Pointy written off.

Hi all. Just to let you know I was involved in an accident at a notorious junction near where I live. Anyone who lives in the Cramlington area will know the Dinnington / Horton Grange junction.
At the moment ego bruised, left hand still slightly painful + right knee aching a bit. Seems as if the big man upstairs was not ready for me yet
Luckily it was not head on & my riding gear armour took the impact ok. Helmet was scraped around the chin guard but otherwise took no impacts.
I was coming back home 3 weeks ago ( that red hot Wednesday) after a good ride out to Corbridge and came to this stretched out S bend which I have used dozens of times, this incidentally is used by farm vehicles & the mud they drag out in the road is not acceptable. There is also a T- junction at this bend as well and accidents are always happening here I got into the first part of a the right hand section ok, speed was about 20 mph then set the bike up for the left hand bit, for some unknown reason I had moved further over nearly into the crown of the road and was confronted by a car coming up on the other side but on the crown of the road, after a split second decision I dropped the bike, I slid about 10 metres into the grass verge but the car went over the front of the bike & ripped his sump & radiator off, both of us were ok.
The police and paramedics arrived saying, " another incident at this junction!"
After the paramedics checked me over the policeman breathalised me, ok, then we discussed what happened, he suggested the front tyre may have started to deflate after running over something in the road,the car had shattered the front wheel so the tyre was flat anyway.We walked to the area of road and noticed that the road surface tar was soft.
Once all the paperwork was done he was satisfied ( I carried copies of insurance, MOT & driving licence) that I had not been speeding or riding carelessly, 2 walkers confirmed this to him as they passed.
So, bike has been assessed & is not economical to repair, front end damage ony, now waiting for insurance to cough up.
Not sure whether to carry on riding or call it a day, feel like brushing myself down & start all over again. My confidence could do with an uplift, still cannot believe this has happened as I was a careful rider.
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
Best regards to all, keith h

Get back on the bike and stop feeling sorry for yourself!

Unlucky about your spill, but now you can upgrade and power through the muddy bits on the road

Get well soon

mate you binned it, its not the end of the world, and certainly not a reason to stop riding
yes your confidence is in the toilet and your ****ed off but ask yourself these questions
why do i ride
what can i learn from this
would my life improve if i stopped

if you cant give a reasonable answer to the above stop, if you can work out either to keep the bike and fix it or buy a new one ( many threads on here about getting crashed bikes back on the road)

tbh it sounds like you made a mistake and have paid a very small price, i suggest dusting yourself down, sorting out a bike and getting back out there, but only you can judge yourself and what you want

as one of my favourite expressions go "there will be tears before bedtime but it will be alright in the morning"

[littleoldman2]

So sorry to read this Keith. Glad your OK besides the dent in your pride. I use that road a lot. Your right about all the mud on the road. Was that a factor in not being able to take avoiding action. You certainly was taking things steady at twenty. Coming home I often take those two bends at 40- 55 mph depending on conditions and going out a little less as your not sure about the mud till your committed ( tractor often drags the mud from the junction on the left). Have found the second junction to the Business centre and hotel to be more of a problem with cars pulling out so I slow down as I take the second corner to be ready for it. We should meet at the Plough for a chat (and beer). So I can talk you back onto a bike. Don't want to get into fault diagnosis on a public forum. Keep your chin up mate, you've got my number, give me a call for a chat.
For those that don't know the road this is it http://g.co/maps/f6823

[muzikill]

Police told you your front tyre might have been deflated & then they breathalised you (wtf). He should have know EXACTLY how many incidents happen on there. Id be asking if the police report mentions the soft tar on the road, the mud & the oncoming car thats was the real cause of the accident.

Im glad your ok & i would be asking to see the police report that the insurance company will see just in case.

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by davepreston

mate you binned it, its not the end of the world, and certainly not a reason to stop riding
yes your confidence is in the toilet and your ****ed off but ask yourself these questions
why do i ride
what can i learn from this
would my life improve if i stopped

if you cant give a reasonable answer to the above stop, if you can work out either to keep the bike and fix it or buy a new one ( many threads on here about getting crashed bikes back on the road)

tbh it sounds like you made a mistake and have paid a very small price, i suggest dusting yourself down, sorting out a bike and getting back out there, but only you can judge yourself and what you want

as one of my favourite expressions go "there will be tears before bedtime but it will be alright in the morning"

This

Its where I was thinking of, there is a president (of sorts) that makes any debris left by farm vehicles or waggons (inc quarry movements if within a certain distance) that makes the farm/ company liable as they're meant to keep roads useable (they rarely do).
With where this is, there's the farms and open cast in the area so a claim maybe possible

[Bibio]

report the debris on the road to your local council/roads department and ask for written proof of your complaint. if you see more there again report it again asking for more proof. on the third time of reporting it state that they have had 2 prior notices to clean up the mess and any further mess will deemed as them putting life's at risk so any further accidents on that part of the road will be their responsibility and may end up them being sued.

they will then come down like a ton of bricks on the offending individuals.

you can always spot the ones who have had a warning in fife as the 'sweeper wagon' is there for a few weeks until the offender has finished doing what they do, usually farmers. it's cheaper for the farmer to hire a private sweeping company than to face liable in a court as well as heavy fines from the council and roads department.

but you need to report it. if you don't report it they will continue ignoring it.

That sucks, agree that you should report the state of the road, take pics, document it etc, have a good blitz on the paperwork/phonecalls that may help ur insurance claim then draw a line under it all and start afresh. No point in thinking too much into it and what if's etc. We all ride because thats what we enjoy doing, everything we do nowadays has risks. My car sits on my drive all week and i spend twice as long in the mornings getting geared up and getting bike out when i could be half way to work, but i do it because i want to ride, i don't want to drive. Its what makes me happy. If biking doesn't make you happy then perhaps there's good cause to stop, but if you enjoyed it before the accident don't let it tarnish what a great experience it is.

Sorry to read about your off, but glad you're not hurt too much. It's also a pity it has happened just as the weather is getting better.
How bad is the damage, have you had a quote to get it fixed?
I would try the transport alternatives before getting rid, a couple days on the bus and you may view things differently.
You need to learn from it, you will be a better rider or bus passenger.

Hi i am sorry to hear about your accident but the main thing is your still here.

How long have you been riding on the road? If you are having second thoughts about jumping back on a bike, you have got to ask yourself one question.

Why do I ride motorbikes?

If the answer is sheer passion and excitement that no other form of transport offers then you have to just get back on a bike. The longer you leave it the less chance you will have at getting back on one.

3 years ago I had a off due to hitting mud on the road from where gas pipe works had occurred and the contracted company had left the road in such a poor state. I lost the front end at 40mph

I shattered my right elbow into hundreds of tiny bits of bone, broke my wrist in four places, dislocated my finger and tore ligaments in my right ankle. And also wrote of my beloved curvy

I was in hospital for 2 weeks and had two operations on my wrist and elbow. After being put back together with what I can only describe as lots of mechano, I told myself that I enjoyed riding a bike enough to accept the fact that these things happen and since then have owned to pointy sv's.

What I have done is learned from my mistakes and ultimately become a better rider.

So what is the answer to your question?