Had a friend go down today!

[Redtatt2]

If any of you were at bike night two Thursday's ago and met my friend Brooke on her black CBR-600R than you'll know who I'm talking about....either way just listen up.
So Brooke and I were heading down to PB and when she met up with me I noticed that she was just wearing her sweatshirt instead of the jacket she just bought and I lightly mentioned that I was breaking the habit of wearing just a long sleeve shirt (which I'll do if I'm only going to the beach sometimes...NO freeways) b/c you never know when your going to go down. Like when I went down on the 15 freeway a couple months ago...I wasn't doing anything stupid and I wasn't on twisties, it just happens and my jacket totally helped me with the impact and I had absolutely NO scratches on the upper body.
Anyways we are on the 52 west getting onto the ramp to go 5 south to get off on Garnet...I am ahead of her a little ways and take the turn a little faster (she is still kind of a beginner and takes things slower) so once I got on the 5 I slowed way down so she could catch up...but she never showed up! So I pulled off on Garnet and some lady in a van pulls over and says "Hey your friend went down back there" and I was like "Oh crap!". So I jump back on all the freeways and whip back on the 52 west and see her and a cop walking her bike to his car. I pull up next to them and Brooke explains that someone clipped her rear tire while changing lanes. Now obviously if that (excuse my language in this sentence) jackass hit her rear tire then he/she HAD to of seen her loose control and hit the wall!!! For whatever reason though...it turned into a hit and run b/c they didn't bother to stop and help this poor girl crashed on the ramp. I felt so bad that I couldn't be there for her right away...but there wasn't much I could of done since I was ahead of her and I guess it's better that I wasn't behind her b/c then there could of been two accidents! So anyways...Brooke had a bunch of rips and holes in her sweatshirt (which wouldn't of happened if she were wearing her jacket) and she was hurting bad. The ambulance and a firetruck showed up and they layed her out on the stretcher and took her to Scripps Hospital, then they towed her bike. Everything was handled well and the officers were kind and helpful. So a lesson to all......You never know when your going to go down, always wear the proper gear! No :squid: :squid: :squid:

[jenEbean]

Dang that sucks. I always wear my jacket and gloves, and usually my boots also whenever I go out, "just in case". How's Brooke now?

[Termin8r]

I hope your friend is all right, Stacia. Sucks she wasn't wearing a jacket though. Why would someone new to riding take chances on the freeway like that I wonder. I went to meet a buddy of mine a few weeks ago at a restaurant 2 blocks from my work and was inclined to just ride there without a jacket. I'm so scared of the streets now that even then, I talked myself out of it and threw on my jacket. Like you said, Stacia...you never know when you're gonna go down so why take chances...and not just on the freeways?

Ride safe.

[GetnJgyWitit]

Wow, sucks to hear. Hope she heals up quick. Dress for the crash not the ride!

[melonheadR6]

Dress for the crash not the ride!


I wonder why people hear this a BAZILLION times and yet still dress like morons? :rolleyes:

"Man, its 75 degrees, too hot for leather!" :doh:

edit: Sorry about the flame. It's not my skin right?

[HenryF]

I had two buddies that started riding last year. Both crashed within month of them starting. And both went against my suggestion to wear their gear.They're alive but scared and lesson learn. Sorry about your friend hope she's ok.

[cryptyk]

It seems like the more rookie the rider, the more they need gear, but they don't realize it until the aren't rookies anymore. Sad connundrum. All we can do is educate.
Also, you need to wear gear *especially* if you're a girl. A guy might get away with having his whole upper body scarred up. Some girls like that. But it don't look so hot on a chica...

In any case, I hope she heals well, and is back in the saddle soon.

[247BlackOut]

How's Brooke doing now? Hope she's alright. I always wear my jacket, gloves, helmet, boots whenever I ride. Even if it's just a commute to school, which is literally across the street for me. If your friend wasn't wearing her jacket because it's too hot, she should look into getting a perforated one. I have the Icon pursuit jacket, and even though it's black leather, it's perforated all around so I always have a good air flow going through. But if it's an issue f having to wear or carry around your gear...guys and girls look hotter when they wear their gear around IMO. =)

I rather lose my water weight by sweating than lose my skin....

[10roller]

hope your friend heals up quickly.
and thanks for the story, hopefully it will motivate at least 1 person to wear the proper riding gear.

[Redtatt2]

Thank you guys for the comments and the concerns for my friend. I havn't talked to her since yesterday...I figure she just wants to be alone right now with her boyfriend and her pain killers. I know that when I got in my accident I didn't want to talk to anyone for atleast a couple days. Yeah...she used to wear this huge heavy leather jacket so her and I went shopping at Fun Bike and I convinced her to buy a mesh, fully padded, Icon black jacket. She always complained that it was too hot to wear any of her jackets. It's really been gettin alot cooler out, so I don't really understand why she didn't just wear her lighter jacket yesterday...especially after I mentioned to her that she really should. Oh well...I can't be her baby sitter. Her boyfriend was a little pissed at her, when he found out that she wasn't wearing her jacket. I think she'll really think twice before she goes without a jacket now.....unfortunetly (like you guys said) it takes a bad experience for it to finally sink in their thick heads that they need to wear proper gear at all times. She was definitly still in the timid stage of riding...so I'm a little worried that it's going to take her a while to get the nerve to jump back in the saddle again. I sure hope this hasn't scared her officially.

[MotoFuzzle]

I'm sorry to hear about the hit and run. I take that turn all the time, it's one of my favorites, and I've seen a bunch of cars blow that turn and end up in the outside lane while they started on the inside. People around here like to drive fast and tend not to understand how bad it is to even end up in another lane just a little bit. This is a total guess, but it's almost happened to me before. Some cager with an ego saw your friend taking the turn and wanted to beat her around it, blew the turn and clipped her tire. I've almost been run off the road in turns like that, so my point I guess is, always have an out. If you're on a turn that somebody could potentially mess up, make sure you're not next to them. What really pisses me off is all the stories I hear about hit and runs involving bikers. How could somebody hit a rider on the freeway and not stop? That's the epitomy of cowardice. I hope somebody else was nice enough to stop if they saw anything.

[Redtatt2]

Yeah cagers are always trying to show up motorcyclists. Especially female ones! I agree though...having an escape route should always be on your mind when riding. Unfortunetly though in a tight area on a bridge there isn't too many places you can go. I still can't believe that someone can hit a rider and just leave them to fend for themselves or not fess up to there mistake. Well...I know more people, than not, who'd readily run from the scene of the accident rather than pay the penalties...but those are usually just fender bender type things. This is an actual person who could be dying or unconscious and needs emediate help! I would of turned around and investigated where my friend was (after not seeing her behind me anymore) anyways....but I WAS grateful for that woman who followed me off the exit and told me that she had gone down. There are SOME good people out there.

[robo28]

I hope your friend is doing well. I go back to what always say, wear proper gear always.

[krasiejay]

Yeah cagers are always trying to show up motorcyclists. Especially female ones! I agree though...having an escape route should always be on your mind when riding. Unfortunetly though in a tight area on a bridge there isn't too many places you can go. I still can't believe that someone can hit a rider and just leave them to fend for themselves or not fess up to there mistake. Well...I know more people, than not, who'd readily run from the scene of the accident rather than pay the penalties...but those are usually just fender bender type things. This is an actual person who could be dying or unconscious and needs emediate help! I would of turned around and investigated where my friend was (after not seeing her behind me anymore) anyways....but I WAS grateful for that woman who followed me off the exit and told me that she had gone down. There are SOME good people out there.


I hope your friend gets better soon! I hope that's a lesson learned about gear and an escape route, and she gets right back on the bike.

Grrrrr. I hope the guy that did that gets into a bad accident. I got hit and run on the freeway last year. The guy sideswiped me while changing lanes quickly, and bam, i went down, he looked behind him when he him me, then put the peddle to the metal and took off. How is it possible to just take off while a guy you just hit is scraping along on the asphalt behind you??? i hate people sometimes.

[dcnoj]

Yeah cagers are always trying to show up motorcyclists. Especially female ones! I agree though...having an escape route should always be on your mind when riding. Unfortunetly though in a tight area on a bridge there isn't too many places you can go. I still can't believe that someone can hit a rider and just leave them to fend for themselves or not fess up to there mistake. Well...I know more people, than not, who'd readily run from the scene of the accident rather than pay the penalties...but those are usually just fender bender type things. This is an actual person who could be dying or unconscious and needs emediate help! I would of turned around and investigated where my friend was (after not seeing her behind me anymore) anyways....but I WAS grateful for that woman who followed me off the exit and told me that she had gone down. There are SOME good people out there.

Seriously, hit and run on fender benders, maybe, but when someone is put into physical jeopardy... inexcusable.

[nsr600rr]

Hope she heals quick and all is well Stacia! Hope she's got good medical insurance and that she has decent coverage on her m/c insurance policy. Time and time again, people learn the hard way. Just wear the gear. I have an A* textile (ASR) jacket and an A* leather (TZ1) jacket...personally, the leather is cooler since it's got perforations. The textile acts like a windbreaker. Hopefully she'll be smart next time and she'll ALWAYS wear a jacket.

[Redtatt2]

She's doing great now! Scabs are almost healed and she just got her bike out of the shop. Was about $4,000 worth of damage and YES she wears her jacket everywhere now! haha Can anyone explain this to me though? She got a letter in the mail saying that her accident was her fault b/c she was speeding and wreckless riding! WHAT!!! She is a beginner rider and does not speed through turns AND I was like 10 cars ahead of her b/c I was speeding! Not her! And how would the police know anyways? No one was around when she got in the wreck. The cops rolled up AFTER it happened. This is messed up b/c now her insurance is going to go up and it wasn't even her fault!! Can someone help me with some advice? She should fight this right?