Well it finally happened... first motorcycle accident

Greeblesnitz

Registered
I've been riding bikes for 6 years now and just had my first accident on Tuesday on the way to work. An older gentlemen, i've nicknamed him Mr. Magoo, had flashing red lights in a u-turn/turn lane on the southbound side of rt 13 in new castle, de. I was in the far right lane of the 4 lanes going north. Dry roads, clear out, 4pm, no sun in his eyes, no cars or trucks blocking his view of me, he cut across all four lanes in front of me to turn into a parking lot but did so very slowly. Didnt have any way out of the box (he blocked my lane and was crossing my lane into the shoulder), so I hit the brakes hard and went down. Bike slide for about 20 feet or so and I rolled after the initial hit. Got off the road quick so I didnt get pancaked by a tractor trailer. A couple nice people helped block the lane a bit and helped my get my bike up and off the road and the guy who cut me off stopped and stuck around.

Before I started browsing this forum (couple years ago), I really only wore a helmet and gloves when I rode. After seeing the posts in here about wrecks, low speed, high speed, and the worst, I started wearing gear anytime I road. That saved my hide. I have a nice gouge in my helmet and my face mask is gashed up good. Without the helmet, that would be a concussion or worse. The leather jacket has several spots on it where it is nearly worn through and there are several deep marks in it. Each of those spots would be significant road rash and would have torn up a lot of my ink. Brand new icon leather gloves I had just bought a week before to replace some worn out ones were skinned down but the asphalt didnt break through them. The boots were damaged also. I'm still banged up but it could have been significantly worse than it was. I went to the hospital yesterday and had several xrays done of painful areas and nothing is broken. Difficulty walking but swelling in my ankle, knee, and hip are already starting to subside. I wanted to give my sincere thanks to everyone on here who encourages riders to wear gear. I shudder to think what kind of shape I would be in without it. By the way, I had just gotten my bike out of a storage unit about 5 miles south and I only had another 5 miles north to reach my work. This accident occurred in that short amount of time, so don't make excuses about not going very far. If you don't already do it, gear up!

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Good to hear you didn't get messed up to bad. It's a positive message on gearing up. Hope you and the bike get well soon.
 
Glad you didnt have to learn the hard way about gear....





...like I did.


Sorry to hear about the spill though.
 
Thanks for all the well wishes. The state troopers cited the driver that cut me off and he seemed to genuinely feel bad about it. He has nationwide insurance and they are being easy to deal with so far. Hopefully I'll have her fixed up soon and be able to get some more riding in before the snow. Stay safe, all. :beerchug:
 
Luckily it looks to be mostly cosmetic, and fixable.

Glad you came out ok, I am still in Phys therapy for my leg from my accident a month ago. I will NEVER EVER get on my bike or allow anyone else on it without jacket, gloves and a helmet. If I had not had mine, I would be seriously hurt with rash
 
I have been in two accidents now, the second of which I came up over the front of the bike. Both times my gear saved my ass. You could see where the asphalt just ripped through the hard armor in the elbows and shoulders.

Glad you came out OK, and the bike will be good as new soon.
 
Thanks for posting up...that is some scary snizzle. Slide rash can be repaired pretty easily...always good to hear good "get off" stories..u are in one piece without too much damage...
 
hate to hear about you going down but am glad the damage wasn't any worse to you or your bike! hope you are both up and 100% again soon :beerchug:
 
The up side of this tale is that your are still here to tel lus about it.Good call on wearing everything not wearing full gear in my house is not an option, Hope you and the bike mend quickly.
 
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