tires and wheels Talk and drive? Text and drive.. just dont.

[slash02]

Yesterday morning on my way to work riding my 1986 BMW R80RT

I was crashed into the median by a guy in an SUV or van who was happily chatting on his cell phone. He didn't see me or hear my horn, the road went right, and he either swerved while passing me or didn't turn, I went left in order to not end up under his wheels. (no oncoming traffic)

I was geared up, no nonsense salad bowl/german army helmet, full face helmet, full gear with pads etc.

accident occurred at around 40 mph. I also have a helmet cam which is good because he never stopped.

I got up off the ground, cursed, dusted myself off and picked the bike up.

After a morning at the emergency room and a few x-rays, I have 2 fractured ribs. I'm very lucky, something however happened to the memory card in my camera so I've got some data recovery to do.

Cell phone drivers have always been a huge pet peeve of mine, I don't do it. Neither should you. No phone call or email or text message is worth a life.

I'm glad to be fine, oddly enough the R80RT looks ok too, damn those fairings are tough.

[austinmf]

Glad to hear you are ok! except the ribs...

While driving home the other night, I noticed the cell phone glows in many cars.

Texting, reading, dialing, etc are constantly being done while driving. It's an epidemic.

I think in-car cams and black boxes will be the norm to protect or at least show what happened.

What happened to the good old days of just drinking while driving???

[ray_]

Glad you're okay. I hope the cam data is damning and you locate the SUV driver.

Best,

[c.d.iesel]

not your day to DIE.

so what happened to the bastard who tried to kill you ?

[malagalaga]

Glad to hear you are OK. Nothing enrages me more than a driver without both hands on the wheel.

[LimeySteve]

People are too busy in their cars to drive. I saw a hispanic middle aged lady in a little honda or something with an iPad on the dash at night shining in her face !!!, she was very busy !!!CRAZY

Glad you are OK hopefully the driver will be found & prosecuted I read that insurance companies look at the cell phone usage during/before an accident of the drivers & don't pay out if the cell phone is in use.

[c.d.iesel]

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Explore/News/DTAD.aspx

one of many bmw "Don't Text And Drive" campaign images:

[slash02]

not your day to DIE.

so what happened to the bastard who tried to kill you ?

Nice R65! He got away so far. My camera took a bump and the data card is corrupt. I have some background in data recovery so I am going to attempt

a few things before sending the card off.

No, not my day to die. Although I realized as I reminisced with curious coworkers this morning that i used every single motorcycle, and automotive defensive driving trick I knew, *AND* stuff I learned about crashing.. so. the courses and gear paid off.

I wrote Firstgear a thank you email last night, explaining how I crashed and how their gear left my only with carpet burns, the material rubbed me a bit.

It was about a half page, I included some feedback about the padding and damage to the jacket (My ER doc rides, and we sat down and went over my gear)

I got a nice letter back requesting an address and the size/type of jacket, they would like to provide me with a complimentary replacement.

That's pretty awesome service, They already had a lifetime customer in me.

[slash02]

bmw's campaign:

This is going to be passed around. Thanks CD!

[slash02]

Thanks for the concern and comments folks.

[slash02]

People are too busy in their cars to drive. I saw a hispanic middle aged lady in a little honda or something with an iPad on the dash at night shining in her face !!!, she was very busy !!!CRAZY

Glad you are OK hopefully the driver will be found & prosecuted I read that insurance companies look at the cell phone usage during/before an accident of the drivers & don't pay out if the cell phone is in use.

I'm hoping we can find the guy and get a few charges in myself. an IPAD?!?!?! wow. That's scary.

I guess when you view your car like you view your couch this behaviour is inevitable.

[baller908790]

My neighbor got into a motorcycle accident and had to get about 50 stitches. Kept the bike but hasn't ridden it since. This happened 8 years ago.

[jdt10768]

scary, glad you're ok. I sold my R1200C when our 2nd kid was on the way - But I still want a bike. Sometime . . . You have to ride as if invisible to others, because they ain't lookin fer ya - that's for sure. Even worse with smart phones in the mix.

keep us updated with the data recovery ;o)

[Rocan]

As a fellow rider, I am glad to hear you are okay.

ATGATT! (all the gear, all the time!)

If I ever pull up beside someone who is texting or chatting on the phone, I blare my horn at them for a good minute until they are thoroughly annoyed, and then proceed to tell them that if they do not get off their phone I will report them to the police. Perhaps a bit much at times, but if it maybe convinces someone to get off their phone, maybe someone wont die as a result of that persons ignorance.

[roadhog0]

My brother is paralyzed in the right upper quarter of his body and because of that he had part of his right arm amputated. It's been about 12 years since that, the girl pulled out in front of him and didnt see him. People just dont watch for motorcycles. :/