Bumped by a drunk in a SUV...

[jatow]

Well, my otherwise pristine '08AE now has a battle scar from a drunk in a SUV. I took the afternoon off to ride 70 miles over to the Tuscaloosa, AL airport to watch the friday practice for this weekends airshow featuring the Blue Angels. After leaving the airport and while crawling along in stop and go traffic on the main 4-lane I got bumped, from behind. I had just started moving forward and managed to keep the bike upright. After stopping to collect my reflector and eyeball for damage I walked back to the male driver of the 90's model Suburban and told him to pull over in the turn lane. His response that "you ain't hurt, I gotta go to work" was so slurred I knew he was drunk. Fortunately a city traffic engineer witnessed the event and stopped to help. He called the police and helped keep the guy from leaving the scene. An officer arrived in 2 - 3 minutes and within 10 minutes had the driver in cuffs for impaired driving.

The police were very professional and courteous, even offering a moment of levity when asking if I was wearing a seatbelt. I said "no, sorry" and he sheepishly looked at the bike and said "well how about a helmet"? I was full ATGATT with a bright yellow Nolan, red mesh jacket, Hyperlite tail/brake lights and even a Knight Eyes 3rd brake light, all of which are apparently invisible to a drunk. He didn't appear to have insurance, no surprise.

Damage seems limited to the a light crease in the left exhaust pipe and the rear fender reflector which was busted. Could have been worse, especially if I'd dropped it.

-Update- Replaced both oem exaust with a pair of polished Beowulf and man, what a great sound. And with baffles in they not really any louder than stock. Highly recommended!

A pic about 20 minutes before:

 

[dustyrains]

Good on ya for keeping that drunk from driving away. You may have saved someones life.

 

[beemerdons]

Good on ya for keeping that drunk from driving away. You may have saved someones life.

jatow, very glad to hear that you were not hurt! And like dustyrains said, excellent work on getting that drunk off of the roads and into jail where he belongs!

 

[FJRBluesman]

Good on ya for keeping that drunk from driving away. You may have saved someones life.

jatow, very glad to hear that you were not hurt! And like dustyrains said, excellent work on getting that drunk off of the roads and into jail where he belongs!

Gunny.
Glad you're ok and it was just a bump.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Now that's a ride report! Glad it worked out, but be careful of confronting drunks. You have uninsured motorist insurance I hope.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Make sure you get at least TWO estimates from different places on the cost to completely fix your bike. Then hang on to that until the DA calls you or notifies you of a pre-trial interview. During your first meeting with the DA and any defense attorney, make sure all parties know that there will be restitution needed for any guilty finding or plea deal. You should be able to re-coup your out of pocket costs without having to deal with him in civil court...Hopefully.

If not, obtain a copy of the police report and take his ass to civil court.

Glad you are ok...Drunk idiots piss me off!!

 

[Fred W]

Isn't that what you pay your insurance company to do?

I would collect for repairs from my own ins co. and have them sick their legal beagles on the drunk ne'er-do-well.

 

[07fjrTom]

I'm glad you got out ot that one without getting hurt. And congratulations for not losing your cool and clocking the drunk idiot.

 

[SnowAviation]

A pic about 20 minutes before:

Good catch in the photo too. :specool:

 

[Aasland]

Isn't that what you pay your insurance company to do?
I would collect for repairs from my own ins co. and have them sick their legal beagles on the drunk ne'er-do-well.

Minus the deductible, it doesn't sound like excess damage will be more than a couple hundred dollars - may not be worth filing a claim. Small claims court would be faster and cheaper.

The ins. co. sees this as a business transaction. If they are legally required to pay $$$ on your claim, but expect it will cost >= $$$ to go after the drunk, they'll probably just pay you and write it off. When they write it off, it increases the cost of doing business, and then they'll have to charge customers (i.e. you and me) more $$$, and the drunk pays nothing. Filing insurance for small claims isn't in anyone's favor.

I think your best bet is to get that restitution settlement and garnish wages.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Glad to hear that you're ok.

And really glad you didn't do what a lot of people would do and let it go!!!

 

[jatow]

I do have full insurance, including uninsured motorist. I'll talk with an ins. agent family friend for advice about options.

 

[Patriot]

yeah, ditto all above

breathed a sigh of relief it's just the bike, and it's till rideable as you sort it all out

and another low life off the streets, I hope for a long, long time

another opportunity for me to count my lucky stars that that wasn't me 3 days before leaving for SFO - I rode just over 400mi yesterday

attending a PGR KIA funeral mission in Hattiesburg

let's ride safe and be careful out there,

Mike in Nawlins'

 

[Wee Willy]

Those are the ones I fret about most of all. All the stuff from local 9 oclock around forward to 3 oclock I have a pretty good handle on. It's the stuff from behind that, when I worry about it, I think I'm most ill at ease with. My attention isn't always back there and we're already tough to see. You are a fortunate fellow.

I was rear ended in the Evo a couple of years ago by a Mustang GT. I was stopped in the #2 lane and waiting second from the line at a stop light. This gal plowed into me hard enough to collapse my trunk to 1/2 its normal volume and tweak the frame pretty well. I slid forward into the car in front of me and did significant damage to her car. Miss GT was distracted by her kids. If I'd been on the FJR that day, I'd have been hurt pretty badly.

Sometimes lightning strikes. Do you think that if we started publicly hanging DUI folks the message would get out?

Anyway jatow, stay safe.

W2

 

[rogdeb]

yeah, ditto all above
and another low life off the streets, I hope for a long, long time

But in reality .... probably back and drunk driving again really soon :angry:

I like WW's idea -- public hanging !

Glad you're OK Jatow

 

[Happy Rider]

yeah, ditto all above
and another low life off the streets, I hope for a long, long time

But in reality .... probably back and drunk driving again really soon :angry:

I like WW's idea -- public hanging !

Glad you're OK Jatow

So true. In California and most other states when you get arrested for a DUI like this you go to jail until your BAC is below 0.07% and then they let you go. You are then free to go get your vehicle either from the side of the road where it was parked and locked or the impound yard. You could be back at the bar within 3 to 4 hours and the madness continues. Lets see, on September 11 we went to war over 4000+ people dying. Every year drunks kill more than 12000 americans. This is domestic terrorism. Where is the outrage?

 

[k7lvo]

1. Filtering/lane sharing greatly lessens the chance of being rear-ended.

2. When we have less drunks creating our (drunk driving) laws, we just might get stiffer sentences...

 

[Patriot]

there's the sorry story of the guy who wanted to get rid of his wife but nobody do time as a consequence

he and a paid accomplice carried out the plan

the accomplice ran her down with his SUV, killing her instantly while purposely drunk

first offense and absolutely no jail time :blink:

 

[Crash Cash]

Isn't that what you pay your insurance company to do?
I would collect for repairs from my own ins co. and have them sick their legal beagles on the drunk ne'er-do-well.

IME, the insurance company just considers it a waste of time and does nothing, while being only too glad for an opportunity to jack up your premium. Florida's a "no-fault" state, so you get the short end of the stick as much as the drunk guy. This way, even though it takes some effort, the guy gets some retribution over and above the 15 minutes he'll spend in jail. Revenge is is worth the effort. Hit him in the wallet where it hurts worst.

there's the sorry story of the guy who wanted to get rid of his wife but nobody do time as a consequence
he and a paid accomplice carried out the plan

the accomplice ran her down with his SUV, killing her instantly while purposely drunk

first offense and absolutely no jail time :blink:

Wow... just wow. I didn't think my opinion of humanity could get any lower, but amazingly enough, it just did. "Yeah, I'm racist... I hate the whole damned human race."

Edit: I remember one time coming home from a friend's house after watching the Superbowl. At a light, some drunk got out of his panel van and started yelling incoherently at me, while his wife yelled at him to get back in the truck. Then he floored it and ate the corner of a building, seriously injuring his wife. I don't know why she wasn't driving, since apparently she was sober, or at least better off than he was.