My First Accident

casey · Post by **casey** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 2:37 pm

Not too bad, actually. I was riding to teach Saturday school (don't get me started) and it started to rain. I was on a road that had brick and I took a turn a little too fast and it just went out from under me. I was, as always, wearing an armored jacket and full helmet and I'm thankful for that. I took the fall directly on my face and then my left arm. I think that without the helmet I'd have broken my jaw or worse. My arm is a little wrenched and my knees and hip are mildly scraped up. Damage to the Buddy is pretty minor. The bezel around the headlight is scraped up and the left brake lever and rearview mirror are bent. Still drivable, so I'll take it in to get fixed today. I hope.

I had to call the school to tell them I wouldn't be in. I'm sure my 4th graders will be swarming me on Monday to pat me and tell me to be more careful.

jess · Post by **jess** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 3:42 pm

Ouch, casey, sorry to hear that. Heal fast.

As is usually the case, we all would really like to know what gear you were wearing. Not to criticize, but to do a kind of post-mortem on what worked and what didn't, for our own benefit.

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:51 pm

Yeah, those bricks are the worst! They are what I biffed it on Jan 1st.

--Keys

louie · Post by **louie** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 5:07 pm

You know, bricks were used 100 years ago to pave roads. They quit using them for a reason...
Glad you're ok

Post by **ericalm** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 5:42 pm

Yow. Good to hear you're not more seriously inujured.

I've discovered even a little rain/wet pavement can be very slippery. I know a lot of riders do just fine in the rain and have full-on rain gear, but I avoid it when possible.

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:01 pm

Glad you and your Buddy escaped with relatively minor injuries. Hope everything heals fast!

casey · Post by **casey** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:41 pm

The repairs came to $10. Heh. Not bad at all. I needed to have my 500 mile oil change and whatnot anyway, so there you go.

I had on a full face helmet with visor. The sticker on it says M2R. I don't have any other info on it really. The part covering my mouth/jaw is scratched up and the visor popped out of socket on one side, but it's back in now and the helmet is fine. I was wearing a Tourmaster Trinity jacket. I landed right on the left arm where it's armored. The jacket has some minor abrasion to it, but nothing that really affects it even cosmetically. My arm is more wrenched than I initially thought. It's very sore and I can't really move it in some directions. I'm massaging it with arnica and hoping it improves. No school Monday, so I have a couple of days. I have no damage to my actual skin.

Predictably, the pants are the weak point. I was wearing jeans because I don't have riding pants. The jeans did provide some protection and my knees and hip will be fine.

Elm Creek Smith · Post by **Elm Creek Smith** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:50 pm

I'd recommend getting a new helmet. Once the helmet has suffered an impact and shows surface damage (Yes, even just scrapes), it may be compromised structurally.

ECS

casey · Post by **casey** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:53 pm

Unfortunately that's going to have to wait a paycheck or two, but I will definitely keep that in mind. Thank you.

Corsair · Post by **Corsair** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 8:41 am

glad to hear you're alright. better days!

AxeYrCat · Post by **AxeYrCat** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:30 pm

casey wrote:Unfortunately that's going to have to wait a paycheck or two, but I will definitely keep that in mind. Thank you.

Sorry to hear about your fall, but you should definitely replace your helmet.

They're supposed to last for one impact, and that's it. If you hit with sufficient force to believe that you would have broken your jaw, your helmet is probably boned.

I'd recommend replacing it ASAP -- your current helmet should either be kept as a trophy or disposed of. It may not do its job protecting your noggin anymore, and I doubt that's a chance you want to take.

Post by **polianarchy** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:01 pm

Yikes! I hope you are healing fine. Thanks for giving us the details...keeps everyone thinking about safety! Best of luck getting your scooter fixed quickly & you right back in the saddle again.