3 weeks a rider, lucky to get home

[BigTed]

We had a new neighbour move in about 3 doors down. I noticed Adam (the dad, about 35 yrs old) had regular visits of motorcycles on weekends, at which time he'd roll out his new Honda CBR 250 with L plates. He'd seen my ST and a quick chat revealed his newly discovered passion for bikes - grin from ear-to-ear.

This stream of visitors went on for about 2 months then stopped, so he'd got his licence. Late one night (near midnight) I was watching telly in the front room and saw the flashing lights of an ambo in their driveway: Adam was climbing aboard the stretcher with arms bandaged and a neck brace on. I thought that he must have had a fall at home, 'cos why would the ambo be collecting him from home late at night.

A few weeks past and bumped into his wife in the driveway and got chatting. The ambo was there because he'd just returned from 3 weeks in hospital after a m/c crash and they thought he was having a heart atack.

He'd had his licence for about 3 weeks then t-boned someone who pulled out infront of him. 2 cracked & 3 crushed vertebra, 2 broken arms, 7 broken ribs, both lungs punctured, and a perforated liver.

His wife said she was called to the hospital to say her good-byes as they didn't think he'd make it through the night.

Yesterday I saw him in the front yard talking to some visitors, when they left I wandered over to chat. He's now on the mend: still in a neck-to-hip back brace but his plaster casts are off. He still suffers lots of pain. The brace can come off in a few weeks. He's hoping to start work sometime next year. He was an underground cable layer - not anymore. Hopefully his company will find him a desk job, if they can keep a position for him at all. He's used up all of his annual and sick leave already.

He said he still sees me leave every morning on the ST, but he won't be riding again - his choice, not his wife's. Tears welled up in his eyes.

I don't know the exact details of how the crash happened. Was it inexperience, speed, bad car driver, road conditions, etc..... I'm sure I'll find out at some point, but I think he'll find it hard to talk about for a while yet.

R.

[Abe]

Rob, you may have a pillion in the future????. Thankfully he's still above ground.

[Brock]

Was it inexperience, speed, bad car driver, road conditions, etc.

Probably a combination of all. It takes a long time for the brain to be trained to recognise and react to hazards before we consciously can react. If you think about it, you will find its happening to to you all the time.

If he will be getting on the back as a pillion in the future, make it a shortish ride maybe to a coffee shop or something for the first few, till the confidence returns

[terrydj]

My wife of over 35 years and pillion for maybe 38 decided to get her Motorcycle License and having got it????
Rode once for the first time with her full license to her work (First time Solo), and when she got home said the bike was for sale, and has never ridden since.
Now here's a person that has seen all the risks and the fools on the road from the back of a bike for maybe 38 years but when she was in control of a bike, first outing said enough was enough.

" She had with that statement my full support"

She's still my pillion

Seen too many fools that can't even get out of a McDonald's Car-park without crashing/falling still keep riding. Ahhhh but also seen them same experts tell everyone who will listen how to ride

[Malcolm6112]

It's like my friend Lindsay who was knocked off his bike in Rockingham. He was riding behind his wife, on her bike, home from having coffee together. She witnessed the accident in the rear view vision mirrors.

It's been just under a year now. Lindsay is now starting to walk again, right shoulder is still sore with no strength. His wife doesn't ride any more. The case is still going through the courts.

 

[Sabie]

Ah Poor Buggar. Don't ya feel sorry for stories like that. The enjoyment he'll now miss, but still thankful he has his life.

Poor Buggar

[Shiney]

Rob, Malcolm
Please keep us advised on how things go for both the guys and pass on our condolences and best wishes for the future.

Cheers
Shiney

[Whizz]

Jeez, you have to feel sorry for these blokes, Sods law says some will suffer early so that averages look OK, but you have to feel for them and their families!!! Life's a real bitch sometimes!!

[horizontal]

Terry,
  my wife did exactly the same thing. her comment was the amount of concetration required took away any enjoyment of riding. Does any one think the current learner laws are to blame for any of these type of accidents. ie 100hrs of supervised riding/driving. How many l platers do you see on the highways driving to who knows where just clocking up hours.
      rant over Greg

[KiwiRider]

For what its worth, I got my full licence in NZ when I was 15. A 10 minute riding test and a written test and that was that. Straight out onto my brothers GS1000 for a weekend ride.

Apart from one stupid act on my part, when I ended up hitting a bridge pontoon, I have never been involved in an accident beyond the odd drop on a wet corner - and yes it was wet and oily - honest!!.

My point is that it is too easy to point the finger at motorcycle rider training. Stupidity cannot be trained out, my prang was because I was being stupid!. There needs to be some careful analysis of the causes of accidents involving motorcycles and the causes adressed. They may be rider training, but I doubt that will be the most significant cause. No amount of training will make car drivers better or more aware of motor cycles, which I think is perhaps a bigger factor as is stupidity on behalf of the rider, which too cannot be trained out.

I also agree with the previous comment that it does take years for the intuition needed to accurately predict the actions of other road users and if you get through the first few riding years relatively unscathed then you will be well on the way to developing that feel for the road. That can simply not be taught, only learned by time on the road.

[Nh478m]

I really feel it for all those mentioned in the cases brought up in this thread and I hope that as many as are able to, get past their problems and injuries ok.

Thankfully my wife is still perfectly happy to be my pillion. She freely admits she could never ride but she's happy on the back and she too is developing an eye for spotting hazards. The old thing about two pairs of eyes being better than one is spot on, though I have been known to turn the intercom volume down after a while!!

Good luck to all.

PJ

[BigTed]

I caught up with Adam again... he's now working 2 days a week, while getting lots of physio to strengthen his upper body. He was quite chipper, so I asked how it happend. While he can't remember the details, it was a classic mistake....

Car in front of him turning left (from left-turn lane). As he passes, car in side-street pulls out across the road turning right: bike obscured by car turning left.

Contrary to his previous statements, he hinted he may still get back on a bike, but not for a while.... having his family called into hospital to say their good-byes was a bit of a shocker to say the least. So, he has to work on them for a while yet.

[Whizz]

Typical example of what back windows are for...not just the driver in the car seeing behind him, but the bike (or car) behind him seeing what's in front of him. I have found over the years that I am not really looking at the brake lights of the car in front of me, but rather at the brake lights of the car in front of the car in front of me, or even two cars in front of him if I can see them! The more warning of d**ckheads I can get the better I like it!!

Wish you neighbor all the best for a speedy recovery, from the list of injuries I reckon he is lucky to still be walking around at all, so don't let him push the 'back on the horse' idea, let him get used to still having working legs first!

[dougcthr]

Something very similar happen to a neighbour of mine... He had his CBR 1000 for about 5 weeks before writing it off... Luckily he was not hurt too badly except for his pride...

I very much believe there is an unteachable skill, ability... 'spider sense' call it what you want.. Either you have it or you don’t...  It is as effective in a car but a very noticeable for a bike rider.  How many of you almost instinctively know when a car is going to pull out in front of you or change lanes without so much as a glance in the mirror or windows? I have ridden large bikes in city traffic for decades with countless near misses but to date no one has hit me… (I am also yet to prange the car!!)

I would not call myself a passive rider and generally throw the ST around in the traffic… I do, however know my limitations and ride to the conditions. But I am sure I know what some people are going to do even before they know!!   

I went out for a long ride with a large group some months back and could pick the one bloke, who was to eventually put his machine down, after only a few minutes of riding… He did not have that skill even though he had a full licence and had ridded for years… Of note he had more than his share of both car and bike accidents – putting it all down to just ‘bad luck!!’

[Whizz]

Doug, I wholeheartedly agree with you, I'm not saying that I'm a good rider, I'm probably not...but I do seem to be able to pick the wrong-un, the one who is brain-dead, or simply not connected. I've had a few near misses but they have been misses (i.e. not hits) by my doing not the other twerp on the road. I think a lot of it is doing things without actually realising you are doing them, like the looking through the rear window of the car in front of me for traffic in front of him thing I mentioned previously, and a whole host of other stuff. I also think that if you stop to analyse exactly what you do do, you'll kill yourself with indecision. It all comes down to synaptic responses, those things that we do so fast that our brains don't get a look in on the process, but if we didn't do them we'd be toast. That sort of reaction is not a natural thing, it is a learned response to a set of circumstances, but it takes time to learn...God willing we stay upright long enough to actually learn them!!

[Brock]

You are right Whizz,

A tech term is Situation Awareness, a means of being aware without being aware of it. Its learning all the signals that the others give of like looking at you and not seeing, the slight change of position of a wheel. The brain is an amazing organ and can process huge amounts of information in the subconscious.

[Nh478m]

I am glad to hear some good news about those affected through this thread and...

...I have to admire the amount of good sense put out by individuals on this forum.

Brock mentions situational awareness and Whizz talks about 'Spider Sense'. Never heard the latter but most of my life has been spent using the former. Spider sense works for me probably a bit better than the more formal version because it vividly refers to having a finger or point of attention out at all times checking what's going on in as many directions as you can manage.

I find that being a nosey sort of person helps, you always want to know what's around the corner but you've got the good sense to not rush into it in case it's not too healthy! Of course, we can all be caught out though and that's where the next bit of good sense comes in.

How many who reckon they are good riders, go through their allotted time without incident? Probably not as many as those who reckon that whilst being competent riders, they still can learn something each time they go out on a ride and that because of that they need to pay attention. We don't know what we don't know and no-one knows everything there is to know.

It is a pity that the point about it being not always possible to train stupidity out of someone is true.

Right, back to work but that's only for another three weeks before I retire properly. Yay!!!!!!