Crash Analysis: What did you learn?

[ducsoup]

Another slow speed crash

While riding in the Texas hill country I signaled to pull off the highway onto a hard packed flat area for a photo-op. Got stopped looked behind me to find my wife and her brand new 620 on the ground. She had gone over the highside and dented the tank, bent the bars, broke the mirror, bent both brake levers.

What you did right
She had all of her protective gear on so no injuries only pride.

What you did wrong
Got front brake happy and didn't slow down enough coming off the pavement.

How could it have been avoided
Stay off the front brake when getting onto the dirt area, slowed down a little more before leaving pavement and watching where you are stopping.

That sounds great except one thing: They require proof of insurance to take that class!
I um... er... don't technically have insurance...

You better get some! Anyone out there have an insurance company that is reasonably priced with a good standing thta you can recommend?

[ducatania]

That sounds great except one thing: They require proof of insurance to take that class!
I um... er... don't technically have insurance...

Alex, please don't take this as a personal attack...but you are an a$$. ;D
Why the hell don't you at least have liability insurance in case you hit someone else and hurt them or break their stuff? And don't give me this crap about "it's too expensive". Just look at the friggin list of mods on your bike! ???

[mmoore]

We're gettin' off topic here kids...

[spidey]

Recap:
On an '85 Honda Shadow, I stopped at a flat four-way stop with obstructed views to the left and right. I rolled into the intersection to see what was going with the stop signs on the left and the right. Cars were there, getting ready to enter the intersection. I stopped. BANG! I got hit from behind by the Ford F-350 who said that his brakes failed (or he just didn't see the stop sign).

Because the bumper is high on the truck, it took my passenger seat and folded it up, acting like a bumper. I stayed on the bike and the bike stayed upright, attached to the truck's bumper. Threw out my bad shoulder and got whiplash, but the bike was totalled.

What I did right:
Entered the intersection cautiously, checked right and left, and was wearing all of my gear. Was in gear rather than neutral.

What I did wrong:
Didn't watch behind me, thinking that no one would run the stop sign.

Thoughts:
Had I been watching my mirrors, I could have gotten out of the way. I always think about a rear-end now, whether at a stop sign or a stop light. I try to position myself in a lane so that if I check my mirrors and someone looks like they are not going to stop, I can get out of it. I also try to find a position in stopped traffic where if the car behind me is rear-ended, he's not going to come right into me. I also always watch my mirrors at intersections and try to keep the bike in gear rather than neutral.

[alex]

[quote]

Alex, please don't take this as a personal attack...but you are an a$$. ;D
Why the hell don't you at least have liability insurance in case you hit someone else and hurt them or break their stuff? And don't give me this crap about "it's too expensive". Just look at the friggin list of mods on your bike!

[midwest]

Michael; great thread! May save someone some skin and/or more.
Genius idea.

Rob...

[ducatania]

OK, let me clarify.

"Students must have full coverage insurance (comprehensive, collision and liability) and at least a motorcycle permit or endorsement. The instructor will ask to see the proof of both at the class."
--from the Evergreen Safety Counsel motorcycle page

I understand that liability is good, and it is so cheap that I have no problem paying for that. That is not what I meant!
I don't, however, have full coverage (on my car or my bike), because of the whole price thing (my car and bike would be over $2k each a year).

Liability is super important not because it can save you money, but because if someone who doesn't have it gets into an accident, they are MUCH more likely to consider fleeing the scene!!! (see a certain white minivan I recently came across >)

Anyway... Do you think that I could just show up to the class with my insurance card and say 'sure I have full coverage,' since it is not specified on there? I know I have used that trick in the past asking car dealers to let me test drive cars ;D...

So you do at least have liability insurance then?
It was the way you said "I don't have insurance". That's fine.

Coming home from work around midday after an early finish and daydreaming about the beautiful sunny afternoon ahead. Came into a roundabout intersection with my exit road view partially blocked by trees. Only 1 mile from home, I'd ridden through it a thousand times before without incident. Not this time. A woman had chosen to hang a u-turn across double lines about 20ft past the exit and I had nowhere to go. Slammed into her t-bone style with compound fractures of the right leg Tibia/Fibula. Flipped and skidded down the road. Not a scratch anywhere else. :-/

Right? Had safety gear on. Just before impact aimed at the cars rear so I'd soar over the trunk and not splat against the cars windows/roofline.

Wrong? Daydreaming! Thinking the road is safe just because 'nothing ever happens here'. :P

It could have been avoided by me exiting the corner slower but theres a point to avoid all potential collisions you'd need to be travelling everywhere at 5mph. I wasn't speeding but still got cleaned up. The only real way to avoid this accident was for this woman to never have been issued a drivers license because she didn't understand basic roadcraft/linemarking. In statements she blamed the whole thing on me of course but the police report showed her 90% at fault. Funny thing was, she was a cadet at the police academy at the time of the crash. :

[mmoore]

I'll add one more. Not a crash but really close to one.

Brief recap of the crash
I was fairly new to riding and was on a highway near Boston. There was a small pickup with about 8 pieces of 4 inch by 8 foot PVC pipe in the bed. I was behind the truck and one lane over. The truck hits a bump in the road and all of the PVC pipe flies out of the bed (it was unsecured) and starts rolling around the highway, right in front of me. Somehow I got through it all. No skill involved, just dumb luck.

What you did right
Nothing. I had a helmet and non-moto leather jacket. Had I gone down, either the impact or a car behind me would have finished me off. I guess my best move was to pull over after the incident and wait for the shakes to stop.

What you did wrong
As a new rider I was not really thinking about the potential dangers out there, not doing the rider "what if" thing. I was just putting along using a car driver mindset.

Thoughts on how it might have been avoided
Now I never, ever, ride behind pickup trucks with anything in the bed. I've seen trashcans fly out, ladders come off, and lots of yard waste and branches. I don't even ride in the lane next to the truck. Just get by 'em as quickly as I can.