Shiny side up

From the Crash 7pm Tuesday 1/3/11
When I saw you slowing down I thought here is one to watch for.
When I saw you brake I thought what is the fool going to do, watch him closely. I then moved to be a bit further from you.
When you started to turn I thought how can that idiot not know I'm here. My bike is noisy and my horn is going. How far is this clown going to go before he realises that he is about to cause a crash. I braked hard and leaned the bike over as far as it would go. So far that the back wheel started to slide sideways. By now I am clearly visible in your window and windscreen. I am fighting to avoid a crash with you that could kill or badly injure me.
I see you move left and think you are also trying to avoid the crash and will stop so I can pass in front of you and have room to stop.
Then I realise I am mistaken. You are not trying to avoid hurting me you are simply trying to push and squeeze passed me.
Now I am right beside your driver's door with the bike leaned all the way over. You obviously have no intentions of giving me room and I now know I am going to get hurt and my bike is going to be damaged. I realise that if I crash into you with my bike leaning over this far I am probably going to get run over and suffer broken legs. At the last moment I throw the bike upright to avoid going under your car knowing that this is going to pin my leg between my bike and your car and possibly slam my head into your car.
My shoulder hits the side of your car with more force than the hardest rugby tackle I have ever done. I used to be a rugby forward and had a reputation for being able to stop anyone. This hit hurts. My head is launched sideways and my leg is bashed between my bike and your rear door. My tank is dented and my foot peg is smashed. My leg is saved from serious damage by the steel shin guard on my boots. the steel shin guard is bent.
I am now stuck against the side of your car and travelling at about the same speed as you. I am relieved, I am still upright and have avoided a painful and damaging contact with the tar seal. I expect you will now stop and I will have, against the odds, avoided serious injury.
What you did next puts you into a category of people that can't be appropriately named in public places.
I feel your car start to accelerate. You are not going to stop. Your only thoughts are for you and your comfort. You are going to cause me to slam into the road and leave me there.
Your car starts to pull away from me and I can do nothing to stop my fall. Now I am very angry. My head is up looking for your registration. I am determined to find you one way or another.
I land on the road heavily. The bike crushes down on my already pummelled leg. I slide to a stop. I watch you disappear down the road. My good motorcycle gear has done its job. I am sore but in one piece.
I pull my aching leg out from under the motorbike. I stand up and I yell your registration out. I want everyone to know it in case I have problems remembering it in the aftermath. Another driver calls back to say he recorded the same registration. I phone the police, I want you caught in the worst possible way. When you crash into a car you do material damage. When you crash into a motor cycle you risk killing someone. You effectively tried to kill me. As far as you know you have just killed me.
Now I look about me. A ute has stopped behind me to protect me from other traffic that could accidentally run over me as I lie on the road. Other people rush over to help me pick up the bike and make sure that I am ok. Few can believe the behavior they have just witnessed from you. Accidents happen but this can hardly be called and accident.
My sleeve has a tear in it, my helmet appears to have touched something three times during the crash. My trousers have been pulled they are no longer going to be water proof. My new gloves are scuffed and My old motorcycle boots have done a fantastic job of protecting my leg - I will have to straighten the shin guard later. The bike is a mess. A stranger helps me put it into the back of his ute to get it home. He then waits for nearly an hour while we talk to the police. He gives me and the bike a lift home. Another stranger stays and talks to the police about what he saw you do. He probably has a family waiting for him but he makes time to help.
I am now home and my shoulder is hurting and my leg has a bad ache. I can't stop yet because I have to get my bike rideable so I can get to work tomorrow. See, I have to work at least 50 hours per week just to make ends meet. I have a wife and young children to support. I don't have a flash bike because I can't afford one. I don't have a second car I have no room for one. So I work on into the night replacing a few broken parts and doing my best to straighten others. It is very hard to lift my left arm above my shoulder and my leg aches so much I should have pain killers so I can get to sleep.
The Police phone me and tell me they have found you. At first I am very pleased, then I feel a little sorry for you because you are going to lose your license. The feeling of sorry only lasts for a few seconds because I have another flashback of your car disappearing down the road as I slide along the tar seal. I am not a vindictive man and I fail to understand how you could cause me to get smashed into a car and slammed on the road then just drive off. How are you any different to a mugger, except a mugger would have to have the balls to face me. You caused me injury and ran away leaving me out of pocket by a few hundred dollars as surely as if you had stolen my wallet. I don't have much and what I do have I have had to work very hard for.
It is now lunch time the following day. The motorcycle shop has just phoned to say my bike is probably a write off. I will not get another bike for what the insurance company is likely to pay out so I have to find more money from somewhere to get new transport to work.
My shoulder still hurts but I cannot really afford to take time off to see the Doctor. That would take 2 hours out of my day and I don't think I can do an extra 2 hours on another day. If I stay at work any longer in a day I hardly get to see my kids.

Welcome to my side of your actions.