Another Crash Story

[zach_denver]

I had just finished replacing the fork seals, patched up some dents in the exhaust and wrapped the headers.

I was polishing the side cases on my bike. Enjoying the nice weather, I had been working on this for a couple day. Started at 90 Grit (they had a couple of scratches) one direction, 110 the other direction, 180, 220 and had begun 320.

A girl from my apartment asked me if I would give her a ride, a few blocks away.

We didn't get more than a block when a brand new Jeep Wrangler runs a stop sign while making a left-turn. I swerved hard to the left and opened the throttle, I felt like I was going to make it, but she still didn't stop and ran straight into my right leg, breaking my tibia -- I couldn't keep the bike up at this point and, was later told, I had hit a parked car.

The girl I was giving a ride to ended up on my back and gas was pouring out of the tank. The next thing I know, the girl driving the jeep -- now with a fresh dent from my leg gets out and starts yelling:

This is your fault! You were going WAY too fast! This is all your fault!!!
(I wasn't going fast)

The girl I had given a ride to was covered in road-rash pacing back-and-forth, yelling at me to get up and get away from my my bike, "before it explodes."

I told her that doesn't actually happen, but crawled away from my bike and asked a passerby to shut off the ignition.

The girl I was giving a ride to was calling an ambulance while the girl in the jeep kept screaming at me -- she held her finger over the receiver to tell me, "I'm going to kill that stupid bitch!"

The ambulance picked us up and they asked me questions to see if my brain was broken, "Where are you?"; "What year is it?"; somehow it stumped me when they asked me, "who is the president" -- I got the answer right, but somehow it sounded wrong...

They took us to Denver Health -- an unbelievably BAD hospital. But that's another story...

[tkent02]

Damn, that sucks. Are you still in the hospital?
I have news for you, hospitals are all terrible.
Need any help, like getting your bike home or anything?

[elwaxoro]

Damn, that sucks. Are you still in the hospital?
I have news for you, hospitals are all terrible.
Need any help, like getting your bike home or anything?

I think I see crutches in the reflection of the tank- at home now? Hope you recover quickly!

[jbs80106]

Glad you're alright!

Sounds like you need to call Frank Azar...the STRONG ARM! for those injured in motorcycle accidents.

Hope that lady in jeep got charged big time and is picking up all your bills!

[mriddle]

Rough break .. glad you weren't hurt more that you were.

Keep us posted.

[spyug]

So sorry to hear of your accident but glad you and the passenger are ok. As the others mention I also hope the driver gets dinged big time. There is way too much of this going on. Was she yakking on the phone, putting on makeup or eating/drinking?

Our local TV station had an expose on stop sign runners here last week and it is getting epidemic hereabouts. I almost saw a rider get it today as a guy rolled through the sign. Luckily the biker's swerve instinct was intact and he whipped around him.

Get yourself a good mouthpiece and get some coin for your inconvenience & pain.

Get well soon.

cheers,
Spyug

[tkent02]

As far as I'm concerned, sue her until she can never afford a bicycle again, let alone a car.
It is your duty to all motorcyclists.

[Colin Green]

Hope your bike is going to be ok and you and your neighbour (is she pretty)

I'm with the others on the issue of making the cage driver pay BIG TIME. If for no other reason than the fact that she was in denial and showed no compassion for your injuries (no matter who was at fault). I dislike self involved people.

[uudfourty]

Weak!
I'd have to agree that all hospitals pretty much suck big ones.
You'd be better off having MacGyver set your leg and make a cast out of a bee's nest and a bandanna, taking a handful of Advil and calling him in the morning.

And the too fast thing doesn't even make sense if she even saw you, which she more than likely didn't even look.

If she can't judge time/distance relationships, she doesn't need to be driving.

I hope you, your passenger and your bike get tip-top and riding again in no time.

[Nessism]

Sorry to read this story. Hope you are all right. Please post an update when you get a chance.

[MelodicMetalGod]

It's truly amazing how so many members of this thing called "humanity" are capable of behaving. In such a situation the one and only initial concern s/b of everyone's well being, REGARDLESS of where the blame lies. In this case, it would be perfectly prudent to delay the public flogging of the Jeep driver until AFTER the riders have fully healed! Arrrrrgggghhhh!

Best of luck and wishes for a speedy and complete recovery for you and your passenger.

[zach_denver]

Hey guys, I appreciate your thoughts and support. It was her fault, and she got a ticket for taking the right-of-way. I wish they would have run toxicology, especially since she was leaving a bar parking lot, but I didn't think of saying anything at the time.

Anyway, I'm not really that upset. To me, she did come off as a dispicable person, but she might have just panicked, who knows (or maybe she was wasted..)? In any case, I don't hold grudges, there's no point.

I knew the risks when I got a bike. I used to work with a girl who would put on make-up, talk on her blue-tooth phone and (when possible) drive her land-rover at the same-time -- it was one of the things that scared me most about riding a bike.

I might have to sue this girl. She had the most minimum covererage possible on her policy, and my health insurance just isn't the best.

They totalled my bike out, looks like the forks are bent (I'm hoping they're just misaligned in the trees, but doubt it). I really did have the suspension dialed in. My friend said my bike handled better than his, he rode a 250 Ninja. They offered me $1600 for it and I get to keep it for $60 less (I'll definitely do that!)

Me and a friend had planned a bike trip to Mexico before this happened. I still want to take the trip; despite expereincing the risks first-hand, I want to keep on riding.

[coinkeeper]

I'm glad that this incisent sisn't scare you out of riding again Zack because My husband (saddlewarmer) and I would love to ride with you somemore. Glad to hear that you're doing ok.

[Nessism]

So how are you and your passenger feeling physically? Hope everything is going to be okay. And bummer about the bike.

Had a woman pull out in front of me a couple of years ago - T-boned her at 40mph. Same thing as you talked about; state minimum insurance - hospital bill was twice as much as her coverage. My medical insurance paid. Hired a lawyer but they told me it's not worth it to try to get money out of the driver unless they have deep pockets - there are lots of legal ways for them to protect their assets.

In the end my lawyer negotiated with my own medical insurance provider to allow us to keep her insurance money. Settlement was made where I got 1/3, my lawyer got 1/3, and my medical insurance got 1/3. My money just covered my deductible. Got some good money for the bike though - separate discussion.

Don't mean to go on about ME, just volunteering some personal experience regarding what you can expect out of "the system". Hope you do better than me.

Good luck.

[zach_denver]

Hey Audrey, good to hear from you -- I'd love to go riding with you guys again.

Nessism - You make a very good point. Everyone says "sue her", but it might not be practical. According to the accident report, it appears that she lives in an apartment (or condo). She might not have any assets...

BTW - does anyone have an unlimitied CARFAX account, and wants to do me a solid? Please PM me.