[paulcbrowne]

In May of 2011 I was hit by a car driven by a gal on a cell phone who ran a stop sign. Totaled the bike and broke my left leg. It was at an intersection of two roads at perfect right angles. My road did not have stop signs in either direction. It was in the city and the speed limit was 25 mph. I was in a city on a very nice spring day.

I was spot on 25 mph. I had looked to my left and a car was coming but well back from the stop sign. No one coming when I looked right. Looked back left and a headlight was too darn close and coming at me. The car hit a passenger footrest behind me and just in front of the rear wheel. It spun me around, threw me against a curb, and I think it was the bike landing on my leg that did the damage.

Looking back at what happened, the other person was obviously at fault and was cited for not granting right of way. Still, I have wondered what I might have done differently. My thoughts....

In the second when I saw the headlight, I held my speed constant. Maybe it might have been a near miss if I had accelerated.

I may have been a little too fixated on maintaining my legal speed. Would I have assessed the intersection danger better if I wasn't so fixated on my speed?

Since it was nice sunny Saturday morning, I might have been enjoying the day a bit too much and being less attentive. I don't thing I swung my head quickly enough to adequately check the intersection.

I read lots of accident stories on ADVrider Face Plants. Too often it's making assumption about what's around curves or maybe being too relaxed. When I was driving in "Indian country" in Vietnam, my first reaction to any perception of anger was to accelerate and get out of harm's way. That saved me several times!

While braking to bleed of kinetic energy before an impact is a proper acion in some cases, sometimes being quick to get outa there can be better. Not one solution fits every situation, but speeding up and getting out of an impact zone had been my more usual approach that had worked many times on a bike. Why not that day. Warm and sunny causing a lax bit of attention and reaction? Not sure if I could have avoided the accident that Saturday in May, but just maybe worth considering.

Stay on your game out there. Never relax. Stay safe!

 

[Noth]

Good analysis.. but sometimes things happen.. If you had sped up, chances are that she would have hit you, just slightly further back.. and with the increased speed, you might have been hurt worse....

 

[convertfromVespa]

Really it is impossible to know if you would have had a different outcome by accelerating or decelerating. Sorry that you broke your leg.

I was hit by a Chevy Tahoe who was going 45+ MPH when he hit me from the side (approximately the spot where you were hit, pictures in gallery). Totaled the bike, and narrowly missing me. Fortunately, I was thrown far enough from the bike, that I only twisted my back. No skeletal injuries.

 

[Wes_Ingram]

Just remember what is said about hindsight, it can't change what happened, but it might serve you later. I hope your leg has healed and you are feeling good now. :thumbup:
Ride safe!
Wes

 

[NoDak Rider]

Hi Paul,
Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope all the injuries are only short term.
In reading your report, I couldn't help wondering if you couldn't have done anything. You said that once you "saw the headlight", holly cow, that wouldn't have given you much time to do anything. A vehicle moving 25 mph at you, closes very fast.
What could you have done to prevent being where you were, when you were there? Or are you wondering if you could have done something to see her sooner or if you should have recognized the danger sooner?
Being an accident-free driver for a long time isn't necessarily being a paranoid-riddled driver. I mean we can't hate everybody else on the road. Although seeing people driving distracted has always been a risk factor and flag waver for me. (Learned a long time ago, Watch out for young female and old male drivers. The old males can't see you as well, and the young female drivers normally are too distracted to see you. Now don't hate me for being biased, I have ridden bikes for about 47 years and have been down only once due to a distracted driver. Been almost hit by drivers coming into my lane, and once from an oncoming driver looking right at me with the obvious intent of driving my into the curb.)
Anyway, I hope you are healing on schedule and are able to ride again this year!
Enjoy the ride.
Nodak Rider

 

[paulcbrowne]

Thanks for the good wishes. I was riding on my new scoot 8 weeks later, but it did take a year for the leg to feel normal again. As for what I could have done differently, I just think my intersection scanning was not a sharp as usual due to little traffic, warm, sunny, tunes playing in my ears. As I said, just maybe I was a bit too relaxed that morning.

Stay alert out there!

 

[QuantumRift]

Not long after I got my 650, and I've related this story here before:

It was before 8 am, and it was in early September. Sun was fairly low in the sky, shining into the faces of Eastbound drivers coming up on the intersection. I was Northbound or State Route 90 (the intersection is at Avenida Cochise and SR 90 in Sierra Vista, AZ). I was in the LEFT land of two lanes northbound, coming up to the intersection where there was a left turn lane and a right turn lane.

The light had been green for some time as I approached. Cars on the cross street were stopped by the light, waiting to make their left turns (either N or Southbound). The intersection does not have a clear view of the cross street as an Applebees blocks view of the eastbound street, and it kind of sits higher. The Westbounders come up a small grade to the stoplight.

Speed limit was 45 mph. I was moving at 51 mph indicated (5 mph difference in speedometer I account for) which made me going 46 mph. As I approached the intersection, I looked left, then right. I looked again...as I neared to where I could see better, a little voice said to look again. I did so, and there was a silver hardtop jeep that had appeared out of nowhere, heading East , into the rising sun. I knew immediately that by his speed it was probably blinded by the sun (he appeared to be going at least 45 mph). I also could tell in an instant that if something wasn't done about MY speed, he would t-bone me...the cars waiting honked....as he crossed the white line at the intersection, still oblivious to me, I had just crossed the white line N bound....now instinct would say BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE! but if by chance he DID see me and hit HIS brakes, he would still hit me if I had been braking...so I did the ONLY thing I could do, I opened the THROTTLE FULL and scooted thru, and I watched him as he zipped thru the intersection, still NOT looking at me, he passed me right off my stern, in my prop wash....LoL....and he did not even slow down as the sped E bound down the hill.....gawd what an IDIOT. I had half a mind to chase him down but I had to be in Bisbee for Grand Jury duty and did not have time to waste lecturing and idiot.

So yea, you can rethink - remember the MSF course...the "chain" of events that lead to an accident...changing any ONE will create a totally different outcome. I tend to always now go a little slower approaching intersections...look look look look look and look again. Be prepared to either BRAKE, GUN IT, or swerve. Lane position is important. I try, if in right lane, to ride at extreme LEFT of that lane. If I am in the left lane, I try to ride to extreme right. Both positions I believe give you the best shot of being seen by a turning car. Also, also also, GET A MODULATING HEADLIGHT. I cannot stress this enough. It might annoy you. It might annoy somebody else, but they are a totally LEGAL way to get another driver to SEE YOU and take that extra split second to figure out what you are. And that extra split second, as they say, can break the chain of events. I've seen even people yakking on a cellphone stop talking and LOOK at me. That does not make me complacent; it does, however, tip the balance in my favor somewhat. Flashing brake lights are a must...BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT as possible....and so on and so on.

In May of 2011 I was hit by a car driven by a gal on a cell phone who ran a stop sign. Totaled the bike and broke my left leg. It was at an intersection of two roads at perfect right angles. My road did not have stop signs in either direction. It was in the city and the speed limit was 25 mph. I was in a city on a very nice spring day.

I was spot on 25 mph. I had looked to my left and a car was coming but well back from the stop sign. No one coming when I looked right. Looked back left and a headlight was too darn close and coming at me. The car hit a passenger footrest behind me and just in front of the rear wheel. It spun me around, threw me against a curb, and I think it was the bike landing on my leg that did the damage.

Looking back at what happened, the other person was obviously at fault and was cited for not granting right of way. Still, I have wondered what I might have done differently. My thoughts....

In the second when I saw the headlight, I held my speed constant. Maybe it might have been a near miss if I had accelerated.

I may have been a little too fixated on maintaining my legal speed. Would I have assessed the intersection danger better if I wasn't so fixated on my speed?

Since it was nice sunny Saturday morning, I might have been enjoying the day a bit too much and being less attentive. I don't thing I swung my head quickly enough to adequately check the intersection.

I read lots of accident stories on ADVrider Face Plants. Too often it's making assumption about what's around curves or maybe being too relaxed. When I was driving in "Indian country" in Vietnam, my first reaction to any perception of anger was to accelerate and get out of harm's way. That saved me several times!

While braking to bleed of kinetic energy before an impact is a proper acion in some cases, sometimes being quick to get outa there can be better. Not one solution fits every situation, but speeding up and getting out of an impact zone had been my more usual approach that had worked many times on a bike. Why not that day. Warm and sunny causing a lax bit of attention and reaction? Not sure if I could have avoided the accident that Saturday in May, but just maybe worth considering.

Stay on your game out there. Never relax. Stay safe!

 

[v8eyedoc]

NEVER-EVER let your guard down.........!!!!! Ride as if your life depends on it - AND it does...!!!! a vehicle travelling at 60 MPH will cover 88 feet in just 1 second.....so ate about 25 MPH the car that struck you was travelling at around 40 ft/second What could you have done?????