I killed my bike on death hill (WITH PICS)

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

Well after all that----how you doing?Have you got a lawyer yet?Was the other driver insured?You got away with it so these are your priorities now.It's a bad job but make the most of it.

I'm not too bad considering. I have been in touch with White Dalton and they will probably take my case on. The insurance side is an absolute nightmere, the police have all the information that i need to tell my insurance company but they won't give it to me until the investigation is over. My solicitor said it might take the police anything up to 6 months to sort out.
I was furious the other day when i found out that i was being charged for recovery and storage for my bike!!!! Had to pay £300 to get it back for 6 days storage.
Got the police coming around tomorow to take my statement so i'm going to give him a grilling!

my case is with the solicitors now and its going nowhere fast christ knows what there up to but nothing seems to be happening?

I find the writing on the bikes tank very chilling.

RED Im glad to hear you're "well" after your smash.
Its unfortunate you had to meet an irresponsible truck driver at that time and place.
As stated previously by both "sides" there are good and bad drivers in every vehicle.
You met a bad one and it ended up better than it could have done.

I got hit by a bus at the start of the summer. When i say "got hit by" I mean it, he hit me from the right side at a junction just after some roadworks and men with stop/go sticks.
The bike spun 180deg and slid down the road 90deg to the direction i was goin.....i stayed on top of it somehow which saved me dragging off the ground or under it.

I was lucky enough to be able to get off it and roar and shout abuse at the driver.
Not one car driver/van driver/truck driver/biker that was stopped in traffic came over to see if i was ok.*to be fair i probably didnt look very approachable what with all the shouting*

The bus driver admitted liability instantly and asked if he could move the bus out of traffic to where he was planning on parking it. i moved the bike, he parked up the bus in the yard he was heading to .

I calmed down, we spoke....
Turned out he was a lovely guy, very upset at it all, apologised profusely, and as it turned out he was looking down the length of his bus to make sure no bikes were there as he turned.
The manner in which the traffic was stopped by the roadworks was badly done, we went over to where he had been waiting and he couldnt have seen me until i was right in front of him because of the position of 2 parked diggers.

For my own part, he had his indicators on, it was a broken white line, my attention got taken by a car that approached fast and broke late from the lhs.....by that time the bus had started his turn from stopped and i was in a bad place to be. Smack. Partially lack of proper observation on my part. had i been going slower I wouldnt have been there(but would have been crawling along..was doing 30kmh as it was))....had i been going faster.....the impact probably would have been harder. I would have had to be going a good bit faster to avoid it that way. Had i used my horn when i saw the situation develop it may have given me enough room to get by assuming he stood on his brakes without delay.

I was uninjured apart from a sore shoulder for a few days, the bikes fairings(all 3 front pieces and headlight)/bar ends/levers/pegs/fairing/exhaust/front hugger had to be replaced...bike shop recieved a cheque to cover the damages(from bus company...not driver) 3 days after the damage quote. The owner of the company rang me on numerous occasions to see how i was/ask if i needed transport/rental car etc.... i got a rental car. Paid up for doctors bills/physio without question....even gave me money for a few pints.

There was absolutely no way we could pin any blame on the council as they had their road works finished and gone in record time.....amazing really.

I gained nothing from this incident financially.....nor did i want to. My bike got fixed asap, i was uninjured, i was not out of pocket, and i learned a lesson on observation.
I met a good driver in a bad situation....as it turned out a family member knows him from working with him, and the story on the guy is sound...driving busses/trucks/taxis all his life without incident. One bad situation, one smack.

Your guy unfortunately is different....no lights, broke a solid line. its fairly clear cut. Is there anything you could have done differently? Thats up to you to decide in time and with hindsight.
I sincerely hope your claim goes well....its unfortunate it has to go to insurance.
A new bike and gear,and your doctors/physios bills and a rental bike/car to get you about would be less in straight cash for a truck company than insurance hikes over a few years.

Additionally the driver may lose his job. He may well be an inconsiderate irrespossible moron who didnt put a moments thought into what he did and it nearly cost you your life.....or he may be a hard working sound man who made a genuine costly mistake due to fatigue....thats not for any of us to decide here.

No one class of road user is reliably bad. Hgv drivers are my favourite users on my commute, which is 160km per day from one side of ireland to the other(return the following day). Out of the 40-50 trucks I come up behind every day, i have to say approx 2 or 3 fail to see me/pull in. Thats my own opinion from 2 years of doing the same commute.

I think you just met a bad one at the wrong time. No consolation for anyone if you had died, I agree, but neither would it be consolation if the guy had an excellent record of driving,rospa certs,and taken advanced courses etc..etc. NOTHING would be consolation.

You didnt get killed or badly injured, your bike is damaged, you dont seem to be at fault. In many ways you're very lucky and you have the opportunity to take a lesson from this situation,whatever that may be.
Dont forget to get receipts for any cost to you now...storage bill, busses,taxis etc...... it's all claimable back(minus what your bike running costs would normally be) from their ins if your solicitor knows what he/shes at.

Best of luck with it, and again, Im glad you're ok. Thanks for the piece, it was very honest and emotive of you.

Thank you, I think that is one of the best posts I have read on this site.

Its very sad that this thread has been sullied by a few insulting posts when there have been some beautiful pieces of writing in it as well. Redeye, hope you get everything sorted out painlessly and as quickly as possible. If everyone can just remember, you can't generalise about any type of road users, so stop it.

Remember,

Never ever ever generalise!

Originally Posted by northwind

White vans are involved in statistically less accidents than they ought to, by the way.

Of course, 'cos they always drive off after they've run you over

Originally Posted by Warthog

Its very sad that this thread has been sullied by a few insulting posts when there have been some beautiful pieces of writing in it as well.

Nice writing... and kittens. Probably just forgot to mention that, right? Best kitten you've seen in a while? Right Warthog? RIGHT???

Dont make me post up a cute puppy dog. I'll do it. I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL DO IT.

*sigh* yes Phillip, and some nice kittens too, well done.

Originally Posted by redeye321

Thank you, I think that is one of the best posts I have read on this site.

Lol, well..thanks for the compliment.
Its a pita getting a smack....it really is. But after about 2 hours I honestly wasnt worried about it, more in life to get down about

My situation as per liability was sorted out within 10mins after it happened, i guess you dont have that comfort yet, but you've nothing broken on yourself, and nothing long lasting i hope.... I tell you something though its a bloody scary experience !
All i remember is realising i was going to get hit by a bus...fuppin hell.....I do distinctly know i took my hands off the bars at the last moment so my fingers wouldnt get caught up in the levers....lol...the things you think of Next thing i know everyhting is upside down and the sliding stops...then i wait for the pain to hit...... I cant describe how relieved i was to be able to get up and shout at the guy ......


.....he told me he was glad to see it too, because from his point of view i looked dead until i stood up !


Its kinda nice to know a complete stranger held your hand and comforted you... just reaffirms yer faith in the world a small bit.

[Red ones]

Sorry to hear about your off, glad to hear you are OK though.



In defence of HGV drivers I find most of them very courteous. I distrust White Van Man though. Why? I believe it is because HGV man has a tough test to pass to get in the cab, WVM has an ordinary car licence and no additional training to drive something so much bigger, bulkier and with far less vision than a car.