Author Topic: mauled by a bus  (Read 4267 times)

Offline martin_14

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mauled by a bus
« on: March 18, 2017, 01:14:43 PM »
On Monday at 3:50 pm I left my underground garage, took the street, and did the 300 meters/yards to the traffic light, where I wanted to turn left in a T-junction. When the light turned green I slowly drove off, but in the corner of my eye I saw something big coming, so I braked. There are 2 lanes going from left to right, and then 2 going from right to left. I was crossing the first lane and that's where I stopped, because what was coming was a bus and in a split second I thought that if I drove off with a red light, then a car coming on the second lane would not see me (blocked by the bus) and would hit me badly. The bus was already throwing the anchor.
So, at what the police calculated was 30 km/h (20 mph) the bus hit me fully. From the left. Bike and yours truly flew around 5 meters to the right, where the bike landed on it's right side and slid a bit, while I rolled a few times on my side. The front of the bus was destroyed. Bike is destroyed. Me? I walked away. X-rays of shoulders, knees and ankles, MRT of my head and ultrasound of my internal organs show nothing broken or internal bleeding. The ambulance dropped me at the hospital at 4:15 pm, friends arrived an hour later, and I left on my own 4 hours later.
Of course the pains started the next day and I feel a lot older, but it should get better.
My bike is/was a diablo black '08 ABS with 128 574 km (79900 miles) on it. On Wednesday I located a bike just like mine, except '09 and with only 11723 km (7285 miles) some 120 miles from where I live and yesterday I brought it home. She runs perfectly, but it'll get all fluids changed in a few days.
I just wanted to share this with you guys.
For those inclined to mention a guardian angel, a unicorn, or a leprechaun: don't. I'm sick of it. I wasn't lucky, I was hit by a bus for no reason. There was a car standing right behind me at the traffic light that had 2 babies in the back seat. If they had been first, that woman and her 2 kids would have been hit and I doubt the one on the left seat would have survived. So nobody would walk up to her afterwards and say "hey, lucky you, could have been worse; you only lost one kid and this one's alive. Thank your [whatever you believe in]!"
Sorry for that last bit of rant but, really...
Anyway, I'm fine (ish) and eventually the insurance will pick up the bills. The lawyer is already on it. The police determined that the light's been red for more than 6 seconds when the bus run it, and the driver will never drive professionally again in Germany.
Build bridges, not walls.

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Offline maxtog

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2017, 01:36:45 PM »
:(

I am glad you are OK
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Offline Awaz

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2017, 05:00:30 PM »
Holy cow!! That sounds scary!

It sucks you got hit by a bus, but that you walked away is something to be thankful for.
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2017, 05:04:52 PM »
Hell of way to fix the front brakes, Martin.  I'm so glad you're ok.   :thumbs:
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Offline Rick Hall

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2017, 11:24:31 PM »
So it sounds like you're back in EU, and I know that intersection.

I'm glad you're OK.

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Offline O.C.

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2017, 03:59:11 AM »
Yes, good to hear that you are ok (ish)  :)   
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Offline martin_14

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2017, 05:48:33 AM »
thanks everybody for the kind words.
Rick, yes, back in my apartment, and yes, you know that intersection.
Build bridges, not walls.

Education is important. Riding my bike is importanter.

Offline Conrad

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2017, 06:11:59 AM »
Sorry to hear Martin but glad that you didn't get creamed!
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2017, 01:18:45 PM »
Very sorry to hear of your accident Martin. That said, the most important thing is that you are basically OK and should make a full recovery, as well as no one else being badly hurt.

A long time ago a friend of my brother's who was a semi- professional drag racer said some very wise words I think.... "Anything you can walk away from is strictly a laughing matter.". And he said that after running off the end of the track and into the woods, destroying his car and breaking his ankle, so I guess he thought the saying was still valid if you could only limp away.

Heal fast and great to hear you already have a new ride; the very best of luck with the new (to you) bike!

Brian

On Monday at 3:50 pm I left my underground garage, took the street, and did the 300 meters/yards to the traffic light, where I wanted to turn left in a T-junction. When the light turned green I slowly drove off, but in the corner of my eye I saw something big coming, so I braked. There are 2 lanes going from left to right, and then 2 going from right to left. I was crossing the first lane and that's where I stopped, because what was coming was a bus and in a split second I thought that if I drove off with a red light, then a car coming on the second lane would not see me (blocked by the bus) and would hit me badly. The bus was already throwing the anchor.
So, at what the police calculated was 30 km/h (20 mph) the bus hit me fully. From the left. Bike and yours truly flew around 5 meters to the right, where the bike landed on it's right side and slid a bit, while I rolled a few times on my side. The front of the bus was destroyed. Bike is destroyed. Me? I walked away. X-rays of shoulders, knees and ankles, MRT of my head and ultrasound of my internal organs show nothing broken or internal bleeding. The ambulance dropped me at the hospital at 4:15 pm, friends arrived an hour later, and I left on my own 4 hours later.
Of course the pains started the next day and I feel a lot older, but it should get better.
My bike is/was a diablo black '08 ABS with 128 574 km (79900 miles) on it. On Wednesday I located a bike just like mine, except '09 and with only 11723 km (7285 miles) some 120 miles from where I live and yesterday I brought it home. She runs perfectly, but it'll get all fluids changed in a few days.
I just wanted to share this with you guys.
For those inclined to mention a guardian angel, a unicorn, or a leprechaun: don't. I'm sick of it. I wasn't lucky, I was hit by a bus for no reason. There was a car standing right behind me at the traffic light that had 2 babies in the back seat. If they had been first, that woman and her 2 kids would have been hit and I doubt the one on the left seat would have survived. So nobody would walk up to her afterwards and say "hey, lucky you, could have been worse; you only lost one kid and this one's alive. Thank your [whatever you believe in]!"
Sorry for that last bit of rant but, really...
Anyway, I'm fine (ish) and eventually the insurance will pick up the bills. The lawyer is already on it. The police determined that the light's been red for more than 6 seconds when the bus run it, and the driver will never drive professionally again in Germany.
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Offline jimmymac

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2017, 09:30:05 PM »
I hate busses, and have nothing good to say about bus drivers. They go out of their way to assure a poor driver here. They hire the dumbest they can find. And when they crash, it's a giant cover-up and never gets mentioned again.
The grass isn't always greener.

Offline mikeyw64

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2017, 12:37:15 AM »
I hate busses, and have nothing good to say about bus drivers. They go out of their way to assure a poor driver here. They hire the dumbest they can find. And when they crash, it's a giant cover-up and never gets mentioned again.
I'm an ex bus driver..............
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Offline GREEKWARLORD

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2017, 01:11:23 AM »
hello MARTIN,
GET WELL SOON...and i fully understand your situation....'till now i've been hit 4 times by a car,a taxi not from a bus...!!!
3 out of 4 drivers women who use their cellular phones!!!! what can i say? :-\ >:(
ANYWAY....I TRULY BELIEVE that there is something surround every living being on this planet and prevent the INEVITABLE from happening sometimes.....when it is my or your time it will happen no matter what....so just enjoy our lives to the full every day... ;) :)
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2017, 05:54:13 AM »
I'm an ex bus driver..............

Actually, my grandfather was a bus driver in Ipswich.
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Offline Hooligan

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #13 on: March 20, 2017, 06:04:13 AM »
Glad you could get up and walk away Bud, we had a local biker not so fortunate this past weekend. He attended a rally, of which I was one of the hosts, and decided he needs to go shopping Saturday morning.

He had a head-on 78 y/o man with his 71 y/o wife in a C180 Mercedes Benz. a piece of the fearing went through the car's windshield, and cut the old lady's forehead to shreds.

By looking at the accident scene pics, I recon the bloke on the bike was doing about 250Km/H, on a piece of road that is not even suitable for 100Km/H. He drifted wide on a slight bend and into oncoming traffic. Injuries/C.O.D. included amputated left leg and decapitation....
It is what it is....If not, it must be something else.
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Offline Rhino

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #14 on: March 20, 2017, 06:21:42 AM »
Now you have a story to tell. How many people can say the got hit by a bus, on a motorcycle, and walked away from it.  ;D

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #15 on: March 20, 2017, 06:54:17 AM »
Ain't that the truth..

Martin, you can truly say 'I feel like I've been hit by a bus.', meant it, and survived... 
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Offline AZ-ZG

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #16 on: March 20, 2017, 08:21:58 PM »
Get well and back in the wind!!!    :chugbeer:
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Offline martin_14

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #17 on: March 21, 2017, 03:43:44 AM »
thanks guys for all the nice words, I had more than a chuckle  :)  I want to highlight the fact that this forum is a great community. Despite my open differences with some members, we all care for each other. It reminds me a bit of my sister: she always defends me from others, but then annoys the cr@p out of me. I guess she wants exclusivity.

I hate busses, and have nothing good to say about bus drivers. They go out of their way to assure a poor driver here. They hire the dumbest they can find. And when they crash, it's a giant cover-up and never gets mentioned again.

Jimmy, I know what you mean, but in this case I had (until last Monday) a rather good experience with these guys. For some obscure-to-me reason they are mostly immigrants from Croatia, and they are kind; I take that bus once or twice a week, specially during winter. There's a long (almost a mile) bridge between my place and the city of Munich itself, and there's only one lane in each direction, and they systematically make place by moving to the right when they see a motorcycle coming, so you can overtake them comfortably. They also wait for passengers and answer questions. That might seem obvious to you, but Germans are not the most customer oriented people, you know, so these Croatians stand out. So, as time passed since the accident, my anger towards the driver himself has faded a bit and I want to think that he just made a mistake. A human mistake. Expensive to me, but a mistake nonetheless. I think in the long run I will be happier if I think like that.

Just before the police and the ambulance arrived, the guy walked up to me to ask me if I wanted to seat in the bus to wait, but I walked away because I was infuriated and I was afraid of loosing my temper and hitting him, with all the legal consequences that such action would have. Now? I could seat down with him and accept his apology. I know it will never happen, his lawyers must have him chained in a basement somewhere, but still.

At the moment I'm driving so careful that I think the most likely way to die now is to be hit by a lightning  ;D
Build bridges, not walls.

Education is important. Riding my bike is importanter.

Offline Conrad

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2017, 04:36:50 AM »
You may have to watch out for both Martin.



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Offline jimmymac

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Re: mauled by a bus
« Reply #19 on: March 21, 2017, 06:20:06 AM »
The funny thing is, right before he retired, my Dad drove a school bus. He probably really sucked at it too.  ::)

And just to clear something up, everyone on the road is a complete moron. Every single one of them.
The grass isn't always greener.