Personal Question. The aftermath of a wreck.

Alright guys I hope folks won't mind me asking this. After an accident have any of you had a hard time with friends and family. Them worrying, not wanting you to ride anymore, or not understanding why you still love it? It probably does not help that my girl friend was in her car behind me and saw my whole wreck.... Just curious.

 

It's a normal reaction to what could have been deadly. I think the best thing to do is take an advanced rider's safety course so they can see you are committed to riding, and to doing everything you can to be safe.

 

After my accident last spring - I got the same reaction from friends and family. I was unable to ride the rest of the year - so after a year of listening to me whine about not riding - my wife and kids are looking forward to me getting my bike running so that I can ride again. So basically - give it time - they'll get past it.

 

Also point out how you've learned your lesson about gear and (hopefully) will be riding ATGATT from now on.

My wife was surprisingly calm after the accident I had last year. It probably was a good thing all she saw was me, fine, motorcycle already loaded on the tow truck, etc. A guy that was following me as I exited the highway stopped to make sure I was all right, and said "that looked AWFUL," with a distict look of shock that I was on my feet.

We can't gaurantee accidents won't happen, and people die in car accidents all the time. But what you can do is give yourself the most opportunity to avoid an accident (training/making the right decisions) and if you can't avoid it, give yourself the best odds of surviving it (gear).

 

A subtle suggestion is to have your girlfriend help you pick out new safety gear. I've found that people who have misgivings about something do so often because of not having control. By getting her involved there she'll feel more connected to you being safe.

 

For me it's been a little more than two years. I live in Southern Ca. and to have year round riding weather and not get out has been extremely painful for me not to ride. I quit riding after the accident not because of the crash but because of the idiots out here. I was hit by someone who I beleive was texting at the time. I am 44 years old and up until that accident I have always rode a motorcycle since I was 16 years of age. My GF used to whine at me for wearing gear all the time. It was over 100 degrees and I made her keep her jacket and gloves on. I doused her shirt with water and zipped her jacket up, found out that bikes at speed will drown the passengers whining out.
I miss it terribly but next time I might not be able to walk again (broken in half and shattered right pattella or knee cap). I have to decide if its worth it or not. At this time it's not. Unless either of two things happen that the states really crack down on phone/text usage or have figured out how to make it unusable while in a vehicle, then sadly I am not on two wheels. The Ca. law is a joke, on average one in 10 is still using the cell phone. Thats just by me looking around at any one time and seeing that many on the phone... I think the states need to start enforcing the law just like the drunken driving law especially since they say that driving with a cell phone is just as bad as drunk driving

 

Any time anyone give me any grief about riding bikes I just ask them how many of their friends have have been in car crashes and if they gave them the same amount of crap about giving up cars

 

After almost 2 years riding, I still haven't laid the bike down once (except twice whilst standing still).
But I still get loads of crap from my GF about riding, even though I use full gear.
It should be noted though, that her dad was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident.

 

Saturday, I went to work and fell off the bike in the parking garage. Sunday I went to work and fell off my chair because the back snapped off.

Apparently, office chairs are as dangerous as bikes. If I have to sit in those chairs, I might as well ride the bike.

 

My outlook is, life is dangerous and you're going to die. When that happens is the only unknown. If it's your time it's your time. Motorcycle, car, boat, airplane, or heart attack walking down the street.

 

When people find out that I ride, invariably they start talking about the most recent bike wreck in the news, whatever it may have been. I immediately tell them about the most recent car crash that I read about, whatever IT may have been. That usually shuts them up quick.

Dave

 

From my recent experience my wife was pretty upset and worrisome for obvious reasons...

That being said she's not opposed to me getting another bike (this decision took a few days mind you). If I was at fault for the accident she (and others) would likely be whistling a different tune.

Marcel

 

+1 That is a fantastic answer!