scb@philabs.UUCP (Sean Byrne) (06/21/85)
Well, let me first state a couple of premises that I have developed
after driving my bike in NY for the pact year.
1. Beware of any driver wearing a hat. They are armed and dangerously
incompetent drivers. (This is pretty universal-- not just NY).
2. Anyone making a left turn always has the right of way.
3. Traffic laws do not apply to police cars.
Anyway, here is the tale of my ex-bike:
I was driving north on Rte. 9 in the far right lane, whilst this '71 Chevy
Chevelle was going south, making a left turn into a parking lot. I was
doing a normal speed (about 40 mph) and noticed this guy start to turn.
I toot my horn to tell him "Hey there's a bike here!" but of course he doesn't
listen. At this point I am at a distance away from him such that if we
continue at our current speeds he will hit me from the side, effectively
creaming me into the pavement. So, I slam on my brake and slow down just
enough for this guy to get in front of me, whilst I hit him at about 30 mph,
which results in an inelastic collision, sending the bike 8 inches into his
door and me over the top of the car to land on the other side on my knees.
Luckily, I could still walk and breathe and know my own name at this point,
so I went over to this 83 year old guy wearing a hat and yelling at me "What the
hell do you think you're doing?", whereupon I shake his hand to congradulate
him for his excellent driving skills and go lie down on the lawn as the
police think I may have broken my back or neck or something. Well after
2 hours in the hospital they decide that I am one lucky guy and release me
to my hot tub.
So, I'd just like to say thanks for the people who have helped me with my
bike in the past, Tom Love @ rlgvax and Jans Prins @ cornell. I think
I'll go buy a car now....
PS. The bike now sits in a parking lot with the front wheel at 90 degrees
to the handlebars, the forks matching, the right muffler magically becoming
part of the rear suspension, minus one headlight, 2 right turn signals and
various and sundry bolts. The engine (that still starts and runs) sounds like
a mack truck, and conincidentally, when I put it on the surviving center stand,
and put it in gear, the shaft assembly makes noises in harmony with the engine.
Not a pretty sight...
--
USENET- .... Sean Byrne
5 years . /\ . CSRG, Philips Laboratories
of anarchy . / \ . Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510
freedom . / \ . (914) 945-6242
and ---/------\---
chaos. /. .\ UUCP: {allegra,decvax,ihnp4}!philabs!scb
/ . . . \ EUNET: {prlb2,mcvax,phlash}!philabs!scbdarryl@ISM780.UUCP (06/23/85)
Having recently lost my motorcycle in a (fortunately!) low speed collision
with a sleeping driver, I think I understand how you feel right now. I
was lucky enough to come away with only a broken leg, which has now fully
recovered. The left-turning car got me as well, and I still wonder what
more I could have done to avoid the incident. Still, this is the most
frequent type of motorcycle accident, so there must be some kind of
solution. For now at least, my solution is an increased sense of paranoia.
--Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp.
...!cca!ima!ism780!darryl
The views expressed above are my opinions only.
P.S. Please don't seriously consider a hat as a significant warning of a
sleeping driver. I wear a hat most of time I'm not wearing a helmet
("I only take my hat off for one reason...").tjs@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) (06/25/85)
>I think >I'll go buy a car now.... After your next car accident will you go out and buy another motorcycle? {allegra|ihnp4}!cbdkc1!tjs
klmartin@watmath.UUCP (K.L. Martin, Hardware) (07/02/85)
I have installed a set of DRIVING LAMPS I call my Nerd-Busters. When comming up upon some brain dead individual sitting behind the wheel of an overbearing rust bucket, first note the angle of his tyres!!!! i.e. if this idiot happens to be rear-ended where will the laws of physics force him to go! Then try to see if he/she is looking in your direction, this in no way implies that they see you. Then for good measure hit the 2000 candle-power driving lamps. The triangle of light comming at them is more noticable. At highway speeds the horn on most bikes are useless but use it anyway(every bit helps). This nerd-buster has saved my kester a few times I never use them as driving lamps and have them angled up slightly so they are more noticable, very effectice in the daytime except when the sun is directly behind you. In this case slow down and expect the worst you are driving like the old "Hun in the sun" out of the first world war. The worst reason to give up biking is because of an accident, one person in our local club crashed his piper cub airplane and was back in the air 3/4 of an hour later. He said that if he had not climbed right back into another airplane he never would have flown again, he was so scared that the person he was with had to land the plane because he was shaking so much (adrenalin). If after getting back on a cycle you feel ill at ease then give it up, you will only hurt yourself further. We all have our little horror stories and have lived to tell the tales but don't let the memory ruin the joy of cycling. --Kim.