How bad were you hurt?

[Dzlchef]

On 2/18/2019 at 2:16 AM, Fremalea said:

un seul accident pour moi, après 6 mois de roue. avec mon MCM4, batterie 40%, excès de confiance en soi, dans une descente, accélération trop forte, malgré les bips sonores, l’arrêt du moteur a été brutal. Faceplant à 30 km / h environ entorse du poignet. Je suis allé courir un peu et je n'ai pas mis de protège-poignet ... quel imbécile. Maintenant je le porte TOUT LE TEMPS.

Je pars au ski la semaine prochaine  

You got to respect the beeps, it’ll get you every time!!!  Glad you walked away mostly unscathed, and that you’re going to wear guards now  

[Freewheeler]

My first fall was caused by a widely swingly car door. No equipment, no lasting injuries.  Here's the post for those interested. 

My next one came the same day I bought a full face helmet. I was riding during the day, at about 20KpH on a smooth street, very light residential traffic, and there was a depression I didn't recognize. It was square shaped, about 12x12. Even now , I cannot think of any reason in the world it would be there. Thankfully, it was mostly a run off with a much lower speed stumble fall. Again, no lasting injuries. 

And last night, I was transitioning from sidewalk to crosswalk at about 5-7KpH with a green signal. A speeding car approached in the right turn only lane. He was not slowing as someone would when coming to a red light. His head was turned left, looking only for on-coming vehicular traffic.

I recognized the hazard and slowed as quickly as possible. I yelled as loudly as I could as he breached the crosswalk without stopping. He was fully intent on blatantly running the red light unless, and only unless he was going to smash into a car coming from his left.

I came off/stepped off, inches from his his right front fender as he finally came to a stop. My wheel slid in front of his POS SUV and into the road. No physical injuries, but that was as close as I ever want to come.

I enthusiastically chastised him as I spasdically pointed to his red light.  I recall thinking how much my helmet must be adding to the trauma for him. With the fear of God securely ensconced, I picked up my wheel, thanked my better angels and tooled off down the road. 

Lesson? Always assume drivers are distracted or  irretrievably stupid. That mindset saved me from getting bounced into traffic.

I wear a neon colored vest, headlight attached to my wheel, LEDs dancing, backpack with an LED light stick, neon colored gloves. 

Next purchases: jacket, knee guards, wrist gurads and better footwear. 

[LanghamP]

6 hours ago, Freewheeler said:

He was not slowing as someone would when coming to a red light. His head was turned left, looking only for on-coming vehicular traffic.

He was fully intent on blatantly running the red light unless, and only unless he was going to smash into a car coming from his left.

I wear a neon colored vest, headlight attached to my wheel, LEDs dancing, backpack with an LED light stick, neon colored gloves. 

One of those dog leg right turns? Those turns are also extremely dangerous to pedestrians, especially to children and older people who have a tendency to look down to see where they are going instead of to their left.

When I drive my car into those dog legs I don't even bother following the lines, for the simple reason that you have to turn your head so you can see behind you; in other words you're no longer looking in the direction of travel.

Don't do that, because a driver may be stopped ahead of you or there is a pedestrian. Instead, I crank the wheel hard left just before I merge so I can see incoming traffic and pedestrians at the same time.

If you're pedestrian/EUC all the flashing lights and green vests won't work if the driver isn't even looking in your direction, so you have to preemptively claim your crosswalk area first, and that means shinning a powerful flashlight into their cabin. I don't blast my light most of the time, but if the driver is running the red, he's approaching fast, and I'm already on the crosswalk (I often walk my wheels), then I'll absolutely blind him so he cannot see the road, and hence stop. Trying to spread the risk of driver's charging into dog legs, nothing personal, I've just seen too many pedestrians get hit hard at the huge urban park I used to live near.

[Freewheeler]

1 hour ago, LanghamP said:

One of those dog leg right turns? 

I was crossing "the top" a T intersection and he was traveling "up" to make a 90° right turn. 

He had no reason (other than blatant disregard) to not see me.

It happened again twice today, though much less dramatic. Some people truly do not give a shit. 

[mezzanine]

30 minutes ago, Freewheeler said:

I was crossing "the top" a T intersection and he was traveling "up" to make a 90° right turn. 

He had no reason (other than blatant disregard) to not see me.

It happened again twice today, though much less dramatic. Some people truly do not give a shit. 

It's a small world after all.  I almost got hit by a cab today in my city under very similar circumstances.  

Shook me up.  I was able to confront the cab driver and he's lucky he didn't get out of his vehicle like he threatened.  The narcissism to be able to almost hit someone due to your own fault and then react defensively when confronted...it's enough to cause me to lose any faith I may have had in people.  And it's the rule, not the exception.  I had no idea how bad it is before I started riding or I wouldn't have started.  

 

[LanghamP]

20 minutes ago, mezzanine said:

It's a small world after all.  I almost got hit by a cab today in my city under very similar circumstances.  

If it's any consolation, I almost got nailed this morning by a college girl in an SUV, who made a right turn on a stop sign without stopping.

These situations, don't even bother or expect drivers to stop, just aim for their rear quarter panel, then follow the car that illegally blew the stop until you hit the crosswalk, then continue.

It's not worth confronting bad drivers, because one day, sooner than later, you'll encounter a deadly person.

[mezzanine]

16 hours ago, LanghamP said:

If it's any consolation, I almost got nailed this morning by a college girl in an SUV, who made a right turn on a stop sign without stopping.

These situations, don't even bother or expect drivers to stop, just aim for their rear quarter panel, then follow the car that illegally blew the stop until you hit the crosswalk, then continue.

It's not worth confronting bad drivers, because one day, sooner than later, you'll encounter a deadly person.

 

Completely agree with you about it not being worth it to confront bad drivers.  Yesterday's situation really affected me, and I'm used to having close calls on the wheel.  When I replay the event, I feel it was entirely appropriate for me to confront the driver, and yet I recognize that it isn't productive.  I tolerate a lot of ridiculousness by drivers, but something really egregious like blowing a red light, especially by a "professional" driver like a cabby, and I snapped.  

I'm now trying to change my mentality while out on the wheel to be even more defensive than I already am.  Whenever I see a new poster talk about learning to ride, I'm going to emphasize the importance of learning to manage traffic risk and a lot less focus on leaning basic riding technique.  It takes months to learn to how to manage traffic on an EUC if you weren't previously a cyclist.  

[LanghamP]

59 minutes ago, mezzanine said:

 

Completely agree with you about it not being worth it to confront bad drivers.   

I tolerate a lot of ridiculousness by drivers, but something really egregious like blowing a red light, especially by a "professional" driver like a cabby, and I snapped.  

I'm now trying to change my mentality while out on the wheel to be even more defensive than I already am.  

I've thought about the times I've confronted a few drivers, and revised my requirements for doing so, because I wasn't prepared to do what it takes to forcibly end a confrontation..

In my opinion, if there was no harm ignore or run away. There's no convincing people.

If you do insist on confrontation, I believe the following is mandatory.

1. 9mm Taurus with a 13 round magazine + one reload.

2. Kershaw folder with a tanto tip against Kevlar.

3. Fencing lessons, with the willpower to stab your enemy many times, as many times as you must.

4. Pepper spray, and some experience in horizontally spraying it across your enemy's eyes.

5. The attitude you need to stay in the fight.

If you don't have all of these then you have no business confronting drivers, because history is full of dead people who escalated road rage without the actual means to follow it through.

My proudest moment as a driver came about a year ago, when I dorked a scooter driver with my car, almost hitting him and running him into a concrete barrier.

He understandably screamed, "what the fuck, man, fuck you, asshole!!" 

I then rolled down my window and said to him, "my apologies, I did not see you, and I'm mortified for dorking you like that."

He said, in such a surprised tone, "ah, it's all right, man, you almost hit me."

I said back, "again, my apologies, I pride myself with being a very careful driver, and that was my bad."

 

[Freewheeler]

The after effects of an adrenaline spike and testosterone are likely the main culprits behind my least proud moments on the road.

An understanding that, physiologically, I am temporarily altered after an incident might go a long way toward forming reasoned, measured responses such as yours. 

Thanks for sharing that. 

[Dingfelder]

On 3/2/2019 at 2:38 PM, LanghamP said:

If you don't have all of these then you have no business confronting drivers, because history is full of dead people who escalated road rage without the actual means to follow it through.

People are so terrible that I fully expect to be pepper-sprayed for no reason one day.

[Heyzeus]

https://old.reddit.com/r/ElectricScooters/comments/bcacx9/can_we_talk_about_injuries_and_safety_i_wiped_out/

Not me, but thought this was a good example giving morep roof of the value of a full face helmet.

Even on things not euc.

Hope that person has insurance because those teeth are going to be expensive to fix, few $K easily

[Smoother]

How bad were you hurt? is the topic.  Here's my latest incident

From being a leisure rider only, I have morphed into a sometimes commuter, I have 2.5 miles to ride from park and ride to work.  As a leisure rider I never rode in the rain, but as a commuter I don't have the luxury of avoiding it.

So one morning 11 days ago I was riding through the narrow, ancient, rain soaked streets of Cambridge when I had need to mount the low curb to make room for a car with the right of way.  I have ridden up these curbs at an acute angle many times in the dry with no drama, but in the rain their flint like surfaces are slicker than snot.  So while my body was heading towards a shop entrance my wheel pinged off the slick curb, back out into the street.  Down I go into the shop entrance like the proverbial sack of potatoes see @Marty Backe recent Nicola fail for an idea what it looked like except I slid and he plopped.  I was on my feet in an instant, apologizing to the car driver and retrieving my wheel from the middle of the road. I went on about my business and was not hindered in any way.

Absolutely none of my padded areas were injured and almost nowhere else either BUT... Because of the sideways nature of the fall, my left hip took a blow.  Although it has not hindered me, it still hurts 11 days on.  Not a lot; I have to push on it to produce pain (so don't push on it dummy). or laying on my left side in bed (not so much now).  I think I bruised my thigh bone.  I think in time it will repair itself.  There is no hip damage so I have no fear of a joint injury.

I've been riding regularly since then, and the incident hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for EUCs in the slightest (just wanted to put that out to newbies questioning their decision to enter the hobby YMMV).  I think, overall I'm a bit annoyed with myself for not anticipating the slipperiness of the curb, and tackling it at an acute angle instead of square on.  Funny enough a female co worker also took a tumble that morning, due to the rain, from her bike.

[Unventor]

31 minutes ago, Smoother said:

Absolutely none of my padded areas were injured and almost nowhere else either BUT... Because of the sideways nature of the fall, my left hip took a blow.  Although it has not hindered me, it still hurts 11 days on

I hope you are tip top condition soon.

Just how you describe this, that is why I started to wear MC trousers with hip protection. It saved my hip when a Volvo forced me into a waterfilled pothole (much deeper that I anticipated/recalled). Sending into a roll.

And the time when I dislocated my shoulder too. As I partly landed on the shoulder (first impact) and rolled on the side on my padded zones. Only that the first impact was too hard to mitigate without any injuries, hence my dislocated shoulder. 

Monday 1 week ago, I clipped an escooter that was about 1 foot out on the bike lane. I didn’t spot it until I got up from the ground. I actorly think it was parked by a light pole and fell mere moments before I “passed” it as I were looking over my shoulder getting ready to turn into an roundabout. So I did a superman landing. But now I learned my knee pads were a bit too low, so I hit ground without padding, no major issues just a mark on right knee almost gone now.

 Handed in my MC trousers to a tailor to get this sorted. So back to my old suit again. Very hot riding in black today we had like 28 Celsius. But I am back in business, with a 40isk km ride around city centre and outskirts. In 3 weeks,  I will have had my KS18L for 1 year. So far 2435km …2500km should be possible unless be star getting California heat here. I really dislike above 25 Celsius temperatures.

[Rehab1]

Thank God no one ended up in your 4th category : Major injury which resulted in permanent impairment such as loss of limb, brain damage, loss of vision, etc. No possibility of return to normal activity.

[Kens]

5 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Thank God no one ended up in your 4th category : Major injury which resulted in permanent impairment such as loss of limb, brain damage, loss of vision, etc. No possibility of return to normal activity.

Even if they are, I'm pretty sure they will not be in this forum anymore. Must very traumatizing to see all this thing again..

[Unventor]

3 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Thank God no one ended up in your 4th category : Major injury which resulted in permanent impairment such as loss of limb, brain damage, loss of vision, etc. No possibility of return to normal activity.

Well this is mainly for EUCs but I just read that major in Nasville have banned escooter rentals in his city due to a fatal accident (a drunk rider, but still).

A few weeks back we had a fatal case too in Sweden, also rental escooter. But there was not much details in the press of the accident, beside the outcome.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Unventor
I wrongly wrote Nebraska, correctly it is Nasville

[Smoother]

1 hour ago, Unventor said:

Just how you describe this, that is why I started to wear MC trousers with hip protection. It saved my hip when a Volvo forced me into a waterfilled pothole (much deeper that I anticipated/recalled). Sending into a roll.

And the time when I dislocated my shoulder too. As I partly landed on the shoulder (first impact) and rolled on the side on my padded zones. Only that the first impact was too hard to mitigate without any injuries, hence my dislocated shoulder. 

I meant to reference your shoulder (sideways) accident in my original report.  And yes I have thought about hip protection before, and again, after this incident.  I have known for some time that any incident that isn't a straight line face plant risks hip injury, but I have done nothing about it.  I've looked at those riding shorts on Chinazon but none of them looked quite right.  I'll look again in a moment and order something.

BTW my safety gear that ride was cheap elbow and knee pads and Flexmeter wrist guards. Crash speed was about 15kph tops.

[LanghamP]

1 hour ago, Unventor said:

Well this is mainly for EUCs but I just read that major in Nebraska have banned escooter rentals in his city due to a fatal accident (a drunk rider, but still).

Presumably that mayor also banned all rental automobiles upon the first reported fatality of a renter/driver?

And all Uber/Lyft/Taxicab vehicles upon the first fatality of a driver?

That'd seem fair if that mayor was a steward of people's safety.

[Slashebeest]

Started 2 weeks ago with my first euc ks16B.

After 120km had my first fall and broke a little bone in my elbow.

So now my arm is in a cast 

I had tested tilt back before but had no idea it would react so fast.

[Unventor]

31 minutes ago, Slashebeest said:

Started 2 weeks ago with my first euc ks16B.

After 120km had my first fall and broke a little bone in my elbow.

So now my arm is in a cast 

I had tested tilt back before but had no idea it would react so fast.

I hope it heal up alright.

The hole point of this is for people to realise things can happen if not careful and respect EUC is fun but hold a certain amount of risk too. 

[gon2fast]

Radial head fracture this past Sunday afternoon. Non-displaced so no cast. My wrist appears to be fractured as well, but I need that to be cast free so I can still drive. 

What happened  - a car pulled along side of me in a parking lot. Tried to slow down to lose the car, but they slowed as well. Passenger rolled down the window and started asking about the wheel. I got distracted telling the car/people to get away from me and hit a speed bump. The wheel spun and I basically took a five foot drop to the asphalt landing on my left forearm.