Pics from my crash Sept. 2006

I've mentioned my crash many times since joining this community after buying my RIII and I just got my hands on these pictures of the accident scene of my crash. Basically I was headed to work on the interstate when an oblivi-tard decided he needed to turn on the next exit 5 lanes over (he was stopped in the median). He gets up to 15 Mph cutting across the interstate during morning rush hour, leaving me with no place to go to avoid him. So I struck the left rear of his F-150 at about 50-55 MPH. He was cited with reckless driving and I got away lucky, I only got a permanent limp, suffered a stroke, put my family through a living hell, but I'm not bitter about it. There is no gore in the pictures, luckily my armored jacket and billfold stopped me from being scrapped up, besides when these were taken, I was already on the way to the hospital, if not already there;



And some of me that I've had, while I was still in a coma;



And finally a repost of one of the X-rays of my now gimped up leg;



Joe

So Glad You Survived

Your short, but to the point, story really brings home the situation we all experience when dealing with inconsiderate and non paying attention cage drivers. I wish every driver would periodically have to ride a motorcycle for 1 week each year. I would hope it might remind them to be more aware of people around them on the roads.

The pictures were detailed and somewhat shocking and it must be hard, to this day, for you to look at them. I know it's a real reminder to me about how defensive I need to be at all times. Always watching the other drivers both traveling with me as well as cross traffic and those opposite lanes on my left.

Even with caution, things like your accident are going to happen and I guess it's the price we pay for the joy and freedom of riding a motorcycle. My only problem is sometimes the price is too high and good and careful riders are the victims of careless, thoughtless and incompetent drivers.

After my van was rear ended in January, I received a letter from the State Attorney General asking me to fill out a form concerning the accident, what injuries I sustained. In addition, the Judge asked what I thought the reckless driver's punishment should be. My suggestion was this...... Require him to take me to the ER and sit with me while they run test, poke, prod, stick, clean and medicate me. Let him change my bandages twice a day and purchase all my medication, dressings, bandages, tape, etc.

My gosh, someone gets caught for littering and they do 20 hours community service. This guy almost kills me and gets a reckless driving ticket and probably his insurance went up a little....... but he went home that night uninjured.

I'm so glad you have made such a marvelous recovery and I hope there's not much daily pain. I don't think I've ever seen that many pins in an xray before. Will they all stay in?

Thanks for sharing what was a tragic event in you and your families life. I know it made me think about my riding habits and how I might be even more careful.

Venting has now ceased to exist........ Over and Out

I sure would have liked to hook up with you CADFather and that is nice country you live in. I was on a tight schedule having to clear everything with my PO and all. Looks like what they wanted to do with my leg but had to wait until I was cleared with cardio before he went in with the plate. I'm very timid around traffic and get away from it at every opportunity. You might say I went through a traditional square of opposition with traffic early on in my riding days which has served me well. You can't cover every contingency but by God you can cover most and I live by that. Avoiding idiots is a challenge we all live with and if one of them can do something stupid more than likely they will. Just yesterday the rider awareness group was in Tallahassee confronting the legislature on a law to ban any sort of trick riding on the streets by taking your bike and slamming you in jail. The wording was such that if someone left the seat it qualified as it was written and they changed that part. Yes I am still timid and my avoid taking a skills class to stay that way.

Those pics of you in the coma look all too familiar, but the fact that you are here to post them fills me with hope.
Your leg looks like some of my ill-fated attempts at carpentry.

I hope he had insurance. I really liked his side view mirror.

He had $10,000 worth of property damage and $50,000 worth of personal injury, typical Allstate fair for around here. I got almost the full $10,000 for my bike and Allstate has offered the $50,000 but I went through that much before I was even admitted to the hospital. I am suing him for the outstanding medical bills and my attorney fees and I take the $50,000 from Allstate for pain and suffering, my health insurance has picked up the tab for this joker's inability to drive. I have gotten my health insurance to agree not to come after me for the subrogation of the medical expenses. To any who don't know, if you get injured and your medical insurance has to pay, if you sue and get any kind of settlement, your insurance company can collect part of that settlement money up to what they have spent to re-coup their losses. At least that was the way it was explained to me and the laws vary by state.

I am doing well all things considered, I am working full time and have some issues with memory, and some issues with memory. For the most part I have fully recovered from the stroke that I had, I still have some nerve damage to the right side that leaves that arm and shoulder in a pins and needles state most all of the time and I'm adjusting to having to walk with a cane for the rest of my life. Thanks for your comments, fellows and keep the rubber side down.

Glad you're still here to talk about it brother.

Obviously didn't damage your balls since getting back on a bike after that must have taken some doing.

Joker said:

Glad you're still here to talk about it brother.

Obviously didn't damage your balls since getting back on a bike after that must have taken some doing.

Click to expand...

I bought the Rock 6 months to the day after the crash, now I had not ridden or even driven since then, because of my eye surgery to take out a blood clot in the left eye. So the wife and I were coming back from the follow-up visit to the doctor after my eye surgery and my boss had told me about an RIII at the local Honda dealer. I convince the wife that we need to go by and check it out, as I had not seen one in person and she had not even seen a picture of one. So we're there at the Honda dealer and after she gets through looking at the Gold Wing trikes, I get her to come over and look at the Rock. She is impressed with it and tells me if I can get my leg over it I can buy it, we had just gotten the check from the other driver's insurance for my Warrior. I lean and struggle and finally get my busted up, gimp leg over the bike and sit on it and immediately I'm smitten, everything fit just right. So we buy the bike and the salesman that sold it to us has to ride it home for me.
We had driven my Mom's Grand Cherokee to the Doctor's because the wife's F-350 wouldn't fit in the parking garage, so we take it back to her work and pick up Teresa's truck. I tell T that since it's only 5 miles to the house that I would like to try to drive, she reluctantly agrees, and we're off. After arriving at the house again and looking at the new Rocket for what seemed like an eternity I told T that I wished we had stopped and gotten something to eat. She agreed that she was hungry as well and said, "Get in the truck." I told her, "Nah, I think I'd like to try to ride the bike." She gets our helmets and says, "C'mon." I tell her that I probably need to ride it around the block first and see if I can even hold the **** thing up when I come to a stop. She said OK and watched me ride over the hill in the neighborhood. I live in a small neighborhood, maybe 1/2 a mile total and when I get back to the house, she smiles at me and gets on the back of the bike with me. And we go to town to eat. Upon leaving the restaurant, we pull out on the main highway and there is a car making an illegal U-turn at the light, so I decide to put a little distance between us. I roll on the throttle in first and when I shifted into second the front end came up and I carried it far enough for her to notice and jab me in the ribs. Then at another light farther down the same road, another driver was gawking at the Rock and **** near rear ended another car.

Now I tell that story to say this; It took a lot for me to get back on a bike, but having ridden since I was a wee lad of about 5, I could not imagine going the rest of my life never riding again. I had thought long and hard about what it would be like getting back on after laying in a coma for 2 weeks, and the family not knowing whether or not I was going to live. I'd have to say it took a big set to get back on. But, what does it say about the woman that got back on the back of the bike with me? One of two things I believe, either she loves me and trust me very much or she has a bigger set than I do.

I think it must be the former mate, you would have noticed the latter by now.

I'm quite impressed that my wife still gets on the back as she was a specialist nurse dealing with amputees, a high percentage of whom where victims of RTAs riding bikes. She is now a case manager for those with severe brain and / or spinal trauma, again a lot are bikers. Plus she puts up with me.

How lucky are we?