Muppet Wrote my Bike Off

[Trickster2445]

Well.....

I was approaching a set of lights today at about 20mph with (what I thought was) a safe distance between myself and the car in front :(

As the car crossed the line, the lights turned to amber and he decided to do such a harsh emergency stop that he ended up swerving into the cycle lane to his left and came to a stop completely in the "Cycle" area in front of the car stop line....

I braked as hard as I could and around 1.5 meters from hitting him had to give the front brake a proper fistful causing my rear wheel to lift to about 90 degrees... Funny really, I had time to think, oh my god this is gonna go one of two ways, its gonna come back down square and just hurt my bum when the suspension bottoms out or its gonna REALLY hurt...

Unfortunately, it was the latter as the bike went over to the left down on its side as I kissed his rear bumper with my head :(

Bike looking like a write off but only for cosmetics.... knackered knee and cant move my head without whinging like a 2 year old lol.

Got fully comp insurance so will be claiming for:

Bike
Helmet (no visible damage but its had a knock so needs replacing)
Jacket (marked but did its job)
Pants (marked but did their job)
Boots (marked but did their job)
Injured Knee
Injured neck

Luckily I work in the insurance industry so was smart enough to take a shed load of pics of the scene (other driver didnt and could not get away fast enough after the incident).

When he got out of the car, I asked what the heck he was playing at and he replied that "he couldnt see the lights due to sunshine until he was at the line and they changed to amber so he HAD to stop...)

Even though I was behind him, I am going to pursue under highway code legislation because:

He did not perform sufficient checks according to the Highway code to ensure that as the light changed to amber, it was safer for him and other road users to come to a halt as opposed to continuing

He performed an unjustified emergency stop i.e. had he not done so, there was an above average risk of injury to himself or other persons



Well, wish me luck, I will post my full email to my insurance with pictures etc tomorrow (reg's will be blocked out to protect the innocent etc etc lol).

At the end of the day, although she was ace, she was only plastic, metal and rubber and I will be ok soon enough... Could have been sooooooo much worse :)

On a plus note, there was a pub at the cross roads and after I had dealt with the police (and had permission off my insurance) I pushed the bike in to the car park and a completely random pair of blokes were sat outside, they told me to sit down, asked what I was drinking and bought me a pint!!!!!! Now that restores faith in humanity if nothing else does.....

[Paul the 6th]

feck - get well soon dude. Hopefully the insurance will sort everything smoothly. Maybe worth hanging fire on posting stuff on public forums while the claim/insurance investigation is on-going? Just a thought :)

[Trickster2445]

Good thinking.... I will post my insurance letter after its all sorted... so in the typical ways of the insurance industry, you will hear from me in exactly 4 years 7 months 15 days and 2 hours lol

[Trickster2445]

On a side note girls and boys, I was so uncomfortable in all my gear because it was so warm....

That gear most certainly saved me from more serious injuries. No matter what the weather, get it worn!!!!

Your mum will thank those of you lucky enough to still have one! :)

RIP mum, today is one of those days I REALLY wish you were still around to say "it will be ok son" and give me a cuddle!

Feck me 40 years old and still miss my my mum.... Soft assed git (note to self, DO NOT drink whiskey whilst feeling shaken up).

[Specialone]

Glad you're reasonably ok dude, I've seen people do this countless times at traffic lights, it's perfectly ok to carry on at traffic lights at the point of no return if it turns to an amber light.

I hit a BMW up the back once going downhill in the rain on a clear dual carriageway, driver worked for BMW and it was a company car, he stood on the brakes and I was in a mk4 escort at the time, locked up then pumped the brakes trying to stop, I was gonna go through the amber light too as it was a 40mph road so stopping in the rain was dangerous.

Scratched his bumper, fecked my escort up, but the funny thing was the bloke wouldn't get out his car at first cos I was raging lol

[Trickster2445]

Hurt in places I forgot I had this morning lol

[stuR]

gws

[timwilky]

I have been in the reverse situation. As I approached a set of traffic lights at 60, they started to change so I came to a halt at the line. The car behind me didn't and wrote his car, my bike and left shoulder off.

He initially insisted that I had stopped unnecessarily, fortunately I had overtaken a queue in the left hand lane and the 3 drivers at the front all gave witness statements that at the time I had overtaken them the light were in the process of changing.

6 weeks to settle the claim and get my full valuation and 4 years to settle the PI claim. I am still in pain every day 12 years later, so my advice to all bikers always ride as if you are invisible, just because you are in the right doesn't mean it isn't going to hurt. A little bit of caution and continual situation analysis (the what ifs) save you from a heck of a lot of grief.

Good luck

[PyroUK]

Damn thats unlucky! I didnt realise you could do that with the claim, i hope it all works out for you and GWS!!

I nearly had a similar situation to TW, i was approaching lights at a T junc, heading across the "top" of the t, as they were changing and slowing down. Thankfully i checked my mirrors before coming to a halt and a car was heading straight to my rear at 30mph. had to pin the throttle and cross the lines down the other road just as a cop car was passing. Thankfully i moved far enough out the way but the other car nearly ploughed straight in to the cops. They pulled me over for a statement but that was it.

[TCochrane]

Sorry to hear, get well soon!

[Trickster2445]

Damn thats unlucky! I didnt realise you could do that with the claim, i hope it all works out for you and GWS!!

I nearly had a similar situation to TW, i was approaching lights at a T junc, heading across the "top" of the t, as they were changing and slowing down. Thankfully i checked my mirrors before coming to a halt and a car was heading straight to my rear at 30mph. had to pin the throttle and cross the lines down the other road just as a cop car was passing. Thankfully i moved far enough out the way but the other car nearly ploughed straight in to the cops. They pulled me over for a statement but that was it.

Not looking overly promising at the moment. .. still, its mainly cosmetic so hoping for a write off and buy back.

Only need a few bits...

Clutch lever
Rearset and gear lever along with the bar that connects it
Back end of the bike that attaches to the frame

Any offers off anyone breaking an sv curvy?

I can live with the scratches on the front and rear fairings

[21QUEST]

Well.....

I was approaching a set of lights today at about 20mph with (what I thought was) a safe distance between myself and the car in front :(

As the car crossed the line, the lights turned to amber and he decided to do such a harsh emergency stop that he ended up swerving into the cycle lane to his left and came to a stop completely in the "Cycle" area in front of the car stop line....

I braked as hard as I could and around 1.5 meters from hitting him had to give the front brake a proper fistful causing my rear wheel to lift to about 90 degrees... Funny really, I had time to think, oh my god this is gonna go one of two ways, its gonna come back down square and just hurt my bum when the suspension bottoms out or its gonna REALLY hurt...

Unfortunately, it was the latter as the bike went over to the left down on its side as I kissed his rear bumper with my head :(

Bike looking like a write off but only for cosmetics.... knackered knee and cant move my head without whinging like a 2 year old lol.

Got fully comp insurance so will be claiming for:

Bike
Helmet (no visible damage but its had a knock so needs replacing)
Jacket (marked but did its job)
Pants (marked but did their job)
Boots (marked but did their job)
Injured Knee
Injured neck

Luckily I work in the insurance industry so was smart enough to take a shed load of pics of the scene (other driver didnt and could not get away fast enough after the incident).

When he got out of the car, I asked what the heck he was playing at and he replied that "he couldnt see the lights due to sunshine until he was at the line and they changed to amber so he HAD to stop...)

Even though I was behind him, I am going to pursue under highway code legislation because:

He did not perform sufficient checks according to the Highway code to ensure that as the light changed to amber, it was safer for him and other road users to come to a halt as opposed to continuing

He performed an unjustified emergency stop i.e. had he not done so, there was an above average risk of injury to himself or other persons



Well, wish me luck, I will post my full email to my insurance with pictures etc tomorrow (reg's will be blocked out to protect the innocent etc etc lol).

At the end of the day, although she was ace, she was only plastic, metal and rubber and I will be ok soon enough... Could have been sooooooo much worse :)

On a plus note, there was a pub at the cross roads and after I had dealt with the police (and had permission off my insurance) I pushed the bike in to the car park and a completely random pair of blokes were sat outside, they told me to sit down, asked what I was drinking and bought me a pint!!!!!! Now that restores faith in humanity if nothing else does.....

Glad you escaped without any major damage. And speedy recovery to you.

I have to say I'm a bit confused with regards to attempting to pin fault on the other driver.

I can sort of see where you are coming from but seeing as the driver ended up stopping in front of the 'stop line' , does that actually mean you were either travelling too fast, following too closely or just wasn't being as observant as you could have been.

The obvious question being, if non of the above were applicable, should a competent rider have been able to stop at the stop line?
The vehicle behind you appeared to have had not much issues with not hitting you, considering your emergency stop....?

Perhaps, seeking the make the other driver shoulder all or some of the blame might have had more merit if the driver had stopped just over the stop line.

[SvNewbie]

I have to say I'm a bit confused with regards to attempting to pin fault on the other driver.


Glad it wasn't just me. I mean the driver most likely made the wrong decision in trying to stop, but if the car in front was able to stop within 1/2 a car length of where he should have then shouldn't you have been far enough back to have stopped comfortably at the line? :confused:

[Trickster2445]

No car behind me mate :-)

[Littlepeahead]

Stuart failed his bike test the first time for stopping on an amber. Instructor said it would have been safer to continue. That's fine until someone sets off a bit snappish on a red amber and takes you out sideways.

[Trickster2445]

Fair point guys :-) not gonna argue the ins and outs. At the end of the day i am in one piece and to me and my family that is all that counts. Sod the premiums, I lived to ride another day.

It's only metal rubber and plastic. That's what we pay our premiums for.

[SvNewbie]

Fair point guys :-) not gonna argue the ins and outs. At the end of the day i am in one piece and to me and my family that is all that counts. Sod the premiums, I lived to ride another day.

It's only metal rubber and plastic. That's what we pay our premiums for.

Fantastic attitude mate. Too many people get hung up on blaming the circumstances, as you say you live to ride another day.

[stuR]

From the OP he said the car driver was over the line not before it? Glad your ok mate

[Serdna]

This happened to me once. I had the gf on the back, increasing my braking distance so when this happened up ahead and I braked very hard judging the distance as if i did not have a pillion. I stoppied into the back of the car at around 10mph, im convinced had i been alone on the bike it would have stopped in time. What i tried to take away from that was; swerve, don't brake. That's not always gonna work, but once you target fixate and brake physics is in charge! Oh and also i learned cars do that and to expect it as you have ;)

[Spank86]

Sedna, do both!

At least if you can. Several of the GM guys have had the dubious pleasure of seeing me overtaking traffic on the wrong side of the road whilst grabbing handfuls of brake in one hand and waving a maniacle apology in the other because someone got halfway through turning across In front of us before stopping in the middle of the road after I'd reacted.

I shan't divulge what speed this took place as but i can assure you it was legal somewhere.

[PyroUK]

Like an unrestricted section of the autobahn?

[Fallout]

Yeah, you brake, you assess if you're going to stop in time, and if you're not, you come off the brakes and take avoiding action (if you have somewhere to go). The week before last a truck pulled out in front of me and that's what I had to do, but it was at high speed over a good distance so I had lots of time to make that decision.

[Spank86]

Like an unrestricted section of the autobahn?

You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.:tongue:

[Thunderace]

Sedna, do both!

At least if you can. Several of the GM guys have had the dubious pleasure of seeing me overtaking traffic on the wrong side of the road whilst grabbing handfuls of brake in one hand and waving a maniacle apology in the other because someone got halfway through turning across In front of us before stopping in the middle of the road after I'd reacted.

I shan't divulge what speed this took place as but i can assure you it was legal somewhere.

I remember us doing that either side of a rather surprised biker!:)

[Trickster2445]

Only passed a couple of weeks ago. .. maybe with a few more miles under my belt I could have avoided him a lot better.

Still shaking four days later and head still aching, think I may have to face the eight hour wait in a and e tomorrow :-(

[Spank86]

trick. Half of it is instinct, half experience.


But then half of instinct is experience too :-D

[Fallout]

Every time you get on a bike you increase the risk, but you learn more and in so doing, increase your safety. It's like a constant balance. In theory if you rode for infinity you'd have 100% probability of crashing, but be 100% prepared for anything that was thrown at you. Of course you'd be 100% dead and the universe would've exploded, but details, details!

[Trickster2445]

Alternatively my head may explode from trying to get that fathomed lol

[Trickster2445]

Bike is being treated as a write off, they will have figures for me tomorrow. ..

Let the haggling begin lol, once I have the final outcome I will let you know what blood I get out of the stone.

Wish me luck! !

[ChrisCurvyS]

IMHO you should always ride as though the car in front could do an emergency stop at any time, (and don't insurers always see it as your fault if you go in the back of someone?) but maintaining that sort of distance isn't always practical, especially in traffic.

As others have said, sometimes going round something is better if you don't think you'll be able to stop in time - I'm not proud of it but I once filtered past a line of standing traffic at about 60 (came round a blind bend and there was a HGV doing a three-pointer in the middle of the road).

But it's a lesson learned isn't it - bet there's not many people can say they were doing stoppies two weeks after passing their test!

[lordra]

^^+1
You need to ride as if everyone is out to get you, even the road. Be wary of everyone who passes you, everyone behind you and give dirty looks to any car pulling out of a junction when you're approaching. I always stay in the position 5 of the lane in city traffic or position 1. Try to minimise position 3, especially when pulling up to lights. More xp, that's what its all about! Imagine you're in India or China or Thailand. No rules, everyone's out to kill you in a free for all! That'll help. That's what I do... :D

[Trickster2445]

Well, after some haggling I managed to get 2100 for my X Reg with a 500 buy back. The shop I bought it from is giving me 750 so I came out ok after excess and my gear payout, ended up with 2500 :-)

Got a treck down to the Midlands this week to check out a k3 *ye I know its the "odd man out year" but, the owner already has all the bits and is fitting for me on a 2k mikes bike!!!!

CAnt wait :-).

[Trickster2445]

IMHO you should always ride as though the car in front could do an emergency stop at any time, (and don't insurers always see it as your fault if you go in the back of someone?) but maintaining that sort of distance isn't always practical, especially in traffic.

As others have said, sometimes going round something is better if you don't think you'll be able to stop in time - I'm not proud of it but I once filtered past a line of standing traffic at about 60 (came round a blind bend and there was a HGV doing a three-pointer in the middle of the road).

But it's a lesson learned isn't it - bet there's not many people can say they were doing stoppies two weeks after passing their test!

BuT I proper messed tgat stoppie up lol!!!

[PyroUK]

Fair play mate, that is pretty good going! Glad it has worked out for you and also glad to hear you are getting straight back on the horse!

Have fun and be safe!

[GagginForraPint]

Only a fool breaks the two second rule. Try to keep your distance and keep processing the what ifs as you ride.
And yes everyone is out to kill you so best not to put yourself in dangerous places.
Glad it all worked out though

[davpag1]

Sorry to hear about your situation but I live and drive both a car and a Gladius here in the Philippines.
Something like you describe is a daily occurrence here, along with jeepneys (passenger vans) having no lights at night, no brake lights, pulling over without warning, stopping in the middle of the road to pick up and dropping passengers, pulling out without looking behind. You name it. They do it!
Add to that the taxi drivers doing the same. Mostly bad motorbike riders, exception to the rule are the proper bikers. The dogs and people walking into the road without looking.......the list is endless I could be here all day!
Anyway glad you're OK and a bike can be replaced.

Tks...Ride Safe

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk HD

[aesmith]

Stuart failed his bike test the first time for stopping on an amber. Instructor said it would have been safer to continue. That's fine until someone sets off a bit snappish on a red amber and takes you out sideways.
I would love to have known the full circumstances. Crossing on amber is the same offence as crossing on red, except for the exception where you can't stop safely.

By the way, I find the "stop or go" dilemma clearer by remembering that amber shows for a standard 3 seconds, I find that easier to judge than distance when approaching the line wondering if the lights are about to change.

[lordra]

good info there Tony, 3 seconds, cheers for the heads up!

[lordra]

Got a treck down to the Midlands this week to check out a k3 *ye I know its the "odd man out year" but, the owner already has all the bits and is fitting for me on a 2k mikes bike!!!!


How/whre do you shop for bikes? Apart from ebay and autotradeR?

[Trickster2445]

I found via a forum member here. Deal is near as done.

This place is awesome