Became a Statistic

Well, I guess it was bound to happen commuting in LA. Coming home yesterday and got in a accident. The thing is I don't remember nothing, maybe cause of the concussion. Here's the story, coming home in the carpool lane at normal speed as the rest of the cars, 35-45, and a car jumps the double yellow and crashes into me. The bike goes sliding and I guess I hit the center divider, that's what the witness told me. Thank goodness for my RF1100 and gear! I managed to get back on the bike and ride home another 25 mins in traffic, who knows how???? It could have been worst, only came out with a concussion and a little bit of body aches. Well, what I need know is advise. How do I convince my family to let me keep riding? By the way, the lady told her insurance a different story and they said their not liable. They said I am at fault ATGATT!

 

Sorry to hear about this. At least you not only walked away, but you rode away! Why didn't you call the police and have a report made out? Did you get the name and number of the witness so that they can act on your behalf with the insurance company? Without a police report and a witness, you might be out of luck.

 

Dude- WTF!?


There's no way you should have left that scene without a proper L.E. report & a once over by the paramedics. I can't believe you up & rode off. A delayed concussion could have killed you... Best of luck...

 

I don't remember anything, I didn't know the day of the week, year, etc. So I guess I can't say why I didn't call CHP. The witness gave me his # and has been really cool. He already spoke with the insurance on my behalf along with the other people in the car with him that witnessed the accident.

 

Man you are lucky you found your way home. Glad your OK.

 

NOT COOL! Sorry that you got hit but glad you were able to ride back home, but you probably shouldn't have. I get that being disoriented probably added to your getting back on, but the drivers and witnesses should have called the paramedics.

With that...

If she crossed the double yellow into the carpool lane I would say that she's at fault. Although you see cars do this all of the time, most don't get caught. My wife's friend actually got caught crossing into the car pool lane and got a ticket. The car pool lanes have entrance/exit points that are marked by dotted white lines, otherwise the double yellow indicates that you can not enter/exit the lane.

This is from the CA DMV website...
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/curriculum/Unit 4.pdf

04.C.06(4)
In some cases, one or more sets of parallel solid yellow lines are
also used to separate carpool lanes from normal traffic lanes.
Do not cross over these lines to enter or exit the carpool lane.
Wait until the lines are broken or for some other designated
place to enter or exit the lane. (Carpool lanes are discussed in
more detail under white line markings.)"

Now it may be too late, i don;t know, but if you have the witness' information and the perpetrators too, I think you have a strong case against this person. As far as convincing your family, not quite sure, but my wife has totally supported me riding and knows that there are dangers, whether that be on a bike, in a car, or even walking down the street. She knows that I am very cautious and safe rider and would more than likely not have an issue it this were to happen to me in the same manner. If it consistently happened, then that's another story. She knows how important riding a motorcycle is to me but also wouldn't want to loose me if not riding reduced my chances of being seriously hurt or killed.

This is from the CHP web site...

Can motorcycle riders "split" lanes and ride between other vehicles?
Lane splitting by motorcycles is permissible but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.

This is from the CA DOT website...
What's an HOV lane?

Q What's an HOV lane?
A. "High Occupancy Vehicle" lane, or car-pool lane. The central concept for HOV lanes is to move more people rather than more cars. Some HOV lanes carry almost half of the people carried on the entire freeway. Regular "mixed-flow" lanes are never converted to HOV lanes. Rather, HOV lanes are always added to existing facilities. Each vehicle that travels on an HOV lane must carry the minimum number of people posted at the entrance signs. Usually that means at least two people, or in some cases three people. Each child counts as an occupant, but pets, infants still in the womb, inflatable dolls or ghosts do not (we've heard 'em all). Violators are subject to a minimum $381 fine. Exceptions: Motorcycles, even those carrying just one person, are allowed to use the HOV lanes. Some HOV lanes are in operation only during certain hours, which are posted. Outside of those hours, they may be used by all vehicles.


I hope things work out for you and make sure you have your family keep an eye on you for a while.

 

More like "become a statistic" (and make others statistics with ya)

Dude, you may not be the ideal candidate to start riding again without Obamacare.

Let your lawyer figure things out for you...glad you're all right though!

 

Hey! Treat your memory loss as a blessing and go onto the next point! Put the past out of your mind and your arse will follow, right? No-body has to know...everything is kewel, I wrote one helmet off only once and boy did I have an aching head-ache the next day.

 

Good to hear you are OK. Don't know where lane splitting comes into play here but California is one of few if not the only place that allows that. May be others can't be sure. But I did some lane splitting a couple years back heading south along the 101 out of San Fran and that was scarey shit right there.

I am surprised not only that you personally could ride, although should not have, but the bike was ridable, but probably really wasn't. Not without at least a very thorough inspection first at those speeds.

As far as the family goes, good luck on that. As long as you compare same driving habits, I don't think you are any more likely to become involved in an accident on a bike than you would in a car. But I suppose that would be arguable. But the end result is certainly to be different. With me, I'm fairly new to the game. Been down a couple times but nothing bad or even close to. Wife is aware. But she also understands I tend to take a few more risks than the next person in Averagesville, British Columbia, Canada. Family needs to get over it. You decide then if you choose to keep on riding, tell them to deal with it. I am the toughest son of a bitch in my family....most the time....occassionally....well the wife is not home right now. I wonder if she is monitoring this site?

 

Nice that the bike had a steel shift lever. If it was todays aluminum you woulda been screwed. I rode my VFR back after every skirmish, thank goodness. One place in particular I would not have had a bike to come back to if I turned my back. Old stuff is tougher than the new stuff.

 

Thanks for the replies. I always considered myself a cautious rider. Hardly split lanes and always within the speed limit or the same speed as ongoing traffic. The thing is you could be a cautious rider but there is always driver that isn't. I have been pretty good in regards to being safe-one year riding-LA traffic-150 miles a day-32000 miles in a year-first accident.

 

Is the asshole driver's insurance Farmers? This sounds like what they do.

Get a lawyer and all your communications with the insurance company have to go through him/her. I say you have additional damages with the memory loss that led to greater endangerment and the offending driver's lack of response makes things worse. If the offending driver didn't report it to the police, that is additional criminal charges. That might help your civil case. Lane splitting is legal in California, so EVERYTHING that asshole did was illegal and endangered the public.

I say go after the punk ass with everything you've got.

Jose

 

I'm with DaHose on that. If the other driver's insurance company is saying they aren't liable, then screw it. Hit 'em, and hit 'em hard. Get an attorney (I hate them; but sometimes they have a use) who specializes in this stuff, put them in contact with your witnesses, and nail that barsteward to the wall.

 

Glad youre OK and listen to tinker: Lawyer up!

 

Anybody in SoCal have any recommendations for a lawyer? I think I might have to go that route.

 

Very good point tink. Doctor is a must. Stuff in writing about injuries is very important for a lawsuit. I only know a public defender out of Long Beach. I hope a member can help you find a good injury lawyer.

Jose

 

Sorry to hear about that, shit happens on a motorcycle. Glad your OK and you know that gear works! Your walking around proves it. Good luck with the whole ordeal.

Now what to tell your folks. Tell them that there are two kinds of motorcyclists in this world. Those that have gone down and those that haven't yet. You've already been down. So you're good to go for long awhile. Plus that gear works and you wear it all the time. That's been proven, right?