Comments on: Trauma 13

By: Jeremy Z

Jeremy Z — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:57:00 +0000

If John wants to start riding sooner rather than later, he may be riding a scooter!

Did they determine it was his fault, or the truck driver's? I'm hoping it isn't one of the SMIDSY cases: "He came out of nowhere! He was going too fast!" etc.

I too wish him a speedy recovery. The only good thing about this is that John's accident has made your audience more aware, whether it would help or not.

By: Ale-

Ale- — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:13:00 +0000

gosh, only today I had time to read the post, and I was impressed… no fog here, but a lot of stupid drivers, be thay garbage pickups or youngsters (hey, I’m 33, I could be one of them…) so I’m just learning from this post. I always wear jeans, as I haven’t any other kind of pants, so I’ll be more and more careful, even though I don’t ride high-speed highways here in my homeland.
I wish a speedy recovery to your friend, and godspeed to we all, people, as we are supposed to be the example to follow, when we ride, so let’s be careful for the others’ sake.

By: Sherry CC

Sherry CC — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:30:00 +0000

I am hyper aware of what is in front of me when I ride. Not so much of what is behide me. I will definately start paying closer attention to whats behind me. I recently was on a country road and put my blinker on to pull off onto the shoulder. The car behind me tooted his horn at me. Was he mad that he wasn't paying attention to me and almost hit me. That scared me and I vowed to pay closer attention to the cars behind me. Glad to hear John is out of ICU.

Sherry

By: Kano

Kano — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:33:00 +0000

Sorry to hear about your friend John's accident Steve. I join the others in wishing him a speedy and complete recovery.

It's a risky life we live as riders but even knowing the risks we ride anyway. The pleasures of the road outweigh the risks. Still it's a hard thing to take when one of our brothers goes down.

rickrusselltx mentioned the danger of getting hit from behind. I had my bike wired so that my rear turn signals light up along with the brake light. That adds some additional visibility for whomever is behind.

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:52:00 +0000

May God speed in his recovery. Thank goodness for all the riding gear and they have served to save his life. No point explaining how important we all need to be in the most appropriate riding gear. A compounded femur, patella, and "Le forte" three facial fracture is evident but overall the helmet, pants, jacket and boots saved his life and done its job. I may ride a small scooter but I dress the best I can. The road to recovery will be a little long but he will ride again..that is the good part I trying to share.

Best wishes to your friend.

By: Lucky

Lucky — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 01:17:00 +0000

Best wishes to your friend. I’ll try to send some good karma his way.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:41:00 +0000

So sorry to hear about your friend, John's accident, but thankful that he will recover and live to ride again. Wishing him courage and determination during his recovery. Perhaps knowing that all of us are thinking about him and wishing him the best will lift his morale.

I just started reading your blog a few days ago and I am addicted. You are a wonderful, creative writer. I found the blog via a vespa adv and began looking at the images. I thought "what a photographer this guy is", then realized that you are a pro as well as an artist. Bravo! Lea from Fort Lauderdale. Oh yes and I am shopping for my first Vespa. Thanks for all the inspiration.

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:13:00 +0000

Thanks everyone for your well wishes for John. He's scheduled for surgery this morning so we'll see how things go.

Other than the Revit jacket I'm not sure what brand of pants and helmet he wears. I might be able to find out. He also always wears a hi-viz vest over his jacket. The kind that road workers wear for enhanced visibility.

Tim: Thanks for the suggestions. I'll pass them on. Once he is less heavily medicated it will be easier to determine what his memory is like I think.

orin: Not sure about the difference in crash worthiness between a scooter and the BMW. He certainly had more mass with a bigger and heavier machine. I just figure that a crash on two wheels is an unprotected event regardless of what you are riding.

conchscooter: It's amazing how fragile we are. My personal opinion is that riding without a helmet is just nuts. Even if you don't kill yourself a very low speed fall can really mess you up.

rickrussell: I try and stay hyperaware like you. And I always watch for rear end stuff at intersections. Slower speeds allow for more time to react but it also means you have to choose different roads sometimes.

I don't ride scared but I pay attention like I do when I cross a street on foot. Looking all the time...

When I drive the car I see how easy it is to sit back and relax, listen to the radio, and not pay attention. It is really hard to get the same awareness in the cage. It's no wonder that drivers miss seeing riders. They probably don't appreciate the kind of hyperawareness you can develop on two wheels.

Comment 13. Hmmmmm.

By: RickRussellTX

RickRussellTX — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:55:00 +0000

Cripes, that's pretty much my waking nightmare. My two sources of anguish when riding:

(1) intersections and

(2) getting hit from behind

I'm pretty hyper-observant about intersections, but getting hit from behind? I have no control at all. Just have to try and stay well in front of everybody.

Best wishes for John's speedy recovery.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:13:00 +0000

I wish your friend a speedy and full recovery. It does make you stop and think when accidents like this happen.