Another pointless accident thread
Discussion
Anyone who's been riding more than a few years will have experienced some sort of bike accident/incident I think, all these things momentarily make you re-evaluate your risk analysis before you carry on motorcycling, (or at least they should), but you do anyway. Albeit with the odd thought, for the ones that haven’t made it. After all we all know people that have met their end participating in our “hobby”, friends, friends of friends, they’re just here and then they’re not. We nod in agreement to those in grief, that "bikes are dangerous things", we do mean it, but we carry on all the same.
Even if you’ve not lost anyone personally, you are probably closer to the experience than you think, I recall at least one chap dying on Pistonheads "biker banter" forum some years ago, I’m pretty sure his Mrs was pregnant too, but I’m sure there’s more tragic stories lurking just here if I’m mistaken with that one. After all I don’t suppose we’d ever really know about posters meeting their ends, for the most part they’re just missing usernames. We certainly read enough “near miss” accident threads here however, and I’m sorry to say, I’m giving you one more.
A very long and very sad story short, I’ve not long separated from my wife, this has the unfortunate result of me having to live in digs until a solicitor arranges for me to have one of my balls back. In the mean time I move into alternative accommodation, and a one of the chap I live with is a fellow biker. He’s ex-army, a bit of nutter, getting into his bodybuilding, we get on well. We go on a ride, you by now get where this is going.
Before we leave I speak to the big chap I point out that whilst I respect he has five or six years experience, I have never ridden with him before, and I don’t want any pissing around, as I’ve no idea of his ability level nor he mine. He agrees, he’s just out to chill out on his Fireblade, and once we’re rolling I watch him closely in my rear view mirror, and this seems to be the case. We’re building up to the good roads but in countryside, and we’re only twenty minutes or so in, but I feel more at ease. I open it up a little, but I’m riding the Uganda Twin on dual purpose tyres, and it’s in full spackerbox automatic mode, so nothing dramatic. I overtake a Jazz, I check my mate has overtaken safely, when I see him again, I swing it through some tighter bends. Nothing too quick.
I get around the corner and he’s no longer in my mirror. I pull over and wait. I wait again. No Fireblade, then there’s no Honda Jazz. Experience lets me know immediately there’s been an incident at this point. I do a slightly tentative U-turn on my lumbering f
king bus of a bike, and I expect the worst, and reality aligns with expectations but not immediately. I turn the bend and he’s lying in the road, his visor up, and vision fixed on the distance. I think at this point that he’s dead.
For those of you who haven’t experienced times like this, I don't make claims to be an expert, but it’s fair to say you gain a real insight into yourself, nothing is rehearsed, you just do your best, it isn’t ever good enough, but that’s just how it is.
I pull my bike to a safe place off the road next to Jazz. It does not look to have made contact with him, I remove my helmet and gloves. I check for traffic and I run towards him on the ground, and drop to my knees next to him. He is alive. The Jazz driver is talking to emergency services who want to speak to me, I tell them everything I can. He is talking to me. His neck is in agony but he cannot feel anything beneath it.
What happened next is a bit brutal, and personal, so no detail, but suffice to say however fking grim you think it is, lying on the dusty fking bitumen, holding the numb arm of some poor who’s had his spine broken, failing to be able to offer any meaningful solace, it’s actually worse.
When the ambulance arrives, I end up running around for paramedics. At first I think it’s just to keep me busy but clearly it is helpful to have someone doing skivvy work. I do everything I can. By this point there’s a number of other people involved, a passing retired GP has been taking the calls with emergency services for some time now, others direct traffic. Meanwhile I move trolley’s, get stuff from the ambulance, and tell over enthused passers-by to fk off and keep their distance, and ultimately lift the big bd onto his back in a controlled manner.
Eventually he’s loaded up, the ambulance, emergency medics, and first of several police cars rip past. I make eye contact with all those who helped, but I don’t think to say anything. They leave quickly, leaving me with the last remaining coppers, one remarks “dangerous things motorcycles”, there’s a prolonged stare as I contemplate calling him a “gormless”, but think better of it and put my helmet on before riding off, for I moment I wonder if emotional aptitude actually makes women police officers more useful overall.
After returning my bike home, I go to A&E. I have worked at the hospital previously, and manage to find the consultant who attended the accident, I’m pulled to a quiet corner and know at this point it’s going one of two ways, I know which one I’m secretly hoping for. Subject to the usual caveats he confirms the worst news, paralysis from neck down. I’m not ashamed to say my eyes fill slightly with tears, I shake the medic's hand and thank him like some sort of tradesman who’s done a nice job of tiling my fking bathroom, I walk past the drunkards and bagheads free to shakily waste their lives, and I struggling to mask my contempt at the fairness of it all.
Away from the hospital, I walk past a car that will never be driven again by it’s owner, to a now empty flat, I am forced to live in. I place his car keys in his room, and I take a minute to to look all the items he will never use again. I return to the kitchen, pick up a bottle of whisky and set to it. I call friends from my room as part of the required catharsis, one cancels a track day, two others seem more shaken than I am. The knock on effect of these things is incredible.
The next day is my birthday. Initially I am able to see my son, then by mid-afternoon, I can’t stop thinking about the incident and become incredibly irritable. His mother takes him back. I go back alone to an empty flat and take some days off work to heal up. It takes longer than I thought it would, but last weekend I’m back out on the bike again. I’ve no intentions of packing in, but things will never be quite the same again.
I’d like to finish (what I hope is obviously part of my healing process and not a cry for attention) on something, a positive, a moral, something, why it won’t happen to you if you’re careful, but experience just tells me that’s just not the way it is. Some folk are there, then they’re not, we all take chances, the more times you roll the dice, and the bigger the roll, the more likely this st is, but any of us can get our card punched, or worse.
“Dangerous things bikes”.
Ride safe chaps.
TLDR -Whatever.
Even if you’ve not lost anyone personally, you are probably closer to the experience than you think, I recall at least one chap dying on Pistonheads "biker banter" forum some years ago, I’m pretty sure his Mrs was pregnant too, but I’m sure there’s more tragic stories lurking just here if I’m mistaken with that one. After all I don’t suppose we’d ever really know about posters meeting their ends, for the most part they’re just missing usernames. We certainly read enough “near miss” accident threads here however, and I’m sorry to say, I’m giving you one more.
A very long and very sad story short, I’ve not long separated from my wife, this has the unfortunate result of me having to live in digs until a solicitor arranges for me to have one of my balls back. In the mean time I move into alternative accommodation, and a one of the chap I live with is a fellow biker. He’s ex-army, a bit of nutter, getting into his bodybuilding, we get on well. We go on a ride, you by now get where this is going.
Before we leave I speak to the big chap I point out that whilst I respect he has five or six years experience, I have never ridden with him before, and I don’t want any pissing around, as I’ve no idea of his ability level nor he mine. He agrees, he’s just out to chill out on his Fireblade, and once we’re rolling I watch him closely in my rear view mirror, and this seems to be the case. We’re building up to the good roads but in countryside, and we’re only twenty minutes or so in, but I feel more at ease. I open it up a little, but I’m riding the Uganda Twin on dual purpose tyres, and it’s in full spackerbox automatic mode, so nothing dramatic. I overtake a Jazz, I check my mate has overtaken safely, when I see him again, I swing it through some tighter bends. Nothing too quick.
I get around the corner and he’s no longer in my mirror. I pull over and wait. I wait again. No Fireblade, then there’s no Honda Jazz. Experience lets me know immediately there’s been an incident at this point. I do a slightly tentative U-turn on my lumbering f
king bus of a bike, and I expect the worst, and reality aligns with expectations but not immediately. I turn the bend and he’s lying in the road, his visor up, and vision fixed on the distance. I think at this point that he’s dead.For those of you who haven’t experienced times like this, I don't make claims to be an expert, but it’s fair to say you gain a real insight into yourself, nothing is rehearsed, you just do your best, it isn’t ever good enough, but that’s just how it is.
I pull my bike to a safe place off the road next to Jazz. It does not look to have made contact with him, I remove my helmet and gloves. I check for traffic and I run towards him on the ground, and drop to my knees next to him. He is alive. The Jazz driver is talking to emergency services who want to speak to me, I tell them everything I can. He is talking to me. His neck is in agony but he cannot feel anything beneath it.
What happened next is a bit brutal, and personal, so no detail, but suffice to say however f
king grim you think it is, lying on the dusty fking bitumen, holding the numb arm of some poor who’s had his spine broken, failing to be able to offer any meaningful solace, it’s actually worse. When the ambulance arrives, I end up running around for paramedics. At first I think it’s just to keep me busy but clearly it is helpful to have someone doing skivvy work. I do everything I can. By this point there’s a number of other people involved, a passing retired GP has been taking the calls with emergency services for some time now, others direct traffic. Meanwhile I move trolley’s, get stuff from the ambulance, and tell over enthused passers-by to f
k off and keep their distance, and ultimately lift the big bd onto his back in a controlled manner.Eventually he’s loaded up, the ambulance, emergency medics, and first of several police cars rip past. I make eye contact with all those who helped, but I don’t think to say anything. They leave quickly, leaving me with the last remaining coppers, one remarks “dangerous things motorcycles”, there’s a prolonged stare as I contemplate calling him a “gormless
”, but think better of it and put my helmet on before riding off, for I moment I wonder if emotional aptitude actually makes women police officers more useful overall.After returning my bike home, I go to A&E. I have worked at the hospital previously, and manage to find the consultant who attended the accident, I’m pulled to a quiet corner and know at this point it’s going one of two ways, I know which one I’m secretly hoping for. Subject to the usual caveats he confirms the worst news, paralysis from neck down. I’m not ashamed to say my eyes fill slightly with tears, I shake the medic's hand and thank him like some sort of tradesman who’s done a nice job of tiling my f
king bathroom, I walk past the drunkards and bagheads free to shakily waste their lives, and I struggling to mask my contempt at the fairness of it all.Away from the hospital, I walk past a car that will never be driven again by it’s owner, to a now empty flat, I am forced to live in. I place his car keys in his room, and I take a minute to to look all the items he will never use again. I return to the kitchen, pick up a bottle of whisky and set to it. I call friends from my room as part of the required catharsis, one cancels a track day, two others seem more shaken than I am. The knock on effect of these things is incredible.
The next day is my birthday. Initially I am able to see my son, then by mid-afternoon, I can’t stop thinking about the incident and become incredibly irritable. His mother takes him back. I go back alone to an empty flat and take some days off work to heal up. It takes longer than I thought it would, but last weekend I’m back out on the bike again. I’ve no intentions of packing in, but things will never be quite the same again.
I’d like to finish (what I hope is obviously part of my healing process and not a cry for attention) on something, a positive, a moral, something, why it won’t happen to you if you’re careful, but experience just tells me that’s just not the way it is. Some folk are there, then they’re not, we all take chances, the more times you roll the dice, and the bigger the roll, the more likely this s
t is, but any of us can get our card punched, or worse.“Dangerous things bikes”.
Ride safe chaps.
TLDR -Whatever.
Edited by Prof Prolapse on Wednesday 1st May 14:20
Been there. Know how you feel. Lost a best friend at 25 who I did my bike test with.
10 years later, witnessed a bad one when one of my riding buddies overtook a car turning right into a layby, the driver of which indicated at the point of turning.
We've all got stories, and it's the brutal, stark downside of the thing that we love.
I can't contemplate how he must feel, and what he must be going through, I hope he has the courage, positivity and strength to be one of those inspirational people that makes the best of a situation like that, I'm not sure I would.
Be kind to yourself. Take it easy.
10 years later, witnessed a bad one when one of my riding buddies overtook a car turning right into a layby, the driver of which indicated at the point of turning.
We've all got stories, and it's the brutal, stark downside of the thing that we love.
I can't contemplate how he must feel, and what he must be going through, I hope he has the courage, positivity and strength to be one of those inspirational people that makes the best of a situation like that, I'm not sure I would.
Be kind to yourself. Take it easy.
Very sad.
I can understand where you are coming from, a few years back I witnessed a riding buddy on a touring holiday have an accident and pass away metres in front of me then a few of us dealt with the aftermath. It was a sad, long day, just a few days into a 10 day trip.
All you can do is be there for your friend. I hope there is something that can be done for him in future.
I can understand where you are coming from, a few years back I witnessed a riding buddy on a touring holiday have an accident and pass away metres in front of me then a few of us dealt with the aftermath. It was a sad, long day, just a few days into a 10 day trip.
All you can do is be there for your friend. I hope there is something that can be done for him in future.
As has been said, sorry you had to experience that and even more sorry for your mate that has had his life changed forever.
I was first on the scene when 2 of my mates got wiped out in France by a car on the wrong side of the road, the scene was carnage, but both pulled through, in fact I'm flying with him tomorrow for 3 days at Aragon.
Take your time, talk to people, don't disappear down a bottle, its survival guilt, that car missed me by less than 2 inches before collecting the boys, took me a long time to get my head round it.
Genuine offer, if you need a neutral, objec tive voice to talk it through with you are more than welcome to my number.
Chin up mate.
I was first on the scene when 2 of my mates got wiped out in France by a car on the wrong side of the road, the scene was carnage, but both pulled through, in fact I'm flying with him tomorrow for 3 days at Aragon.
Take your time, talk to people, don't disappear down a bottle, its survival guilt, that car missed me by less than 2 inches before collecting the boys, took me a long time to get my head round it.
Genuine offer, if you need a neutral, objec tive voice to talk it through with you are more than welcome to my number.
Chin up mate.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I have a 10 month old and thought I’d be the same, but I’ll still get back from a ride out and think ‘what the fk did I do that for?’Maybe I’m just selfish (well I know I am) but it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and forget the potential consequences.
I’ve been lucky enough not to experience a situation like this, and hope I never have to, but it’s a sobering story. Wishing all involved well
anonymous said:
[redacted]
This thread is a tough read indeed. So far, I’ve “lost” two years of my life, but all I’ve really had is a broken leg (albeit a quite spectacularly broken leg). Remy has a harder time ahead than I do and so does PP’s mate. So does PP.I’ve been having thoughts about whether or not I want to get back on a bike or not. I do, then I think about how lucky I’ve been and do I really want to risk it. Then I think of the fun I’ve had, the trips away...
I also remembered this:
https://youtu.be/Wtijm9Sch-E
Traumatic as the experience clearly was, you've conveyed it superbly, capturing the visceral brutality and creating an extremely sobering read, though I've no doubt that in reality it would have been far more horrendous by many magnitudes than what you could ever hope to relate.
My sincere condolences to your friend and their family. With a brain injured father as the result of a motorcycle accident, I can in some ways relate to what they're almost certainly going though.
You are right, life isn't always fair. There is no guarantee that the standard of life will reflect the quality of the decisions made, but although they may not retrospectively impact the outcome, decisions will affect the odds, so don't relinquish hope.
After your run of poor fortune, l hope your future recovery meets some of the long overdue luck that's been absent, but keep massaging those odds by continuing to make good decisions, and don't be too proud to ask for help if you begin to loose the battle against the demons. They can be unrelenting in their-ishness.
My sincere condolences to your friend and their family. With a brain injured father as the result of a motorcycle accident, I can in some ways relate to what they're almost certainly going though.
You are right, life isn't always fair. There is no guarantee that the standard of life will reflect the quality of the decisions made, but although they may not retrospectively impact the outcome, decisions will affect the odds, so don't relinquish hope.
After your run of poor fortune, l hope your future recovery meets some of the long overdue luck that's been absent, but keep massaging those odds by continuing to make good decisions, and don't be too proud to ask for help if you begin to loose the battle against the demons. They can be unrelenting in their
-ishness.so far I have been lucky. Couple of close shaves & a near miss with a deer just the other day....
Part of me knows that the odds are not good & that at some point there is a real chance of life changing, or worse, crash.
Am I selfish to Mrs B or my kids in taking these additional risks for what is a hobby? If I give up biking, will I just whither away into retirement??
Part of me knows that the odds are not good & that at some point there is a real chance of life changing, or worse, crash.
Am I selfish to Mrs B or my kids in taking these additional risks for what is a hobby? If I give up biking, will I just whither away into retirement??
Another sobering read, you've written that in a way that I really understood( some ) of your emotion, bit lost for words really...
Please let us know how your riding buddy is getting on...Good luck on all things regards the domestic front, been there on that one and it will pass in time..
Please let us know how your riding buddy is getting on...Good luck on all things regards the domestic front, been there on that one and it will pass in time..
Terrible. Life is so fragile.
What is worse, one may survive but become a cripple o a veg.
Yesterday I was driving together with my girlfriend in a car on our local mountain pass roads.
There are blind corners, sharp hairpins and the roads are not particularly wide.
I see cars cutting corners at speed, I see bikers going into blind left corners hanging their heads into opposite lane.
My god, why are people so reckless?
A few days ago I was going downhill, down the mountain pass, straight road for 100s of meters, perfect visibility.
I am on my 954 FireBlade behind a car, both doing about 90kmh.
Suddenly another car on the sideline up ahead decides to turn left, across the lane the car in front of me and I are driving in.
He MUST have seen the car in front of me closing in fast, and he still pulled into the lane, and then stopped with the nose taking half of the lane.
The car in front of me had to emergency brake, I had to emergency brake behind, locked the back wheel immediately, I am fishtailing and also gliding into opposite lane, around the car in front of me.
Luckily there was noone in opposite lane and noone behind me. Nothing happened.
The car that caused the whole problem...guy and his girlfriend, they just turn and drive away, the girlfriend looked at me with empty eyes, no emotion, no sorry, no nothing. I really felt like turning, catching up with them, block them and start a fight...but I would be a losing party.
Biker is always THE losing party, remember that always.
What is worse, one may survive but become a cripple o a veg.
Yesterday I was driving together with my girlfriend in a car on our local mountain pass roads.
There are blind corners, sharp hairpins and the roads are not particularly wide.
I see cars cutting corners at speed, I see bikers going into blind left corners hanging their heads into opposite lane.
My god, why are people so reckless?
A few days ago I was going downhill, down the mountain pass, straight road for 100s of meters, perfect visibility.
I am on my 954 FireBlade behind a car, both doing about 90kmh.
Suddenly another car on the sideline up ahead decides to turn left, across the lane the car in front of me and I are driving in.
He MUST have seen the car in front of me closing in fast, and he still pulled into the lane, and then stopped with the nose taking half of the lane.
The car in front of me had to emergency brake, I had to emergency brake behind, locked the back wheel immediately, I am fishtailing and also gliding into opposite lane, around the car in front of me.
Luckily there was noone in opposite lane and noone behind me. Nothing happened.
The car that caused the whole problem...guy and his girlfriend, they just turn and drive away, the girlfriend looked at me with empty eyes, no emotion, no sorry, no nothing. I really felt like turning, catching up with them, block them and start a fight...but I would be a losing party.
Biker is always THE losing party, remember that always.
My word PP that was another sobering read with a life changing outcome for you both. I really hope things get better for your roommate and also that life starts to to deal you some better hands. All I can say is where there is life there is also hope.
Along with reading this, Remy's post and the funeral tomorrow of a biking acquaintance in Ayrshire the start of the 2019 biking season is certainly a lot more thoughtful than normal. But as said above, life is full of risks and it's about making good decisions so that the odds of a good outcome are stacked in our favour and not the other round.
But sometimes st happens and we're just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Along with reading this, Remy's post and the funeral tomorrow of a biking acquaintance in Ayrshire the start of the 2019 biking season is certainly a lot more thoughtful than normal. But as said above, life is full of risks and it's about making good decisions so that the odds of a good outcome are stacked in our favour and not the other round.
But sometimes s
t happens and we're just in the wrong place at the wrong time.Thanks for sharing Prof. A truly sobering read.
I hope that writing this has helped you realise that you did nothing wrong and from the sound of it you couldn't have done any more than you did. I'd second other advice - take up offers to talk with people that have been there and try and stay clear from the bottle.
All the best.
I hope that writing this has helped you realise that you did nothing wrong and from the sound of it you couldn't have done any more than you did. I'd second other advice - take up offers to talk with people that have been there and try and stay clear from the bottle.
All the best.
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