James Burleigh
Well-known member
I received an e-mail yesterday from my buddy Kevin V ("Primate") from this forum who also lives and commutes in the Bay Area (Kevin V.). We occasionally pass each other (okay, he passes me) on our way into San Francisco in the morning from Walnut Creek and Concord.
The subject line of the e-mail I received from Primate contained the ominous words "I Went Down." I immediately responded back, and in an e-mail exchange I learned the circumstances of the crash, which Primate has given me permission to post here on his behalf.
First of all, Primate says he's "A-OK," with x-rays revealing nothing broken. But he's sore as hell and back at work after three days off. He lost consciousness briefly at the scene, but refused the ambulance ride in favor of a friend's picking him up. In retrospect he feels he should have taken the ride, since he started hurting after the adrenalin and shock wore off.
As for the accident, here's how Primate described it in his e-mail [edited]:
I was being a good boy and wasn’t even splitting at the time. I was in lane #1 going about 55-60 when lane #2 started slowing. When it came to a screeching halt, this guy jerks out right in front of me! I braked hard but slammed into the back of his car with bike and body, then blanked out prior to realizing I was sliding down the highway.
Shoulder and neck really hurt. Guy admitted pulling in front of me to the CHP and myself and was extremely apologetic. Riding gear, helmet and backpack ruined. Laptop survived. Just called Berkeley Yamaha. FJR's totalled.
I told Primate this was a very serious, scary accident that could happen to any one of us, and that he is lucky to have not been injured more severely. I also asked him if he had any lessons learned to share with us from this terrible experience. He shared with me the following thoughts:
I was too kicked back. I was extremely mellow that morning and was not being aggressive at all. To that point, I was also not being Extra Suspect. I had 10 car lengths in front of me. We all know that’s an invitation for lane switchers. Having said that, I don’t know if it would have helped. I can read the body language of a car, as we all do, and we all get cut-off on a weekly basis, but we just slide over and get by. In this case, no turn signal, which we hardly expect anyway. But this came out of left field. It was fast and right in front of my tire. I braked for maybe two feet before slamming him. He lane ****** on me
.
Kevin, I'm sorry for your accident, your pain, your anger, and the loss of your bike. Thank you for sharing this experience with us to help us all be safer riders. Get better soon, and please let me (us) know if we can do anything to help.
Hans
The subject line of the e-mail I received from Primate contained the ominous words "I Went Down." I immediately responded back, and in an e-mail exchange I learned the circumstances of the crash, which Primate has given me permission to post here on his behalf.
First of all, Primate says he's "A-OK," with x-rays revealing nothing broken. But he's sore as hell and back at work after three days off. He lost consciousness briefly at the scene, but refused the ambulance ride in favor of a friend's picking him up. In retrospect he feels he should have taken the ride, since he started hurting after the adrenalin and shock wore off.
As for the accident, here's how Primate described it in his e-mail [edited]:
I was being a good boy and wasn’t even splitting at the time. I was in lane #1 going about 55-60 when lane #2 started slowing. When it came to a screeching halt, this guy jerks out right in front of me! I braked hard but slammed into the back of his car with bike and body, then blanked out prior to realizing I was sliding down the highway.
Shoulder and neck really hurt. Guy admitted pulling in front of me to the CHP and myself and was extremely apologetic. Riding gear, helmet and backpack ruined. Laptop survived. Just called Berkeley Yamaha. FJR's totalled.
I told Primate this was a very serious, scary accident that could happen to any one of us, and that he is lucky to have not been injured more severely. I also asked him if he had any lessons learned to share with us from this terrible experience. He shared with me the following thoughts:
I was too kicked back. I was extremely mellow that morning and was not being aggressive at all. To that point, I was also not being Extra Suspect. I had 10 car lengths in front of me. We all know that’s an invitation for lane switchers. Having said that, I don’t know if it would have helped. I can read the body language of a car, as we all do, and we all get cut-off on a weekly basis, but we just slide over and get by. In this case, no turn signal, which we hardly expect anyway. But this came out of left field. It was fast and right in front of my tire. I braked for maybe two feet before slamming him. He lane ****** on me
.
Kevin, I'm sorry for your accident, your pain, your anger, and the loss of your bike. Thank you for sharing this experience with us to help us all be safer riders. Get better soon, and please let me (us) know if we can do anything to help.
Hans
