I originally posted this on the rswarrior.com forum back in October of last year. My accident was on September 21, 2007. I have to hand it to my insurance company, GEICO. I've been with them for several years, I cheated on them for a year in the middle but eventually came back to them. They have the best service I've ever dealt with for insurance and some of the least expensive rates. They were not only quick to handle the claim, but they managed the remainder of the principle of my loan without any problems. I know it's just an insurance company, but I actually DO feel really good about having them as my insurance provider, but I digress...
I was on my way home yesterday travelling on a 2 lane road in the left lane. I'm riding behind this big old Buick (not tailgating) that decides to clean their windshield. Well needless to say I got sprayed with those huge sprayers that they have, I was wearing goggles but my face/beard were pretty well and wet. I got in to the right lane, passed them, and merged back in to the left lane where I was originally travelling. As I wiped my face from the stuff that was dripping off, I lowered my hand and refocused on the road, only to notice this Honda that was turning left from my lane into a restaurant on the other side. This car was half in the lane and half in the median making the closest side to me the left rear part of the car.
I realized that I was going to slam it and I didn't react in time to swerve at the 40 MPH that I was doing. So I jumped on my brakes. Everything locked up and I was slowing, if only I had another 5 feet I would have stopped in time but I didn't...
I ended up slowing enough where the collision with the rear of the car sent me somersaulting over my bars and on to his trunk (noticing in the air that my bike was aflame and uttering an expletive), then I proceeded to roll on to the ground landing on my left side.
I bounced up and looked at the bike which was already on fire. The gas tank had ruptured and everything was going up pretty fast. I grabbed my laptop off the bike and walked to the side of the road. Traffic obviously halted and there were many people there to help. Emergency services were there pretty quick since the fire station was down the street by about 200 yards. Everyone in the car was fine and I was unscathed. Luckily....
I screwed up and I can't begin to explain how I feel. The wife already said no more bikes but I'm not convinced. I'll have to take some time off to let things cool down but it'll never be like my Midnight. I'm glad I'm OK and so is my family but I'm really F'n pissed and I can't get my frustration out.
I would like you all to learn from my mistake - I lost my focus for a split second and it was all over. Don't do the same!
Here are some pics from the scene. I couldn't believe how fast the bike went up in smoke. No longer than 2 minutes. The last picture is of the bike on the back of the tow truck. You'll notice the forks are dislocated from the rest of the bike. I'm not sure if that was before or after they hoisted it up.
Thanks for listening.
Sorry for the crappy pics. I took them on my cell phone.
