pickandwhammy

Although I didn't really have much idea of time, I'm quite sure it all took place in less than two seconds.

My driving is sporty, fast, and scary. But it's not rash, nor reckless, nor dangerous. I'm a driver who follows the 'look before you leap' policy very seriously. Most of the time, my eyes aren't on the road directly in front of me, but scanning for possible interventions that could intervene in the road directly in front of me, and cause me discomfort; which, I believe, is why I've been safe all this time.
But what is the probability of turning on a flyover and crashing into a crash that just took place? That's something I'd never thought of, and hence hadn't anticipated it to be there.

As I leaned into the next section of the PAS flyover, rolling at about 70 kmph, I saw a bike crashing into a cycle in the middle of the road, and screamed my head off, asking them to 'get out of the damn way', but realised that there's nothing that can be done. As soon as the impact took place, I took the aid of the momentum and leapt off the bike, forward. Nobody wants to stay under a 150 kg machine decelerating from about 50 to zero in less than a second!

The short: I was in the air for about a second or two, bounced off the ground once, and finally came to rest at about 20 metres from the site of the crash.

The long: They say you see images of loved ones, thoughts rush through your head, a blinding white light too, as some state. I'm a scientist, hence the only thing that I felt was what any particle travelling at great speeds will undergo: an application of the Theory of (Special) Relativity: time dilation. Two seconds really felt like a long time! Let me break it up into phases that I can distinctly identify:
1. Silk Approach: This is the moment where I sprang off the bike. During this slice of time, I had just let go. I had no neuromuscular control whatsoever. I just saw the front fairing of the bike disappear below me. This slice of time was probably the shortest out of all.
2. Ingress: This slice starts right where I got back from semi-paralysis and my 6-years-old gymnastics instincts kicked in, my brain trying to figure out my orientation and configuration in space, trying to stabilise the haphazard turning through the air, and readying my body for the fall. I must say, it did a pretty good job, and prepared me almost totally. Even so, you must consider I was flying at almost 50 kmph, accelerating at 9.81 m/s^2 towards solid tarmac! At this point, another area of my brain was duly given the image of the driver flying off after a crash in Roadrash by its subconscious, and I almost smiled in amusement and also at the irony!
3. Mayday: I hit the ground, mostly on my back, trying to roll with the momentum of the fall, but since I wasn't completely ready, my right leg took a part of the fall too. As soon as the impact occurred, I bounced back in the air for another few milliseconds, and lost orientation again. This time the duration was too short for me to regain control and prepare for the second impact, but the first fall had already slowed me down to almost a halt, so it wasn't much to worry about. During this time, my brain was too busy coordinating muscular activity to think of anything else.
4. LZ: The final fall and roll: I came to a halt, sprawled on the road, and at this point my head was blank. In another instant, logic flashed back into my head and told me to get off the damn road in case a vehicle comes from behind. I somehow stood up, maintained balance for about 2-3 seconds, and then fell down again: partly due to shock, but mostly due to my right leg being non-functional. I got up again, and hobbled over to the side of the road, head still spinning.
5. Launch CSAR: Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I hardly felt any pain. But I couldn't use my right leg very well. I turned my ankle about and concluded that I was spared a fracture. Checked wounds, mostly light abrasions, possibly one laceration, and a sprain. That being done, it occurred to me that I must have practically killed the bike! Throughout the confrontation with the other biker and discussion with passers-by, all I was thinking about was the damage it must have taken. I somehow, very slowly, rode it back to my house, parked it, and went upstairs to dress my wounds, and inform the bike-owner of the incident.

The bike did suffer a lot of damage, unfortunately. The front rim is bent, handlebar is twisted, front suspensions are crushed, front-fairing is damaged, and rear-wheel-mudguard is broken, all beyond repair. They have to be replaced. Repairable damage: fuel tank is dented and gear-shift-lever is slightly bent.
PS: The bike is a red Pulsar 150 DTS-i, belonging to a friend of mine.

The following terms are used in this entry. They are military flight terms:
Silk Approach: The act of bailing out of an aeroplane.
Ingress: The route of entry.
Mayday: Emergency call. (French: m'aidez- "help me")
LZ: Landing Zone
CSAR: Combat Search And Rescue

Sunny

You come and crash into xBhp out of the blue with a relatively intimate piece of information about an ' on road failiure'.

Good to see you sharing the way you have done and trying to learn something new from it. Most people take a crash as their weakness and a blow to their machismo.

A positive and educational distillation of this would definitely be this:

No matter how experienced or careful a rider you are, you can and will encounter an alien situation on the road which will throw you off balance and (hopefully) just skidding on the tarmac without any major damage to life and limb.

One must also always remember to first take care of themselves, then their pillion and then worry about the bike.

The rolling fall technique is also very good to prevent major impacts.

Shifting this thread to 'The Art of Safe Motorcycling'. I will let others to give their inputs on how to deal with a crash. Please follow these guidelines:

• Do not give detailed esays of your own crashes.
• Do give clear and precise pointers on how to deal with a motorcycle crash
• Do include points on treating physical and mental trauma, legal issues etc.
• Only relevant inputs will be approved, no 'Great post', thank yous etc!

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Omi

With 100's of falls under my belt
here's my experience

BC:
Before crash, almost all the time we get a minimal time to react, very few accidents are there where you get no time to react.
Entering a crash is important, yes a crash is not always dodge-able, sometimes you HAVE to crash, thats all, now how you enter the crash matters here.
Worst part you cannot practice it.Ex. A big pothole in middle of road no time to get out of it...
Practice Braking... on empty stretch of road, Know your bike, know its momentum
Like if you have a heavy bike, it is not going to stop instantly and will skid
Know your bikes capabilities and stay within it, one of the best ways to get safely out of a crash


Don't Freeze
Many of us just freeze and Panic Brake, its completely natural.
But try not to, don't apply brakes with full pressure, here also braking practice will matter a lot, for discs gradually increase pressure, don't jam them to the fullest.

AC
After you crash, stay where you are for a moment, your brain will be all panicked
CHECK YOURSELF FIRST , no matter how small was the fall, due to release of certain hormones you will feel NO pain sometimes just after the accident, a light pain at spot, can land you in bed with a plaster.
Check yourself, get up slowly, this will avoid further damage.

IF you are completely ok and can walk, check for the one who you have crashed into,
let it be his mistake but he is also a human and deserves to live.

Before getting into an argument, check for lost wallet/mobile, check your bike
and then start, in messed up situations 100 is helpful.....
be cool and call someone you know who can come.

Managing Arguments
Again very important but i am bad at it. Your muscles don't matter much here, the way you trickily deal it matters....some one please thorw some light here

Dressing Injuries
Everyone should know basic first aid. Visit a doctor if necessary, don't avoid it.
Basic things like, cotton antiseptic, should be in the bike's medikit, and at home too..


Think about the crash
Yes think about it and ways you could had avoided it.
This is damn important, it should be like your homework, this is your learning.
Use your brain power to max, Imagine the situation from different angles (literally)
Where you went wrong and what is it you need yo work upon.


More as I collect.....

frank_dude_007

From my Experiance i have learned that no matter how much good rider you are , you are still prone to accident's .
The First thing to advice is wear the maximum security gear you can , a helmet IS A MUST .
Before a crash
We get some millisecond of time to react so we should use it to the fullest , in a crash a person should first think of saving himself . If you are going to fall then leave the vehicle as it can cause you harm by forcing pressure on you legs and other area's .

After the crash
I agree on Omi in this one that you do not feel anything , no pain even if you would have broken a bone because of the hormonal rush , so check yourself and if you are hurt then you should call somebody to help you , nowadays people are more helpful if you ask them to pick you bike for you they will .
After checking yourself check the vehicle and make sure no oil leakages have occurred , this is the most common problem . then check the tyer's
and the last step will be to see if it still start's .
If the police arrives on scene then insist on getting medical treatment for yourself and the other person (if you crashed into someone else) before starting the legal work .

I hope i helped .

anants_220

I have a query here

ok so assume X,a responsible rider is hit by a car.Not much physical damage,it was the car jumping the red light with not many onlookers around.Assume the bike is damaged a bit and will cost you 1k to fix it.
Can we file a case if we remember the car number ?
what is the difference(legally) between :-
a)hit and run
b)hit and help

isnt it difficult to prove that what you were saying is right considering most guys dont like legal hassles ?

A grand might not be a big amount but what do you do to reach the wrong-do-er a lesson ?

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animeher

Whenever you have a crash, first calm yourself and pillion, before turning to bike. I know bike is our love and even my reactions were first to take care of the bike than look after others. But think of it, bike is made up of metal, and few more moments of being in same fallen position will not make the matter worse, but people get disoriented after sudden crash. First calm yourself down, then pick up the bike.

And relax, a crash doesn't tell anything about your biking ability. Remember, there are only two types of bikers, ones who have crashed, and others who will crash

burnrubbernotursoul

RELAX :
when you are about to crash its very important that you should not be stiff on the bike.try to RELAX, loosen your grip, bend your elbows a bit ....that will help take away unnecessary inputs on the handle bar. its tough but practice it everytime you brake hard or when you are overthe limit. ask yourself to relax.

sliding

when sliding its important to let the bike go .dont cling on to the bike , let the bike go and lie on your back and let it slide, dont try to break the slide you may end up injuring your self more.all this while try to RELAX, make your body as limp as possible,try not to stick your elbows out particularly if you are not wearing any protection around it. let yourself come to a stop by itself.

getting up

get up only when you are totally sure that you have stopped sliding.when you feel the slide has stopped look around or touch the gound with your hand to confirm that you have really stopped. check the traffic before jumping up on your feet. if there's a lot of traffic around its wise not to panic and stay still where you are untill you feel the traffic around you has stopped.REMEMBER its easier to avoid a stationary object than a moving one. if you jump up and start running it will confuse the other road users and may lead to vision fixation and the guy may run you over.dont show haste in getting up .give some time for your mind to get reoriented before you get up.

its always wise to lift your hand and your legs one by one to see if they are not injured before you get up.move your fingers and your toes as well.

once you are out of the road and at a safe place check for injuries and if you had a hard knock that has left you unconcious or dizzy or have taken a direct blow on your abdomen or chest, visit a doctor ASAP even if you dont have visible injuries on these parts.

if you are hit on the head and you were knocked out , or you feel like vomiting or you had an episode of vomiting , or you have a headache, or you have slight blurring of vision you must see a doctor ASAP.

NEVER HAVE ALCOHOL OR ANY SEDATIVES/SLEEPING PILLS AFTER AN ACCIDENT. it will mask the signs of head injury and may confuse the person treating you, besides you wouldnt be able to recognise the symptoms of head injury.

in case of highside

if you are thrown off the bike again try to relax and make your body limp . dont worry about the flight instead prepare yourself for the landing. dont stick ur hand or the elbow out .try to take the impact of the fall on the back of your shoulder and roll off like what the goalkeeper and wicketkeepers do.

it worked for me when i had an accident on my cycle. iwas going downhill at a good speed and i saw this guy on the side of the road walking ,as soon as i was near him he decided to cross the road all of a sudden ,i tried to avoid him but before i could know the left handle bar of my cycle hit him and i was flung in the air.good thing was that i was fond of goalkeeping and wicketkeeping and love to dive at the slighest opportunity. so when i was in the air my instincts helped me and i managed to land on the back of my shoulder and rolled off.

first aid box
keep a medicine box in you bike .ideally keep an ointment (betadine) , a painkiller spray like (benzocaine spray) that you can directly apply over the wound. a few bandage roll, few sterile gauze piece, handiplast ,a small roll of cotton to wipe of blood or dirt.

a few points important points

a) if there is bleeding from an open wound pack it with sterile gauze (NOT COTTON) and give a firm bandage ,the bandage shouldnt be too tight and keep the limb lifted. if the bleeding is severe, then press the bleeding limb above the bleeding point and tie a bandage or cloth above the bleeding point( make sure the bandage should let your little finger pass through underneath) .the bandage or cloth should not be kept tied for more than 30-45 mins at a stretch.

b) if a person is met with an accident and not moving dont try to remove his helmet by yourself, leave this work to the paramedics or the doctors , you may end up causing more damage.

c) whenevr you are lifting an accident victim and you feel there is a chance of head or neck injury its very important that the head is supported while he is being lifted so that the head doesnt fall back below the level of the body.

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indrajit_plsr180

I have taken this advice from a very experienced person.
Try as much as possible not to vomit.coz once u do there r very rare chances of the person surviving a severe accident.

if u r lucky to find urself even a bit conscious then take a moment, relax and come back to the real world. have lil water.
Finally Thank God for making you survive ur crash.(Say all is well )

"But try to avoid vomitting". It can save ur life

kinshuk.arya

i dont have much idea about hit and help....
but yeah hit and run is a serious crime and for that you can file an F.I.R no matter how small the damages are.....
but also keep in mind that any case you file will also take up your time which will be equivalent to the other person's time....
plus if you want to just teach the person a lesson and you happen to know someone in police you can also go off the record....

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csajal

Well, I've had my share of crashes and amazingly none of them where at high speeds. I've done speeds of 123kmph with a faluty break, stiff front forks, and wify riding as pillion (well not the smartest thing to do I would say). But still that was one hell of a enjoyable ride and at no moment I felt that my P200 was going kinda out of controll.

But I don't know what happens at slow speeds. I fail to understand!!

The latest crash was last friday!!

The Crash
I came calmly down the parking ramp to basement 1 of my office parking. The bike parking lot is arround 10 mt from where the ramp ends. So, I gave the usuall throttle push. All of a sudden I saw a light green rope infront of me, which was completely invisible from the ramp as I was comming down from sunlight.

1) I hit the rear break, the rear wheel locked and skid.
2) I quickly released the rear break and went for the front break.
3) By that time, my helmet's wisor struk the rope and I started dragging with the rope still tangled to the wisor. Had I been not crouched on my bike the rope would have come straight to my throat.
4) Before I could apply front break more, to stop the bike, I was down.

After Effects
I skidded quite a distance with my bike. Came to know afterwards that just 5 mins before me another bike crashed and there was a major oil spill. On top of that the floor of the parking is shiny smooth.

The left rearset got completely shattered and now I feel that internally the gearing is also affected because I'm finding it really difficult to shift to the 2nd gear and the bike is hitting neutral all of a sudden even on 3rd gear

Medical Treatment
Well since I'm heavily suited on top, it's the knee which took to toll of the crash. Got the wounds dressed from the office medical room and somehow completed the 8 hours in office on pain killers and bandage. The knee is still swolen as I'm writing!!

Points to Ponder
I'm still not sure as to what I did wrong that I crash, and more so ever what I generally do wrong at slow speeds that I crash only at slow speeds. But yeah, this crash scared me a lot becasue, as I said earlier, had I've not been that extra crouched on my bike, the rope would have come straight towards my throat!!

Need to get the bike's gearing checked!! But yeah, during the crash and afterwards I kept my cool and that helped a lot put the right things in right place.

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