RichEdwards Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 You've all heard the stories of the girl on the cellphone causing havoc. Today was my encounter with her. Riding my GSA on the way to a Tampa BMW Club meeting this morning, I was leaned over on a curve heading south. The girl, heading north, drifted over the double-line and side-swiped me. She was on her phone. My left hand protector impacted her left side mirror and her left fender hit my aluminum side case. The force sent the side mirror through her open driver door window, sliced a cut into her arm, then smashed through the glass on her passenger door window. The fender crushed my side case. I'm not sure how I managed to stay up, but I did. The truck's fender: My crushed side case: I was very lucky today and I think the Big Guy in the sky was looking out for me. Link to comment
Bill_Walker Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Whew! That WAS a close one! Glad that you made it through OK. Incidentally, that appears to be one REALLY solid bag mount! Link to comment
David13 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I don't think you dodged the bullet. It looks like it hit you solid. Fortunately, you aren't bleeding or anything. But after the adrenalin wears off, be sure to check for broken bones and things. Based on the damage, you were quite lucky. The mirror cut the girl? Well, she's lucky it didn't slice her head off. Would that be poetic justice if it had? dc Link to comment
Danny caddyshack Noonan Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Rich Not a bullet. You dodged a cannon shell. Those are one of my few nightmares since the closure rates often prevent any reaction except sphincter tightening, which doesn't help BTW. Hope you aren't feeling any latent effects. Link to comment
RevRay Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Whoa, Glad to see your OK, now quick go play the lottery before your luck runs out. Link to comment
Rougarou Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Glad you are ok. I would have looked around for any witnesses, if none, grabbed her phone and beat her senseless with it. When the cops and paramedics arrived, I would have totally blamed her condition on the "accident" Link to comment
Quinn Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Hope there is no dispute about whose fault it was. ----- Link to comment
basilr Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Sure makes me wonder why there is such a resistance to legislation against using cell phones while driving. Link to comment
RichEdwards Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 She admitted that she crossed the center line and that she was distracted by her cellphone, both to me and the police officer who wrote up the accident. She was ticketed. Her father came after she called him. He was on a motorcycle and had some choice words for her. Link to comment
Whip Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I am glad you are alright. Maybe I missed it? Left turn curve or right turn curve? Link to comment
Quinn Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 She admitted that she crossed the center line and that she was distracted by her cellphone, both to me and the police officer who wrote up the accident. She was ticketed. Her father came after she called him. He was on a motorcycle and had some choice words for her. That answers the third question your father would have asked. First is "are you alright?" Second is "How's the bike?" ------- ------ Link to comment
BULLman Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Holy CRAP!!! Glad you're okay... Glad you didn't take your bags off this morning, too. Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Wow! That's as bad as it can get without you crashing. Take real good care of your other eight lives, please! Link to comment
SageRider Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Glad you're OK! Glad you're still with us. Hope the girl learns from this..... Link to comment
Skywagon Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Scary..glad you're ok...When you start to do the repairs, I would have a qualified shop make sure it didn't tweak the frame. Would hate to find out after settlement there is more damage than what is visual. Truly amazing you had the ability to stay up right...good on you! P.S. I am pretty sure it messed up the crown bearing and you will need a new final drive.... Link to comment
barryd Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Congratulations on making it through relatively unscathed. FWIW, it's not just distracted teenagers. I was out for a bike(cycle) ride the other day and watched a cop from the next town over drift over the center line and maybe two feet into the opposing lane in the middle of a blind turn. I happened to be in that opposing lane at the time, but was running just inside the fog line since I wasn't motorized. Link to comment
LBump Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 You are a very lucky man! Count your blessings and I hope that all your future rides are better than this incident. Now, that I've said that... in the last year I've been in two accidents involving 'cell' or 'pda' use by people (younger) that are careless. In both incidents they came across the lane and smashed into my one ton pu truck. One was a hit n run and the other stopped. The one that stopped couldn't provide me with her insurance card because, she said it was on the table at home with a ticket she just got for being on a cell phone... I'm getting pissed offff now... this is like a disease that wont stop. Between the two it cost me 250 each time for the deductible, 1500 for one and 1800 for the other and a Carfax list that is getting longer... Get a good attorney and sue her so she feels it... Link to comment
Kathy R Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 WOW! Scary! It's incredible and joyous that you are AOK. Your bike and accessories did quite a number on the *&%$ who failed to drive responsibly. Link to comment
Richard_D Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I see it every day while I'm riding too. It pisses me off and scares the crap out of me, but even if there was a law, I doubt it would stop. I always try and ride on the right side of my lane if possible. Thank goodness you're o.k. Rich ! Link to comment
RichEdwards Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Left turn curve or right turn curve? Left turn curve for me and tight enough that I couldn't see her coming. I don't think she ever saw me...just heard the crunch. Link to comment
Whip Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 So she wasn't crossing the line to cut the corner, she blew the corner. You should check into Lottery tickets. If you had a pillion they would have been in a bad way. Again....glad you are okay and great job staying on the bike. L Link to comment
algover Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 She admitted that she crossed the center line and that she was distracted by her cellphone, both to me and the police officer who wrote up the accident. She was ticketed. Her father came after she called him. He was on a motorcycle and had some choice words for her. Good for him!! Glad you're OK. Link to comment
tallman Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Rich, just saw this, sux. Glad you came out of it OK. Have them check any frame/subframe places where the impact was transferred to. I'm glad you're leaving me the GT. Link to comment
BIWOZ Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 You should check into Lottery tickets. I think he might have well and truly used up all his luck! Good grief; what a close call! Bruce Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I just saw this thread. Rich, so very glad your ok. I also think its time for lottery tickets. Shawn Link to comment
TyTass Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Wow! And I can't even see the pictures. Happy this accident wasn't worse, but sorry it's as bad as it is. Take care and good luck on the lottery today. Link to comment
Duane n Oregon Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 You are a very lucky man! Count your blessings and I hope that all your future rides are better than this incident. Get a good attorney and sue her so she feels it... WOW! I hope neither my daughter nor I ever have any "accidental" interaction with you. He's uninjured, celebrating how fortunate he is. She's admitted fault so he won't incur any expenses. But you suggest suing her? Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Glad you're okay Rich !!! Politics and Traffic are full of morons the world could very well do without. Being as you are in America, I'd sue her pants off !!!! Link to comment
Nice n Easy Rider Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Get a good attorney and sue her so she feels it... I get pi**ed off all the time when I see drivers with their cell phones up to the ears and not paying attention. And if a teenage girl hit me while using her cellphone I'd be REALLY pi**ed off and I guess the first thought might be to figure out a way to make sure she got a lesson she wouldn't soon forget. But hopefully her father delivered that, and more. But after the adrenaline wore off I'd hope that I would remember how many stupid, sometimes reckless, things I did as a teenager and only by the grace of another power lived to be here today without having killed or injured myself or anyone else. There's a reason we don't usually try teenagers as adults. It's hard to not get upset when they do stupid things but unless we can honestly say we've never "been there, done that" we should try to teach them the errors of their ways and (OK, this one's to provoke all you libertarians out there) put enough regulations in place to try to keep them and the folks they encounter as safe as possible. Link to comment
davidpalm Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Joining the crowd, "great news that you're not seriously injured".. could have been much different, and great job keeping your bike upright and under control... Link to comment
SteveHebert Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Glad all turned out well Rich. That was scary for sure! Link to comment
g_frey Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 You are one of the most amazing riders or one of the luckiest or both. The side case was in the worst position to sustain damage and the fender on the car was in its highest strength position IMO. Amazing. Very good design on your side case support system. Yesterday I had a driver come around a tight blind curve in the mountains halfway in my lane. Usually I run near centerline then cross gradually to hug the inside of the curve but I hugged the inside all the way through that time since I could not see ahead. I hope the driver heard my a****** yell. Sometimes you get lucky. Link to comment
Blake A. Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Last month a few friends were riding in Litchfield, CT. Goldwing 2 up, Harley Ultraglide 2 up, followed by a 64 Pontiac GTO. A young girl in a Mercedes with her father pulled a left hand turn between the Goldwing and the H-D because Daddy told her to take a left into the store. My ultra careful friend the H-D rider grabbed all his ABS brake and t boned her. He kept it upright and I guess the LEO that wrote up the accident was most impressed that he was not shouting at her for being stupid. But she was not distressed enough that she did not find time to go into a store and get herself something to drink while people were cleaning up her mess. He managed to ride it home with $5800 damage. Young female drivers are the worst. I have some of them around, I watch them. Insurance statistics show they routinely travel 10mph above the speed limit and are continually in the thrall of a cell phone. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Insurance statistics show they routinely travel 10mph above the speed limit and are continually in the thrall of a cell phone. Not sure that gets much better with age. My wife is always puzzled why I consistenly get 4-6mpg better from her V8 Grand Cherokee than she does. I don't think she believes me when I tell her that she drives like an ass. Note......I now commute 600 miles a week using her old Toyota Corolla and routinely get between 36-38mpg, 34 and change if I really flog it. She never got better than 34 out of it EVER. I checked it one time for her and she got 27. I don't even think I could do that if I tried. We also have a 1400 minute a month shared cell phone plan that I use about 60min of Link to comment
g_frey Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 How similar our stories are. But I do not call my wife an ass; just not worth the trouble. Link to comment
Nice n Easy Rider Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Not sure that gets much better with age. My wife is always puzzled why I consistently get 4-6mpg better from her V8 Grand Cherokee than she does. I don't think she believes me when I tell her that she drives like an ass. Keith, As someone who is celebrating his 42nd anniversary today I can tell you from experience that "telling it like it is" to the wife on certain issues is not going to get you anywhere - except perhaps for a night or more out on the couch. As the often-quoted prayer goes "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference." Link to comment
Fubar Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 The mirror cut the girl? Well, she's lucky it didn't slice her head off. Would that be poetic justice if it had? dc Poetic justice would have destroyed the cell phone with the flying mirror. Glad you are alright. Amazed your hand didn't get smashed. Glad the bike appears to be fine, considering the impact. How are your trousers? No, I think I can guess. Link to comment
David13 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Fubar No way will I blame the phone. The phone is totally not guilty. Let's place the blame where it belongs. dc Link to comment
RichEdwards Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 Amazed your hand didn't get smashed. The hand protector on the GS did a great job of...protecting my hand! Got the insurance adjuster's estimate of the damages. He spoke to the girl and she admitted that she was at fault and her story matched mine completely. Just over $2000 for the entire array of left hand protector-grip-weight-mirror, then the left aluminum case and its mounting hardware, and finally the muffler which was nicely dented. The dealer will be looking at everything else when they remove the damaged parts. I should have the bike back by next week. Link to comment
Ron_B Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Rich, I'm glad you're OK too. First thought looking at that mashed case is "how flimsy." Second thought, maybe that's a good thing that the case absorbs the shock. Easier/cheaper to replace the case than the wheel, sub-frame and all that. Link to comment
Richard_D Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 http://abcnews.go.com/US/aaron-deveau-found-guilty-landmark-texting-driving-case/story?id=16508694#.T9DBPpizhww Link to comment
Kathy R Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 He spoke to the girl and she admitted that she was at fault and her story matched mine completely. How refreshing! Good for her! I'd like to pat the father on the back! The dealer will be looking at everything else when they remove the damaged parts. I should have the bike back by next week. Excellent. There can be an amazing difference between the adjuster and the mechanic's evaluation. Link to comment
Mike Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 He spoke to the girl and she admitted that she was at fault and her story matched mine completely. How refreshing! Good for her! I'd like to pat the father on the back! The dealer will be looking at everything else when they remove the damaged parts. I should have the bike back by next week. Excellent. There can be an amazing difference between the adjuster and the mechanic's evaluation. Right! I had a car stolen a few years ago and the rent-an-adjuster declared it easily fixable. a conclusion I could see was wrong by virtue of the fact that every panel of the car was tweaked. Hope your experience is better. Link to comment
mikeR1100R Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Great job done by staying alive and in one piece. I and Georgi continue to enjoy our motorcycles but always remember that all it takes to really spoil your day, (or possibly the rest of of your life)is one distracted or inattentive driver. Link to comment
Jim Moore Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Dude! You took out a car with your bike! Righteous! Link to comment
aterry1067 Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Dude, glad you are ok and all came out well! Serious props for keeping it upright! As far as being the "sue happy American," I really do think her fathers' chat was far more effective than any lawsuit would ever be, as far as "teaching her a lesson." As a teen, all she would have seen from a lawsuit is a packet of papers from a lawyer that says her insurance is paying a bunch of money. I.e., someone else is going to deal with it. Her father riding up on a bike though, and then proceeding to explain to her what she just did, probably had a very big impact on this young girl. I'm kinda wondering if the dad didn't ride the bike to enhance the experience ("that could have been me"); I would have. Anyway, good on you for keeping a level head, and glad all is working out well. Let us know how the bike fares during the dismantling inspection. Cheers! Link to comment
Rinkydink Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 So glad your're ok. It's amazing you kept the bike upright and your left hand is still attached! I just hope it scared the hell out of the young girl and with her scoot riding father's certain lambasting she learned her lesson. Like aterry said, just the fact that it could've been her dad on that bike ought to sober her up, for a while anyway... We all did stupid things when we were young, I know it's a miracle I'm still alive. Link to comment
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