# Checking Your Mirrors Doesn't ALWAYS Work



## parallel (Oct 4, 2016)

While riding home from a visit with my Mother-in_Law Sunday evening I got rear ended. I stopped behind a line of cars at a stop light. the light turned green but the lead car was turning so we were waiting. I checked my mirror, nothing, a few seconds later I checked again. A black Toyota was bearing down on me, I was in the process of getting out of Dodge when dude hit me. I was lucky that I ended up on the hood of the car that rear ended me, then on the trunk of the car that I got pushed into, and ultimately on top of what was left of my bike. Those hot pipes got my attention right quick and I scrambled to get off of them and some damned fool driving by in the next lane damned near got me. Went to the ER and I'll live, but I'm going to one sore some beech for a while.


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## Marine0311 (Oct 4, 2016)

Holy fuck.

I hope you are ok otherwise and wish you a speedy recovery.


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## Red Flag 1 (Oct 4, 2016)

C=


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## Ooh-Rah (Oct 4, 2016)

Holy shit man!

Is that the bike (your dad's?) that you restored?

Your example is the main reason I no longer ride.  I go out of my way to look for bikes, sometimes I still miss them in a blindspot.  

Scary stuff.


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## RackMaster (Oct 4, 2016)

Shit!  Hope you didn't get hurt to bad.


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## Ranger Psych (Oct 4, 2016)

And this is why lanesplitting should be legal nationwide.


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## Ooh-Rah (Oct 4, 2016)

Ranger Psych said:


> And this is why lanesplitting should be legal nationwide.



It is in Japan (or at least no one gives a shit) and I do not recall seeing even one bike accident my 3 years there.


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## Gunz (Oct 4, 2016)

I'm sorry about your bike, man. I know you loved it because you've posted pics of it before. Boy, that cop has a pretty cool tat sleeve. _Did you take pics of the cop's tat's before they strapped you_ _down and sedated you?_  

Get well soon.


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## Red Flag 1 (Oct 4, 2016)

Ranger Psych said:


> And this is why lanesplitting should be legal nationwide.



I never gave it much thought about being legal. In Ca it already is legal: Where Else is Lane Splitting Legal? - Lane Splitting is Legal in California.

My worry about stripe riding/lanesplitting, is that it will piss off a lot of drivers stuck in traffic. All it would take is for one idiot to open a car door in retaliation, and your day just got a lot worse. Legal or not, you wind up in the ER, and bonehead door opener just says, "Honest officer, I never saw him coming. I just opened the door to........."


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## Ranger Psych (Oct 4, 2016)

There is no valid reason to open your doorway on a road unless you are parked, and said door opener is now a felon.

Even if its not allowed in traffic, allowing filtering at intersections allows motorcyclists who will accellerate faster to be out front, and move to the front of the pack for rider safety purposes.


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## BloodStripe (Oct 4, 2016)

Heal fast! Glad you get to ride another day. 



Ranger Psych said:


> And this is why lanesplitting should be legal nationwide.



Having been in California for a month,  nothing felt more dangerous to me than being passed by bikers lane splitting.  I am not from there are was not used to it.  There's enough bad drivers on the road,  spending more time looking in my side mirrors for a bike took me attention off the road longer than it should have. 

Today I was in the left lane passing a van and some douchebag on a bike whipped around behind me and on front of the car I passed after I put my blinker on to change back to the right lane.  He's lucky I realized what he was going to do before I moved over.  The winning moment was passing him in gate traffic and getting on base before him.  I waved and smiled at him as I rode by.


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## SpitfireV (Oct 4, 2016)

Red Flag 1 said:


> I never gave it much thought about being legal. In Ca it already is legal: Where Else is Lane Splitting Legal? - Lane Splitting is Legal in California.
> 
> My worry about stripe riding/lanesplitting, is that it will piss off a lot of drivers stuck in traffic. All it would take is for one idiot to open a car door in retaliation, and your day just got a lot worse. Legal or not, you wind up in the ER, and bonehead door opener just says, "Honest officer, I never saw him coming. I just opened the door to........."



People lanesplit here all the time and no one gets angry over that. And we're probably one of the more aggressive sets of drivers down here where courtesy is replaced by cunt.

In fact, when it's standstill traffic people will often even give bikes a bit more room.


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## Ranger Psych (Oct 4, 2016)

NavyBuyer said:


> Heal fast! Glad you get to ride another day.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Except the choice to split is on the biker.... I would rather see bikers like Parallel not get killed by idiots not paying attention, since splitting lets tyem use their best weapon against road hazards=

The throttle


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## parallel (Oct 4, 2016)

Ooh-Rah said:


> Holy shit man!
> 
> Is that the bike (your dad's?) that you restored?


Nope, I would have been VERY pissed if it had been.



Ocoka One said:


> I'm sorry about your bike, man. I know you loved it because you've posted pics of it before. Boy, that cop has a pretty cool tat sleeve. _Did you take pics of the cop's tat's before they strapped you_ _down and sedated you?_
> 
> Get well soon.


I was trying to get some quick pics of my bike as they were checking me out and escorting me to the ambulance. The cop just happened to be in the picture, it's not like I had the option to choose another vantage point... LOL.



NavyBuyer said:


> The winning moment was passing him in gate traffic and getting on base before him. I waved and smiled at him as I rode by.


I think you might be projecting this particular rider's reason for lane splitting upon all riders who would use the tactic.

FWIW I don't really know if I would be comfortable lane splitting at speed. With that said though it sure would be useful at traffic control lights and such to keep from some jackwagon driving up my ass. What I DO know is that laws shouldn't be passes or not passed based upon whether or not it would piss off other drivers. If these folks can't grasp that they can easily walk away from a rear end collision while in their cage but the cyclist has MUCH more exposure then they shouldn't be driving. People that immature need to go back to relying upon mommy and daddy for transportation.


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## policemedic (Oct 4, 2016)

parallel said:


> While riding home from a visit with my Mother-in_Law Sunday evening I got rear ended. I stopped behind a line of cars at a stop light. the light turned green but the lead car was turning so we were waiting. I checked my mirror, nothing, a few seconds later I checked again. A black Toyota was bearing down on me, I was in the process of getting out of Dodge when dude hit me. I was lucky that I ended up on the hood of the car that rear ended me, then on the trunk of the car that I got pushed into, and ultimately on top of what was left of my bike. Those hot pipes got my attention right quick and I scrambled to get off of them and some damned fool driving by in the next lane damned near got me. Went to the ER and I'll live, but I'm going to one sore some beech for a while.



Damn.  Feel better soon, brother.


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## BloodStripe (Oct 4, 2016)

No,  I just have a disliking for it based upon my time in California last year.  

I'm all for the safety of riders, and typically stay back pretty far off their rear end too because sometimes accidents happen and they lose control. But, just because you are on a bike doesn't mean you own the road and can do as you please. I don't want to hijack this thread any longer about my opinion on it as I don't feel it's appropriate given the circumstance.


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## parallel (Oct 4, 2016)

NavyBuyer said:


> No,  I just have a disliking for it based upon my time in California last year.
> 
> I'm all for the safety of riders, and typically stay back pretty far off their rear end too because sometimes accidents happen and they lose control. But, *just because you are on a bike doesn't mean you own the road and can do as you please*. I don't want to hijack this thread any longer about my opinion on it as I don't feel it's appropriate given the circumstance.


Really? Following a law that would be passed based upon the fact that it saves lives is owning the road? Inappropriate? I'd say!


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## parallel (Oct 4, 2016)

SITREP: Took the day off and decided to take tomorrow off as well. I'm getting around pretty well considering and I've kept the pain medication at bay for the most part. Some have voiced concern over the possibility of internal injury, so far that doesn't seem to be a problem. My back is feeling better but is still very stiff and my neck and traps are killing me. I welcome the pain... it means I'm still alive.


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## SpongeBob*24 (Oct 5, 2016)

Ocoka One said:


> _Did you take pics of the cop's tat's before they strapped you_ _down and sedated you?_
> 
> Get well soon.



I am assuming you are talking about the female cop.....:-"


Parallel I hope you get better soon!
Good news, you can cook more and take pics while you are recovering!!!!


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## Gunz (Oct 5, 2016)

parallel said:


> SITREP: Took the day off and decided to take tomorrow off as well. I'm getting around pretty well considering and I've kept the pain medication at bay for the most part. Some have voiced concern over the possibility of internal injury, so far that doesn't seem to be a problem. My back is feeling better but is still very stiff and my neck and traps are killing me. I welcome the pain... it means I'm still alive.



@parallel I was kidding about the cop tats.  But seriously, if you haven't already, get a law firm to represent you. It wasn't your fault, you were injured and any personal injury lawyer would take your case on contingency _in a heartbeat_. Won't cost you a penny, all your med bills will be paid and you'd most likely get a decent settlement from the other guy's insurance... or your own, if he doesn't have any. I'm no medical guy but I know injuries can come back and worsen over time and as you get older they can create serious complications. You may think everything's fine now, but in six months time things may be different.


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## BloodStripe (Oct 5, 2016)

parallel said:


> Really? Following a law that would be passed based upon the fact that it saves lives is owning the road? Inappropriate? I'd say!



I'm obviously not referring to everyone on a bike but feel free to YouTube search motorcyclist stunting or motorcycle runs from cops or just about motorcycle anything and thousands upon thousands of hits will be returned with douchebags on bikes thinking they own the road.

As for the law saving lives, 1 out of 6 bike wrecks were the result of lane splitting. There's no way to know whether or not they would have been involved in a wreck without lane sharing, but that amounts to almost 1,000 bikes between June 2012 and August 2013 involved in a wreck due to lane splitting.


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## Red Flag 1 (Oct 5, 2016)

[Q


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## DocIllinois (Oct 5, 2016)

parallel said:


> SITREP: Took the day off and decided to take tomorrow off as well. I'm getting around pretty well considering and I've kept the pain medication at bay for the most part. Some have voiced concern over the possibility of internal injury, so far that doesn't seem to be a problem. *My back is feeling better but is still very stiff and my neck and traps are killing me. I welcome the pain... it means I'm still alive.*



Sorry to hear about your accident.

This can also mean that there are sprains in your neck, clavicles, or both, IMO.

Should the ER have done a 'focused exam, send you home with happy pills, follow up with your GP if things start to hurt worse' sort of deal, I would still check in with a GP or DC.

If I were to outline all of the occasions I saw a patient post-accident who had sprains/ strains/ whiplash but it didn't hurt until some time later, but they should have had it identified straight away for best treatment, I'd have TL: DR assigned as my signature by the Mods.


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## Gunz (Oct 5, 2016)

Get a lawyer. That's all I'm sayin.


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## racing_kitty (Oct 5, 2016)

I'm glad you weren't injured more than you are. I hope your recovery is swift and complete. 

And definitely lawyer up.


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## Teufel (Oct 5, 2016)

Glad you are ok!  This is why I always tuck in between the cars in front of me when I stop at a light or in traffic.  I've never had anyone call me on it.  I assume everyone is too busy checking their twitter feeds to bother noticing me on my bike.



NavyBuyer said:


> Having been in California for a month,  nothing felt more dangerous to me than being passed by bikers lane splitting.  I am not from there are was not used to it.  There's enough bad drivers on the road,  spending more time looking in my side mirrors for a bike took me attention off the road longer than it should have.
> 
> Today I was in the left lane passing a van and some douchebag on a bike whipped around behind me and on front of the car I passed after I put my blinker on to change back to the right lane.  He's lucky I realized what he was going to do before I moved over.  The winning moment was passing him in gate traffic and getting on base before him.  I waved and smiled at him as I rode by.



California law permits lane splitting up to 15 mph faster than traffic.  You are not allowed to exceed 50 mph when lane splitting.  Sounds like this motorcycling violated those guidelines.  Lane splitting is really intended for slow to no-go traffic.  I believe it started because Harley Davidsons are air cooled and tend to overheat in heavy traffic.


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## The Accountant (Oct 5, 2016)

Hope you have a speedy recovery!


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## amlove21 (Oct 5, 2016)

Shit man, glad you're not worse for the wear.


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## parallel (Oct 8, 2016)

SITREP: Looks like I'll be following up with my Primary Care Dr. Monday or Tuesday (thy're pretty good about seeing me quickly) as the pain is the same and the stiffness is still there. I'm hoping I can get some physical therapy to loosen these muscles and such.


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## Snake (Oct 13, 2016)

OP have you seen the airbag riding jacketa? They were invented over in Europe for track racing. Worth looking into..


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## CDG (Oct 15, 2016)

Glad you're ok.  I am constantly looking in my mirrors at stoplights and always make sure I have an escape route planned in case someone looks like they're about to hit me.  Being on a bike makes people drive worse it seems.  Almost every time I'm out riding here in OK, someone thinks me changing lanes to pass them is an invitation to race.  Twice I have been right next to a driver side front window, like, I can turn my head and look the driver right in the eyes, and they have just started merging into my lane anyways.  This is at 70 MPH.  Once, if it hadn't been for a wide shoulder, I would have been in a very serious position very quickly.


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## parallel (Oct 23, 2016)

Well, its not exactly official, but I finally got the bike to the Triumph dealer and they called and left this message:






When I called them back they said that they hadn't even gotten to the back of the bike yet when the cost of parts and labor were over the cost of a new scrambler. So... it looks like I was correct and the bike will likely be totaled. Of course, the insurance company has to make that official.


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## DC (Oct 25, 2016)

I would sue for everything. That dude was "distracted"(texting or other stupid activity). Good you survived but long term it's gunna hurt. BTDT


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