I'm so pissed off right now and thankful all at the same time. I decided to leave work a little early today to go ride for a little bit. I had come to a stop light and had been sitting still for about 40 seconds minding my own business when all of a sudden....WHAM!

Some stupid bitch hit me from behind doing about 40 miles an hour. She told the police she was using her cell phone and had bent down to pick up something out of the floor of her passenger seat and when she looked back up...poof...there I was. She admitted that it was all her fault and she never even attempted to brake. I had been sitting stopped for about 40 seconds when she hit me from behind.

So, I've spent the last 7 hours in the emergency room and now have two herniated discs in my back.

I've only had the F4i for 4 months. I have NEVER laid a bike down accidentally or otherwise. I have NEVER dropped a bike...not even as a brand new newbie rider. I ride religiously and it's not uncommon to find me and my fellow riding buddies on the back roads doing 100-120 with knees down. Still...never have I even put a scratch on a bike.

Then...tonight...sitting still at a stop light and some stupid asshole bitch plows me from behind.

DAMN IT...I'm so pissed off...

Just really needed to vent...

Damn, man... it's a good damn thing you're able to sit here and type that! I would have been so pissed if I could think of anything but pain. I always watch my mirrors as I'm coming to a stop and periodically while I'm sitting, but shit can happen fast... get better soon... and consider joining the cool club (Hornet riders) again.

Crap that sucks! :x Glad you're OK!

Holy :shock: Chris!!! I'm near speechless. I'm glad YOU're alive and typing! Jesus! Maybe I'll find something else to say later, but for now I'm just glad to know you're okay.

good excuse to get a 600rr

good excuse to get a 600rr

Man...I'm not sure if I'll even get back on a bike. I honestly don't know if I could deal with being at a stoplight sitting on a bike.

If I had been riding to hard and low sided, or if I had locked the rear up going in to a curve trailing the rear brake and highsided....or anything like that that was rider error...I'd be ok with it. You can correct rider error.

But this...I"m horrified of being at a stoplight on a bike now.

You guys can laugh if you want when I say this...but man this is seriously a "traumatic" experience in terms of being a rider. I just feel like if I were ever at a stoplight again I'd be replaying this accident over and over in my head.

Who knows. I very well may actually end up getting another Hornet and making it a track bike. I want to ride again. Don't know when my back will be up for it. Have to go see a neurosurgeon this week for evaluation. Don't plan on letting them cut me quite yet. I'll look at the MRI and CT films myself today though.

Anyway...I will ride again...I just don't know if I'll ever be able to bring myself to ride on the STREET again.

I'm glad you're ok. People don't survive stuff like that. I hope you sue that woman for all she's worth.

I was rearended in my car recently and now everytime I'm firm on the brakes I look at my rear view mirror and my heart sinks as if I'm expecting another big thump.

Good luck with the recovery.

Man, that's just awful. Don't you wish you knew what that woman was thinking?

Makes me think of my favorite saying:

"Woman Driver... No Survivors"

Except you did... and for that I say thank god. Get Well.

If I had been riding to hard and low sided, or if I had locked the rear up going in to a curve trailing the rear brake and highsided....or anything like that that was rider error...I'd be ok with it. You can correct rider error.
That was my rationale when I totalled my bike earlier in the year. Too heavy, too fast, now I know. I can correct that. People couldn't understand why when they asked if I was going to ride again I immediately said "absolutely". It's one thing to mess up and learn from it, it's another to have something happen TO you. So I understand what you mean, this is something you had no control over.

But this...I"m horrified of being at a stoplight on a bike now.
I'm still squirrely in turns, but you have to give it a shot. First things first, get better and make sure the docs can do their jobs, and then see how you feel. Time will make a difference.

Sorry about what happened, hope you heal up quickly.

As a newbie who is considering buying a 599 you've given me a lot to think about. I hope you are OK, my wife had a herniated disk and had a microdisectomy and had a lot of success with it. Best of luck recovering and be thankful.

Chris..wow...hope you recover fast.

Know whenever I'm at a stop with no one behind me, I'm a bit paranoid, flashing the break and watching the mirrors...will be doubly so now.

Soooooooooooo...You for or against the "No cell phones while driving" laws?

I'm very sorry to hear about your accident.

I hope that we can all learn from this - it's best to keep the bike in gear and to watch our rear end when we're stopped! I once saved myself in just such a situation, when someone was braking too late to avoid my butt. I saw him coming in my mirrors, and got on the throttle and out of the way.

Sh*t happens every day, whether you're on or off the bike. My uncle was hit by a car just crossing the street about a year ago. He is now brain damaged and the family is devastated.

There was a story on the local news about a pizza delivery man who was shot to death. Not robbed, not even of the pizza. Just shot. They were thinking it's a gang initiation shooting. What's just downright scary is that you could be walking down the street, with your perfect illusion of safety, and some gangster wanna be shoots you for the sake of being "accepted".

I understand the trauma though, Chris. I still stay away from the road where I crashed. And if I ever lowside, I can see how leaning the bike again would be a scary thing. I will respect your choice either way.

I hope you heal well.

Bloody bad luck there friend... although I guess it's good the driver admitted her errors... cell phones whilst driving are a menace for sure.
I wish you a speedy recovery, and would imagine in the medium term you'll be over the trauma and itching to get on another bike, despite how you feel right now... :wink:

Going for MRI in the morning. I've been with the lawyer all day. I'm not one for "frivolous" lawsuits...but that girl is going to get milked for every penny she's worth.

Oh..I'm 100% FOR no cell phones while driving laws.

If and when I ever get back on a bike I feel sure it will be a hornet though...

I hope that we can all learn from this - it's best to keep the bike in gear and to watch our rear end when we're stopped!

+1

Glad you're ok, dude.

I'm very sorry to hear about your accident.

I hope that we can all learn from this - it's best to keep the bike in gear and to watch our rear end when we're stopped!

The bike was in gear (I NEVER have the bike out of gear unless it is in the garage with the key out of the ignition). It appeared to me that she was going to stop but by the time I realized she wasn't there was nothing I could do. Even if I had decided to move right or left I would have been hit by the oncoming traffic to the left of me or the merging traffic to my right. The light I was at is a tricky road setup. I was screwed no matter what.

You're lucky to be alive and not paralyzed after an impact like that. I feel most vulnerable when stopped on the road. I always try to watch behind me, keep the bike in gear and ready to move, and I try leave an escape path, but sometimes bad luck will find you no matter how careful you are.
People talking on cell phones while driving scares the heck out of me. I was recently rear ended in my cage by a woman in her car who was talking on her phone, she was only going about 20 mph, and that hurt quite a bit......I can't imagine what getting tagged on a bike at 40 mph feels like.
I too, hate frivolous law suits, but this is pure negligence on her part. I say make her pay.

If and when I ever get back on a bike I feel sure it will be a hornet though...

So does this mean you prefer the hornet despite your experience with the F4i?

I almost got hit that same way - similar. I was coming to a stop and a guy in a 3 series BMW thought I was going to gun it so he did. In the MSF course I took, they told us to kind of pull over to the left or right of the lane at a stop. For this reason (and to stay off of potential oil spills). That saved me. The guy nearly clipped me as he screeched on by on his brakes, but I was over just enough to not get hit. It STILL scares me when I'm at a light alone. I think, given time, you will be able to get back on a bike. Until then, or even if it never happens, I'm just very glad that you seem to be okay man. As f-ed up as the situation is, remember you are alive, so is your bro, and you both have very interesting stories to tell your kids when you get older.

Glad your OK Chris. It takes awhile to get back on the bike and not feel shaky. I'm taking it slow and steady myself.

Cell phones, yeah, I'd like to see some stiff penalties (time behind bars) for drivers doing dumb shit, reading, looking for cd's, lipstick, dialing, talking to passengers and turning thier heads...you get the idea.

I'd like to see some stiff penalties (time behind bars) for drivers doing dumb shit, reading, looking for cd's, lipstick, dialing, talking to passengers and turning thier heads...you get the idea.
But not if they were just a bonehead who spaced out while driving or intentionally did something? :lol: you seem to mean anything that results in a collision... I agree, but people seemed to whine when those stiff penalties came out for speeding tickets a while back (VA?)

We could do no enforcement it was a do as ya like free for all (that is no “nuisance” tickets for speeding, reckless driving and such) where and then kick the death penalty for any resulting collision... wonder if that would be more agreeable with the peeps...

Hahaha... no obviously not an option... What I would like to see though is more mandatory driver education and proficiency tests...

Yeah I got a little ahead of myself there. I was thinking that if you hurt someone while driving and talking on the phone and changing CDs a little time in the clinker might be in order. It seems to me that it has become acceptable to muti-task while driving and I'm of the opinion that this is not a good trend.

Hahaha... no obviously not an option... What I would like to see though is more mandatory driver education and proficiency tests...

Do you really think that would do anything? This isn't a case of not knowing that mowing down a biker is wrong, they just don't care. Not to say the dumb lady in the SUV meant to hit Chris, but she put her other priorities above safety.

If there were tickets given out to those who multitask while driving, then people wouldn't do it as much.

For example, why does everyone use safety belts in Michigan now? Because of their dumb "click it or ticket" program. They advertise the program and enforce it. So now everyone does it so as not to pay an extra $50.

Steve, first, I want anyone who F's up to be held accountable. Don't really care why or if it was specifically that they were talking on the pone/singing to the radio/eating a burrito/fiddling with their electric warming gloves/yakking to a passenger/phone or it's they are just plain stupid...whatever.

Second. Already offered up an example where people balk at increased enforcement/fines.

Third. Yes I do think additional education would work. Link the education to HP and roads. If you don't show proficient then you don't get to drive on highways or interstates or anything more than a moped.

We can only do so much to protect citizens from themselves, but education would lead to a heightened awareness. Maybe instill in younger drivers the rules of the road and the physics of how these vehicle things operate, the things my Dad used to yell at me for. You got to cultivate a culture of responsible driving...and right now all I see on the road is an attitude that has been cultivated by video games.

It's harder (but just barely) to get a concealed weapons permit....but any jack ass in a car can kill, quite literally without trying.

Driving is a privilege and the only thing that keeps people from harms way sometimes is a yellow line painted on a road or a little red light. You realize how much fucking faith you put in other drivers every day...to stay on their side of that paint or pay attention to a light? So yeah. Make it hard to get and I think you'll see a much more respectful group driving. Doubly so if you make it just as easy to loose.

Do you really think that would do anything?
Steve, I think it would. It may not stop someone from not paying attention, but it will take some of the dangerous drivers off the roads - a grandpa who can't see past his nose and does 25 in a 45, or a little lady in a BMW who's so scared to drive she causes an accident by her unpredictable behavior... like stopping in the middle of the road!

Just my 2 cents.

Wait, now you're talking about something totally different. Making the requirements harder, I agree, would make a difference, but that's different than just making kids spend an extra week in drivers ed.

I think people only do as much as they have to do. So if sitting through another lecture gets them a license then that's what they will do. I think the root of the problem is the drivers don't care about you. So what will make them care once the test is over? For some, nothing.

Here's a good example. Look at New Orleans after the flood. Everyone started looting. Why? Because they thought they wouldn't get busted for it. Drivers are the same way, they do what they think they can get away with. If the cops started cracking down that would be a real fear in some people. People can respect a $100+ticket, but it only works if they really do feel fearful of it.

Ok then Steve, I didn't express my idea completely then...so we are more or less on the same page. Except I think people will bitch moan and complain (via Votes) if all you do is raise the penalties. It isn't a free market kinda think, they punishment still needs to fit the crime.*

How sad is it that there is a portion of the population that will only NOT loot if they think there is a good chance they'll get caught. WTF?


* Check this out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm

"Anssi Vanjoki, 44, has been ordered to pay a fine of 116,000 euros ($103,600) after being caught breaking the speed limit on his Harley Davidson motorbike in the capital, Helsinki, in October last year. Police say he was driving at 75 km/h (47 mph) in a 50km/h (31 mph) zone."

NO wait it gets better!

"Mr Vanjoki had to pay a fine equal to 14 days of his income in 1999, which was about 14 million euros ($12.5 million)."

Boooya!

Ok then Steve, I didn't express my idea completely then...so we are more or less on the same page. Except I think people will bitch moan and complain (via Votes) if all you do is raise the penalties. It isn't a free market kinda thing, the punishment still needs to fit the crime.*

How sad is it that there is a portion of the population that will only NOT loot if they think there is a good chance they'll get caught. WTF?


* Check this out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm

"Anssi Vanjoki, 44, has been ordered to pay a fine of 116,000 euros ($103,600) after being caught breaking the speed limit on his Harley Davidson motorbike in the capital, Helsinki, in October last year. Police say he was driving at 75 km/h (47 mph) in a 50km/h (31 mph) zone."

NO wait it gets better!

"Mr Vanjoki had to pay a fine equal to 14 days of his income in 1999, which was about 14 million euros ($12.5 million)."

Let's hear ya whine now bitches. Boooya!