Got in my first accident

[zero9243]

Glad to hear you made it out without any major damage (you and your ride).
What all were you wearing gear-wise?

As for entrance ramps/right turns on red, I learned my lesson from a couple close calls.
Now I typically slow down a bit, giving me plenty of room to match speeds with the flow of traffic.

Get well and get back in the saddle!

I was wearing jacket, helmet, gloves and long pants and socks and shoes. My upper body wasn't injured at all so I was very happy about that.

[zero9243]

Unfortunately as the law goes if you rear end anyone it's your fault. The lady that I hit drove away, but I think my insurance company is still going to try to contact her to try to pay for any damages to her car. The lady in front who stopped acted as if stopping at a yield sign is a normal thing she does, but was at least nice about coming to see if I was ok.

not sure what the law is in your state, but in virginia if you leave the scene of an accident you are involved in, i believe it's a felony. that lady may have fled the scene knowing she has no valid insurance, license, etc... all of which meaning she should have not been on public streets in the first place. if that's the case, she may be liable for your bike damages and injuries. i would advise you to get the law/insurance company/whoever to investigate this possibility.

good luck in healing up and getting your bike fixed.

I did mention to the insurance company that the lady left the scene and they said that it doesn't mean anything for me. They said that if they can track her down through the police report, that I'll be paying for the damages to her car. I think she just gets f*ck with tickets maybe?

[thatkid]

Tell your insurance company "don't try too hard tracking her down" she should get really f-ed for leaving the scene.

She could have been under the influence, uninsured, driving an un-road worthy car, a stolen car anything? Therefore should not be on the road, making it impossible for you to collide with her.

[shift]

Tell your insurance company "don't try too hard tracking her down" she should get really f-ed for leaving the scene.

She could have been under the influence, uninsured, driving an un-road worthy car, a stolen car anything? Therefore should not be on the road, making it impossible for you to collide with her.

exactly my point.

what insurance company do you have? that "kiss my bumper" shit? if your agent wasn't lazy or possibly stupid, they'd know that with a little detective work of tracking this person down, there is a chance she may be the one paying for everything -- rather than just chalking it up as a loss to their company and you, their customer. you do have to pay a deductible, no? if she is found to be illegally driving, you shouldn't be paying a penny, nor should your insurance company.

[zero9243]

Tell your insurance company "don't try too hard tracking her down" she should get really f-ed for leaving the scene.

She could have been under the influence, uninsured, driving an un-road worthy car, a stolen car anything? Therefore should not be on the road, making it impossible for you to collide with her.

exactly my point.

what insurance company do you have? that "kiss my bumper" shit? if your agent wasn't lazy or possibly stupid, they'd know that with a little detective work of tracking this person down, there is a chance she may be the one paying for everything -- rather than just chalking it up as a loss to their company and you, their customer. you do have to pay a deductible, no? if she is found to be illegally driving, you shouldn't be paying a penny, nor should your insurance company.

I'll call my insurance agent again, but they made it sound like there's nothing i can do. I have progressive insurance.

[thatkid]

Dillon, what happens here (UK) in these circumstances. The (your) insurance company screws you, no claim bonus is revoked for 3 years (that POS could make a claim, 3 year max here)

Fight your case, IMO you did nothing wrong. You were safely riding home on a familiar road (yes?) some idiot stopped on the freeway, another unscrupulous person fled the scene, the local authority had a make shift sign, confusing everyone! with no warnings.

excuse my French but f*ck that shit. Why should you be the victim in this calamity?

[_Will_]

although she left the scene and the may be legal repercussions is still sounds like you're fault for following too close. I've been in one wreck on my bike and I fully take responsibility for it. Thankfully it wasn't hospital worthy (at least to me) and only left me with a sometimes bad knee and a lesson learned with nobody else connected to it. Having been always taught everyone else on the road is an idiot I treat them that way, whether what they're doing is legal or not. People who stop at yield signs normally do so in my opinion because they mentally freeze and see it as an out. I don't follow too close where I'm stuck in a position that could get me in trouble, I'd much rather miss a chance for a thrill (and I do love my thrills) than provide chance the opportunity to nail me. You're sore bum and scrapped knee is really an easy punishment for putting yourself in that position and it's simple luck you didn't snag, move, bounce, etc in some way or into something that could have killed/permanently maimed you. This happened near me, from what I understand he was fairly new and we all know there's a learning curve:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafe ... pa/1092052

Don't hide from your responsibility, learn from it. It'll save your life, I am glad it sounds like you'll make a full recovery. If you're married don't forget to milk it for all it's worth

[Fzrmike33]

Glad you ok man, thank God for that. No matter what when you rear end somebody here in US your at fault . Not saying you did anything wrong, but thats how it is.

[thatkid]

No matter what when you rear end somebody here in US your at fault . Not saying you did anything wrong, but thats how it is.

I beg to differ.

Say I'm (you are) travelling @ a safe/legal speed, some idiot pulls out of a junction @ speed without looking = I/you rear end him, is that my/your fault? some idiot switches lanes = I/you rear end him (unavoidable) is that my/your fault?

If local authorities put make shift signs up, are the legal in the USA? in the UK signs are covered by the highway code and must conform to the specifications, otherwise they are not legal (many people have got off with speeding tickets because of this). These signs must also be passed by local authorities, and warning signs are placed around 100 meters before the new sign, so people riding/driving their familiar route don't assume the speed limit, stop, or yield sign is/are not in place. You should have fair warning of any sign changes imo.

Are the local authorities @ fault, because of the make shift sign still held up by sand bags? which obviously caused the confusion?

I would defiantly fight the case.



EDIT that Yield sign will probably cause more accidents than it prevents!

[Fzrmike33]

Trust me you rear end somebody here, ITS YOUR FAULT, you aint getting out of it, they look at like you were following to close if you rear end somebody

. Oh im sure some people get out of it, but 1 out of every 1000. They look at like if you allow proper distance between you and car in front of you, you should have plenty of time to stop.

With motorcycles you should allow more room between you and the car in front of you, than you would if you were in another car, just glad he is ok, bet he will be on his toes and more cautious in the future, not implying he did anything wrong.

The yield sign not a good thing the way its setup there, put a STOP SIGN, or nothing, let people space themselfs out. Here in Calif, every freeway on ramp has a trafic light to wait your turn, i have never ran into a sandbagged sign.

[zero9243]

although she left the scene and the may be legal repercussions is still sounds like you're fault for following too close. I've been in one wreck on my bike and I fully take responsibility for it. Thankfully it wasn't hospital worthy (at least to me) and only left me with a sometimes bad knee and a lesson learned with nobody else connected to it. Having been always taught everyone else on the road is an idiot I treat them that way, whether what they're doing is legal or not. People who stop at yield signs normally do so in my opinion because they mentally freeze and see it as an out. I don't follow too close where I'm stuck in a position that could get me in trouble, I'd much rather miss a chance for a thrill (and I do love my thrills) than provide chance the opportunity to nail me. You're sore bum and scrapped knee is really an easy punishment for putting yourself in that position and it's simple luck you didn't snag, move, bounce, etc in some way or into something that could have killed/permanently maimed you. This happened near me, from what I understand he was fairly new and we all know there's a learning curve:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafe ... pa/1092052

Don't hide from your responsibility, learn from it. It'll save your life, I am glad it sounds like you'll make a full recovery. If you're married don't forget to milk it for all it's worth

Yeah i see what you are saying, but I was definitely following at a normal distance, but by the end of this onramp everyone but this one lady is doing 55mph+ to match the freeway speed. I'm not dodging responsibility here, i know that with an extra car length of distance I would have probably not been in the accident at all, but I was on the ninja 250, so not much thrill of gunning it onto the freeway there, and i'd like to think i'm generally responsible with following distance as well. And man oh man do i know how lucky i was to not get tossed into something, or have my leg catch somewhere. I'd be in much more pain.

[haunter]

that sucks dude

glad you are OK

[Target30]

Glad you are ok, having kids now i definitely see a huge difference in my riding style, and "everbody else on the road is an idiot" is a great motto to follow. I do live in New England, where everyone else on the road is an idiot.

in answer to this:

Say I'm (you are) travelling @ a safe/legal speed, some idiot pulls out of a junction @ speed without looking = I/you rear end him, is that my/your fault? some idiot switches lanes = I/you rear end him (unavoidable) is that my/your fault?

Yes is the answer, you rearend someone, regardless of the situation, you are at fault. if you are tailing someone and they break check you and you hit them, your fault. if you are leaving a reasonable distance and some slams on there breaks to avoid something, and you hit them, its your fault. the only way it isnt your fault is if someone hits you from behind, and you hit them, but the insurance companies will fight to say you were too close to them in the first place and shouldnt have hit them even if you get pushed into them. happened to me in stopped traffic. i actaully won that one, but it was a battle(that my insurance company had to fight).

it sucks, but its the truth. Guilty until proven innocent, thats how it works.

regardless, its great taht you are ok, and the bike is repairable. in a year or two, you will barely remember this, plus you can do more mods now! haha