Well with the beautiful sunshine on Friday, myself, my girlfriend and a mate decided to head to the Lake district on the bikes.
Through Harrogate we ride, up towards Skipton. Over the crest down towards a cross roads. I roll off the throttle as I approach said junction (as I always do) I see the Punto approach, I stay off the throttle, the Punto stops (as he should) I look him in the eyes he looks back. Sorted, back on the gas.....
As I accelerate down the road Mr Punto decides to pull out, giving me a whole 12' to execute evasive manouvers.
Needless to say, at 60mph I never even got to the brakes before impact. Thats all I remember.
The bike hit on the back edge of the drivers door, crumpling both door and and rear passenger seat, where a baby seat was attatched (thankfully, without baby)
My head hit the roof, followed by my legs, as I was thrown 20' over the car. The Punto was spun 90 degs. into the other carriageway, where I also endend up lying with a helmet full of blood and snot.
Result is a totalled bike, a totalled Punto, after they freed the driver from the wreck.
He was shocked but unhurt. I on the other hand have a broken pelvis, broken nose, with associated shiners, a broken foot, crushed left thumb, torn scrotum and major whiplash injuries, and various lacerations to my face. Very glad I had an expensive helmet on, and fully armoured gear and boots.
My girlfriend was following on her bike and witnessed the entire smash, and is pretty traumatised.
Oh yeah the best bit........
The drivers statement to the police.....
"Really sorry, I didn't see him"

John (just another statistic)

ooh, bleeping hell, unlucky, hope you get well soon and have the guy for all he's worth.

Hi John
You have my deepest sympathies. As an ex-biker,(and I was still dispatching at the ripe old age of 57) there have been numerous occasions (some of them painful) when car drivers have caused me to collide with them/ fall off avoiding them. And in most of the cases, eye contact had been made. How these idiots can say "I didn't see you" is totally beyond me. I think they look AT you, but their brain doesn't register what they are seeing.
Get well soon mate.
Pete(Oldgit)

Lucky you have a bike each or she could have been in the next ward . Get well soon.

shit thats bad bloody hot hatch drivers think they own the roads with there drain pipe exhaust and tinted windows!

get better soon, i suppose it gives you time to think what your next project will be!

[Edited on 24/7/04 by macspeedy]

Hope you recover quickly!!!!!!
All the best!

lucky she wasnt on the bike with you or you woulda also been hit by a (9 st?) object at several more G from behind as you hit the car.


In my biking days (which im toying with starting again by getting a cheap bike) I had 2 majors with cars.

The biggest was similar to yours, but at approx 35 - 40 mph. I hit the front wing, and went sailing thro the air, not hitting the car itself. I remember thinking 'not a fu$^ing gain' as I was flying. I landed on my ass, flipped back, and my helmet contacted the road.

On anrenalyne, I whipped up, and ran back down the road shouting every obsecnety I could think of at a very scared car driver.

It was a 2cv - it came off worse!

Bike was damaged to about 50% of its value, and I had a badly swollen ankle. I was lucky


I had a bad car accident at 19, in a mini, when I hit a tree. A broken pelvis hurts a lot. Mine was described as fractured. Had me up in a few days for walking, out of hospital in 9. Took several weeks to walk unaided - when in hospital it took me 30 mins to get from my bed to the dining table.

Commiserations. Things will get better.

atb

steve

[Edited on 24/7/04 by stephen_gusterson]

[Edited on 24/7/04 by stephen_gusterson]

get well soon.hope you dont mind if i ask what make of helmet you were wearing,only my son is about to get his first bike.

[Edited on 24/7/04 by nicklondon]

Hope you are out of pain soon, when you are a little better and the the insurance wrangles start drop me a line, I may be able to help

Really sorry to hear about the crash - hope you have a speedy recovery.

A couple of minor crashes (broken wrist) and a few near misses is the reason why I built the locost and sold the bikes - stick to 4 wheels........

get well soon, think i'll stick to four wheels too

OUCH!!! I'll never go on the back of my dads bike again.

sounds like youre lucky to be alive!!

Get well soon!!!!!

"torn scrotum" , that sounds a bit too close.

[Edited on 24/7/04 by Lightning]

I am so happy that you are still alive and with us. It really sounds like it was a bad one. But in the end you are still alive and will recover and are not a vegetable, so that is good news.

God-Speed on your recovery, time to plan that scratch middy build you always wanted to do! LOL

Graber

[Edited on 7/24/04 by sgraber]

I think this is all a ruse because there was a possibility I could travel accross town and meet him...

Take care of yourself and get well.....


Fletch


Ride like they're all out to kill you........

Glad that you're a survival statistic, John. Sounds like it couldn't have been too much worse.

Staple Balls may have some practical suggestions for the family jewel case

quote:

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Originally posted by pbura
Staple Balls may have some practical suggestions for the family jewel case

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Geez! Really tough shit. I hope you and the missus mend in a speedy fashion.

SMIDSY

After haveing had a bank manager change lanes and munch me and bike into a bridge parapet I understand how you feel. The bones will mend and hopefully your recovery will be full. Last week the lad that works with me lost his brother to a bike accident (solo no other motors involved) and that was a shock to his system. I would think that your good ladys going to need some good long talks.
We wish you well and are more concerned about your progress through the national mash service. Time to build a bec with the left overs.

[Edited on 25-7-04 by mangogrooveworkshop]

For the well wishes. Thats not why I posted but it is much appreciated. I posted so I have a hard copy of the events as I remember them.
I consider myself very very lucky, it was a big smash and could have easily been fatal, TBH (and this may sound stupid) I may have been on the way out but the sound of the girlfriend screaming over my body could have brought me back. She says my eyes were wide open and the blood from my face was thick and streaked down the road, when I blew some bubbles and reached out to her. dramatic eh!

GSX 600 engine not a great doner but would be a shame to waste it super lightweight hillclimber maybe. On the other hand I now have more space in the garage....

Thanks again
Mark I may drop you a line if I need any advice, thanks for the offer.

John

ditto fella, hope you get well soon. and don't be shy with the morphine.

Thank God you weren't attended by over zealous plods. A relative of mine (sisters, common law husband's, brother). Had simmilar up north. Woman driver unhurt and plods attended her first. She then told plods that he was drunk, so they removed his helmet and tried to stand him up, to asses his drunken-ness. They were assured that he was drunk by the fact that he was "incapable" of standing up. (This inability to stand up had everything to do with his broken pelvis and broken legs/hips). I believe that the court case is still on going with the local constabulary!

Good thinking to have as much written memory/evidence as time does strange things to memories.

Get well soon M8.

Get well soon matey had similar quite a few years ago and still have probs with me back at times, Don't forget to record all expenses, including lost work hours you can claim it ALL back in the event of a settlement. I didn't write it all down and lost out on quite a bit

Jason

keep records of every thing for your claim even phone calls.

John,

All the best for a speedy recovery

ATB

Simon

holy poo !!!
i think i went past when you had your accident, are workshop is two miles from there. That crossroads is harrogates worst accident blackspot, and averages 2 to 3 accidents a week, most are caused by people pulling out when they shouldnt, ive witnessed three myself !!! And was unfortunate enough to be a passenger in a car about three miles further back at another crossroads, we where driving along the a59 and a woman never stopped at the crossroads t boning the car on the myside door, then flipping it into a ditch police calculated the woman was doing 50 mph on impact ( she never braked as she dint know it was a crossroads ) she only lived three miles away damn it. There are so many dangerous careless drivers out there and most of the time it isnt even the quick drivers.

I Wish You A Speedy Recovery

regards

marc

[Edited on 25/7/04 by marc n]

get well soon mate.all the best to you and your girlfriend.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I had a couple of minor offs when I rode a bike, one was my own fault and the other was someone who pulled out in front of me - fortunately (!?) I only suffered a broken bone in my foot. After that my missus vetoed any further bikes! (hence the Locost).

I strongly believe that every new car driver should have a compulsory spell of driving an open vehicle - bike, locost, convertible, anything - just to get some imression of what really goes on when driving on the roads. Too many people swan around in their hermetically sealed tin boxes and don't develop any road sense - hence people driving too fast in inappropriate places, making stupid moves, and so on. The business of car drivers looking up a road, 'seeing' a bike but not registering it as a moving vehicle is a very well known phenomenon that has been the subject of a recent police advertising campaign ("Think Bike" ).

Get well soon!

David

[Edited on 26/7/04 by David Jenkins]

Certainly agree with those sentiments David, there is no better way of developing road sense and hazard perception than time spent on two wheels.
Mark, sorry for any delay caused it happened outside a military base, which was lucky as they scrambled a meat wagon and medics within a couple of minutes, aparently there were police, ambulance, helicopter and military personell everywhere, so probably caused quite a hold up.
I got the impression from the nurses at Harrogate hospital that it was a notorious road.
Thanks again for the well wishes, I'm doing OK, even managed to get to the pub yesterday and watch Valentino do the business at Donny...

cheers
John

To me it's just such a familiar story. A similar event made me decide to sell what I think was the last bike I'll have. Hell I was missing bikes so much until I then bought the bike engined Locost.

Best wishes for a trouble free and quick recovery.

Only just spotted this post due to you mentioning it elsewhere.

All the best for a speedy recovery mate.

Get well soon,

James

Thanks James,
I was doing OK, Black eyes have gone so I dont look like a raccoon anymore, pelvis is sore but beareable, scrotum has healed up However after poling around Brands Hatch on Sunday on my sticks I had to go back to A&E and they have now plastered my right leg so I can't bloody well drive now for 2 months.

John(p!ssed off)

Not that its important, but it was a Golf not a Punto. Still hurt...

[Edited on 6/8/04 by spunky]

Sorry to hear that.

Was about to say- atleast you can tinker with the car but on second thoughts that's not too easy with a cast leg I guess!
I know, I tried! After my snowboarding injury where I smashed my knee up I had to wear a leg brace from top of thigh to ankle. Not being being able to bend one's knee is not conducive to easily getting under a chassis and welding!
Not that it stopped me though!
It just meant that after each session my leg was twice the size it should have been! Really confused my physio as to the swelling wasn't going down!

It maybe also didn't help that I was kickboxing on it aswell!

Glad to hear you're on the mend though!

James

P.S. Stay off the caffeine- it inhibits calcium and bone growth!

Hee hee,
Not just me then, I worried the physio this morning with the lack of movement and pain I was experiencing. Didn't think it wise to tell her I laid a patio an Tue and Wed...
As for cafiene, I dont function without copius ammounts of coffee, I better make it a Latte then

John

are you gonna get another bike?

atb

steve

quote:

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Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
are you gonna get another bike?

atb

steve

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by David Jenkins
I strongly believe that every new car driver should have a compulsory spell of driving an open vehicle - bike, locost, convertible, anything - just to get some imression of what really goes on when driving on the roads. Too many people swan around in their hermetically sealed tin boxes and don't develop any road sense - hence people driving too fast in inappropriate places, making stupid moves, and so on. [Edited on 26/7/04 by David Jenkins]

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Police have just been round to take a statement. The driver is being charged with 'careless driving'.
Hopefully he will look for motorcycles in future.

John

PS. The insurance assessor has valued my bike, in its current condition, at......£80

That would be a bit bent then.

[Edited on 12/8/04 by spunky]

if its a 'plastic fantastic' 2 cracked panels are a couple grand damage alone are they not?

Mates CBR600 had a damaged honda sticker. quote was 50 quid for a new one

atb

steve

True Steve, they dont take much writing off.
I'm not complaining though. They are letting me have whats left off the bike and paying me £625 'MORE' than I payed for it a year ago

John

That's a pair of footpegs not including the rubbers then. That's about what I was quoted for one. All the best and take it easy.
edit
P.S. do they do leathers with an armoured scrotum for future reference?

[Edited on 12/8/04 by Peteff]