Watch out at gas stations

[rod]

A good frind is rider #1 in this news story. He is in pain but OK. The news story

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33965174/

 

His email:

Welp, it happened. My beautiful sparkling Intruder has some scratches.

More than scratches, actually. Here's my tale of woe.

 

Enjoyed a nice lunch ride up to Julian with daughter Dawn, and had

stopped for gas just before getting home like I always do. Pulled up

about 6 feet behind a fueling Honda with the rear half of my bike angled

to the right of the car that was fueling from the left. I'm still on the

bike, side-stand down, engine turned off. The lady finished and got into

her car, fiddled for a few seconds, then started her car. There was no

one in front of her.

 

She then started moving backwards and I started yelling while pulling in

the clutch and backing away. When I yelled, she floored it. I was spun

around counter-clockwise 180 degrees, bike and I hit the ground behind

and to the right side of her car, and we were both dragged by her car for

about 12 feet then I and bike broke free of her car which was still

accelerating backwards.

 

She then traversed another 30 feet backwards and, coincidentally, hit

another motorcyclist who was waiting to get air in his tires. He saw it

all happening, and tried to jump out of the way but she was moving too

fast (I didn't see any of this as I was still on the ground). She hit

him, flinging him backward and down an embankment followed by the car

after it jumped a curb. The car's backward motion was then stopped by a

building, and the other guy was pinned beneath the back of the car.

 

It took me about a minute to try to stand up. My left leg hurt above the

knee where it had been pinned under the motorcycle, but I was able to

stand. Several people had rushed to the car and were trying to lift the

back end, and push the car forward while the woman inside was trying to

climb the curb with the front wheel drive. It wasn't working. At this

point I was unaware that anyone else had been involved and yelled to wait

for the tow truck. I then called 911 asking for a police car. Turned

out there were several witnesses, and several people called 911 at about

the same time (which explains why my call went to a recording telling me

my call is very important, please stand by).

 

About 5 minutes into all this, 6 police cars, two fire trucks and two

paramedic trucks showed up. I decided to doff my helmet and motorcycle

jacket at which point I discovered blood dripping off my elbow through

the long-sleeve shirt I was wearing. I also felt down where my leg was

hurting, and there was a raised bump about the size of two fists in area.

A female paramedic checked me out and said I needed to go to the

emergency room (the elbow wasn't hurting - yet). Here's where I doffed

the chaps because hospitals take great delight in cutting motorcycle

clothing off. By now we're about 15 minutes into everything and my left

leg is starting to hurt and feel weak. My wife showed up and I was then

bundled off to the emergency room.

 

Daughter Dawn has just found a news link to the incident.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33965174/

 

Daughter Laura taped several news broadcasts last night (Sunday) and two

of them covered it. I'll watch them later.

 

Bottom line:

 

My leg is still weak and hurts when I try to use it. I got several

stitches in the elbow, and that's REALLY stinging now. New bruises are

showing up.

 

My pristine motorcycle with 42K miles, no scratches and not even any

swirl marks in the painted surfaces, is no longer pristine. They say the

bike's not as bad as I thought. We'll see.

 

Regards, Gary

 

Watch out for the cagers Rod

[MidlifeVenture]

Wow hope for a speedy recovery and fair settlement, sorry doesn't cut it some people shouldn't drive

[Kregerdoodle]

oh man.....unbeleavable.... So glad your around to talk about it !!! Heal fast !!

[LilBeaver]

Geeze, I am glad that it isn't any worse for your friend (or guy #2). Sounds like it was pretty rough though... I know I would have never have expected something like that to happen... Have to keep that in mind now....

 

Hope they both have a full and speedy recovery.

[Monty]

Hope he heals up ok. Sounds like the other guy will be down for quite some time. I hope they both recover well, and she loses her license for a while. Probably fiddling with her cell phone.

[SilvrT]

Gotta beware of them "cagers" even when they're stopped. Geesh man, you were lucky ... hoping for a speedy recovery!

 

Had a elderly woman driver (no disrespect towards women or the elderly) rear-ended my car many years ago. When the cop asked her what happened, she told the cop "I thought I stepped on the brakes ... it must have been the brakes... if it was the gas, I would have gone faster..."

 

Obviously the person who hit you didn't realize they were in reverse ... when they stepped on the gas it shocked them and were unable to recover quick enough. At least that's what appears to have happened.

[wizard]

Well, the report says she was sorry for what happened...

[Condor]

Wow!! Thankfully, it could of been a lot worse.. Heal up...

[yamadawg]

Oh my! Please let your friend know that both he and the other rider will be in our thoughts and prayers for a speedy and complete recovery. We are also very thankful that his injuries were not much worse. It is simply amazing the number of this type of accidents that occur every day. After working as a vendor for many years and knowing how regularly folks drive in to the fronts of convenience stores and regularly hit the gas pumps and the guards around them I try to be very aware and cautious when walking even on the sidewalk, much less riding in the lot. Plus, I once had a lady in a Taco Bell drive-thru after gettinng her order put her car in reverse and cave the bumper in on the van I was driving. I was sitting still with the transmission in Park. She moved her car forward and then came back screaming at me for hitting her! Luckily two employees working the window witnessed the incident and told her so. She pulled around slowly, presumably so we could exchange information, then sped off. My grandfather suffered a grand mal seizure as he pulled up to the local hardware store and drove his pickup through the window and completely inside the store. Thankfully no one was injured. As was said above there are some folks that should not be driving. The unfortunate part is that it often requires a tragedy to reveal that fact...

[silent67]

Yep, those women drivers will kill you sometimes.

[Yammer Dan]

Glad you are able to post. Watch out for the Insurance companies. Hope they treat you right.

[saddlebum]

Geeze, I am glad that it isn't any worse for your friend (or guy #2). Sounds like it was pretty rough though... I know I would have never have expected something like that to happen... Have to keep that in mind now.....

Yeh along with all the other stuff we have to keep in mind. At least no one got killed and from the sound of it, it could have happened very easly

[Crash]

HOLLY HECK, sure hope you heal quickly. I guess it could have been a lot worse.

[frankems2000]

First of all I wish you a full and speedy recovery ! No place out there is entirely save-proof is in your post. Hope the bike damage works out for you. God Bless. Frank:Cartoon_397:

[RandyR]

Its hard to correlate what your friend described with what the police officer said the woman did.

 

Its a VERY good thing his daughter Dawn had already gotten off the bike and was out of the way, or this could have been a much worse story.

[royalstarjac]

As one who is still sore from a wreck over 2 weeks ago, I feel for ya! Glad it wasn't worse.

[royalstarjac]

Just re read the post and saw that it wasn't you but your friend. Still glad it wasn't worse!