Accidents (or, proof of safety gear)

[spazter12]

May 27, 2019 14:01:28 GMT -5 phatmanxxl said:

People tell me I don't need a helmet for a scooter, I always say back "The day I don't wear it is the day I should've had it on"

I live by that.

youtu.be/yfQpDsWePDw

Yep

[PDub]

I just saw Brent's thread about his accident about a year ago: 49ccscoot.proboards.com/thread/23671/crashed-struck-deer-video-page

Whew. I've always worried about deer on one stretch of my ride home from work in the late evenings. You had similar injuries (though I had you beat in sheer number of breaks!) Sorry you had a brain contusion -- I'm glad that I did not end up with a concussion. I have reconstructed what happened -- though at the time I was sure I had not been unconscious, in putting together the logical events, I must have passed out for at least two minutes. I have no memory of the impact, and I apparently hit the curb with my right shoulder hard enough to flip me 180 degrees onto my back. (30 mph, folks, that's all!) When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the back end of my scooter, and two women were standing on the side of the road calling 911. So I HAD to have passed out -- they were not standing there as I rode into the curve, they must have been in a car and saw it happen.

Brent: I'm wondering how you're doing a year later -- how's the knee these days?

I'm almost done with 6 months of blood thinners, so about to "officially" be ready to be on two wheels again. (Docs said "don't do anything that will increase your risk of head injury while on blood thinners.") I have taken a few short rides around the neighborhood (yes, all geared up!) just to make sure that my back-up scoot was working okay, but I have not ridden to work or gone further than a couple of miles.

My physical self: I've had several followup appointments for the clavicle (docs seem to want to check that the steel plate is still there, duh, and perhaps to congratulate themselves on it), but that break has never been a problem and really what still bothers me are my right shoulder and the 9 broken ribs. (No docs were interested in seeing me for followup on those!) I am mostly healed but still have aches in my ribs and shoulder. Xrays showed I have arthritis and a bone spur in my shoulder, along with the scapula fracture, so that explains some of the pain. The ribs are healing overlapped, not end-to-end, which is disturbing when I think about it (my right rib cage is now smaller!) My range of motion in right arm is mostly okay, but moving that arm backward is limited. I've started a "therapeutic" yoga class where I am getting lots of easy stretching that is helping. If I work too hard (read: haul concrete blocks around the backyard, dig holes, drag ladders and lumber around, etc.) my ribs will ache and I'll have trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep in. I can't lay on my right side to sleep -- and that is my favorite & most comfortable position. Argh! It's been six months!

I have not done a complete review of Lucy, but the front axle, the triple tree, & the front rim are all bent. Brake lever, right mirror broke off, right footpeg mangled, leg shield, windscreen, and battery box broken on right side. She's wrapped up for the winter, waiting until I decide whether to simply keep her for parts, or to get an entire new front end to get her going again. Later. Meanwhile, I am more than ready to be back to commuting on 2 wheels!

People: I am so lucky -- but also smart for wearing appropriate safety gear. I did not have to sit in rehab the past 6 months trying to learn how to hold a spoon again. Wear your gear folks! Wear your gear on the road even if you are just going up and down the block to test something.

A note about summer comfort: I found that my mesh jacket was LESS comfortable to wear in hot weather, because it hugs my body. My Aerostich jacket is large enough to include insulating layers under it in winter, so in summer it is looser around me than the mesh jacket and air moves through it better.

[lilpinny]

I rode up to the park on the corner today to drop some water off for my kids who were playing and I was in shorts, t-shirt and no helmet and I got half way there and thought of you and spazter12. I then slowed down to about 10 mph.

I’m glad you are feeling better. Thinners suck and I’m happy that is almost over. 9 ribs? Jesus you must have smacked down hard. Glad to see you are still riding and didn’t give it up. Get back on that horse, cowgirl.

[PDub]

Thanks lp -- and next time maybe you'll slip on that helmet at least!

[90GTVert]

Sorry it took me a bit to see this one.

I'm glad you've had a couple of quick rides and are almost there on getting the seal of approval from your doc.

My ribs, scapula and clavicle didn't bother me too much after months passed. My father broke some ribs on a scooter though and he had sharp pains for quite a while. Hopefully a lot of your aches and pains will subside in a bit.

My knee still kinda sucks. I think it will likely always be an issue, and it's my fault for "being tough" and not getting it checked out and then skipping rehab. Not smart. I saw the $1000 charge for an office visit at the orthopedic center, imagined what I'd pay for double physical therapy, etc... and thought there's just no way. I followed dr's orders with rehabing the shoulder stuff and I'm fine. One of those deals where you can't go back and change it. You only have so long to get joints moving and then say goodbye to range of motion.

Aside from that, I swear I aged 10-20 years when I crashed. I can't logically explain any reason, but it just seems like everything has been different since. Anything from having less energy to having more aches and pains. I took a hit a little faster and just broke my hand 10 years earlier and that one didn't really phase me too much. Then again, I was 29 the first time and 39 the second. Hope that's just me and you aren't seeing any of those effects.

[lilpinny]

It’s in your mind @90gtvert... you let those thoughts happen when you allow them to happen. I’m going to be young until the day I die.

[birdman]

I recently took a spill on the versys. A car turned left in front of me and I went up and over the hood and slide all the way thru the intersection. I had an aerostitch r3 one piece suit, shoei full face, sidi boots, and taichi full gauntlet gloves with scaphoid sliders that help mitigate the risk of breaking your wrist. It was a pretty gnarly collision and I walked away with just a minor fracture in my thumb and some minor bruising. I also have crash bars and hard panniers on the bike and I think that took most of the blow from the car and the gear saved my hide once I hit the ground. I live by good safety gear. I admit tho on the scooter I often squid it but after reading through this I'm going to get some Kevlar jeans and a good jacket for the scooter rides.

[PDub]

Hurrah for Aerostich! great stuff...

[scooternub]

Apr 15, 2019 17:42:32 GMT -5 PDub said:

Hey! TR Refugee here -- thanks to those of you who have welcomed me 'home'!!

I wanted to describe the events that led me to seeking out my scooter buds. On Mar 31, on my way to a friend's house (who had just come home from a hip replacement), I rounded a curve that I take every day on my way to work. This day, however, I was in a different lane, the outside lane, and it turns out that there was a lot of gravel there. Lucy's wheels slipped out from under me, and I went down on my face at about 30-35 mph. Scraped across the pavement, my right shoulder slammed into the curb, and my right side became the 'crumple zone' -- I broke my clavicle, scapula, and 11 ribs. Three nights in ICU, surgery to put a plate on my clavicle, then finally home. 

Here's the amazing thing:  no road rash, no bruises, no cervical, spinal, or head injuries. Why?

Despite the attempts by some people to tease me about wearing so much gear even when it's 90+ degrees outside, I always put it on. I have a full face Shoei helmet, and I wear an Aerostich jacket and pants. All the time. Even though it's "only" a scooter. From the scratches on my face shield, I would not have much of a face left without the helmet. If not for the helmet keeping my head partially above the pavement, I did not strike my head on the curb, which would have caused major head, neck, brain injuries. The Aerostich gear is amazing at taking the abrasion from pavement, thus NO visible bruises or road rash. 

Unfortunately, a few days later, the deep bruises began to make themselves known -- and some shortness of breath. Back to the hospital, diagnosed with pulmonary emboli and a partially collapsed lung. (Deep bruises in my calves traveled to my lungs; unknown why the pneumothorax appeared.) Another 3 days in hospital, many xrays & scans of various sorts. Fortunately, the pneumothorax began to shrink a little, so I did not need a chest tube. They stabilized me on blood thinners, which I will need to take for 6 months, and told me to avoid any activities that might increase my chances of head injury. I'm okay avoiding sky diving, bull riding, cage fighting, scuba diving... but scooter riding?? No scooting for SIX MONTHS??  I will do my best -- I have not been able to evaluate Lucy's damage yet, and she may need lots of repair that I'm not able to do yet -- but I do not know if I'm going to be fully abstinent for six months. We'll see...

So, after the first hospitalization, I was thinking about how on TR there was that sticky on the opening forum page about the rider who sustained major head trauma in a scooter accident -- someone who was not wearing a helmet -- and having to learn how to walk and talk again. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ME if I had not been wearing my gear.  I decided I had to do another search for my scooter buds, just to connect. That's how I found y'all, and why I was so happy about it!

I've ridden scooters and mopeds for 30+ years, and I've ridden a Ruckus full time for 10 years. (I no longer own a car.) This is the first time I've gone down, and boy-o-boy am I happy that I have stuck to my guns about always wearing my gear. Yeah, it's expensive. Helmet/jacket/pants cost 1/2 as much as a new Ruckus. But... if I were in long term care trying to learn how to talk again, would I pay that much to be back to my regular life? HELL YES!! I'd pay a hundred times that much. It may never happen to you. It was a LONG time before it happened to me...I hoped it never would, but it did, and I was prepared. My gear saved my life as I know it.

Let me tell you -- there are those few days in the past when I have foregone the Aerostich pants for something lighter and less bulky... I may never do that again. 

So... how do you preserve your life as you know it?

wow. I've gone down three times.

Apr 15, 2019 23:18:32 GMT -5 90GTVert said:

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

There's nothing like a crash to make you appreciate gear. My first scooter crash was not long after I got my first scooter. I had on a t-shirt and jeans. I tried to take a turn way too fast and low sided. I got lucky and just sprained my foot and had a bunch of rash and bruises and soreness/stiffness. I had also crashed a pocketbike and hurt my shoulder once before. That stuff was enough to finally wake me up that the ground is really hard and that I didn't want to bounce my head off of it. I started wearing a helmet and gloves full time. Shortly after that, I got a good armored riding jacket.

Then I had a truck go by and lose a hay bale that landed directly in front of my front tire around 40-50MPH. Broke my hand and had rash and scrapes and bruising. Helmet definitely saved me from a lot of trauma to the head and face and the jacket saved some skin and who knows what else.






Then I did pretty well for almost 10 years till I hit a deer Sep 30, 2018 and broke my clavicle, scapula, ribs, tibial plateau, and got a contusion plus the usual bruising and some rash and such. I was knocked out for 2 minutes with a full face helmet on, so I'm pretty confident that I'd be dead without it. I had an armored jacket on, armored gloves, but jeans and sneakers.






Bought a leather jacket and textile jacket with armor to replace the jacket destroyed in that crash. Picked up 2 CE level 2 back protectors for them. New full face. I've got multiple pairs of gloves. Started wearing my work boots more often instead of sneakers. Now if I would just get some good pants. Being a fatass, it's tough to find something that fits well. I've ordered twice and got a lousy fit twice. Really need to go into a shop and try them on in person.

Sorry for such a long reply, but I'm with you on your quest to let people know that gear is worth the money. It's also important to understand that your skills won't always keep you out of trouble so don't think you'll never crash.


Oh, and be real careful with those blood thinners. Definitely get checked out immediately if you have any sort of impact to the head. My grandmother was on blood thinners and fell back and bumped her head on a mirror when getting into a truck. She didn't think it was a big deal and went to a party a couple of miles away. Before long she didn't feel right and started vomiting. They called an ambulance for her, but she died later and the doc stressed the importance of immediate care for any sort of head trauma when blood thinners are used. It's not a time to try to be tough or think nothing of it and avoid care if anything happens.

try duluthtrading. those Wipeout pictures are insane.

1:guy looked like he was gonna run stop sign, he had a fast incoming rolled stop sign then stopped, my dumbass locked both brakes. Went down sliding on my ass, feet up in air, just sliding and balancing myself on my buttocks on that black tar slick when wet stuff, it just got done raining.

2: Turned little quickly at a left green arrow, it seems that in Lafayette Indiana that the roads get really slick when wet like oil and water on the black pavement in intersections. went down pretty hard. Front tire slid to the right.

3: in Lafayette Indiana traveling on a one-way, on the left-hand Lane I was then this guy was in the right hand lane ahead of me, I started to get in his blind spot and pass him, he changed lanes nearly into me instantaneously I locked my brakes again, went down. It was raining to drizzling n back that morning. I was screaming at the guy yelling why didnt you fucking check your blind spot?

I cannot carry anything heavy with my left hand, it feels like my wrist pops out of socket. luckily I made it through all three wipeouts without real bad harm.

In the winter time I wear Gore-Tex winter gloves, HJC helmet, two sweatshirts n a Colombia shell. Carhartt insulated jeans with red wing insulated boots. on two of the wipeouts my wrists and knees took the blunt force. I'm thinking about what I should wear for spring and summer. I am out of the city now but I'm going to have to worry about deer now in the country.

[michimoper]

Well, it could've been worse.
My helmet got scuffed, but it could've been my head.
My thumb lost a little chunk of skin, but, I was wearing heavy gloves.
My knee got scuffed up, (I'm not gonna post a pick of that. Suffice it to say, it looks worse than the thumb.)
I almost always ride with a helmet. Today I wore gloves because it's kinda cold. I hardly ever wear shorts, even in July. I would not wear shorts while riding.


How is it that my thumb gets scuffed like that, but there's not a mark on the glove?

[michimoper]

I couldn't have been going much slower. Was in a parking lot. From nearly a standstill, I made a right turn. I saw the wet pavement. Never expected the rear wheel to slide out from under me. Looking at the pic, I was coming from the upper right, turning towards the stop sign.

I've started riding while in High school. That was over 50 years ago.
I guess I'm lucky that I've only gone down 2 other times.

[90GTVert]

Damn. Did you accidentally hit the nitrous button on that little turn?

Glad you're mostly alright.

[PDub]

Good thing you were going slowly! I know, the outer layer shows nothing, the skin is bleeding... what's up with that?!

(Might want to consider a full-face helmet... a faster fall might have taken half of your face out...)

[Beets]

My newest purchase from Bike Bandit for $107 

[rocketdogiv]

Amen all. Wear gear. Even when it's hot, there are jackets, pants, and gloves that have armor in them and they work well. PLEASE!!! Wear a helmet. Even in States where you don't have to. You cannot keep your head from hitting the pavement, even at 10 mph. Your body and neck aren't made for that. I speak from experience. People who don't wear helmets are just showing their lack of knowledge.