Hi gang, just a little post to tell you that my cat is dead and I'm off the road for a little while.
Coming out from the Hangar Lane underpass at about 2am on the 16th something rammed me from behind and took me out. I was doing about 50mph and I reckon whatever hit me was doing a lot more because I never saw it coming - and I am mirror-happy.
Driver didn't stop and I reckon the reason for that might have something to do with booze.
I'm out of hospital with a shattered kneecap (some of which I lost) wired back together and a fractured heel bone. It hurts and my left leg is in plaster ankle to hip. I'm pleased to say I was armoured up from head to toe and that the ER staff couldn't believe that I was in such good nick. With the shunt from behind I must have hit the road at about 70 to 80 mph. All of the gear is now binned as it was cut off me. My Belstaff jacket was only 2 weeks old - but hey! it served me well.
I spent about five days in hospital and have a further 6-8 weeks of being off my feet.
After 13 years of riding almost every day without a scratch but plenty of near misses I'm off the road for the first time. Gutted.
The Tiger looks like it's for the scrapheap only 4 months after wheeling her out of the showroom. Now comes the waiting for the engineers report and of course the Police report. I'm hoping the one of the traffic cameras picked up something but I might never know what happened to me.
Will I ride again? I'm weighing it all up at the moment. I ride sensibly and funnily enough was re-reading Motorcycle Roadcraft to sharpen up a little. What bothers me is that no matter how good you are, some joker can get you and theres no amount of training and/or preparation that can stop that.
S**T :(
I know it sounds a clich», but consider yourself very lucky. You could've been a lot worse off.
I think we all know the risks involved with driving 200+ kgs of oil and steel at speeds humans were never meant tot travel by whatever divinity you may fancy, while protected by all the crumple zones 2mm of plastics or dead cow can afford, but it never really prepares you for the actual event when it happens tot you.
Luckily, my crash had no ill efects (except for the bike) but it still took me a while to be comfortable on a bike again. Looking back, it was good thing I started riding again. Hope your decision, whatever it may be, will prove the right one for you.
Heal well.
Sorry to hear of your incident. I was hit by a car earlier this year which resulted in a serious knee injury and a written off bike but the driver stopped and admitted liability. It does shake you up big time but I love bikes too much to give them up.
Good luck with the healing process and I sincerely hope to see you back on the bike one day.
Bob
Bad luck mate...... :(
Have you spoken to the police to see if that bit of the A40 is covered by cameras.
Bad luck m8.
No consolation to you but sort of proves my theory of :- if you're always the fastest thing on the road, you're safer. i.e. if you hit something it's your fault. BUT you'll never get hit.
Get well soon. The sooner you're back on the road the better you'll feel.
Sibbo, funny you should ask that. Since I've been out of hospital I've been chasing the Police. Turns out my case has just landed on the desk of the guys in Sidcup.
I've asked them to ensure that they check those Cameras. I do know that theres a camera on the tunnel entrance and on the exit. Also, as the gyratory system at Hangar Lane is what you might call busy - it's festooned with cameras.
Whoever hit me left me to fend for myself after they smashed me off the Tiger. My guess is that in their panic they would have got away from the accident at a fairly high speed. About 100 yards from where I was hit there's a speed camera so you never know - there might be a photo somewhere of the creep that left me to take my chances on the central reservation.
Who knows. I'm hoping for a good result.
BlackTiger - There is a lot to be said for your theory, but no matter how fast you go there's always some joker who just has to go faster - I think I met one of those guys.
Sh#t Mate! Well here's to a full recovery...meaning hope you get on a bike soon. I like you check my mirrors every other second, a bit like a World War 2 fighter pilot, but 'they' still get you. My worst fears are when I'm stopped at traffic lights, only see you at the last moment or have had the odd nudge.
Is that why we ride?
Cheers
Mark
Sorry to hear of your accident - I hope they find the bastard!
I got knocked off near junction 10 of the M6 quite a few years ago (Driver of a toyota celica passed me, saw a couple of brake lights go on about a quarter of a mile away, swerved in front of me and stopped dead! The bike landed on his roof and I flew over the car and landed in the outside lane of the motorway). The driver jumped out of his car, pulled the bike off the roof then jumped back in and drove away. The police found him at a motorway services near Preston, examining the damage to his car.
At the time they weren't too keen to give me any details of him or his insurance, it took nearly a month and three letters from my insurance company before they released his details! I hope you fare better!
All the best, hope you get back on soon, it's still the only way to travel.
Shadow.
Take care of yourself and I hope your recovery is quicker than anticipated. Keep in touch.
Paka
I truly hope they find that bastard for ya and heal as quickly as possible and take care.
mick
Hey ,
just wondering if you are still with us on this site and if you managed to make any progress on your accident ie finding the f****r :evil: .
Any new arrivals on the horizon of the 955 variety?.
I hope to god they catch the bastard, its bad enough that he hit you but to drive off not knowing if you were dead or alive is unbelievable. I hope they get a good long jail sentence but as usual they will probably just get a slap on the wrist and a fine.
:evil:
Man, I can identify with your situation. Take it slow, and I wish you the best recovery possible.
That "fastest thing on the road" theory is just so lame....it doesn't stop red light runners as I found out last week...now my Tiger is totalled. The Volvo driver actually said she didn't see me....guess I look just like a red light!
My triumph aspen suit held up pretty well. I'm getting some T-pro armour, though. My arai signet got abraded pretty good. I walked away with a sore neck and a few bruises.
Quote from: "tomla"Man, I can identify with your situation. Take it slow, and I wish you the best recovery possible.
That "fastest thing on the road" theory is just so lame....it doesn't stop red light runners as I found out last week...now my Tiger is totalled. The Volvo driver actually said she didn't see me....guess I look just like a red light!
My triumph aspen suit held up pretty well. I'm getting some T-pro armour, though. My arai signet got abraded pretty good. I walked away with a sore neck and a few bruises.
Glad to hear your not too bad mate. Get better soon and keep taking the liquid pain killer. :wink:
There but for the Grace of God............ Not that I'm religous but you know what I mean. Get well.
I haven't been checking the forum much since the accident - trying to get away from the idea of a nice shiny tiger and all that.
Well four months on and no they haven't caught whoever tried to do me in. I can't say that I'm suprised because the level of apathy from the police was astounding. As far as they were concerned there was no debris from another vehicle so that was that. They wouldn't even bother to check cameras. End of story. It has taken a lot of effort for me to get over that.
The bike was scrapped and I received just under £2K less than I had paid for it from the insurance company. As there was nobody to sue all the other expenses i.e. almost £3K of gear has to come out of my own pocket.
To make matters worse the repair job on my knee was shoddy and came apart just before christmas and I had to have more surgery to put it all back together again. Did it on private medical insurance and now I have more wire in my knee than you would find in your average coat hanger, but hey, it's solid and it's not coming apart again.
I can't walk properly just yet but I'm getting there 30 degrees of movement today and hopefully 90 in a few weeks time. Hopefully a few weeks later I'll be able to get back to work although it'll be by tube which will do my head in without a doubt.
I'm not out and about much but on my last trip out (to the hospital) I saw a brand new gleaming Tiger being ridden in Chelsea.
Ahhh happy memories...
Shit luck mate,the road to recovery sounds long and rocky,i cant blame you for not coming here much it must be frustrating :cry: ......
Well, it finally happened to me too. An uninsured driver swerved in front of me on the way home and I hit him side on at around 30mph. I went over the roof and hit the ground, injuring my wrist quite badly. At least it's not broken - just very sore and swollen...im very very lucky. Driver left the scene- but witnesses got the plate. Some bruising on my legs etc but otherwise i'm ok. Bike is damaged quite badly, will know in some days if she's written off.
It all happened in less than a second so nothing I could have done.
I hope to be back on the road assoon as possible but I'm under no illusion that it's going to be a long road.
Crikey. You are right, this sort of thing does happen so fast. Here's hoping for the best to both you chaps.
Regarding your uninsured losses - I'm fairly sure there is a body established to cover these. It's a sort of 'pool' that all insurance companies are forced to contribute to, and from which you can be compensated in circumstances such as yours. It's worth asking your insurance company about, or perhaps your local citizens advice centre for more impartial assistance. I just can't recall the name for the moment, but this service exists and is definitely worth persuing even though I've heard it takes a while (doesn't it always?).
Good luck!
Cripes! Bad luck BP. Where did it happen?
At least someone got the plate for you. You can go after the MiB not the Men in Black, no indeed, you want the Motor Insurance Bureau. Drofsereb was quite right. These guys take a cut of all UK insurance policies to cater for this sort of thing. I don't reckon you'll be able to retire on it though. Trouble is that a lot of these cars are driven by people with very little identity and it can be a hard slog to get the bastard to court. Makes my blood boil. My accident was at 2am with no witnesses so I couldn't apply for compensation.
To give you all an update on what's happening since my prang, I'm back at work now. Started again on Monday. Leg is at 80 degrees and I'm getting around on one crutch. Binned my leathers and helmet at the weekend and am currently disposing of my boxes.
Getting better all the time. I'll be back the in saddle in a while.
BP let us know what happens and if this guy gets away with it. It seems that far too often the guys without insurance, tax or anything get a slap on the wrist whilst the rest of us suffer.
Quote from: "CormacG"Cripes! Bad luck BP. Where did it happen?
At least someone got the plate for you. You can go after the MiB not the Men in Black, no indeed, you want the Motor Insurance Bureau. Drofsereb was quite right. These guys take a cut of all UK insurance policies to cater for this sort of thing. I don't reckon you'll be able to retire on it though. Trouble is that a lot of these cars are driven by people with very little identity and it can be a hard slog to get the bastard to court. Makes my blood boil. My accident was at 2am with no witnesses so I couldn't apply for compensation.
To give you all an update on what's happening since my prang, I'm back at work now. Started again on Monday. Leg is at 80 degrees and I'm getting around on one crutch. Binned my leathers and helmet at the weekend and am currently disposing of my boxes.
Getting better all the time. I'll be back the in saddle in a while.
BP let us know what happens and if this guy gets away with it. It seems that far too often the guys without insurance, tax or anything get a slap on the wrist whilst the rest of us suffer.
I was heading home northbound on Holloway Road. Southbound vehicle turned right fast into my path and I slammed into him 90 degrees.
Completely his fault. Witnesses got his plate but the po-lice haven't been able to trace him. I'll have to go the MIB route.
Regards
I've seen this thing happen too many times. Chances are they'll trace the car to some dodgy bloke who'll say something like 'oh I sold that car last year', which he probably did, to another dodgy mate of his whose name he will not recall.
You need to keep on top of the rozzers because if you're still breathing your case won't be top of their list.
Good luck.