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Old 08-30-2012 | 01:22 PM
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Unhappy Run into

If you know me and my riding etiquette, you know I'm over prepared for the worst to happen by wearing all my riding gear and having crash protection.
Well, the inevitable happened Tuesday night, August 21st, on my ride home after work.... I was turned (left) into by a negligent driver of a Honda minivan, who not only failed to use his turn signal, but also failed to yield at the right of way. I was hit on the right side near the rear of my bike, spun 180* and ejected from my bike. Luckily I dropped the hammer a little and managed to get the rear of the bike hit instead of hitting me directly in the leg and tossing me over the van. I tumbled 3 or 4 times but popped right back up on my feet, rushed over to my bike, (that was now banging on the rev limiter) turned it off, then hobbled back to the curb where I started to just drop. I eased my decent as much as I could before completely laying on my back in pain. My helmet ended up taking a fair amount of the possible damage, my riding jacket had some scuffs, my jeans took most of the abrasions damage and left me without any asphalt under my skin. Thankfully, only my jeans had to be cut off after paramedics arrived to take me to hospital.
From what I was told by the FHP trooper as he delivered the crash report to me, the minivan driver contested with both FHP and SRQ Sheriffs that he was not at fault, but both found him in the wrong being in the outside lane of the roundabout and turning left into me. He never even bothered to see if I was ok at the scene of the crash.
I was taken to Venice Hospital via ambulance on a stretcher to make sure there were no injuries to my back or neck. After about 25 x-rays of various areas, there were no other broken bones than my left thumb, and my right ring finger. I also had a few bruises on my knees and a sprained right ankle. I also picked up the nickname "Superman" from the nursing staff, lol.
I cannot stress how lucky I was and glad I made the promise to always wear my riding gear, because I could have been in far worse shape than I was.
There's no worse feeling than seeing a front bumper coming into you and nothing you can do about it
Old 08-30-2012 | 01:37 PM
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dam,that really sucks,these cagers and their left turns.its getting to be too much.
glad you made it out ok,no broken bones is a good thing.
are you gonna fix the bike,hope so.cant let these fools get you down.
GWS
Old 08-30-2012 | 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Sawzall86
I cannot stress how lucky I was and glad I made the promise to always wear my riding gear, because I could have been in far worse shape than I was.
Glad to see your OK. 1 up for you and your riding gear. Like you, never in a t-shirt and running soes, or even worst sandles, like I often see.
Good riding gear goes a long way.
I hope this will not stop your love for riding, and good luck with the rest of this drama.
Old 08-30-2012 | 01:57 PM
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Already spoken to an attorney, have 2 witnesses, and have a specialist appointment tomorrow for my injuries sustained. hoping for them to shell out for the repairs, if not, my totaled lowest amount will cover for an RC51 I have to be careful with my left hand and the carpal bone that was cracked, I have the possibility of losing full function of my hand as I'm told. I'll be out for blood if that happens
Old 08-30-2012 | 03:02 PM
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Notice how it's never their fault? I say sue the bastard for as muc as you can get from his insurance. Here in CA you usually can't get anything half the time because they're illegals with no license or insurance!
Old 08-30-2012 | 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted by HRCA#1
Notice how it's never their fault? I say sue the bastard for as muc as you can get from his insurance. Here in CA you usually can't get anything half the time because they're illegals with no license or insurance!

I've heard this before...what happens to these people when the cops arrive? I would hope they go straight to INS and get deported or whatever...
Old 08-30-2012 | 03:31 PM
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It takes a few days before all the aches, pains and bruises surface. It sounds like you've done all you can to put your case against the negligent driver together. I hope you're able to get this settled sooner rather than later and that you heal completely, mentally and physically. Thanks for posting.
Old 08-30-2012 | 03:48 PM
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Originally Posted by HRCA#1
Notice how it's never their fault? I say sue the bastard for as muc as you can get from his insurance. Here in CA you usually can't get anything half the time because they're illegals with no license or insurance!
Older guy, I'd say late 70's. I'm going for everything fair, rental car because he wrecked my only mode of transportation, medical bills are self explanatory, out of work compensation, bike repaired/replaced to near great condition as it was previous, towing and storage bills/fees, and gear replacement. Not settling for anything less.

Originally Posted by comedo
It takes a few days before all the aches, pains and bruises surface. It sounds like you've done all you can to put your case against the negligent driver together. I hope you're able to get this settled sooner rather than later and that you heal completely, mentally and physically. Thanks for posting.
Oh yeah, the bruises wrap all around my knees and down my calves. Pain isn't so bad as I have prescribed pain meds thankfully that take some of the edge off. Sucks because I'm down to basically a claw with my right index finger and thumb, that's fun. I recently just remastered putting a shirt on, up next are jar lids
Old 08-30-2012 | 04:50 PM
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glad your ok andrew! I mean sort of okay but alive. i agree with HRCA, esp since he tried to lie about it. Sue the mafucker.

I assume you weren't running high beams?
Old 08-30-2012 | 06:45 PM
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Hell yeah, if minivan is trying to get out of blame, push back hard!

Glad to see you doing well. The gear, the gear, the gear, it really makes all the difference. Rash isn't fun, I speak from experience (20 years ago though). Stories like this make me think about hi-vis stuff. It really sticks out.


Keep us posted on your progress Andrew.
Old 08-30-2012 | 07:30 PM
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Originally Posted by nath981
glad your ok andrew! I mean sort of okay but alive. i agree with HRCA, esp since he tried to lie about it. Sue the mafucker.

I assume you weren't running high beams?
It wasn't dark enough to run high beam, and I have a Mercedes CLK 120mm retrofit installed with OEM sylvania bulb. It's not like it wasn't plenty bright as is without blinding others as I checked cut-off when I installed it.

Originally Posted by Wolverine
Hell yeah, if minivan is trying to get out of blame, push back hard!

Glad to see you doing well. The gear, the gear, the gear, it really makes all the difference. Rash isn't fun, I speak from experience (20 years ago though). Stories like this make me think about hi-vis stuff. It really sticks out.


Keep us posted on your progress Andrew.
I'm pushing as hard as my conscience will let me. Believe me, I'd love a couple of new bikes out of this, but my conscience won't let me do it. However, if the bike looks good after spending minimal and I have enough left over, there could be an RC51 stable mate to the 'Hawk in race trim that I found locally if it's still around at that time.

As far as the gear goes, I've actually priced out both a set of leathers and a 2-piece leather suit to go with a new helmet. Nothing less than that anymore for me. I'd rather walk away I'm disgust than not be able to walk away at all.

Last edited by Sawzall86; 08-30-2012 at 08:30 PM.
Old 08-30-2012 | 08:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Sawzall86
It wasn't dark enough to run high beam, and I have a Mercedes CLK 120mm retrofit installed with OEM sylvania bulb. It's not like it wasn't plenty bright as is without blinding others as I checked cut-off when I installed
bright is right for daylight traffic IMO..........I always run high beams daylight and low beams night of course in city because I've had drivers turn in front of me on multiple occasions with lows on during daylight hours.

Motorcycles are too easy to miss based on my scary experiences, and the inordinate number of left-turn accidents documented today would alone seem to warrant more extreme defensive measures.

Whatever, the essential element here is to figure out why this guy turned in front of you and try to use this info to avoid the same from occurring again because no matter who's right or wrong, we typically come out on the short end.

Heal quick brother!
Old 08-30-2012 | 09:06 PM
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glad to hear your ok...

and very happy to hear you wear gear, I get people asking me all the time if its hot wearing my jacket in 90 degree weather... I just look at them dumbfounded
Old 08-30-2012 | 09:20 PM
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Originally Posted by nath981
bright is right for daylight traffic IMO..........I always run high beams daylight and low beams night of course in city because I've had drivers turn in front of me on multiple occasions with lows on during daylight hours.

Motorcycles are too easy to miss based on my scary experiences, and the inordinate number of left-turn accidents documented today would alone seem to warrant more extreme defensive measures.

Whatever, the essential element here is to figure out why this guy turned in front of you and try to use this info to avoid the same from occurring again because no matter who's right or wrong, we typically come out on the short end.

Heal quick brother!
I took pictures of the 4 signs at the round about where they show the correct pathways of each lane, along with 2 witnesses, and FHP traffic report stating the driver was in full fault. He turned into my frame slider really as you can see it stuck in his front bumper Either way, I'm all in the clear on this one.

I get what you're saying about the lights though, the more visible you make yourself, hopefully the more visible you are to others. I might get the wheels coated flo yellow or orange now, lol.

Originally Posted by scottiemann
glad to hear your ok...

and very happy to hear you wear gear, I get people asking me all the time if its hot wearing my jacket in 90 degree weather... I just look at them dumbfounded
Same way, not worth the risk to me. I'll just have to get used to leather pants, gauntlet gloves and leather jacket from now on. Cooler than a skin graft
Old 08-30-2012 | 09:26 PM
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Very glad to see you survived, and to see your gear helped with that!

I think nath is already moving onto the next step is all... He's not trying to help defend your current compensation (as legally you seem to be on the right path here), but after recovering a bit, it always good to look at what could have been done to prevent the accident.

Recover well!
Old 08-30-2012 | 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by 7moore7
Very glad to see you survived, and to see your gear helped with that!

I think nath is already moving onto the next step is all... He's not trying to help defend your current compensation (as legally you seem to be on the right path here), but after recovering a bit, it always good to look at what could have been done to prevent the accident.

Recover well!
I agree fully, I'm trying to take things a step at a time. Making sure I'll be fine first is what I've been told by friends and family, but being a gear head, I always think of my bike first I am thinking white paint with florescent wheels though, seriously

The guy didn't bother to signal or yield and thought he wasn't at fault because he figured the outside lane, even though it's a circle, still allowed you to turn left without even considering the inside lane having the right of way. We both entered from the same starting point, he was in the right (outside) lane, and I was in the left (inside) lane. The signs show the right (outside lane) from our same entrance point has to either turn right, or go straight across. The left (inside) lane turns either left, or straight across. There was one vehicle in front of me, nearly 4 car lengths, and he was in a group of 4, with the car ahead of him going straight. He failed to look, signal, or yield.

Last edited by Sawzall86; 08-30-2012 at 09:51 PM.
Old 08-31-2012 | 06:53 AM
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Wow Glad you made it out OK. I recently had a similar experience with an escalade and its a scary situation no doubt.

I have been running my High beams during the day since I have been riding due to suggestion from my father who has been riding for 40+ years and I can attest to anything additional to show people you are around is essential.

Though if they are reading texts in their lap there isn't much you can do unfortunately (drivers these days are way to distracted). At the end of the day I feel that unless these people are raped at the wallet they wont change their driving habits. So far the only one effected in your incident is you and they are still out and about being a tard face. I say teach them a lesson and if it hurts them financially then they will second guess the left turn.

Usually conscience will say other wise but if you tell your conscience that the guy who hit you could care less about your safety, it should shut up. Mine does every time I throw a spark plug or break a window or dent a hood.

Glad your ok though and happy to see your in good spirit.
Old 08-31-2012 | 08:52 AM
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Man, glad you are okay! That van took more damage than I imagined when reading your post. Looks like you got blasted!

Roundabouts are so sketchy with bad drivers, I can't count how many times I've had people drift from one lane to another or realize they're in the wrong lane and urgently change.

I live in Indianapolis and I frequently ride through Carmel, Indiana...Here's a quick snippet from Wiki about it:

"Carmel has become the unofficial roundabout capital of USA, due to the mayor of Carmel, Jim Brainard, installing over 80 roundabouts and demolishing 78 sets of traffic signals. Jim Brainard say "We have more than any other city in the US."

That's a frack ton of roundabouts and a buttload of bad drivers. Shiz gets scary when they fly into them in an SUV like it's an F1 car in a chicane or something. Tires squealing, never staying in their lane, reckless abandon, texting "OMG ON MY WAY TO SOCCER PRACTICE W/ THE KIDS!"

Glad you made it out, and hope you get well/fixed up! Stick it to them as much as you can. Accidents are accidents, gross negligence is just bad though.
Old 08-31-2012 | 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Yollasho
"Carmel has become the unofficial roundabout capital of USA, due to the mayor of Carmel, Jim Brainard, installing over 80 roundabouts and demolishing 78 sets of traffic signals. Jim Brainard say "We have more than any other city in the US."
That's almost better than here, though. We've only got a couple scattered on in the smaller roads and people not only don't pay attention, they flat out don't know how to use them. I've seen on multiple occasions people turn down the wrong direction at a roundabout (treating it as stop sign) like they've never seen one before.

At this point it's not really even a frustration, it's more of a fascination. I always want to follow those people throughout their day and see how they handle other adverse situations.
Old 08-31-2012 | 11:54 AM
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Sorry to hear about all this and glad you were wearing your gear.

So I guess you don't need that ignition advancer then....

Hope you are up and riding again soon.
Old 08-31-2012 | 12:58 PM
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Originally Posted by 7moore7
That's almost better than here, though. We've only got a couple scattered on in the smaller roads and people not only don't pay attention, they flat out don't know how to use them. I've seen on multiple occasions people turn down the wrong direction at a roundabout (treating it as stop sign) like they've never seen one before.

At this point it's not really even a frustration, it's more of a fascination. I always want to follow those people throughout their day and see how they handle other adverse situations.
Yeah. The worst part about all the roundabouts around here is that some of them aren't actually round...It's hard to describe, but some of them are...peanut shaped (best I can come up with), so it's not just a simple crank the wheel and hold on for the ride for these drivers, it's "crank the wheel then, oh damn crank it the other way, oh we're at the other side, crank it back! OMG there were two lanes?! DO I STOP OR GO? FLOOR IT!"

Agreed, I don't know how these people drive everywhere in such a manner and keep their cars in one piece.

Edit-Found a picture of one. The worst part is probably when cars are about to go into it, they have to look backwards because of the entry angle and can't see **** because of the pedestrian bridge railings.


Last edited by Yollasho; 08-31-2012 at 01:02 PM. Reason: picture of roundabout!
Old 08-31-2012 | 01:04 PM
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We need gas to go up to about 8 dollars per gallon for 1-2 years, get all the SUV douchebags off the road, then slowly come back down...that would be just about perfect...I would happily pay the extra cost to accomplish that, even at the rate the SH sucks down gas.
Old 08-31-2012 | 09:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Yollasho
Yeah. The worst part about all the roundabouts around here is that some of them aren't actually round.

that looks like a fun place to ride with all those turns. Like a racetrack.........hell you could drag a knee 15 times just going to church.
Old 09-01-2012 | 04:17 AM
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Originally Posted by nath981


that looks like a fun place to ride with all those turns. Like a racetrack.........hell you could drag a knee 15 times just going to church.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, I would spend half a day there, just going round and round... I guess I ain't rigth in the head...
Old 09-01-2012 | 04:19 AM
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Thumbs up

You're good. I thought the same thing before scrolling down to read your post.
Old 09-03-2012 | 02:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Yollasho
Man, glad you are okay! That van took more damage than I imagined when reading your post. Looks like you got blasted!

Glad you made it out, and hope you get well/fixed up! Stick it to them as much as you can. Accidents are accidents, gross negligence is just bad though.
I'm a pretty solid 255 lbs, linebacker style, so it'll take a lot to put me down. My frame slider is stuck in his front bumper, so my leg got blasted as well. MRI's and rehab scheduled already, on his insurance

Originally Posted by 8541Hawk
Sorry to hear about all this and glad you were wearing your gear.

So I guess you don't need that ignition advancer then....

Hope you are up and riding again soon.
Gotta kick me when I'm down, huh Mike? I'll keep you posted, you get your black box yet?

Originally Posted by kardiac996
Wow Glad you made it out OK. I recently had a similar experience with an escalade and its a scary situation no doubt.

Usually conscience will say other wise but if you tell your conscience that the guy who hit you could care less about your safety, it should shut up. Mine does every time I throw a spark plug or break a window or dent a hood.

Glad your ok though and happy to see your in good spirit.
I read about your experience, I would have started smoking that day if I had that happen to me I'm keeping as high of spirits as possible, doing what I can to keep my mind off of it, but for the first few days I'd get jerked from sleep reliving the experience in my dreams with my broken hands clenching for what I could I'm going to start keeping spark plug fragments on my person for future events though.

Thanks everyone for your support and kind words, this is one of the best forums I've been on to date, like a big family here
Old 09-04-2012 | 10:32 PM
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Sorry to hear about your incident. You are alive and will be riding again. ATGATT
does prove its benefits, though unfortunately only after been proven.

Speedy recovery to your body and person. The nights can be long.

One thing I thought of upon reading your posts was about the frame slider being stuck in his bumper. Mine sticks out a good deal(about 3-4 inches). That frame slider took abut 3 inches of impact to your leg. Maybe another positive point to a frame slider, at least in your case. Heal Well my Friend...
Old 09-04-2012 | 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Onomea
Sorry to hear about your incident. You are alive and will be riding again. ATGATT
does prove its benefits, though unfortunately only after been proven.

Speedy recovery to your body and person. The nights can be long.

One thing I thought of upon reading your posts was about the frame slider being stuck in his bumper. Mine sticks out a good deal(about 3-4 inches). That frame slider took abut 3 inches of impact to your leg. Maybe another positive point to a frame slider, at least in your case. Heal Well my Friend...
You made a huge point right there. I heard from a family friend about another incident where my accident was about someone not wearing gear, clipped on the same side, and actually lost his leg from it. Cut clean off!

Had my first rehab session today, and another one tomorrow. Good news though, the other guys insurance adjuster decided they should remove my bike from the tow yard, so nothing out of pocket from me to get it moved from one point to another, where I know people who work there I gave them permission to move it to my approved location, but not release it to them, as I also confirmed to my attorney so no shady **** goes on.

Lady at the towing company was pretty snooty with me after I showed proof of ownership this morning. So I told her specific instructions twice about it being moved and not released to them (insurance company), then I told her if she had any further concerns, she could call my attorney, gave her his card and left with nothing else said
Old 09-04-2012 | 11:36 PM
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Thats good to hear that you are able to take care of your affairs. You are able to function cognitively.

Your bike actually took care of you best it could. It can be repaired if you choose/are able to. Once it is in safe hands you can concentrate on your repair of your self. Take it easy as you can. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Best wishes from a fellowforum member in Hawaii.



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