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501 Posts
There have been bumps and tipovers at 0mph before, but today I got hit hard. Some guy was going hell-for-leather straight into an intersection with a red light and full of stopped cars. It was like he had his eyes closed and his foot on the gas. I was one of the stopped vehicles, and happened to be the one he hit.
I saw him coming in the rear view and had left a little get-away room. I let off the brakes and got moving but he was too fast.
Terrible things happened to the bike. Nothing at all happened to me. I departed the motorcycle and rolled backwards onto the hood of his car just as he stopped. I just sort of stood up. Not a scratch, even on the gear. Was glad for the back protector and for being in good overall physical shape. I don't know if they will total out the bike, but the hit was enough to squish the spoke rear wheel.
Several takeaways.
Look in your rearview as soon as you stop. I might have gained an extra second just by checking faster. Note that this guy wasn't there as I approached the intersection. He showed up after I stopped. There might have been one extra second in there that might have enabled an escape. Or not.
Wear gear. Mine didn't play much of a role, today, but that wasn't my choice. Once the hit happened, there was zero opportunity to shape outcomes. Only pre-existing reflexes (who knows where they came from), physical conditioning, and gear had anything to do with it. Whatever you think you will do in a crash, you won't. It's over before you can process anything. Everything you can do to mitigate the damage is stuff you did before you got on the bike.
Think twice about riding when things are weird. Maybe this guy had been cooped up with his kids all week and freaked out. Who knows? But he was damned sure gonna plow his car into someone at that intersection. Pure chance it was me.
Another weird thing: the cops asked about the damage to the front of his car. "Oh, no," he said. "That was from another time."
Me: Drrrp.
I saw him coming in the rear view and had left a little get-away room. I let off the brakes and got moving but he was too fast.
Terrible things happened to the bike. Nothing at all happened to me. I departed the motorcycle and rolled backwards onto the hood of his car just as he stopped. I just sort of stood up. Not a scratch, even on the gear. Was glad for the back protector and for being in good overall physical shape. I don't know if they will total out the bike, but the hit was enough to squish the spoke rear wheel.
Several takeaways.
Look in your rearview as soon as you stop. I might have gained an extra second just by checking faster. Note that this guy wasn't there as I approached the intersection. He showed up after I stopped. There might have been one extra second in there that might have enabled an escape. Or not.
Wear gear. Mine didn't play much of a role, today, but that wasn't my choice. Once the hit happened, there was zero opportunity to shape outcomes. Only pre-existing reflexes (who knows where they came from), physical conditioning, and gear had anything to do with it. Whatever you think you will do in a crash, you won't. It's over before you can process anything. Everything you can do to mitigate the damage is stuff you did before you got on the bike.
Think twice about riding when things are weird. Maybe this guy had been cooped up with his kids all week and freaked out. Who knows? But he was damned sure gonna plow his car into someone at that intersection. Pure chance it was me.
Another weird thing: the cops asked about the damage to the front of his car. "Oh, no," he said. "That was from another time."
Me: Drrrp.