Six Months Later . . .

[diesel1959]

Yeah, 69 in a 50 is a bit over the top, no? And, during school zone time, the limit drops to 35. Protecting those kids was one of the more satisfying things I used to do during my duty day . . .

The sad part is that even when you leave yourself an out, that out might still be a bite straight from a shit sandwich.

[klopfi]

Heal quick!

[FirstPath]

Thanks for sharing and heal quick. With all that you remember you are obviously well trained in keeping your cool and controlling yourself were others would panic. Take care of yourself....

Scott in Shoreview
'79 Suzuki GS550

[rgoers]

Hope you recover fully!

Hindsight is always 20/20, but just wondering here if actually hitting the car would have yielded less damage to your body. Sounds like hitting the culvert turned out to be quite devastating, injury-wise.

[LumpTheBeezu]

Glad you are ok and on the mend! And like others here have said.. THANK YOU for your service! Hope you're back on the bike again really soon.

[Tobbera]

I'm still on the helmet issue. Did the fastener snap of or how could the helmet leave the head? The reason I'm asking becouse I got conserned about my own head vs helmet. Tightened it hard when riding to work today after reading this post.

[shaddix]

Crazy! Glad you're still around. Anything you could have done differently in hindsight?

[Migolito]

A department I work with a lot lost two motor COPs within 6 months ostensibly for the same reason. The driver 'didn't see' the motorcycle. That's very difficult to believe that they didn't see the bike as it is lite up pretty well. However, clearly something is wrong (IMO) with the visibility of some of the emergency bikes visibility. The California Highway Patrol operates a massive number of bike and I've had them fly by me code 3 and I didn't see or hear them until they passed by...and I'm pretty sensitive to other bikes. I'm wondering what official studies, if any, exist as to the visibility of emergency lighting on bikes.

[goatmeal]

Originally Posted by diesel1959

I went through seven surgeries in the first thirteen days, and received 24 units of blood in total. Thanks to all who donate. After having spent over four months in the hospital, I've still got a long road to recovery.

I donated today - it's great to hear someone say thanks! You are so welcome!!

Glad you survived and made it through all the surgeries....sounds like a hell of a crash.

[Dingo Joe]

wow, this threads taken a turn. heal fast copper. What would you have done different? now that you have the blessing of 20/20 hindsight...

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by 3jvj

God save me if your the medic on the scene, judgmental prick.

It was Nam, man. You wouldn't understand. You weren't there.

[Rezkid]

First off thank you for your service, and I hope you have speedy recovery

To the few that feel the need to critically analyze the OP, how about you put yourself in his position...I seriously doubt you could have done better given the options...furthermore you weren't there so you dont know!

[Kikemon]

Originally Posted by It'sNotTheBike

we always need to leave ourselves an "out" in the event
another motorist does something stupid, which these days they do
very frequently.

Diesel - I hope you get back on your feet and your bike!

Not to inflame this anymore than it has been, but I don't understand what the above quote really means. I take it to mean that you should always be expecting the worst and looking for a way to get out of trouble if anticipated problems (ie, cars) occur. Your "out" will change continuously as you ride down the street as new threats emerge and escape routes are passed etc. Unless you live in the middle of the Sahara, there will be numerous times throughout any ride when you simply do not have a viable out. In this case, Diesel's out was broadsiding a culvert. It could have been worse. Statements like "always" do something or "never" do something else end up being meaningless if you actually pay attention to what you are doing because you see the lie in them. Diesel may have made some legitimate mistakes in this thing and I am sure he has had plenty of time to ruminate on them, but I don't think "not having an out" is one of them.

[AceRph]

I trimmed the crap out.

Good luck in your continued recovery, diesel1959.

[diesel1959]

Assuming facts not in evidence can definitely lead a person to a flawed conclusion. The fact that a speeding violation was noted within a school zone and the fact that an officer on a motorcycle proceeded to give chase does NOT equate to the ability to conclude that any subsequent crash occurred within that same school zone.

The posted speed limit in the area where the accident occurred is 55mph and is approximately 1/3 mile west of where the school zone ended. All vehicles upon the US Highway have right of way over any vehicles sitting on an intersecting city street at a stop sign and awaiting their opportunity to make a left turn or right turn onto the US Highway. A police motorcycle traveling the speed limit and running code 3 (lights and siren) on the US Highway would have even more reason to expect the right of way to be respected.

I would say that I had three choices, once the driver opted to violate the law and proceed onto the highway in front of me:
1. Take an out to the left. Not possible in this case due to oncoming traffic which would have resulted in certain death.
2. Continue in the lane and either t-bone or rear-end the vehicle. Not a good choice as it doesn't show due regard for the safety of that driver and would likely result in my death.
3. Take an out to the right. In this case, the right means an East Texas drainage ditch. This option made the most sense in the split second I had to make a decision. It meant that no one but myself would possibly be injured. THAT's due regard in my book.

Having been an attorney for 21 years, a full-time cop for 15 years, and an EMT for 12 years, I made the best decision I could--essentially, taking the least worst bite of a shit sandwich.

What I can say is that I thank all things holy for Medics who step in and handle the trauma on the street, in the back of the bus, or in the air, and keep all of us safer out there . . . even if they make unfounded assumptions about how we arrived at our current state of disrepair. Cheers.