True, they happen but they are preventable. Mine certainly was. I was heading home from Seattle on an evening late in September 2005. It was actually a bike meet and I was riding the ZZR. It was dark out, raining a little and as I merged onto I-5 heading south I could tell there was a problem from the bumper-to-bumper traffic. I found out later that a semi had jackknifed further down the road.

Prefering not to ride in heavy traffic like that, I decided to take the next exit and work my way around the traffic jam on surface streets. I wasn’t familiar with that exit but I expected I could navigate my way to surroundings I knew. That decision set into motion a chain of events that would consume the next five months of my life.

The exit was unlit and very dark. It was two lanes wide, I was in the left lane, a couple of cars in the right lane. I wasn’t going very fast really, maybe 30-35mph. As I approached the bottom of the ramp my headlights dimly illuminated the rain dampened road. And suddenly… it wasn’t there. Unbeknownst to me the lane I was in took a radical 90 degree turn to a stop sign. In daylight, no problem… at night, in the rain, to an unfamiliar rider it was bad news. I got on the brakes hard but on the wet pavement the rear locked up and before I could compensate the back end snapped around and launched me into what is know as a “high side,” where the rider is thrown in front of the bike in the direction of the slide.

I hit the pavement head and chest first and continued sliding in the direction of travel. As the bike fell over it pinned my right foot beneath it briefly before we parted ways. Remaining concious through the whole event, as everything came to a stop my first thought was to crawl back to the bike and turn it off. I then lay beside the bike to catch my breath. About this time several cars had stopped and the drivers rush over to help me. This was good news as I quickly discovered I couldn’t stand unassisted. They helped me up and to the side of the road, then lifted the bike and rolled it off as well.

Someone must have called 911 as within minutes a fire truck rolled off the exit and pulled up, followed quickly by the Seattle Police Department and an ambulance. The police were especially helpful. Not only did they NOT ticket me, one of the officers, a fellow rider, rolled the bike a block down the street to a well lit parking lot to prevent it from being towed.

Then I was bundled into the ambulance and transported to Harborview Hospital. That began a medical adventure that I’m only now beginning to fully recover from. But that’s grist for a later post. Did I learn anything from the accident itself? You bet I did!

First, let’s face it… riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous. The night of my accident I did some things right to reduce that danger, but I also make some mistakes that increased the risk dramatically and led directly to the event itself. On the positive side, I armored up for this ride. I was wearing a full face helmet, heavy riding jacket, gloves, armored overpants and riding boots. The gear prevented additional injuries beyond the broken ankle. I suffered no bleeding, cuts, scrapes or roadrash. The helmet prevented what could have been severe head and face injuries. On the reverse side, I was riding at night, in the rain, took an unfamiliar exit and failed to adjust my speed adequately for conditions. These factors created a situation that I was unable to handle.

My friends ask me if I will continue riding… I will, I’m eagerly looking forward to it! The bike suffered minor damage in the accident, but was ridden home by a friend the next day. A few repairs and she will be good to go. Mostly I’ve been waiting for the strength in my ankle to return and I’m very, very close. I think that once Spring rolls in and the weather improves, both of us will be ready…