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It was the right choice for a long and full life for sure. My brother hung up, after being the < 1 in 10,000 to survive a banal accident on a freeway. Rounded

It was the right choice for a long and full life for sure. My brother hung up, after being the < 1 in 10,000 to survive a banal accident on a freeway. Rounded a curve, was looking at the upcoming exit to see if it was a candidate lunch spot; looked back forward and traffic was at a standstill a couple hundred feet in front of him. He was going 70. Laid down his bike, impact threw him over the median into oncoming traffic. When they put him in the helicopter he had zero blood pressure, a collapsed lung, and a snapped tibia sticking out. He wasn't wearing the armor my wife and I bought him as a Christmas present a few months earlier; it was too hot. Heart surgeon got to his aorta when there was one layer of cells left. If it had also split, he would have bled out in < 90 seconds. No one who worked on him had ever even heard of someone surviving injuries of his type. Happy ending in this case. Rod in his leg but he runs 5ks. Happily married. Works in this industry. But it's made me the annoying guy who stops colleagues and friends who ride (once) like some crusty Ancient Mariner to say, I'm that annoying guy who's going to urge you to not ride, because ... Glad you made it!

bartread 9y ago
Let me first say that I'm extremely glad to hear your brother has recovered and is doing well now. Sounds like it was a horrendous crash and to come back from something like that is nothing short of amazing. With that being said, and for the benefit of anyone else who might find themselves in a similar situation: laying the bike down is the absolute worst thing you can do. For one thing, in doing so you will have relinquished all control over your fate and at best you will slide in whatever direction you were going when you hit the ground and if you're lucky maybe not hit any obstacles. You are much better off applying the brakes progressively but firmly and scrubbing off as much speed as you can, particularly if you're going in a (roughly) straight line. A good, reasonably modern, properly maintained bike will stop from 70 in less than 200 feet (the DVLA say it's 315 feet but those figures are based on braking distances for much older vehicles). It'll be damned uncomfortable and you'll feel like you're going to crush your balls on the fuel tank and then fly over the handle bars, and the back end will start skipping, but it'll stop. (Your biggest problem may be that whoever/whatever is behind you won't be able to stop so quickly.) Even if not, allowing for some reaction time, you will be going a lot slower by the time you've reached the traffic and can go between the lanes or around the outside, and even if you come off you'll be coming off at, say 20 - 40mph, as opposed to 70mph, which is likely to leave you with a much better outcome. I'd actually recommend, if you've had to suddenly slow down, you go between lanes or around traffic anyway just in case there is somebody behind you who doesn't react so quickly or is driving a heavier vehicle that can't slow down as quickly. The whole idea of laying a bike down when you get into a sticky situation as the best course of action is a dangerous myth that needs to die. The only time I can see that being better than any other alternative is if something like an articulated lorry/semi-rig is parked across the road in front of you and your options are to either try and slide under the trailer or smash directly into it. Otherwise stay on the bike, slow down as much as you can, and aim for the biggest gap that's available.

bartread 9y ago

Let me first say that I'm extremely glad to hear your brother has recovered and is doing well now. Sounds like it was a horrendous crash and to come back from something like that is nothing short of amazing. With that being said, and for the benefit of anyone else who might find themselves in a similar situation: laying the bike down is the absolute worst thing you can do. For one thing, in doing so you will have relinquished all control over your fate and at best you will slide in whatever direction you were going when you hit the ground and if you're lucky maybe not hit any obstacles. You are much better off applying the brakes progressively but firmly and scrubbing off as much speed as you can, particularly if you're going in a (roughly) straight line. A good, reasonably modern, properly maintained bike will stop from 70 in less than 200 feet (the DVLA say it's 315 feet but those figures are based on braking distances for much older vehicles). It'll be damned uncomfortable and you'll feel like you're going to crush your balls on the fuel tank and then fly over the handle bars, and the back end will start skipping, but it'll stop. (Your biggest problem may be that whoever/whatever is behind you won't be able to stop so quickly.) Even if not, allowing for some reaction time, you will be going a lot slower by the time you've reached the traffic and can go between the lanes or around the outside, and even if you come off you'll be coming off at, say 20 - 40mph, as opposed to 70mph, which is likely to leave you with a much better outcome. I'd actually recommend, if you've had to suddenly slow down, you go between lanes or around traffic anyway just in case there is somebody behind you who doesn't react so quickly or is driving a heavier vehicle that can't slow down as quickly. The whole idea of laying a bike down when you get into a sticky situation as the best course of action is a dangerous myth that needs to die. The only time I can see that being better than any other alternative is if something like an articulated lorry/semi-rig is parked across the road in front of you and your options are to either try and slide under the trailer or smash directly into it. Otherwise stay on the bike, slow down as much as you can, and aim for the biggest gap that's available.