Ran off the road by a Minivan!

[Scooter_man]

Well, on my 49cc Honda headed home this afternoon, I was ran off the road by a blue minivan. I survived with only road-rash and a few bumps/bruises (and scratched sun glasses) but am ok.

The scooter got scraped up pretty good, but is in good shape overall - nothing bent/broken.

I didn't get a good description of the vehicle, much less a plate # - so not much good in reporting the incident. No other witnesses either, dummy didn't even stop!

The vehicle moved over to the center of the road to pass me and just started moving back over (toward me) well before he was past me. It all happened so quickly, there wasn't much I could do. I did try to slow down as much as possible, but too little too late. The scoot went off the blacktop - about a 6" drop onto gravel/rocks/weeds and laid over to the left. I tried climbing up on it to try and ride it out, but fate had other plans. I ended up falling off to the left with part of my body hitting the gravel/rocks/weeds and my upper body brushing against the 45-degree angled blacktop road edge. Considering how I and it went down and the surrounding landscape, it's a miracle that I and the scooter came out as good as we did. It didn't even break the left mirror or bend the handlebar or brake lever. All controls/lights/signals/horn - everything works fine and front wheel is ok too.

I had to ride it home (about 6-miles) but the breeze/wind helped stop any bleeding and only had very minimal blood dripping to soak up with my T-shirt. Got home and rinsed the affected areas off (left side of face/left hand/left arm/left leg) and treated with Hydrogen Peroxide (ouch) then dried the areas and onto the Neosporin. Sore and scuffed up pretty good, but ok.

How the event didn't scrape/grind off a good part of my face & left side of my body is beyond me. Someone had to have been watching over!

I've read about these things happening in the past, and true - these little scooters are amazingly resilient. it didn't even kill the motor. Nothing was bent/broken/damaged except for some scratches (mostly underneath the left lower edge) and a little on the left rear side panel.

Pictures of the scooter to follow tomorrow - too dark now. No pics of me and my road rash unless requested.

What a day............ Still managed to get in almost 50 miles.

And yes, from now on i'm wearing my helmet (although not required on 49cc scooters in Missouri) every time I ride anything motorized. No need to preach on that, lesson learned!

Rob

 

[tomcat27]

sorry about your incident. no fun. good to hear it wasn't worse.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Not a good vehicle in traffic, or just take back roads.

 

[SZR48207]

Glad you are OK. Did the van just continue driving on? People nowadays...

 

[Scooter_man]

tomcat 27 - yeah, we all know the rules - if you ride something on 2-wheels, eventually things will happen. I'm 37 and have clocked over 100,000 miles on 2-wheels (mostly on motorcycles) and this is the first time i've ever been down. Can't compain too much.

Audi Junkie - it was a back road, and I was doing the speed limit (35 mph). Funny, i've traveled that same road many times over the years on many different types of vehicles (even bicycles) and never had one single problem. Oh well... Oh yeah, Happy late Birthday BTW!

Reddy45 - Yup, they just kept going. Had to have seen it happen, obviously wasn't too worried about it. Most people, including me, would've at least stopped to check on the person.


Rob

 

[willix]

Some drivers don't recognize mo-peds as a vehicle with a right of way. I have observed this many times after making eye contact only to have that driver fail to yield the right of way.

 

[Boomer]

Had this happen about 1977 in Indiana. Was riding a ten speed bike in the country and a group of kids came up behind me in a "hot" Chevy. There was also a drop off to the gravel of many inches. They put their tires right at the edge and floored the car. I jumped off the bike and went down the drop off into the weeds. My bike was hit and mangled by the car. Never was able to identify the vehicle. Since I was about ten miles out in corn country, I had to walk home.

 

[gathermewool]

After my dad was in a really bad motorcycle accident a while ago that involved one big rig having better brakes than another - I'm lucky I was born - I pay close attention to bikes, and especially to how freaking terribly people treat bikers (motorized or not). I've seen people take lanes, ride a biker's butt and worst of all, pass unsafely like what happened to the OP. It seems this behavior stems from either ignorance or impatience - I'd like to believe it's not always malicious, like what happened with the "hot" Chevy, but who knows.

I'm glad you're alright and who knows, maybe you'll see the same van again around town. If they did see you, then your scraped up bike and body should be obvious and elicit some sort of guilty or at least a suspicious response from them.

 

[mrsilv04]

Ride any type of motorcycle/motor scooter as if any other vehicle within 100 feet of you is going to try to take you out....

 

[The_Jeff]

Glad you're okay. I got forced onto the shoulder on a curve on my pedal bike once. The car driver pulled into her driveway 1/2 mile later and I accosted her.

"I didn't pull into the oncoming lane to give you room because I couldn't see around the corner"

I instructed her in my best driver's ed voice that if it's not safe to pass, you don't pass, period.

 

[Scooter_man]

Pics as promised. Sorry about the poor picture quality and camera angles, I still feel pretty rough and sore. Overall the scooter survived quite well and was perfectly rideable back to the house.

Can't believe the mirror didn't break, scuffed up a bit though.

Heh, my poor Sunglasses. Good thing I was wearing them.



Rob

I hate Photobucket, but what can you do...

 

[Gary Allan]

I would have reported it anyway. Most likely the description will allow someone reading it in a newspaper to identify the driver. It may not bring that person to anything resembling accountability, but should assess some damage to their conscience via proxy.

It wouldn't bother me too much if it was a low life dirt ball. It would really anger me if it was some totally clean and numb cell phone bimbo that was just too occupied to bother with driving responsibly.

 

[doitmyself]

Thanks for reminding all of us about safety on and around two wheeled vehicles of all types. Glad it didn't turn out worse for you, but I understand how shaken up you are from an experience like this.

The majority of people in the U.S. are simply oblivious to sharing the road with other types of vehicles. "Impatient and/or idiocy" is a good description.

I had a person in a SUV pass me on the RIGHT (into the grass) last year while driving a farm tractor down the road. Scared the dickens out of me.

 

[Vizzy]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I would have reported it anyway. Most likely the description will allow someone reading it in a newspaper to identify the driver. It may not bring that person to anything resembling accountability, but should assess some damage to their conscience via proxy.



Agreed.


The fact is you were lucky. It just have easily could have been far more serious.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I would have reported it anyway. Most likely the description will allow someone reading it in a newspaper to identify the driver. It may not bring that person to anything resembling accountability, but should assess some damage to their conscience via proxy.


She probably complained to her coworkers and facebook friends about "some kid on a toy" slowing her down. If it makes a newspaper, it'll be on page B11 the police blotter, and someone would have to subscribe to a dying medium to read it. But still worth a shot.

 

[Virtuoso]

While I agree that a lot of people don't give bikes the space they deserve on the road.. Most of the time it's the bikers I see riding that do not "follow the rules".

Glad to hear you are ok!

 

[Chris142]

I have MC friends that ride street bikes only. They tell me that I'm crazy for riding my dirtbike in the dirt. I try to explain to them that theres more of a chance of getting smashed on the street than there is of me getting smashed out in the desert.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
While I agree that a lot of people don't give bikes the space they deserve on the road.. Most of the time it's the bikers I see riding that do not "follow the rules".

Glad to hear you are ok!


The bozos that don't stop for red lights or stop signs give all riders a bad name. But considering their rarity, honest bikers seem to catch flack for sins of previous bad riders. I get lots of angry honks, bumpers up my butt etc for taking a whole left turn lane at a traffic light, or taking a whole right lane on a bridge without a shoulder/ breakdown lane. The law says "as far right as practicable", which is, in these examples, not practicable!

 

[IndyIan]

In those cases you have to take the lane, having people squeeze by you gives a bigger chance in ending up like scooter_man, or worse...
I try to avoid roads where I need to do this but I find as long as I look like I'm hustling along people don't get angry.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Glad you're okay. I got forced onto the shoulder on a curve on my pedal bike once. The car driver pulled into her driveway 1/2 mile later and I accosted her.

"I didn't pull into the oncoming lane to give you room because I couldn't see around the corner"

I instructed her in my best driver's ed voice that if it's not safe to pass, you don't pass, period.


her tires would have been flat the next day...