One of my clients...

[Ed]

...came in on Friday with his arm in a sling. He fell off a quad bike in Kos on Wednesday, broke his collar bone in 3 places. Only going 5 mph or less when the bike hit a kerb. I asked him if he knew he'd broken it at the time. 'Oh yes, the bone was sticking out through the skin'. He went to the hospital there, where the Greek doctor who set it was chain-smoking, 'nearly jabbed my bloody eye out' said Chris.

[kwak zzr]

did he have good insurance? foreign hospitals can take the pi~~.

[Peter Henry]

Ignore insurance does your man Chris have any common sense? I am going to suggest for anyone to crash a Quad at 5mph indicates a total lack of experience on such a machine.

Why would anyone hire such a vehicle in a foreign country with the potential dangers involved? :shock:

I wait to be corrected though.

[Ed]

Ignore insurance does your man Chris have any common sense? I am going to suggest for anyone to crash a Quad at 5mph indicates a total lack of experience on such a machine.

Why would anyone hire such a vehicle in a foreign country with the potential dangers involved? :shock:

I wait to be corrected though.

Well I won't be correcting you Peter, as the same thoughts crossed my mind. He didn't appreciate me laughing at him, but in the end I felt sorry for him as he was in such pain - the Greek hospital gave him no painkillers :shock:

[northwind]

Ignore insurance does your man Chris have any common sense? I am going to suggest for anyone to crash a Quad at 5mph indicates a total lack of experience on such a machine.


Exactly, you're supposed to ride them into a tree at 50mph like everyone else.

[K]

Or over a gentle hill at full throttle when there's a hitherto unknown hidden dip of about 10' on the other side!

[muddycoffee]

I have also heard some real horror stories about greek hospitals. I know of a man who fell over a wall when drunk about 6 years ago, and he broke both legs and an arm. And had to occupy a greek hospital bed for a week or two before a special medical plane with nurse on board came to fly him home to britain, when he was fit to be moved.

Apparently, his wife had to be his nurse while he was in hospital, she had to wipe his bum and help him with bed pan and all that, and even feed him.

It was so bad in there that she started feeding a bloke in the next bed too, as he only got one visit every few days, and was starving.

[kwak zzr]

foreign hospitals are much better than our ones in england because you pay for it all over there where as our nhs hospitals are always cutting corners.

[muddycoffee]

foreign hospitals are much better than our ones in england because you pay for it all over there where as our nhs hospitals are always cutting corners.

That is rather a sweeping generalisation.
I think you will find that many countries have health systems very similar to our own, some better and some worse.

When you go abroad and take your E111 (or the new euro heath card) you won't have to pay for emergency treatment in most of europe, as we operate a reciprocal agreement.

[wyrdness]

Why would anyone hire such a vehicle in a foreign country with the potential dangers involved? :shock:

I wait to be corrected though.

Too right. I hired one in New Zealand. Nearly drove the bloody thing down the side of a ravine as I instincively tried to countersteer the bars and turned right instead of left. I hadn't realised the extent to which I countersteer on a bike without even realising.
I had to relearn handlebar steering very quickly.

[Captain Nemo]

Why would anyone hire such a vehicle in a foreign country with the potential dangers involved? :shock:

I wait to be corrected though.

if youre gonna die.

do it somewhere warm. :twisted:

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I survived having my appendix out in a Greek hospital. The nursing wasnt too great, but other than that it was ok. Well, appart from the pain, of course.

[tricky]

Why would anyone hire such a vehicle in a foreign country with the potential dangers involved? :shock:

I wait to be corrected though.

Lots of people do, I was in Stallis, Crete last year and hired quads where everywhere.
Some peeps seem to think because its only quad and they're in a foriegn country, that its ok to ride them ****ed too. :roll: :(

[Ceri JC]

Why would anyone hire such a vehicle in a foreign country with the potential dangers involved? :shock:

I wait to be corrected though.

Probably a case of "****-it: I'm on holiday!"
IE excuse to do anything, no matter how stupid, out of character or dangerous it is, simply because they're on holiday.

My best mate (who rides, but had never been on a quad before) hired a quad when he was in Mexico. Several beers and driving it through sand dunes at 30mph he managed to roll it. Needless to say, he didn't have any lid or indeed anything other than shorts, t-shirt and sandles on. When in the UK, he won't ride in jeans and t-shirts and wears armoured leathers even on 5 minute trips across town.

I always laugh when people who say I'm mad to ride a motorbike, who've never ridden are quite happy to hire MOT-failable, never been maintained scooters, good for 50mph with awful brakes and ride them at high speeds around crowded Greek towns, wearing nothing but beachwear.

[muddycoffee]

Some peeps seem to think because its only quad and they're in a foriegn country, that its ok to ride them p*ssed too. :roll: :(

Many countries in europe have far stricter rules about blood alcohol levels than we do.

When I hired a 100cc scooter to travel around Corfu, the only people who ventured out of the actual resort town were those who were themselves experienced bikers. We explored much of the south of the island and had a wonderful time finding hidden and uncrowded places, doing quite some milage in the process. Back to the resort, all the stupid tossers were still riding up and down the main road endlessly barely clothed and without helmets.
No wonder the reps tell everyone not to hire bikes under any circumstances, I bet there are loads of injuries.