Will it happen to you?

Of course not. I’m careful, I’m skilled, I wear proper gear, I don’t ride too fast, and I obey the traffic laws. So, it won’t happen to me.

That’s what you think?

I was creeping along at 6 MPH in a traffic jam, and I didn’t think the professional medical transit driver behind me would just plow into me. Last week, a friend riding 40 MPH down a main road did not think a young person would pull out in front of him from a residential street because she thought the intersection was a four-way stop. My brother did not think that a patch of gravel would be in the middle of the curve.

I occasionally looked in my mirrors at the transit minivan that followed me for a mile in the traffic jam. I was looking ahead when he hit me. I had zero time to react. Perhaps if I spent more time looking behind, it would have helped. Maybe if I was weaving in my lane and randomly flashing my brake lights, he might have noticed he was getting too close. On the other hand, traffic jams are a twice-a-day occurrence where I live and work.

My friend saw the pedestrian crossing sign at the intersection but there were no pedestrians, so he had no reason to act. He also had no reason to think that the car driver at the cross street would look at the back of that five-sided sign and assume it was a stop sign for my friend. She said that she saw him approaching. He said he had about a half-second to react and used the time to slow from 40 MPH to 30 MPH. Perhaps if he slowed or blown his horn, she would not have pulled out. Maybe a different lane position or extra light would have made it clear he was not stopping for the intersection. On the other hand, the street through this suburb had residential intersections all along its length and each one has impatient drivers wanting to pull out.

My brother was riding the back roads all day and the pavement had been clear. Without gravel shoulders, the corners stayed clear of rocks. The small pile he hit was near the middle line, not the edge where you expect it. He should have had time to react to the gravel, but he was not using Search / Evaluate / Execute (SEE). He was complacent instead of searching the road surface constantly. Perhaps, if it had not been tired at the end of long riding day. Maybe if he had not been angry that the store refused to refund his money for the box of rice with worms in it, he would have been applying SEE and noticed the gravel. On the other hand, the mountains are full of curves and some of them have debris.

Although these stories are different, they share a common property: these three riders did not think an accident would happen to them that day. None of them were riding fast, taking chances, or wearing improper gear. The riders knew that motorcycling had risks but assumed that one more ride would turn out well.

I hope you do not think that it could not happen to you.

What if it does happen? What next?

We think about dressing for the crash but there are other ways to prepare for the aftermath. The transit driver who hit me asked if I was okay and then claimed I had suddenly slammed on my brakes. I responded that my Beemer had a black box data recorder that would prove I was not braking hard. That was not an idle boast because BMWs with the ride modes pro and the TFT display stream data about speed, lean angle, acceleration, and deceleration to the app on the phone. I could watch the replay of the accident and even uploaded it to YouTube. Setting up that app to record data and confirming that it recorded previous rides was good preparation. My friend wanted to use this app to prove that he was riding the speed limit before the driver pulled out. Unfortunately, he had never opened the app and it was still waiting for him to give it permission to record location data.

Although my friend’s phone was not recording data, he had the phone in his pocket. As he was lying still on the pavement accessing his pain, he had the good idea to hand it to a bystander and ask for a video overview of the crash scene with the position of the vehicles, the other driver’s face, and the car’s plate. This evidence could help his lawyer.

My brother had me and a couple of friends to help him pick up his bike and make sure he was okay. He did not ride into the mountains alone because he wanted to have help. We made sure he was okay and fixed the bent shifter.

Preparing for the post-crash actions includes obvious things like having your insurance information with you, having a card in your pocket with your name, next-of-kin, their phone, and any medical information that could interest an emergency responder. You might not be able to speak for yourself. You might consider installing a dashcam to record a crash, whether yours or someone else’s. Since I often ride alone and my wife does not drive long distances, I purchased medical evacuation insurance. They will get my wife to my hospital bed, fly us home, and ship my wrecked bike home.

Have the following on your person in case you crash and cannot get up. What would you add to this list?

• Cell phone to call for help.
• Smart phone for photos & video.
• BMWMOA app with the “Anonymous Book” or a hard copy of the Anonymous Book
• Insurance information to give to the other party even if you are not at fault.
• A card with your name and phone number of a family member or friend to call.
• If you wear one, a medic-alert bracelet. Otherwise, a card in your pocket with medical information such as your doctor and medicines.

Other things to have:

• Recover pictures and video or upload to the cloud.
• Evacuation insurance information if you have it.
• Up-to-date vehicle registration because you do not need one more problem.
• Trip itinerary and phone numbers of your traveling companions.

Expect to crash. If you ride long enough, the odds will get you.