Lousy week so far... now with added wreckage

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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:30 pm

Not often I post much personal stuff on here, but just felt the need to unload.

Last November, youngest daughter (nearly 19) did her CBT (basic motorcycle training) & I sold her my old bike. She also did additional training at the bike school & came out with me on a few Sunday mornings. Whole point of this was so she could have her own transport for work (she works shifts). She hadn't got to the stage of using the bike regularly & hadn't been out 'solo'.

On Wednesday, she went out with a couple of her friends on bikes, just to get some practise. At around 3:30pm I got a phone call from wifey to say daughter had been in an RTA.

When I got up to the hospital, she'd just had a CT scan. She was very lucky. There was a query as to whether or not she'd had an inter-crainal bleed, but on further inspection of the scan results the neuro decided there wasn't any real evidence for it. They kept her in for observation until this morning.

Luckily, she was wearing full bike gear - proper jacket with armour in the elbows & shoulders, cordura pants with armour at the knee, boots, gloves & of course, a helmet. The helmet lining has been compressed heavily on the right side, corresponding with a lot of bruising on her right cheek & eye. Although she's badly bruised, she's not broken anything & the docs say the clothing probably saved her from serious injury.

She doesn't remember anything about the accident - not even where it happened. However, one of the hospital porters was behind her in his car & was able to tell us. Apparently, she'd just left her friends & was coming home on her own. There's a junction not far from here with a filter for traffic turning right. For whatever reason, she didn't notice that the filter light had gone off & traffic was starting to move across the junction from the other side. She started to turn right & ran into the side of a bus! The witness thought she'd gone under the back wheels.

Thankfully, she's ok apart from being stiff & sore. She said she'd really been enjoying the ride until the accident happened.

She still wants to carry on riding. That's something we'll have to think about. The bike's a write-off, so she won't be back on it soon!

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

That is why I HATE motorbikes.

Glad she escaped serious injury.

Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:45 pm

Glad to hear shes going to be fine.. The armour that is now being used is a great lifesaver. In the long run it is probably a good thing that she cannot remember anything about the accident as this tends to play on the mind and lessens confidence that is needed when learning to ride/drive any vehicle.

Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:00 pm

Wow...I'm SO glad that she's alright! I have an 18 yr old daughter, and I can just imagine the worry you've been going through. I'm also in a family of bikers - hubby collects vintage British and Italian motorcycles, and he and my 17-yr-old son go dirtbiking. Son wants to get a street bike, but I've been vetoing that so far. It scares the crap out of me. You are just SO exposed on a motorcycle.

Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:03 pm

I don't hate bikes - quite the opposite, I use one for commuting to work in summer. Neither wifey nor I want to go down the route of "While you're living in this house you will NOT, etc, etc..."

Now she knows what happened, she realises the accident was her fault - whether through distraction, inattention or whatever. Even if she'd been in a car the accident would still have happened. Granted, the injuries wouldn't have been quite the same, though.

Once she's properly recovered, I think I might suggest she takes driving lessons. At least she'll learn more roadcraft in relative safety & with an instructor.

Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:05 pm

Wow...that must have been quite a scare Mike! I'm happy to hear she's doing fine - and driving lessons sounds like a great idea.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 3551

I am glad your daughter is okay, iMike. Thank goodness she had all that gear on!

Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:02 pm

^^the two friends she was out with were both wearing jeans & nylon jackets. Mad

Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:27 pm

I'm glad to see that your daughter was wearing full gear - she obviously learned something from her parents/instructors. And I'm glad there was no serious or permanent damage to her. The bike can be replaced.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 19

ATGATT....All The Gear All The Time. Sounds like you have taught her that already, good for you. Glad it paid off for all and she recovers quickly.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 12:29 am

I'm so glad your daughter is going to be fine and her injuries were fairly minimal considering the situation. Thank goodness she was wearing the proper safety equipment. I imagine it is a parent's worse nightmare in getting a call about their child being in an accident.

Motorcycles scare the living and dead daylights out of me. I will no longer ride on one. It's more about most car drivers not looking out for motorcycles and focusing only on cars that bothers me the most. For that reason, I'm extra careful to make sure I look out for motorcycles when I'm driving. I live in a warm weather climate so they're out year round.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 12:52 am

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 12:54 am

I'm glad she came out fairly OK. Personally I never ride without wearing the full Monty. This is a good example why one shouldn't. Hope she'll recover soon and will enjoy riding bikes again quickly too.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:55 am

Thanks for the good wishes.

She`s not particularly bothered about the bike at the moment - she`s more miffed that they cut off her jacket, band t-shirt & a brand new bra!

I never ride without full protection. The only concession is a pair of kevlar lined jeans if it`s really hot.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:08 am

Does your daughter know hoe extremely lucky she was? She must have a guardian angel.

PRS Girly Girl wrote:

It's more about most car drivers not looking out for motorcycles and focusing only on cars that bothers me the most. For that reason, I'm extra careful to make sure I look out for motorcycles when I'm driving. I live in a warm weather climate so they're out year round.

How true. I can't remember how many times i nearly had a collision due to that fact and in all the years i ride a motorbike i had just one accident. I was able to break before collision so there was not too much damage, i was able to ride the bike home.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:06 pm

Don't think it's quite sunk in with her yet. We've still got to pick the bike up (that's another story - £150 recovery plus £10 per day storage costs!!). That's happening on Tuesday. I rang the garage up, wondering if the bike was in a rideable condition (I'm insured to ride it so would have brought it home). They said it definately wasn't rideable, so I'm guessing it's completely trashed. Once she sees the state of it she might realise how lucky she was.

I've had a couple of near misses myself - usually from cars / vans pulling out of side roads without looking & buses pulling away from stops. I permanently ride with my left thumb over the horn button in traffic!

We've brought her up to the caravan for the weekend to let her (& us!) relax a little. Most of the bruising on her face has gone down already. She's quite quiet at the moment & spends a fair bit of time asleep. Probably for the best.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:51 pm

^^^Enjoy your weekend and a speedy recovery to the whole family.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

I'm so glad she's OK
A bike can be replaced, a life can't
Maybe it wall make her a better biker, a wee bit more cautious in future.
Arnica is wonderful for bruises.

I baulked when my daughter wanted to start biking, even though I used to ride a bike at the same age.
I got her driving lessons instead, she still works in a bike shop, still looking for an apprenticeship Wink

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:54 pm

iMike, I am so glad your daughter is alright! Working in an ER/Level I Trauma Center, I have seen so many horrible accidents with bikes. I am always amazed what little people will wear while riding one.

However, I also know accidents can happen no matter what you are riding/drive or even being in your own home. So as long as someone is willing to give me a ride on their Harley, I will gladly go! Wink

Have a great and relaxing weekend with your daughter and family! Very Happy

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:23 pm

Think I've found out why she's so quiet - she's pissed at her boyfriend & now decided she fancies someone else Smile

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 02 Dec 2008 Posts: 518

I'm glad to hear your daughter is alright. Good thing she was wearing that gear.

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 12:59 am

iMike wrote:

Think I've found out why she's so quiet - she's pissed at her boyfriend & now decided she fancies someone else Smile

That means she is well on her way to a full recovery since she is acting like a normal 18 year old woman/girl. Wink

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:41 pm

finally recovered the bike today...

http://members.419eater.com/~imike/bike1.jpg
http://members.419eater.com/~imike/bike2.jpg
http://members.419eater.com/~imike/bike3.jpg
http://members.419eater.com/~imike/bike4.jpg

looks like she hit the bus at an oblique angle - most of her bruises are on her right side, from hitting the tarmac. From the damage to the bike wheel, i'm guessing the bus ran over it! Everything behind the ignition switch is undamaged! She wants to see if it can be repaired. As long as the frame isn't bent, should be able to pick up most of the bits from ebay. She's still adamant that she wants to ride again. Mum & Dad aren't too keen, but we'll see.

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:07 pm

Motorcycle accidents you can walk away from, albeit with injuries, is one that can be learned from. I hope she doesn't give up the road. It is outstanding that she wears all the protective gear, you taught her well. I my particular region we have a helmet optional law and the rest of the gear is very much more so optional. I prefer at minimum a half helmet, jeans, boots past the ankles, and kevlar gloves. unfortunately, as my motor cycle instuctor told our class, riding is all risk it is up to you to mitigate the chances of an accident through observing all around you, all the time, and trusting no one else on the road to do the right thing.

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:29 pm

I hope you daughter recovers soon, nice to see a sensible kid with all the protection. I hate it when you see kid wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and flip flops riding along on scooters....they really have no Idea.

Still any accident you walk away from is good, and a lesson learnt.

I ve been a biker for 25 yrs and in general I believe that riding a bike improves your abilities all round. Most bikers are pretty good drivers it's the assholes in the car on their mobile phones that are the killers Crying or Very sad

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