Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums banner

Accident today

2K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Treehugger 
#1 ·
Some bloke drove into me today. I was riding down the road next to a line of stationary traffic when one guy decided he'd had enough of waiting and would do a u-turn. Unfortunately I was there when he decided to do it. Minor bike damage, snapped gear pedal end, my knee managed to bend and dislocate the choke knob and my girlfriends knee took a knock. Luckily she was wearing trousers with proper protection or she might have had a serious injury. I lost the left side of my boot and will have a good few bruises tomorrow but otherwise we're ok.

The bloke was extrememly apologetic and we exchanged details etc no problem.

It shook us up a bit and now I need to find a new gear change lever. None of the pattern part websites seem to list them so it looks like I'll have to pay Triumph their extortionate rate, whatever that is....unless anyone here knows different?
 
#3 ·
bad traffic I.E stationary is classic of the sudden u turn or as bad, the "duck dowwn this little turning" if they are familiar roads to you and the traffic is worse than normal or not usually there its another red alert for that kinda behaviour in drivers. I get it alot when it rains in london. When it rains the traffic always seems far worse. And to add to that, impatient drivers end up with steemed up windows, water droplets on side mirrors and a frustrated temperment. I was trying to work out the odds from being hit in the same way you did when it rains and its something really shocking. I find that after riding the route i go home, every second in journey I would be in a position where I could have been hit. Now when it rains on the way home its not a ride, its just anticipate the crash every step of the way, if the oncomming lane is empty I drive way out from the cars im passing down the line. This is also where having a loud exhaust helps...
glad to hear you're ok, the last time someone did that to me the traffic was moving and the guy thought he'd switch lanes fast and collected me in the process. He was driving a fast merc and guess he thought NO one could have left the lights as quick as him. Luckily my boot took most of the damage running a big black rubber mark all the way down the car. My oil pressure switch plate was the point of contact with the car and it tore a hole in his wing and scratched down the side of the car. I ended up with just a bent oil pressure switch plate. Guess he learnt his lesson.

A tip which doesnt always ring true, but if youre moving down a stationary line of traffic, dont espect any indication from a sudden mover, but in many cases I've found, they do think about it for a sec then go. In the think process they do turn the wheel as if should i? shouldnt i? (is it worth it) it's when they decide "f&*k it yeah" they dont look and just pull out. This is also why they can look to see if its safe but in the thinking time you enter the picture. You can see the car thinking what hes about to do sometimes, if not you may see that the front wheels are looking like they're not happy just sitting in the line of traffic and are pointing to the on-comming lane indicating a likely move.

well done on the correctly dressed pillion, the amount of time I'm spent convincing a girl to "also" use the trousers when popping out... As a single guy I think I own more girl bike gear than a blokes! why do they have to come in so many shapes and sizes?? lol

glad to hear you're ok
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the messages, much appreciated. However todays phone calls trying to source a replacement gear lever are proving fruitless and expensive. Triumph want the best part of £80 for it! £80 for a six inch piece of metal.
 
#8 ·
Bad news, glad you are both OK, can't beat the right gear can you? Failing knocking some sense into him in the traditional manner, sue him, no matter how nice he is sue him, make sure he pays. If you don't he won't learn; next time it could be your life or mine!
 
#10 ·
an then spawn another "motorcycle hater" ? spreading the word about how motorbikes come out of nowhere and are just a bunch of aholes? if he was genuine,insurance covers everything and no one's badly hurt... is there really a need to sue? the shock of being hit an the "what if's" is usually lesson learnt. He's unlikely to do that kinda turn without always remembering what happened and more importantly what could have happend.
 
#12 ·
Treehugger you are probably right. I just wonder what it takes to make these people think first. Clearly the idea that you may hurt someone is barely in the public consciousness. By suing you introduce the fear of financial repercussions into the public consciousness. My reasoning is as follows; I don't care if they love or hate me as long as they don't kill me (incidently I would prefer they love me, live and let live etc.). If fear of maiming others currently does not cause car drivers to think, then fear of being financially spanked might. Net result whatever the reason they look first. The chap that hit BWW obviously wasn't concerned enough about others/didn't fear financial punishment enough and therefore didn't bother looking. If we always financially punished car drivers that hit us then the Chap (nice as he is) that hit BWW out of self interest may have bothered his arse to look before pulling out. In an ideal world we would all care enough to look first, until then sue em!
 
#13 ·
Treehugger: Let me see if I got this right. Another motorist is negligent (intentionally, unintentionally or whatever) and injures me and damages my property. I'm supposed be worried whether I offend him/her or not if I ask them to accept responsibility and I demand fair compensation. Man.....IMHO that is just twisted! You only need to resort to suing if they won't deal with you in a fair and equitable manner. :???:

[ This message was edited by: ooobaby on 2006-12-12 13:35 ]
 
#14 ·
I can see there's a good variance in opinion over this. I'm happy to let insurance companies sort things out. I've been in touch with mine and as far as I can tell things are going ok. I understand the point some have made about suing for personal injury but that's not something I agree with. Neither of us (me or my girlfriend) were seriously hurt and the end result will be higher insurance premiums all 'round if we all went down that road.
 
#15 ·
good to hear the insurance people arent being an arse BMW. Thats usually where we get let down the most.

good to hear other peoples viewpoints. ooobaby, its not about offending anyone, if you are hurt, then you are hurt. I think my point was missed slightly.

Tomsk, good to hear your point and point taken. IMO financial threat really doesnt work. most people drive without insurance and tax in london... I believe there a finacial threat to make them. In my experience with accidents and the way (good people) respond when they hit you, is that they are really shaken. To see a couple of defencless people(as in BMW's accident) come off and take a tumble from the safety of your cage makes you realise how vaunerable we are and in the seconds of getting out and assesing the accident, its very clear the potential for total disaster. There is no finacial penalty worse than knowing you took a persons life (ESPECIALLY, from being irresponsible). It's someting unrevokable. This is what we should be teaching and spreading. Like you I'd like it if we all loved each other, but we don't come any closer to that by involving money and apperently "getting whats due". Of course its different if youre hurt.

If I may bore you with an example. I found my bike on its side one morning and i was heartbroken. The bike was scratched and the mirror and brake lever snapped. it was pissing with rain but there was a little piece of paper in a plastic bag by my bike, it read "dear bike owner" and had a number. I called it and the guy wanted to help me out and was very appologetic. My insurance skanked him for all the damage and rental bike. To get "what i deserved". Total insurance bill,£4,500... for a tip over! His insurance would have gone up too.
So one persons good nature (love) is crippled by our need to punish. I wouldnt blame him if he drove away next time, like you say in "fear of being financially spanked". I've found my bike knocked over a couple of times and none have shown such good nature, just left it there. He wasnt english (aussie), and I hate to say it, but maybe thats why he was so kind, other than other motorcyclists, car drivers arent so caring.

anyhoo, I guess its my idealist ways but the tougher we get, the harder life is. Like everything in life, when we involve money and fear, love leaves pretty fast.

I wish during a car driving course like the emergency stop, they'd throw a body dummie arcoss the car just out of the blue. Harsh I know and would properly sh*t up the newbie driver, specially when the instructer says "ah yes.... you just killed someone... it really is as easy as that... pull away when ready..." :hammer:

we're all on the same tip, its about looking out for each other and understanding how easy it is to hurt us bikers. Thats why its hard not to get frustrated with it all. Don't get me wrong, I'd sue the sh*t out of someone if I was badly hurt tho. :)
 
#17 ·
I'm really sorry to here about your smash.

Just for the record, I had a smash in September. I am in the middle of a personal injury claim... I got the money to replace the bike (mine was a write off - but I'm gonna get her back on the road - eventually) and while I was injured that badly, I had time off work, and I need the money from the overtime that I lost to pay for the flight to see my sis in Oz in March. That and as Americas are not easy to get hold of second hand..I had to buy new... :-D but it's left me really skint.
I would have bothered with that half of the claim, but it would get me out of the financial quagmire I'm in... I just wanted to get back on the road.
I'd use his insurance to pay for new levers, and choke knoe and a new pair of boots.
 
#18 ·
Yeah you shouldn't sue without good reason, but as Gina points out the associated costs can be considerable. A year on and I've just settled (but I was pretty beat up), but what bugs me most is that I have never received an apology, I guess I'm just a little jaded. Spread the love! :) :)
 
#20 ·
On 2006-12-14 12:31, spiki-spikester wrote:
BMW - sorry to hear out your "incident" & I hope you get back on the road soon.

Looking on the bright side, maybe some time off the road will give you a chance to plan all your mods ! Keep us posted !!
Thanks. I can't mod it too much more, not unless I spend some money on the fiance first. Since I bought the bike I've added, TOR pipes, a roadster screen, centre stand and a King & Queen seat. I've also had a 6000 mile service, bought a tank bag and rented a lock-up to keep it during the winter. But I did pay for her flight to fly home to the US in February so maybethere is something else I can get :cool:
 
#22 ·
On 2006-12-11 07:38, Treehugger wrote:
A tip which doesnt always ring true, but if youre moving down a stationary line of traffic, dont espect any indication from a sudden mover, but in many cases I've found, they do think about it for a sec then go. In the think process they do turn the wheel as if should i? shouldnt i? (is it worth it) it's when they decide "f&*k it yeah" they dont look and just pull out. This is also why they can look to see if its safe but in the thinking time you enter the picture. You can see the car thinking what hes about to do sometimes, if not you may see that the front wheels are looking like they're not happy just sitting in the line of traffic and are pointing to the on-comming lane indicating a likely move.
Sound advice.

well done on the correctly dressed pillion, the amount of time I'm spent convincing a girl to "also" use the trousers when popping out... As a single guy I think I own more girl bike gear than a blokes! why do they have to come in so many shapes and sizes??
No way do you get away with that excuse! "I own more girl bike gear than a blokes" on the offchance you might have a pillion.. yeah riiiiight! :-D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top