Hi all, On this sad monday, my co worker got into a very serious accident on his harley( on way to work) . All I know is he in ICU. Will post more when I know more. His name is david. Please keep him in your prayers! thanks so much, racegun; aka spacecowboy, aka Dave
the accident happened around the 6am hr. As of 12pm today 4/14 he is NOT responding. A vehicle t-boned him. This particular stretch of road is most dangerous. Lots of intersecting roads, speed limits are totaly out of line with the type of road v.s. a safe speed to travel. This gives me great pause as to if i should continue to ride. The entire mood of our aviation ( 600 + fellow workers) repair shop is most somber.
Sorry to hear about your buddy. I hope he is not in pain. But think of riding and accidents and injuries this way. I have been hurt 20 X more AT WORK, then on a bike. So, logic dictates I should stop working before I stop riding. But its not going to happen. Life is full of danger, just ride safe, thats the best you can do. Life is meant to enjoy, I am sure he enjoys his, as we all should.
.....as of 2pm today, they took him into surgery. Some facts. It was a car driven by a person that had the DL suspended. Figures! He is in jail! The damages to my friend are: broken ribs, broken wrist area, broken pelvis in 2 places, head trauma sufficient that the docs say it will take 1 to 4 days ( as of now) to know what will happen. Life just seems so unfair at times. David lost his wife to cancer a number of yrs ago. He has 2 sons 1 late teens and, 1 early 20's. Funny thing though...i was talking to him about putting some yellow lights on his bike to catch cagers attention. He said he did not need them. This will be the second time in three yrs that a car does not see him and causes him serious harm. The first time it was an asleep at the wheel driver that turned left infront of him. ( a 70% likely hood of that BTW according to the hurt report) When ppl say it is dangerous out there, they are not kidding. In lafayette, La and surrounding areas ( cajun land) MANY MANY drivers drive with such aggression and anger! They also drive w/ their brain turned off. My son rides a r1100rs. I tell him every time i get the chance that i love him and to be careful. One must ride like one is invisible. I got hit in 1973. Lady pulled out in front of me. I was on a Kawasaki 175 scrambler. I had just spent about 6 months and most of my pay restoring it. Same thing with my buddy Dave. He spent 3 yrs making his harley cool. He did nothing to increase his chances of survial in a car/ bike confrontation. There were skid marks...long ones! I can not help but wonder if he would have had yellow lights, ABS and ATGATT....etc if things would have turned out different. I think they could have by some 70% ( ish) . The next bike I bought some 4yrs later ( after 2 UJM's that left me stranded many times) was a BMW R90/6. I put some big ( 8") round yellow fog lights on it. I have been riding sence then with yellow lights. Now at some 200,000+ miles and 20+ bikes later, I have NEVER had a cage turn left in front, or act like they did not see me. GUYs / GAls the yellow light works. Will it mean you will never get hit by a cage...prolly not. Do they give you better odds....BIG TIME! thanks to all that read this and pray! His life is truly in GODS hands.( well all of us are in that boat..but you get my drift)
first. I hope and pray that David makes a full recovery. Regarding being dangerous out there, I am starting to think so myself. I had a car stop in front of me to make a left turn one month ago, shattering my arm. I had surgery, and I am improving. Now when I go out in my car, I see so many potential problems i just blew off before on my bike, its not funny. I do not think motorcycles are dangerous,but the environment we ride them in is changing rapidly. for the worse. good luck to you at work and pls tell us how David fares.
do not know...but our past converstions leads to me to believe a jacket. He would have had gloves as it was 41 degrees (f) this am. Our facility is vast ! He parks on other side ( from me). He works in the hanger, i work at a desk. He also works 7 & 7. I do not get to talk to him much. He is a nice guy and well liked by all. We are all pulling for him ( of course). I did talk to him as i mentioned about yeller lites and atgatt... he was not interested....oh well. Still , one can not help but want to help a fellow rider
Perhaps he was just trying to learn something from this tragic event. Racegun, prayers and positive thoughts go out to your friend.
Hope your friend pull through. Tough time for his family and friends. Not a praying man myself, but many well wishes his way. I kinda think 100mpg is looking at the question with a defensive, skeptical point of view as I find myself doing far too often. With the amount of armchair quarterbacking and "piling on" that happens here, it's easy to get a little defensive when questions arise about what gear. If Rider007 read Racegun's description of the crash as I did, he'd have noticed the rider was "T-boned". Tough to get through something like that regardless of gear. But, as you noted, he may be genuinly trying to get the facts and learn from this. Really hope this rider makes it through.
Prayers to David. Keep us posted. These things suck....but, it's what we love and the risk is a grim reality. These episodes should remind us all to not get complacent.
http://www.klfy.com/global/story.asp?s=8165318 you might be able to find the 3 pics of the wreck. David was prolly going 45+ mph. There were long skid marks. as of tues 11:30 am, things do not look good. The "ape" handle bars riped his insides and colon. He is still not responsive. Doctors are not talking. That is never good. Specialist being flown in from planet houston. YES & YES, pay attention. For me, i will do everything I can to be seen. Bright yellow piaa 520's, bright helmet, cover front brake in the city for sure, assume you are invisible etc etc etc. I am still thinking about selling my 07GS. Wife says that we are promised nothing and that to sell would be a mistake. Its just that this kind of thing sure shakes things up. MAybe that is a good thing. Proceed w/ a renewed since of safety and careful attention.