Side swiped

[Jackson]

Wow! Congrats on keeping the bike from going down. It could have been a whole lot worse. Reminds me of the time in my pre-FJR days when a deer jumped out in front me. My rear wheel locked up and tried to pass the front wheel, first on the left side and then on the right side. I kept the shiny side up, but that's when I decided to get a bike with ABS.

You did good! Congrats again.

 

[blitzer]

Glad both of you are OK.

As someone said. Don't let it slide. We need to get this person off the road. The next one on a bike might not be so lucky.

She needs to be fined to the full extent of the law for hit and run. Then her driving privilages need to be at least suspended for some time.

AND THAT SUV HAS TO GO! She has demonstrated that she cannot drive it.

Be safe.

 

[Cdogman]

WOW!!

Please do not back off. If you know who she is now cook the bitch. For all bikers, fry her sorry ass.

 

[dobias]

Keithaba,

I couldn't find the phone number for the Brighton, MI post so I called the central number. The dispatcher I talked to told me the accident had been called in & her licence plate was reported. She told me I had to return to the Brighton post to file a report. I asked if I could delay it til I went home on Sunday. She agreed.

When I hung up I was wound up tight & had a few Scotches. An hour later, a trooper from the Brighton post called me & told me if I didn't get there that evening I could forget about filing a report. I suited up & had my son drive his car with my wife to lead me back there. With all of the damned traffic jams because of construction, we took a very crooked backroads way there.

The little gal was there with her husband. She was a medical tech of some sort & he was a Doctor intern. She cried & said she was afraid of bikers & saw we weren't hurt so she kept going. They apologized and said how happy we weren't hurt, etc.

Their silver SUV's left rear fender had been cleaned of all of the black marks from my saddlebag's plastic & rubber strip. He said he thought they were there from someone scraping their car in the hospital parking lot.

When the trooper examined the bike, he asked if I had been drinking. I admitted it & reminded him that he left me no choice but to be there, or else no report. When the couple left he took me in the back room for a breathalizer test & said my driving was impaired. He told me to have my son take the bike home & my wife drive me in the car.

Hell! I had so much adrenalin pumping the drinks didn't affect me one little bit, but I agreed.

My headset communication cable was lost because my son was unaware it was draped over the handlebars. The sideswipe impact had loosened the nut holding the airhorn & that fell off, too.

I've looked up the law & I had 24 hours to file the complaint.

It was my oldest grandson that graduated college. I'm glad I still have a chance to see the other 4 grandkids graduate.

If I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.

I'm still waiting for the report to become available.

dobias :glare:

 

[v65]

She cried & said she was afraid of bikers & saw we weren't hurt so she kept going. They apologized and said how happy we weren't hurt, etc.Their silver SUV's left rear fender had been cleaned of all of the black marks from my saddlebag's plastic & rubber strip. He said he thought they were there from someone scraping their car in the hospital parking lot.

What a bunch of bullshit :angry2:

 

[rogerc]

In cases like this I think we need to call the police in that city and make a complaint. We need to be constructive and polite but these are public employees that are paid to protect our safety.

I am not saying to call up and bash the police. Just state that we are concerned motorcyclist and fear for our safety and because of her actions she needs to be cited and the law applied to her.

I work closely with the police in our town and believe me they all respond to proper complaints. If not you go to the city council and write them emails about the incident and demand that they get back to you on what the police are doing about it.

Again, it has to be polite and constructive.

What ya think?

RC

 

[mdisher]

Awe man, dobias, that blows...

Your intoxicated state was long after the fact (I'm sure) and you could get sworn testimony to that fact. It has or should have no bearing on the incident.

Hell yeah you had a few drinks, you almost died. Grr.....

Please report back that she is in fact getting her due.

-MD

 

[keithaba]

This is one seriously F*&@ed up situation.

I don't see how she can get out of this, it is a hit and run, plain and simple. There was a witness, your testimony, and she admitted her guilt!

I'm glad the officer didn't pursue the DUI, he actually could have. It would have been a pretty shitty move on his part though,....

I think you should pursue the hell out of this. The consequences for the driver will not be severe, but she should at least get wreckless driving and some sort of charge related to the hit and run. Also, her insurance may increase after the claim if she is at fault and ticketed.

The fact that he cleaned the car off, and then lied about it.... sheesh... Like his wife didn't mention to him that she almost killed someone and ran....

You don't have to be sherlock holmes to figure this one out, all and all, I'm still just glad your o.k. and didn't get a DUI out of this whole shamble.

 

[dobias]

Gentlemen,

Question:When is a side-swipe & running away not a hit-and-run?

I just downloaded the accident report from the Michigan State Police.

Under "Special Circumstances" the "None" box is checked. Right under it is the "Hit and run" box that is not checked.

There is no mention of her leaving the scene after side swiping me.

dobias :glare:

 

[Kevin Daly]

WOW! outstanding save. giving it the gass is of course the thing to do to stablize the ride! I hope that the DOB that hit you rots in jail for running! Dont let her say she didnt hear it and that she didnt know she veered off; she had to have known if she missed the other SUV. Going that fast relative to traffic is also reckless driving! MAKE HER PAY!

GO to the DA and demand that the report be changed and that she be fried. at a minimum it is reckless driving and hit and run!

 

[dobias]

I reread the report & found a citation was issued for 'Hazardous' #8054.

Any LEOs around that can decipher that?

dobias :glare:

 

[dobias]

She was cited for not being able to stop in a clear assured distance. Two points & about $130 fine.

She said she didn't know she hit us so she was not written up for Hit & Run. As for me trying to stop her after the accident....

she said she was afraid of 'Bikers' & didn't know she had hit us, etc. (throw in buckets of tears for the Sgt's benefit).

I was told by a local deputy that there is no chance that a DA could file charges with this report.

I'm pissed. :angry:

dobias :glare:

 

[MotorSWATCop]

Tell the Troopers that you want the report ammended to at least state in the narrative that your bike was struck. You have the witness to back it up. Go after the wench in civil court if you need to.

My screwed up magistrates won't let us cite for leaving the scene of an accident unless we witness it. Makes a lot of sense don't it? Many times, the LEO's are hamstrung by the BS above them. Then again, it was a Trooper...

 

[dobias]

motorSWATcop,

Under 'Crash diagram & Remarks' It says:

"V-2 was slowing down on I-96 E/B due traffic. V-1 was following too close and could not slow down in time. V-1 sideswiped V-2."

dobias :glare:

 

[buckford]

Not a very fair outcome :angry: but a least yours got caught...mine left me for dead and with 4 witnesses no one got a license plate #. (was last year and totaled a concours) :angry: