Six Months Later . . .

[3jvj]

Thanks ace.


Good luck on your recovery Diesel.
As much as I'm looking forward to the day that you're walking again, I'm really looking forward to hearing that you are riding again.
Cheers, and thanks for your service.

[diesel1959]

Originally Posted by AceRph

I trimmed the crap out.

Good luck in your continued recovery, diesel1959.

Thanks, Ace. I just realized that I must have been working on a reply at the same time you were trimming the thread. Sorry if my post winds up being problematic in that regard. Please feel free to trim it more if you see fit. I only posted this thread for the purpose of being another data point illuminating the fact that no matter who we are on two wheels, we wind up being unseen all too often. Stay safe everyone.

[nwdub]

I wish you all the best, diesel.

Just pointing out the sweet sweet irony of crashing when going after someone speeding

edit: Please consider a full face or at least modular helmet for your own safety.

[It'sNotTheBike]

Originally Posted by Kikemon

may have made some legitimate mistakes in this thing and I am sure he has had plenty of time to ruminate on them, but I don't think "not having an out" is one of them.

You don't seem to understand. By the very definition of having an "out", the crash would not have occurred
if an out had been kept available. When the out is allowed to disappear, then a crash can become
inevitable. I speak from 40+ years of riding experience, on roads, on a paved race track, on dirt tracks, and on trails.

I've survived by being aware and by thinking many steps ahead of the game,
and in more than one case that is the ONLY reason I didn't get seriously hurt or killed while riding. I am not
trying to say I am some kind of amazing rider ; the point is to use superior judgement to avoid needing
to use superior skill. If you allow yourself to get into a situation where skill is the only thing that can save
you, then you have used poor judgement.

When you see a vehicle ahead and you grasp the possibility that the vehicle might pull out in
front of you and you know that if that does happen it will be very bad, you begin taking evasive action well before
the vehicle even begins to move. That evasive action might be slowing down radically, or it might be
swerving, or it might be any combination of actions. The idea is to give yourself a margin in case the worst
happens, and to do it BEFORE the bad events begin, not during the events like so many crash victims do. If you allow
your safety to depend on other drivers doing the right thing, you are adding an unknown layer of risk to
the equation. From a risk management perspective, it is preferable to minimize such unknown risks.

When you assume a crash was inevitable, you condemn yourself to not learning anything from the event
which could help you avoid a crash in the future. That's probably the very worst thing about not finding the
errors in a crash scenario. It's much more useful to learn from what went wrong and use that knowledge to do it better
the next time. In the field of aviation, both military and civilian, this "learn from the experience" mindset is standard procedure
and it has saved countless lives.

Note : I am NOT trying to take "Diesel1959" to task. I am trying to point out that there are strategies which
can be used to increase safety. It's more dangerous out there now than ever, and more than ever
we all need to stay sharp in order to stay alive.



I second the suggestion of a full-face helmet. The extra protection might literally mean the difference between life and death.

[cruiseninak]

Diesel keep healing. I want to see you on a bike again too. As for the negative and mean spirited comments let them roll like water off a ducks back.

[3jvj]

Originally Posted by It'sNotTheBike

You don't seem to understand.

[Go Irish75]

Originally Posted by lemieuxmc

He's being polite and doesn't want to hurt your feelings.

You were riding STUPID!

If you were really serious about getting people to slow down for the school zone you would make a point of sitting there and being highly visible. The car had a license plate and you had a radio with access to the registered owners info, you could have mailed him a warning notice.

With all due respect, you have no clue what youre talking about here. That is NOT how police work works my friend. What part of his riding was "STUPID" exactly? No really, please explain. Even if he was not going lights and siren (which he was), he still has the right of way as him being the through traffic. Do you stand up for every driver that cuts off a motorcyclist? Or is it just because hes a cop and youre anti-law enforcement? I think its the latter, your bias and ignorance shines on this thread, so I guess you can be proud of that fact.

[marcus-st12]

Wish you a speedy recovery.

[MrBob]

Originally Posted by AceRph

I trimmed the crap out.
Good luck in your continued recovery, diesel1959.

Every day people choose to put themselves in harms way to protect us. AFIK, that's the point here.
Best wishes on your recovery.

[antonac]

Originally Posted by cruiseninak

Diesel keep healing. I want to see you on a bike again too. As for the negative and mean spirited comments let them roll like water off a ducks back.

Or take the useful ones (like the suggestion of a proper full-face and not a halfsie toy) to heart, and ignore the hate.

I'm sure OP has more than his share of free time to weigh all of this than the keyboard commandos. Their view may be different when they find themselves self ass-over-teakettle doing self-diagnostics in a ditch somewhere despite their preaching.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and glad you made it out.

[Gimpinator]

Best wishes to you Diesel. The internet is full of armchair quarterbacks. You're the only one in this discussion who has all of the facts, and it sounds like you did the very best you could.

Here's to you getting back to 100 percent. I've had some experience with this kind of stuff, and it will be hard. Cheers!

[nwdub]

Originally Posted by Go Irish75

With all due respect, you have no clue what youre talking about here. That is NOT how police work works my friend. What part of his riding was "STUPID" exactly? No really, please explain. Even if he was not going lights and siren (which he was), he still has the right of way as him being the through traffic. Do you stand up for every driver that cuts off a motorcyclist? Or is it just because hes a cop and youre anti-law enforcement? I think its the latter, your bias and ignorance shines on this thread, so I guess you can be proud of that fact.

the point of due regard, is that since he is code 3, he does not have right of way and he must yield ultimately to all other traffic.

He is going code 3 which civilians cannot do, as they are not trained. he was speeding in excess of the speed limit when this happened which places diesel at fault because he was exceeding the speed limit.

I'm right in the due regard aspect, but cops and most people will never see it that way. If an ambulance/firetruck crashed someone would have been fired.

[diesel1959]

Suffice to say that the Texas Department of Public Safety disagrees with your conclusions. As I've already stated, I was not speeding at the time I ran off the road. I was going 55 in a 55 (as I have already explained in a previous post). The driver of the car was cited for Failing to Yield Right of Way and for Disregard of Emergency Equipment.

In exercising the out to the the right, I showed due regard for the safety of that driver and avoided a collision with him--despite his violations of the traffic law. The only unfortunate thing (for me) was that the ditch had an obstruction. Had I run off the road a bit further down the road, the ditch was actually clear for a half-mile; however, such was not my luck on that day. I did what I did to protect myself and everybody else out on the road that day. The fact that only I was injured is a testament to that fact.

[Morgan Steele]

Diesel, best wishes and thanks for the reminder about donating blood. I've put off scheduling an appointment (following a 1 year post-Africa ban) and I'm back on the books today. Cheers!

[Go Irish75]

Originally Posted by nwdub

the point of due regard, is that since he is code 3, he does not have right of way and he must yield ultimately to all other traffic.

He is going code 3 which civilians cannot do, as they are not trained. he was speeding in excess of the speed limit when this happened which places diesel at fault because he was exceeding the speed limit.

I'm right in the due regard aspect, but cops and most people will never see it that way. If an ambulance/firetruck crashed someone would have been fired.

You couldn't be more wrong. Going lights and sirens indeed does give him the privilege to operate in excess of the speed limit. His actions were not negligent, and due regard isn't even an issue here. The driver did not yield right of way and pulled out in front of him. She also failed to yield to an emergency vehicle, which is another violation. Civilians like yourself will never see it that way though. That's why some stand on the thin blue line and we ask the others to please get out of the way.