50 years riding, and first crash -- in the ER

[oldapeman]

Yes, it has finally happened after 50 years of riding. Riding along 2nd street in sf, headed to the bridge around 6:45 pm. Going slow, certainly less than the 25 mph speed limit, in the left lane. The right lane is coming to a stop due to traffic. As I pass a woman in a sedan she does a quick swing trying to enter my lane, right into my front tire. I go down hard on the left side.

I wound up laying on my back in the middle of the street, and never managed to get up again. Pain on my left side, ankle, hip, knee and shoulder, plus lower back pains. A couple of guys keep me from trying to get up. Sirens, ambulance and police arrive, and make sure to check me out. I get strapped to a body board, head taped to prevent movement, and taken to sf general trama center.

Xrays, exams, etc, and it is now nearing midnight. The Dr says the initial xrays look good, but wants to wait a bit to release me. My lovely gf came to be with me, and my devoted daughter should be arriving soon to take me home.

Yes, the driver stopped and waited with me, and was questioned by the police. I think a couple of witnesses stepped forward too, but I was pretty out of it by then and strapped to a board. Will call the police tomorrow. I presume they towed my bike. Will worry about that tomorrow too.

I am very sore but the pain meds are starting to kick in. Going home soon.

//
//

 

[fusedlogix]

Yes, it has finally happened after 50 years of riding. Riding along 2nd street in sf, headed to the bridge around 6:45 pm. Going slow, certainly less than the 25 mph speed limit, in the left lane. The right lane is coming to a stop due to traffic. As I pass a woman in a sedan she does a quick swing trying to enter my lane, right into my front tire. I go down hard on the left side.

I wound up laying on my back in the middle of the street, and never managed to get up again. Pain on my left side, ankle, hip, knee and shoulder, plus lower back pains. A couple of guys keep me from trying to get up. Sirens, ambulance and police arrive, and make sure to check me out. I get strapped to a body board, head taped to prevent movement, and taken to sf general trama center.

Xrays, exams, etc, and it is now nearing midnight. The Dr says the initial xrays look good, but wants to wait a bit to release me. My lovely gf came to be with me, and my devoted daughter should be arriving soon to take me home.

Yes, the driver stopped and waited with me, and was questioned by the police. I think a couple of witnesses stepped forward too, but I was pretty out of it by then and strapped to a board. Will call the police tomorrow. I presume they towed my bike. Will worry about that tomorrow too.

I am very sore but the pain meds are starting to kick in. Going home soon.

//
//

If your able to post this I think you will be fine but all my best wishes and prayers are your way. Recover quickly and then find your two legs and let them lead you back to two wheels

 

[Jackiedthatsme]

Hope everything is ok and hopefully you'll have a quick recovery!

 

[channelcat]

u can still type. U R ok.

 

[Terminal G]

u can still type. U R ok.

D

Damn. 50 years of riding. Obviously, you are a mature man.

I have crashed hard at the ages of 15, 23, 32, and 44. In my experience, it does not get easier (I am now 46). It will take longer for you to heal.

What can we do to assist? Do you have family near by? Anyone to cook for you? Any one to run errands?

 

[tjbgtv8]

Wow 50 years and it's your first crash, that's impressive. I hope all is well and you have a speedy recovery!

 

[Randy B]

Nothing broken? Count your blessings. It sounds like you will be sore for a while, but that is preferable to having broken bones....at any age.
Get the bike out of hock ASAP and get the insurance rolling on it.

Heal up quick.

 

[channelcat]

D? I don't know what that means, and what I suspect, I don't like.

yeah, I was being glib. heal up, and if they give you rehab exercises, do 'em like your life depends on it, cause it does.

 

[cvzx6r]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal, heal up and hope you get back on your feet soon.

 

[elbacalao]

Heal up quick! Here's to another 50 years of crash free riding!

 

[Bad Santa]

Sorry to hear about your crash, but glad to see you are still with us and well enough to post on the internet and tell us about it. Please don't be in a huge hurry to get discharged from the hospital; if the doctor wants you to stay there so he can observe you some more, you should defer to his professional judgment. And you should thank those guys who stopped you from trying to get up at the crash scene, as they were doing their best to preserve you from aggravating your injuries! And you probably will.

 

[Squidly McSmearstain]

Your incident description sounds precisely like my incident a few months ago. The big difference is that I broke 7 bones; some of the breaks were REALLY nasty.

Heal up and glad to see you posting!

 

[ScottRNelson]

I was thinking that when you're passing stopped traffic in a lane that is moving you don't want a big speed difference, in case someone decides to pull out suddenly. But if you were already below 25, there isn't much more you can do. Bummer that the car pulled out at just the wrong time, and so suddenly.

I wish you well in the healing process.

 

[Lunch Box]

OP, I'm glad to hear that you aren't too terribly banged-up. If you need someone to get your bike out of the tow yard before the fees pile up too badly, let us know. If it will be covered by the other drivers' insurance, then nevermind. :laughing

Rest up and get better.

 

[auditude]

Heal quickly, my friend. Glad to hear this is not an RIP thread!

 

[Hoho]

Ouch. Glad you are relatively OK. Hopefully nothing more than the soreness you are experiencing.

 

[Lunch Box]

It took me 30 years of riding before my first crash on a public street. Fortunately, it was a silly lowside in a dirty patch on Mines at pretty low speed. I was riding my supermoto, and had full leathers. I popped up, dusted myself off, checked the bike out for a minute, then kept going. So far, that's my only one. So far....

 

[Manimal]

OP,

Thanks for sharing your incident with us. Thankfully, you're gonna be ok.

I was thinking that when you're passing stopped traffic in a lane that is moving you don't want a big speed difference, in case someone decides to pull out suddenly. But if you were already below 25, there isn't much more you can do. Bummer that the car pulled out at just the wrong time, and so suddenly.

I wish you well in the healing process.

My commute is in a cage. Daily, I see riderS filtering through traffic between the diamond lane above the suggested delta speed. These days, most riders are only wearing a helmet, gloves, shorts, tennis shoes, and t-shirt. Every time I see one of these riders, I fear that there's only a matter of time that someone is gonna do exactly that, dart into the diamond lane, and the rider will have NO time to react.

 

[kurth83]

Heal up!

 

[1962siia]

Glad you are ok enough to let us know what happened. Take it easy and yes this can happen to anyone. 50 years was an amazing stretch. Hope you're back up and riding soon.