Silly slow-mo bin

[CDFloss]

I went and did it. Me & bike + side of ute = offroad excursion.

On the way home from work this afternoon along Petone foreshore, indicated to turn off left, pulled into turning lane, and as I was passing a ute (the main stream of traffic was stop/start) he pulled left into the turning lane as well.

Collected me with his passenger door, or more specifically his passenger-side wing mirror. I was then deflected back towards the pavement (I somehow managed to stay on the bike). Hit the pavement pretty hard (I remember seeing the front wheel bounce at least a foot off the ground), and then straightend up in time to smack into one of those little electricity or phone line boxes. Sat on the bike for a few minutes trying to figure out what had happened.

Luckily I was just about to turn, so was pretty low in 3rd gear - probably only doing around 30k's. I was trying to figure out why I hadnt stopped quicker (the ride seemed to go on forever!), and then noticed that my front brake lever was completely gone thanks to the wing mirror. No wonder my right hand was flapping around uselessly.

The thing that pisses me off is that I'm usually so careful. I'm a car driver of about 15 years, and did anti-hijacking & defensive driving courses back home (in South Africa), not that that in itself means jack, but I'm not a hoon and try to drive/ride carefully. I was so busy watching a people-mover parked to my left waiting to pull into the road that I didnt notice the ute until he tried to let me in through his passenger window. Oh well.

Strange how things slowed down when it happened, but happened all in an instant at the same time. I can remember things pretty much frame by frame, but at the same time I didnt have the time (or more likely reflex/experience) to touch the rear brake. The front was gone by then, so not much I could do with that. When I hit the curb I remember having my right hand jarred off the handle, and when I grabbed it again I accidently gave it a squirt, which meant I hit the electricity box a little harder than I otherwise would have.

The chaps in the ute (a work truck) were cool. I almost laughed out loud though when the first thing the guy says to me is "Are you ok? I just didn't see you!". I read that line so many time on here, and here he was using it on me. We swapped details, I rang the cops and my insurance, so we'll see what happens. I had the number for TSS on my phone, so rang them and they were kind enough to send someone to pick up the bike straight away. I didnt want to ride it home without the front brakes, and they'd have to have a look at it at some stage anyway to make sure my curb-jumping didnt damage anything. Oh, and if stewart reads this, sorry I left a rambling message on your phone, and then it cut me off before I could leave a number. I rang back and got hold of someone else so forgot to ring back.

All in all I came away with some lessons learned, a bruised & swollen little finger, and a few train rides to work and back for the next little while.

Stink ow!

[twistemotion]

Oh well, glad you're not hurt much. Some accidents can't be avoided though, so don't be too hard on yourself, but I guess one has to learn the lessons one can. Make sure your bike hasn't suffered "hidden" damage, so have it checked out thoroughly.

I saw a bike vs car myself today on the way home. It looked like a 90's Ninja 250 had hit an old Corolla hatchback from behind. Not very hard, just enough to send the rider partially through the back window. He didn't look badly hurt, and the ambulance was there already (happened in front of the hospital). I didn't stick around, as he already had all the help he needed, and I was trying to make sure I wasn't hit myself by a rubber-necking driver (lots of clips on Youtube as evidence).

[gijoe1313]

Crikey, glad you had a relatively benign incident on the scale of things! Guess those asphalt angels suddenly woke up and zipped into action!

I guess its one of those things, where you need to keep a "bubble" around you away from other vehicles. Staying away from their blind spots and making sure you aren't in a position to be collected!

Lets hope your ride is back on the road soon!

[DarkLord]

Gutted man. Still, any crash that you can walk away from is a good one, really. Glad that you are not hurt. I lost my old red Hyo in a crash back in May - 2 cages stopped right in front of me and I hit the front brake in the wet - bike flew out from under me and got bowled by an oncoming car. Horrible experience but valuable as I learned so much. All you can do is learn from it and move on.

Hope it all goes well with insurance etc.

[CDFloss]

Awesome - the guy is disputing it now. Says I "swerved" to avoid a non-existent car, and smacked into HIM. Have sent insurance a sketch and statement... this should be fun...

[Roki_nz]

Awesome - the guy is disputing it now. Says I "swerved" to avoid a non-existent car, and smacked into HIM. Have sent insurance a sketch and statement... this should be fun...

Yeap thats some people for you. Will admite fault when they knock you over then try to find a way out of it later.

[steelestring]

Good luck with all that stuff man... keep on top of it. Can end up taking a while.... try to get it out of the way so you can get back out there!

[twistemotion]

It happens sometimes. At the scene they're all appologetic, then afterwards when the reality of the boss' wrath or an increased premium hits them, they change their story. One should always try to get witnesses (I know it's hard when you're just gathering your senses or yourself off the road).

I once saw a huge bull run out from an access road in front of a car, then getting hit on the head, spinning around, but the car coming off 2nd best. I stopped and prevented the rest of the herd from following into the road, with the owner herding them back into a paddock. Then I gave the lady driver my details as a witness. Sure enough - 3 weeks later I get a call from her insurance company, stating that the owner of the herd claims they jumped the fence (act of God), so I put the matter straight.

So, if I'm the witness of an accident, I always try to stop and give my details. It could save someone a lot of anguish (and our insurance premiums from going up due to unrecoverable costs to the insurance company).

Any news on the damage to your bike yet CDFloss?

[FJRider]

Have another chat to the cops.

[chubby]

Sorry to hear about the crash and sorry to hear about the driver not taking responsibility. Its emotional enough without having to fight the whole thing to get to the truth. I am glad that your not badly hurt, well you haven't said that you are so i have assumed..... and hope this gets sorted out for you asap. Good luck.

[CDFloss]

Yup, would've been nice if someone else who saw it happen had stopped, but no luck there. I now know that I should've raised the point of fault at the scene, and if he'd made a fuss there then I could've got the cops to make an appearance.

No word on the bike yet. They're looking it over tomorrow morning. I'm guessing its nothing more than replacing the indicator and brake lever, unless hitting the curb did some unseen damage to the front-end. How do they check for that on a bike? Alignment or something?

Had to email a statement and diagram of what happened to the insurance - but not sure what difference that will make if he's already changed his tune. I really dont want to have to piss around with disputes tribunal, but its not looking good.

[BIHB@0610]

Just glad you're ok and hope your bike isn't too hurt either . Take arnica for your poor little finger

[mowgli]

If you'd swerved right into him while he was going straight then you'd have most likely remained in your lane after the collision. The fact that you exited stage left suggests strongly that he was the one moving across the lane. Cops will see though his lies. Good luck.

[FJRider]

Go back to the scene and take a few photos of the area without traffic,draw lines where you went/ they went etc...may be handy in court. Insurance does have its benefits...good LAWYERS. If your policy was up to date, nor in breach of laws or licence "restrictions", THEY will back you up (pay up). A cut finger is an "injury" accident and must be reported to the police ( within 24 hours I think)

[Pedrostt500]

good to hear ya walked away, break leaver and indicator dont sound to bad, the only front end damage I could think of would be a bit of a ding to the front rim, though they are desighned to take some fairly serious knocks.