Wild Motorcycle Tales Safe riding is no Accident Page 6 My wife and I started looking for a car for me, and I hated them all. She asked me if I wanted to go to a bike shop instead, half as a joke, and I realized that despite the accident, I didn't want to give up riding. We went to a local bike shop and I bought another V-Max, this time a 2006, with red flames, shift light, and all the gee gaws you could stick onto a V-Max. I barely started to get comfortable on this bike when I had my third accident. This time, I was in the far right lane of a Tucson city street with a truck to my left at a red light. The light turned green, and I pulled out into the intersection, when the truck to my left slammed on its brakes. I continued forward, and had just enough time to look to my left and see a white car barrel through the intersection and T bone me at high speed. The driver (a 30-year-old-lady on her cell phone listening to her techno music and not paying attention) had run a red light, and hit me so hard that the impact scooped both me and my motorcycle onto the hood of her car. She carried me for a short distance before she slammed on her brakes and I slid off her hood like a pancake off a spatula. I had been wearing my helmet which was a good thing, since my head slammed into the pavement, and the helmet took the blow. My back was twisted a bit in the accident and my leg had been pinned by the bumper, but beyond that, I was unhurt. To this day I say that God reached down and saved me, possibly for my daughter's sake, but for whatever reason it's known just to Him. Had I been in my wife's car, I doubt I would have fared as well, so riding my motorcycle was actually a very good thing that evening. I was taken to the hospital and released after a few hours. I was sore for the next few days, and to this day I can't help but think that things could have been much worse. I've been riding for seven years now, almost every day since I got my license. Despite the accidents I've had, I still love riding. I just want riders to know that no matter how careful you are, you just never know what's going to happen. I've known this since the beginning, but the accidents have hammered it home for me over and over again. Some advice: don't be silly, wear a helmet, gloves, and something protecting your skin from the asphalt. Keep your distance from cars, look straight ahead, and always have the mind set that the person you are looking at just might do something crazy that you are ready for. I look at every car and say, "What is the worst thing this person can do right now?" and 9999 times out of 10000, it won't happen. But when that 1 in 10000 thing happens, I know what I'm going to do beforehand, and I believe that is a huge reason why I'm still around after seven years of riding a motorcycle in traffic. Never be in a hurry, always just chill out and enjoy the ride. Don't be either afraid or unafraid, just respect your motorcycle and keep the rubber on the road my brothers. -- Sean Blankert
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