My first off/accident - Miss my bike already!

Hey everyone,

So Ive been riding around London for about 5weeks now with my much loved SV!

Happened last Thursday. I was riding in lane 2 of 2 (metal divide to the right, flowing traffic lane1) going into central London, just about to enter Blackwall tunnel. Keeping the whole 2seconds+ distance from the car in front, tunnel ahead was clear (could see past the car), then suddenly, the Car stops to almost a standstill - no time to react, cos the DAMN brake lights of that car didn't light up (which trust me, takes away from reaction speed)...

So 1 second im doing 30mph behind a 30mph car, the next im riding straight into a metal Bmw boot!...Grabbed some front and hit some rear, but too late. Hit the rear of the car at just under the speed i was doing, went flying forwards, and landed flat on on my back just inside the tunnel!...(amazingly, I had just come back from a bike shop, and was wearing my brand new forcefield pro back protector) - absorbed the impact!

the momentum lifted my head up from the ground as i landed, and my bike hit the back of my helmet (luckily at a speed not high enough to cause serious damage). Got straight up (was grateful i could walk), asked the driver Wtf???...and he said "sorry my gearbox jammed, i was changing it from sports mode to normal mode" or some **** like that!!..

i was fuming. initially no pain, but the adrenaline wore off, and my neck started to hurt. also, my balls dented the fuel tank, and really started to hurt as time went on. Ambulance came - checked the spine at the hospital...Ultrasound on kidneys and balls, and discharge after 4 hours!...
My right leg also hit the ground violently, and still hurts after 1week of anti inflammatories. If I hadn't been wearing full leathers, boots, back protection, I might not have been so lucky!

My bike accident repair quote is £5808!! ie, written off. The bike was trashed, and almost everything you can think of needs replacing! Im going through Rider Support to help me with my claim - never easy when you rear end someone! Off-duty police biker saw the whole thing, so have him as witness...

im peeved, cos this has never happened to me in my car driving life, and the one time a person's gearbbox jams and im on 2 wheels!
Really grateful I got off lightly, but i REALLY miss my bike, and this sucks. Im a student and poor, and now don't think i can forseably afford a bike for another few years! (thirdy party cover only)!

wow, that could be really horrible, so I guess his car suddenly stopped with no brake lights?! That is very hard to see in a tunnel. And hard to prove too, hope that off duty copper can help you.

[Dave20046]

Grr sounds painfully familiar.
You need someone to confirm his brake lights weren't working quick, you also need statements from everyone you can the sooner the better. Because you rearended someone it always goes down as your fault, your only chance of split responsibility/no fault claimage is if you can prove his brake lights didn't light up or prove whatever happened was his fault. Hard to do though.
Goodluck


PS. my accident was at 50 and the bike had a LOT of damage - repair bill came to £300

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by Warthog

wow, that could be really horrible, so I guess his car suddenly stopped with no brake lights?! That is very hard to see in a tunnel. And hard to prove too, hope that off duty copper can help you.

Just wondered if the car stopped because of the gearbox jam and not the brakes as this would explain no brake lights. Be prepared for the counter argument of 'you should be able to stop safely at any time on your side of the road if not you were to close'

Originally Posted by Dave20046

PS. my accident was at 50 and the bike had a LOT of damage - repair bill came to £300

really?..how du get that. Apparently the replacement of SV parts is around £4000 alone, + £1000 labour costs!


Yeeh I know, they are gonna throw that one me. The whole you should be able to stop for a cat/dog/kid at that distance argument is hard to respond to.

But as his gear brakes jammed, he would have lost a lot of speed quickly - but not because he was braking (hence the no brake lights). But when you're about to enter a tunnel dual carriageway, with a double white line in between lanes, you are looking beyond the first car. Clear road. When riding/driving, we react to brake lights, not the changing velocity of cars, as that takes that little bit longer to register. So by the time I even noticed this guy had slowed (and was focusing), I had little time to react to braking, so rear-ended him.

I know how the insurance will probably pan out. That just adds so much to the darned frustration!!
I just really wanna be on 2 wheels again, and its gonna be sooo long before I am!

So your ok thats good. If your still having problems with injuries get them checked out further just in case, I did for an injury and thankful now getting treatement. (I didn't crash) But really get any injuries treated and sorted out first.

Also what is actually broken on the bike? Some of bits may be found cheap enough; you could get going as a priorty then make it look nice when you have more money.

What did your witness actually see and say? What did you say to the police and what did they say to you?

As for the actual fixing of broken bikes, I'll let the experinced guys answer those questions.

Best of luck, I hope it all works out.

sorry to hear pal, its bad losing your pride and joy but at least your ok, thats the main thing!

I am sorry to hear about your accident and your bike but glad you got checked out and are relatively okay. Did the off duty police officer hear the guy admit it was his fault? GWS, Foxy

Glad you`re not too badly hurt and sorry bout your bike.

I`m curious tho... you hit the boot of the car and when you say you went flying forwards I assume you mean over the car and you landed on the floor in front of it? How did the bike carry on moving to hit the back of your head?

[husky03]

bad luck dude -least your balls are ok so thats what counts