the main reason I wrote it is I was hoping that some of you could avoid making the mistakes I did if you’re ever in a similar situation (I sincerely hope you aren’t).
The main lessons, as I see them, are -
1. Make sure you have uninsured motorist coverage! Who knows if this guy has the money and how hard it would be to get it on my own, especially if there are serious injuries involved.
2. Do whatever you have to do to get the cops to show up. (Tell them there's thousands of dollars worth of damage, you're hurt, whatever. You just got tossed off of your motorcycle and you're not thinking straight, this wasn't a bumper scratcher between cars).
3. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. If the guy can’t produce an insurance card, he’s probably not insured. The cops (I have learned after the fact) will show up and write someone up for this. Don’t even think about doing the other person a favor, you don’t know them. There’s little upside for you, except being a nice guy/gal and there’s a giant down side. Decide all of this stuff ahead of time, because you probably won’t be thinking clearly in the middle of an accident.
4. Wear good gear (even the guy who hit me seemed to know this). The Dainese textile pants don’t have a scratch on them and are as good as new (I’m not sure how, I guess I came straight down on them). While I have a bruise, there’s no pavement in my leg. The Held racing gloves are probably overkill for the street, but the left hand scraped the slider rivets (just like they’re supposed to) and the right hand lost one rivet and loosened a couple of others. The important part is my hands appear to be fine. Fortunately, due mainly to the way I was thrown off the bike, my full face helmet never hit anything.
5. Only make left turns at major intersections (just kidding)
6. Get lucky!!! (not kidding)
PS The great irony in all of this is that I took the ERC a couple of weeks ago and they told the class to stop being paranoid about getting rear ended
, because only 3-4% of accidents come from behind you.Stay safe and Good Luck,
Ciao
