Helmets do work

By H. Jay Brown

I was on my way home from work late one evening, around 10:30 p.m. The weather was nice, the pavement was dry and I was behind one car on a two-lane country road. As I was passing through a small business area, the car ahead moved to the right side of the lane, giving all the appearances of turning into a business parking lot. From my vantage point behind him, I watched his right front tire cross the solid white line that marked the edge of the driving lane. I checked the left mirror for traffic behind me and then moved to the lefthand side of the lane, checked for traffic entering the road from the businesses on the left, rechecked the left mirror, and as I looked ahead noticed the car that I thought was turning right was actually turning left and was literally inches from my right leg. All of this happened within about 5 seconds and all thoughts of staying upright with the bike immediately left my mind. After a very hard impact with his windshield and a lot of tumbling, I ended up on my back in one of the parking lots. I began to take a mental inventory of possible injuries, starting by wiggling fingers and toes and working in toward my body, moving hands and feet, arms and legs until I figured I definitely broken my collar bone in the impact, but luckily only had a few bruises as my other injuries. The bike, however, was totalled.

Lessons learned?
1. My helmet was cracked. Had I not been wearing it I would probably be dead. The boots, gloves and long sleeves protected me from a good case of asphalt rash.
2. The only indication the driver did NOT give me that he was turning was a turn signal. This was because the turn signals on the car were not functioning. All indications were he was turning right, which he did not.

Moral of the story?
Don't believe anyone is going where you think they're going until you actually see them going there. . . and even then don't believe them.

Submit your story
Every rider has a favorite story about a lesson learned on the road. We'd like to hear yours. Whether you are a new rider or an old hand, tell us your story. What safety tips can you pass on to others? Stories should be limited to about 250-500 words. E-mail them to kglaser@msf-usa.org.

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