SMIDSY Sucks.

[lostdaemon]

Ooh, my turn to post here!

I was going straight through an intersection about 35-40 mph, light was green, I had the right of way...and of course an SUV decided to turn left form the opposing lane across my path of travel. I braked, or something...I don't remember. Ended up going over the bars, but didn't hit the car, and woke up screaming on the asphalt.

The officer at the scene also rides, and was kind enough to get enough information to determine I hadn't just lost control of my bike and that the other person was at fault. I spent two days at UCLA hospital, and just got out.

So, injuries:
Road rash - left shoulder, right arm, left leg
Internal bleeding in abdomen
Bruised lungs, right lung partially collapsed
Fractures in two vertebrae and left hip.
Severe internal bruising to right shoulder

I was wearing Kevlar lined jeans with no padding, but from the abrasions on the jeans they did their job for a relatively low speed crash. I've had worse abrasions on my legs from mountain biking. My helmet is scarred on both sides, but I didn't get a concussion. The fractures are all minor, thanks to a full leather jacket with spine protector. I think the shoulder padding shifted and caused some of the damage to my shoulders, but nothing broke even though I think my right shoulder took a lot of the initial impact. My ankles are a wee bit sore, but the anti-torsion thingies in my boots did their job too.

Wear your damn gear. I was incredibly lucky, and owe my life to it - given the details of the accident everyone at the hospital was amazed I was so minimally injured. I'm still gonna be out of work for a while, won't be able to ride for even longer, but I'm alive and walking already.

And just as important, many thanks to Jiggles for the posts on insurance. I upgraded to the best coverage my insurance company could offer, and I'm incredibly grateful for it already - my medical bills, towing, repairs/replacement should all be covered between the cager's insurance and mine.

And while I can't ride for a while, my ninjette is looking forward to a second life as a track bike According to the officer, he was able to get my bike running, and rode him onto the tow truck. The fairings are all cracked, and the rear brake lever may be broken off, but my bike lives!

[Fappy]

Whoa! Wow! I'm glad you're alright... stupid inattentive cagers. That sounds like an intense crash.

Keep us updated on how you and the bike are doing! Pics when you next get a chance!

[xSean13]

Sucks to hear about the accident. I don't understand how you managed to get those types of injuries without hitting the car & just flipping over the handlebars, not hitting anything. Was the driver of the SUV a woman?

[Motofool]

Very sorry to read this and happy that the whole thing was not worse.

Any statements and actions from the driver?

[lostdaemon]

Driver was a kid from out of town (Midwest), his parents in the back. The kid apparently didn't give much info, but didn't really seem to realise what had happened. His dad talked too much in front of the cop and implicated himself. The mom tried to blame it on how I just have been going 70 through the intersection, then hushed herself. This is all secondhand from the officer at the scene when he hunted me down in the ER though. I have no further idea of drivers etc, I was unconscious on the pavement.

I was going 35-40, I braked pretty hard and swerved so much as I remember, I have a feeling I locked the front and flipped myself over, maybe even looped the bike. I know my inner thighs are ridiculously sore, probably from the bike twisting away from me? So hitting the pavement, bouncing at least once (to hit the helmet on both right and left sides and tear off the visor) with 35-40 mph speed plus whatever centrifugal (?) force of flipping over the bars when the brakes locked? Sorry, physics isn't my strong suit, especially not on Vicodin!

[Panda]

Glad to hear your injuries were not worse. Get well soon!

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by lostdaemon

And just as important, many thanks to Jiggles for the posts on insurance. I upgraded to the best coverage my insurance company could offer, and I'm incredibly grateful for it already - my medical bills, towing, repairs/replacement should all be covered between the cager's insurance and mine.

In case anyone is wondering this is the thread http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111326

So it sounds like you did a stoppie?

[lostdaemon]

OMG Jiggles, your sig
I dig the script, you should be so lucky

Someday I hope to remember enough to know exactly what the hell happened. I have a feeling it was n00bish braking too hard/locking up brakes when I could have had enough stopping distance...but I was already in the intersection when they started to turn, so maybe not. I wonder if the tire marks are still on the road if I go down there today?

[Alex]

Sounds like a big 'un! Glad you're OK.

Originally Posted by lostdaemon

And just as important, many thanks to Jiggles for the posts on insurance. I upgraded to the best coverage my insurance company could offer, and I'm incredibly grateful for it already - my medical bills, towing, repairs/replacement should all be covered between the cager's insurance and mine.

See, and everyone thinks jiglet is good for nothing.

(he very well may be, but I don't want to hurt his feelings)

[Jiggles]

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Alex

Sounds like a big 'un! Glad you're OK.



See, and everyone thinks jiglet is good for nothing.

(he very well may be, but I don't want to hurt his feelings)

Oh and so 3 weeks after the last post in that thread and I had a hell of time finding it with the search function

[Yakaru]

Wow, your SMIDSY was way worse than mine
I'm in the LA area still, waiting for my own Ninja to be repaired. Let me know if I can do anything to help out!

[Jiggles]

Hey did I get SMIDSY'd? I never even knew what that was until today

[Yakaru]

Yep -- from what I recall in your video it was.
SMIDSY -- Sorry mate I didn't see you. It's when a car merges/turns in front of you.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[koenigcitizen]

Wow, when I was reading the OP, and reading about the injuries, I thought you had minimum gear. It feels like a lot of injuries with all the gear you had. Crazy...

Glad you are ok and in good spirits!

Gotta be careful out there. Thank you very much for posting!

[JeffM]

Originally Posted by lostdaemon

Someday I hope to remember enough to know exactly what the hell happened. I have a feeling it was n00bish braking too hard/locking up brakes when I could have had enough stopping distance...but I was already in the intersection when they started to turn, so maybe not. I wonder if the tire marks are still on the road if I go down there today?

Sounds like you did a good job slowing down so you did not hit the car, maybe too good . You mentioned that you remembered swerving and braking. Doing both at the same time may have contributed to hitting the deck.

The SMIDSY weave does a fair job at freezing a left (or right) turner but I never trust anyone. I now routinely drop my speed 5-10 mph at intersections if I see cross traffic (after a mirror check). Dropping 5-10 mph can reduce your stopping distance a surprising amount. For example, the difference in stopping distance between 30 mph and 35 mph is roughly 20 feet (including reaction time - 66 feet and 85 feet). Twenty feet could be the difference between hitting the side of a car or pulling up short and scowling at the left turner. Click to see braking figures from 5 mph to 215 mph for non abs and abs motorcycles.

Hope you feel better soon and get back to riding.

Jeff

(Oh and in case anyone is interested, at 215 mph it'll take over 13 seconds and almost a half of a mile to stop. )

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Hey did I get SMIDSY'd? I never even knew what that was until today

This thread explained it:

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=97999

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by JeffM

...........You mentioned that you remembered swerving and braking. Doing both at the same time may have contributed to hitting the deck.

...........Dropping 5-10 mph can reduce your stopping distance a surprising amount. For example, the difference between 30 mph and 35 mph is roughly 20 feet (including reaction time - 66 feet and 85 feet). .........

Very good post, Jeff !!

I could add that the lane used by the bike makes a huge difference as well: extreme left lane gives the driver less chance to detect the bike (especially for a young inexperienced driver) and the gives the rider less distance to escape.

Braking hard alone couldn't produce a flip over at 30 mph, in my opinion.
However, the combination of braking hard and swerving hard could induce a diagonal flip.
The reason for the sore thigh my be the bike landing over the leg or the legs rubbing hard against the tank while leaving the bike.

[lostdaemon]

Got a chance to look at the intersection yesterday. Here's a little map:

Marked it out with arrows, red being my Sunbeam Red Ninja, Blue being the poor kid from Indiana that didn't see me.

Going about 35-45 mph, I'm really wondering if there was any way I could have stopped in time even with perfect braking technique? After some discussion and inspection of my damaged gear with a few other riders last night, we think I must have crashed onto my left side first, then the bike righted itself and flung me over to land on my right side with more force, and the bike slid on the right side...but again, my understanding of physics is crappy, so is that sort of thing even possible?

Damn am I lucky...

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Oh and so 3 weeks after the last post in that thread and I had a hell of time finding it with the search function

I can put an insurance section into the riding skills sticky.

[JeffM]

Originally Posted by Alex

I can put an insurance section into the riding skills sticky.

Or maybe just a Jiggles section above General

[Alex]

Don't think he hasn't lobbied for that.

[Jiggles]

[Yakaru]

Okay Jiggles, you got me. I just about died laughing.

[Jiggles]

[akima]

@lostdaemon: so sorry to hear about your crash. Glad your gear did its job and you got the right insurance.
@Jiggles: BWAha ha ha! Love the picture!

[lostdaemon]

Damnit Jiggles! Don't make the girl with bruised ribs and a collapsed lung laugh so hard! That freaking hurt!

[Jiggles]

thought you were a dude

[lostdaemon]

No wonder you're single

[Jiggles]

Pfff, I've got 2 pretty ladies waiting outside for me

[lostdaemon]

And you're sure they're ladies? Your gender recognition might be a little...off

[Jiggles]

Clearly there is a man on your ninja, hows I supposed to know!?

[lostdaemon]

Hey! Those shadows were artfully positioned to hide what exactly I might be

Not everyone cares to flash the forum in their avatar (although you might consider retaking the image with nipple tassels, add some class)

[Jiggles]

It is certainly more interesting though

[menikmati]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

thought you were a dude

Same, from the photos of @lostdaemon I thought s(he) was just an absurdly skinny duder.

[lostdaemon]

You guys suck



Boys don't get curves like that lol

[Jiggles]

Haha well in your avatar ya look like a dude. Short hair, wife beater, clearly flexing the biceps for the camera, maybe you should retake it

[lostdaemon]

Lol I was *not* flexing my nonexistent biceps.

I'll be sure to retake a pic with the spine brace and all, or maybe with my bike once I get his pieces back...

[Jiggles]

Don't forget to flash the camera

[akima]

Not sure how you two thought @lostdaemon was a guy?! Maybe you only think a person is a girl if they have long hair.

Maybe this young lady is more your type Jiggles: