Came upon a downed motorcycle on Calaveras today

Alex · August 29th, 2010, 06:36 PM

I went for a short ride this afternoon on Calaveras, and came up upon a fallen rider, who had tossed his Harley down the road. Two bicyclists had gotten to him before I turned the corner, but the rider was still on the ground and in some pain, with an obviously broken leg. No cell service for anyone, and this included AT&T, Verizon, and TMO. I hit the 911 button on my SPOT, and the bicyclists had just sent another car as well to call once they were able to get to service. A minute or so later, I received confirmation that the call had gone through with an email notification from the SPOT folks; my cell could evidently pick up emails but didn't have enough bars for a call.

It took a little longer than I would have hoped, but 12 minutes after the SPOT call, the cavalry showed up to tend to the rider better than we all could. He was fully conscious and lucid throughout, did not appear in shock, but was pretty much immobile. Here's what it looks like when a whole bunch of emergency responders make it to a tiny road like Calaveras:

accident pic1.jpg

We had righted the bike, as gas was starting to pour out onto the road; the red circle shows where the bike was laying.

accident pic2.jpg

Yes, that's the poor guy still on the left; the emergency folks were right behind me with a stretcher to better take care of him and get him into the waiting ambulance. He was going to be fine, of course, but made for a pretty painful afternoon I'd imagine. The pics should be geocoded, but if not, it all happened right here:

Ride safe, folks...

bob706 · August 29th, 2010, 06:50 PM

Hope the rider makes a full and swift recovery.

00NissanNinja · August 29th, 2010, 07:22 PM

^+1
That is a tiny road

backinthesaddleagain · August 29th, 2010, 08:02 PM

Wow Alex I came around a nice, kind of rural, S corner today (not as nice as you guys have in CA) and immediately saw police cars and fire trucks. At first I pictured a rider down as I didnt see a bike. then I saw a Mazda RX8 in the trees on the wrong side of the road.

Zombiphone · August 29th, 2010, 10:09 PM

Eesh. Good looking out. I met a guy who did a lot of long distance touring who had the SPOT beacon thingy. He used it to inform his family that he was okay since he didn't trust cell phones for when he was in desolate woodlands and such. It looked pretty nifty, and sounds like it really can come in handy in these kinds of places. Interesting.

I hate happening upon the aftermath of someone elses tragedy though, especially when there's nothing I can do to help. I think having ambulances on site at the track has spoiled me. On my way back from Laguna Seca last month, going down Highway 1, I came around a blind turn and saw an ambulance, patrol car, and a firetruck with lights flashing on the side of a cliff with a steep drop off overlooking the ocean. There were two bikers looking quite devastated parked by the guard rail but I only noticed one bike between the two, so I'm hoping a bike was the only fatality. But I admittedly didn't look too intently as I had to concentrate on the road. I hope there wasn't a missing third rider. Stuff like that always make my heart sink. I took it 10 times easier the rest of the ride home.

Ride safe, indeed

Alex · August 29th, 2010, 10:48 PM

I'm a big fan of the SPOT. This is the second time I've used it to summon help for motorcycle accidents, and fortunately neither of those accidents were my own. If you ride outside of cell service, it truly can be a a lifesaving piece of equipment.

Link to SPOT thread

M · August 31st, 2010, 06:34 AM

Glad you were there to provide assistance. I carry my SPoT on the RAM mount anytime I ride.

Dmitriy · February 24th, 2011, 12:47 PM

Alex just to be clear you were not charged for any of the calls via spot right? Did you have to deal with any bureaucracy at all? Or did the emergency folks notify the spot people that it was for real and they didn't need to charge you for a false alarm?

dubojr1 · February 24th, 2011, 12:57 PM

Props to you Alex for helping out a fellow rider...

Alex · February 24th, 2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmitriy

Alex just to be clear you were not charged for any of the calls via spot right? Did you have to deal with any bureaucracy at all? Or did the emergency folks notify the spot people that it was for real and they didn't need to charge you for a false alarm?

I was certainly not charged for any calls. I've never heard of anyone being charged, for that matter. I think they just have that in the fine print in case someone truly does abuse the service they have some recourse to pursue them.

I didn't have to deal with the bureaucracy, but my wife did. The SPoT control center contacted the CHP and the Sheriffs dept, and one of them must have contacted the local police. Those three groups didn't coordinate afterwards, so even after LEO's were on-site and all was well, the Sheriff's office was still calling my wife to see what was going on and confirm that I didn't need assistance. In fact, they asked her to drive up and make sure.

We don't live far from there, so she ended up doing that. I was long gone, the downed rider was long gone, but there were still a few LEO's on site who let her know that all was well.

Can't really blame SPoT for this, they did what they were supposed to in getting people on site very quickly, but the coordination afterwards was a bit of a cluster. Big picture - no charge, guy got help quicker than he would have otherwise.

slolane · February 24th, 2011, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex

I was certainly not charged for any calls. I've never heard of anyone being charged, for that matter. I think they just have that in the fine print in case someone truly does abuse the service they have some recourse to pursue them.

I didn't have to deal with the bureaucracy, but my wife did. The SPoT control center contacted the CHP and the Sheriffs dept, and one of them must have contacted the local police. Those three groups didn't coordinate afterwards, so even after LEO's were on-site and all was well, the Sheriff's office was still calling my wife to see what was going on and confirm that I didn't need assistance. In fact, they asked her to drive up and make sure.

We don't live far from there, so she ended up doing that. I was long gone, the downed rider was long gone, but there were still a few LEO's on site who let her know that all was well.

Can't really blame SPoT for this, they did what they were supposed to in getting people on site very quickly, but the coordination afterwards was a bit of a cluster. Big picture - no charge, guy got help quicker than he would have otherwise.

Very cool product and service. Glad you were there to help him

bluepoof · February 24th, 2011, 05:33 PM

Good job, Alex!!

Another huge +1 for the SPOT; one saved my ex-boss's life. He was hiking the John Muir trail from Yosemite to Mt Whitney when an undiagnosed duodenal ulcer ruptured. He was in the middle of nowhere but the SPOT was able to get a helicopter to him after dawn (hours later, but that was due to the remoteness of his location; not the SPOT's fault).

August 29th, 2010, 06:36 PM	#1
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	Came upon a downed motorcycle on Calaveras today I went for a short ride this afternoon on Calaveras, and came up upon a fallen rider, who had tossed his Harley down the road. Two bicyclists had gotten to him before I turned the corner, but the rider was still on the ground and in some pain, with an obviously broken leg. No cell service for anyone, and this included AT&T, Verizon, and TMO. I hit the 911 button on my SPOT, and the bicyclists had just sent another car as well to call once they were able to get to service. A minute or so later, I received confirmation that the call had gone through with an email notification from the SPOT folks; my cell could evidently pick up emails but didn't have enough bars for a call. It took a little longer than I would have hoped, but 12 minutes after the SPOT call, the cavalry showed up to tend to the rider better than we all could. He was fully conscious and lucid throughout, did not appear in shock, but was pretty much immobile. Here's what it looks like when a whole bunch of emergency responders make it to a tiny road like Calaveras: accident pic1.jpg We had righted the bike, as gas was starting to pour out onto the road; the red circle shows where the bike was laying. accident pic2.jpg Yes, that's the poor guy still on the left; the emergency folks were right behind me with a stretcher to better take care of him and get him into the waiting ambulance. He was going to be fine, of course, but made for a pretty painful afternoon I'd imagine. The pics should be geocoded, but if not, it all happened right here: Ride safe, folks... __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)

August 29th, 2010, 07:22 PM	#3
00NissanNinja I hate driving... Name: S Location: SW Ohio Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): 13 Triumph Street Triple R, 09 Ninja 250r (Sold 4/20/12) Posts: A lot.	^+1 That is a tiny road __________________________________________________ 09 ninja 2fiddy SE Driving slow things fast

August 29th, 2010, 10:48 PM	#6
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	I'm a big fan of the SPOT. This is the second time I've used it to summon help for motorcycle accidents, and fortunately neither of those accidents were my own. If you ride outside of cell service, it truly can be a a lifesaving piece of equipment. Link to SPOT thread __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)

August 31st, 2010, 06:34 AM	#7
M ninjette.org member Name: M Location: Oklahoma Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250 x2, Ninja 650R Posts: 165	Glad you were there to provide assistance. I carry my SPoT on the RAM mount anytime I ride. __________________________________________________ The Rally - Oklahoma

February 24th, 2011, 12:57 PM	#9
dubojr1 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Jason Location: Jacksonville, Florida Join Date: May 2010 Motorcycle(s): 09 Ninja 250R SE, 07 Honda CRF230F, 06 Honda CRF150F Posts: A lot.	Props to you Alex for helping out a fellow rider... __________________________________________________ 09 250R SE: Paying it forward one post at a time! Don't forget to add yourself to our Member Map

August 29th, 2010, 06:50 PM	#2
bob706 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sean Location: Mary Esther, FL Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250 1998 HD Road King Posts: A lot.	Hope the rider makes a full and swift recovery.

August 29th, 2010, 08:02 PM	#4
backinthesaddleagain ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Greg Location: Rhode Island Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2013 ZX6R 636 Posts: A lot.	Wow Alex I came around a nice, kind of rural, S corner today (not as nice as you guys have in CA) and immediately saw police cars and fire trucks. At first I pictured a rider down as I didnt see a bike. then I saw a Mazda RX8 in the trees on the wrong side of the road.

August 29th, 2010, 10:09 PM	#5
Zombiphone CVMA/AFM #72 Name: Tiffani Location: Los Angeles, Ca Join Date: Oct 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250r (Racebike), 2015 FZ-07(Tourer), 2001 KX65(LOL bike) Posts: A lot.	Eesh. Good looking out. I met a guy who did a lot of long distance touring who had the SPOT beacon thingy. He used it to inform his family that he was okay since he didn't trust cell phones for when he was in desolate woodlands and such. It looked pretty nifty, and sounds like it really can come in handy in these kinds of places. Interesting. I hate happening upon the aftermath of someone elses tragedy though, especially when there's nothing I can do to help. I think having ambulances on site at the track has spoiled me. On my way back from Laguna Seca last month, going down Highway 1, I came around a blind turn and saw an ambulance, patrol car, and a firetruck with lights flashing on the side of a cliff with a steep drop off overlooking the ocean. There were two bikers looking quite devastated parked by the guard rail but I only noticed one bike between the two, so I'm hoping a bike was the only fatality. But I admittedly didn't look too intently as I had to concentrate on the road. I hope there wasn't a missing third rider. Stuff like that always make my heart sink. I took it 10 times easier the rest of the ride home. Ride safe, indeed

February 24th, 2011, 12:47 PM	#8
Dmitriy voda? Name: Dmitriy Location: Bay Area, CA Join Date: Oct 2009 Motorcycle(s): .... & a Ninja 250 duh Posts: 65	Alex just to be clear you were not charged for any of the calls via spot right? Did you have to deal with any bureaucracy at all? Or did the emergency folks notify the spot people that it was for real and they didn't need to charge you for a false alarm?

February 24th, 2011, 05:33 PM	#12
bluepoof ninjette.org sage Name: Carolyn Location: San Carlos, CA Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2007 Ninja 250, 2002 Yamaha XT225 Posts: 597	Good job, Alex!! Another huge +1 for the SPOT; one saved my ex-boss's life. He was hiking the John Muir trail from Yosemite to Mt Whitney when an undiagnosed duodenal ulcer ruptured. He was in the middle of nowhere but the SPOT was able to get a helicopter to him after dawn (hours later, but that was due to the remoteness of his location; not the SPOT's fault). __________________________________________________ www.bluepoof.com

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