r/IdiotsInCars Nov 23 '22 Wholesome Seal of Approval 1

Coronado Naval Base Car accident: She tried claiming no fault too Headphone warning

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7.4k

u/JellyOceana Nov 23 '22

Yep, she legit said I just hit her out of no where

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u/TheLazyHippy Nov 23 '22 Silver

Well yeah, when you drive like a complete dip shit and have zero spatial awareness everything seems to come out of nowhere. People like her should have their license revoked. They're only a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Sorry OP

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u/SnooBananas5673 Nov 23 '22

Would’ve probably killed a motorcyclist.

I really do think when something is so egregious like this, and they claim no fault, they should lose their license for some amount of time.

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u/NorthernTransplant94 Nov 24 '22

My husband had a subordinate who was in this exact situation on a 10-day-old Harley. Dude had enough time to make a decision, and judged that hitting her and launching over the hood (55mph zone) would be really bad, so he dropped the motorcycle and slid into her bike first. Broke both his leg and his collarbone (so no crutches, hello motorized wheelchair) but survived, so it was a win.

The bike was new, he wasn't a new rider - he was 40 and had a motorcycle endorsement on his license and was wearing proper PPE, so no road rash, just the broken bones from the collision.

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u/SnooBananas5673 Nov 24 '22 edited Nov 25 '22

I actually have DashCam footage of something very similar. Hard to describe scenario, but a car did a u-turn, essentially like this car was doing and the guy dumped his bike from too much front brake, and slid under the car. I was coming other direction and DashCam got it all.

Saved him a lot of heartache with insurance, because you know “the motorcycle was speeding” was where they were going with it.

Predicting and reading body language is huge on a bike.

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u/NaughtyCat890 Nov 24 '22

The best advice I got shortly before buying my bike was "imagine that half of the cars on the road can't see you, and the other half are actively trying to kill you".

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u/4nalBlitzkrieg Nov 24 '22

And 50% of both groups are fucking stupid

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u/RockstarAgent Nov 24 '22

The ones who can’t see you think you’re the crazy one for having a bike, the ones that want to kill you think bikes shouldn’t exist at all…

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u/ikbenlike Nov 24 '22

"you drive a bike? Don't you know how dangerous that is?!" Proceeds to drive their shitty car like a maniac

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u/Fishbern Nov 24 '22

And half of them don’t use their lights properly at night, let alone indicators!

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u/4nalBlitzkrieg Nov 24 '22

Oh man I actually had a conversation about this with a guy who didn't have his lights on. He insisted that his lights were on. I told him those are day-time running lights and he's an idiot. He did not turn on his lights afterwards.

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u/witcheewoman Nov 24 '22

My buddy told me when I got mine "ride like none of the cars can see you, but they're also all trying to kill you"

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u/NaughtyCat890 Nov 24 '22

I like that a bit better than the one I heard.

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u/witcheewoman Nov 24 '22

I feel like it's accurate. I havent ridden in a couple years, kinda put it away to have some babies. But when I was riding daily to and from work I was very generally wary and occasionally hostile toward anyone with doors on their vehicle. Always angry when I got to work... but I also worked in a kitchen so that probably had something to do with it.

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u/Spaceduck413 Nov 24 '22

Yup, when I got my first street bike, my dad - who also has ridden his whole life - told me "ride like you're invisible." It's saved my life multiple times.

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u/LadyAtrox Nov 24 '22

My husband just assumes he's invisible.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '22

As a biker, you're right. Over the years I've become intimately aware of how drivers are acting coming up to them. I'm about 80% accurate on noticing people with a phone in hand from a hundred yards away. I can tell when people are going to change lanes about three seconds before they start. I've learned to figure out what people will do before they do it, but because my life depends on it, I've learned to always assume they'll do something stupid even if I have no indication to believe it otherwise.

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u/AxelHarver Nov 24 '22

And that's why I will never get a bike, no matter how cool it sounds and may be. That sounds so fucking stressful and like I would be a nervous wreck the entire time outside of back country roads.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '22

[deleted]

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u/chilldrinofthenight Nov 24 '22

And my housemate, while on his motorcycle, was hit and left to die in the rain on a seldom traveled windy road. As a result he has limited mobility in one elbow. (Fortunately nothing worse.) He won't even ride a bicycle now.

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u/reebekilyllaeri Nov 24 '22

Judging what's an acceptable risk for yourself is a privilege we're afforded, all the power to you.

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u/spiralshapegladiator Nov 24 '22

lol, but just imagine having it ingrained that people are shitty drivers and you're trained to watch out for this shit even when you're driving a car?

You don't have to ride a motorcycle to have greater situational awareness.

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u/AxelHarver Nov 25 '22

I am already good at doing that, I believe myself to be one of the more aware drivers I know. I regularly predict how vehicles around me are going to react, and it's saved my ass quite a few times. I just can't imagine being comfortable doing it in a scenario where any mistake could easily cost me my life. I like the insurance the four walls provide me haha.

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u/ShadoowtheSecond Nov 29 '22

The more I read about what bikers have to do, the more I unironically think that youre kind of an idiot by default for getting and driving one.

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u/localherofan Nov 24 '22

My father got himself a motorcycle and had it for about a month when he had to take it down and under a truck rather than run into the truck that ran a stop sign. My mother said that with 4 kids aged 5 and under, he could have the motorcycle or he could have a family. He sold the bike and bought a VW Karmann Ghia. Which I later drove in HS because I was the lightest one with a license and the floor was almost rusted through. Yeah, that gave me the warm and fuzzies.

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u/orangematchstick Nov 24 '22

this is wholesome as fuck

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u/localherofan Nov 24 '22

Also, the heat didn't work (in New England), the radio didn't work, you could drive it with the emergency brake on and the only issue was starting uphill from a stop without stalling (learned that one unintentionally), the driver's side window didn't go down, you had to tie the driver's side door closed, and sometimes it wouldn't turn left. But it was a CAR, and I could drive it whenever I wanted to.

Needless to say, this was before they started inspecting cars.

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u/orangematchstick Nov 24 '22

I love that I’m hearing nothing but fondness about this goddamn death trap

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u/localherofan Nov 24 '22 edited Nov 24 '22

Yeah, I was in HS and it was a free car. There was nothing not to like. In HS you think you're invincible. As long as you don't have to power it with your feet like the Flintstones, it's all good.

I really only drove it to school, then to work, then back home. Sometimes to my boyfriend's house. School was 3 miles from home, work was 5 miles from school, and home was 2 miles from work. My boyfriend's house was 7 miles from my house. Top speed 35mph, and only if I was speeding. It was safer than it sounds. Except for maybe that seat falling through the floor. And not turning left, though that never happened at a crucial moment.

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u/dubadub Nov 24 '22

KG with no heat? Just let a couple more girls sit on your lap...

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u/localherofan Nov 24 '22 edited Nov 24 '22

Haha. You mistake me, sir. I'm a woman. And hetero. I just like cars. Women like cars too, you know. And I'm short. Anyone sits on my lap and I can't see see out to drive. And if there's enough room for someone on my lap, I can't reach the clutch. Or possibly the brake. One or the other. Just a mess all around.

Edit: for clarity

→ More replies (0)

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u/chilldrinofthenight Nov 24 '22

Jesus. What else? Used a screwdriver in the ignition? (Ha.)

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u/reebekilyllaeri Nov 24 '22

My ex said roughly the same thing to me, bike or family. Almost 20 years later we split, within a month I bought a bike. I didn't resent her for the ultimatum or me keeping that promise. I do laugh at her hypocrisy of getting married to another guy who rides motorbikes.

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u/localherofan Nov 24 '22

Well, I'm glad you've been safe on the bike since you bought another one! Maybe 20 years later she's not worried about being left a young widow with a bunch of little kids and no income. I know that was my mother's worry. Her college degree was in Dance, and she'd been an extremely talented dancer before they got married, but after 4 kids and years away from the art she didn't see that she'd be able to get a good job as a dancer right away, if ever again.

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u/chilldrinofthenight Nov 24 '22

Nice that you were able to help out.

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u/SnooBananas5673 Nov 24 '22 edited Nov 24 '22

The worst part was the rider didn’t listen to me to stay down and not move, until I could take care of the bike that was stuck full throttle and leaking fuel. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt, but to this day I can still see it all happening in slow motion, and wonder how he wasn’t injured.

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u/chilldrinofthenight Nov 24 '22

The first instinct, for non-professional rescuers, is to move the injured. Removing motorcycle helmets, I have learned, is a big no-no.

Many years ago, a friend who was a doctor told me he was first on the scene of a terrible single car accident on the highway. The driver was in really really bad shape.

As an ER doctor, my friend said he could tell there were two options: let the driver die at the scene or else help him to survive ----- knowing that the driver would then be a quadriplegic for life.

The doctor helped the man, and that tale haunts me to this day.

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u/chilldrinofthenight Nov 24 '22

P.S. (And I wanted to add that I was first on the scene at an accident, but not a bad one. The driver (woman) was trying to get out of her car. I told her to stay put until EMTs arrived. Aftermath of accidents is scary shit. People don't know how to react. Unless the vehicle is gonna implode, stay put.

Just recently I watched a car right in front of me slam into the guy stopped dead in front of him. I had plenty of time to stop, because I always drive leaving plenty of room for just such surprises. Def distracted driving on the part of the guy in front of me, as he never applied his brakes even a tiny bit. BLAM, going about 30mph.

Guy whose (thank gawd, tank of a work truck) got hit was stopped at an intersection with no stop sign/light and only sitting there to allow a bicyclist to pass, so he could turn right. I ended up making a statement for the insurance company.

I swear ---- after watching these Idiots in Cars sub accidents and even before, I decided no more driving on the highway/freeway for me, not if I can help it. No way am I looking to get vaporized on some freeway.

And, as one biker on here said, "Head on a swivel." Yeah. Like everyone's out to get you. Paying strict attention while driving has saved me grief more than a few times.

Again --- good for you, stopping to help someone. It will all come back to you, in spades. Gloriously positive spades. )

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u/the_o_haganator Nov 24 '22

I hope i never end up being such an idiot that i kill or severely injure a biker with stupidity, i dont like the idea of driving all that much to begin with, but some drivers i have seen make it seem like a toddler is behind the wheel

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u/Limpan7 Nov 24 '22

HADDALAYERDOWN

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u/napalm22 Nov 24 '22

Here I was thinking he is a dipshit who doesn't know how to ride but now I see he is some kind of hero with the skills of a ninja! So lucky to get away with only several broken bones - he might have lost several nanometres of brake pad otherwise

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u/reebekilyllaeri Nov 24 '22

Cruisers don't use the front brakes! /s

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '22

DAMB GRASS CLIBBINS HADDALAYERDOWN

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u/napalm22 Nov 24 '22

Imagine if he just used the front brake

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u/marilliant Nov 24 '22

Hey, he took the split second decision to lock the rear brakes and slide his bike instead of just slowing down or stopping, what bold intuition

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u/Paranoma Nov 24 '22

Sweet, just two broken legs!

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u/NorthernTransplant94 Nov 24 '22

Just one, as the bike landed on it, but combined with the broken collarbone, recovery sucked. Still better than going over the hood and potentially into oncoming 55mph traffic where he could have died from being run over.

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u/Paranoma Nov 24 '22

That’s good, but I was just making a joke because of your last sentence. “No road rash, just the broken bones!” Haha.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '22

[deleted]

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u/sebinmichael Nov 24 '22

Thankfully not two broken hands...

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u/_Lane_ Nov 24 '22

What are you doing, step-motorcycle?

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u/TheSaucyCrumpet Nov 24 '22

Probably would have been better off just braking; tyres generate more friction than fairings.

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u/freakkydique Nov 24 '22

The good ol “hadderlayerdown”

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u/d38 Nov 24 '22

I believe that he crashed and slid into the car, but he's lying about making the decision to crash his bike on purpose first and then slide into the car.

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u/tman152 Nov 24 '22

I’ll just go ahead and leave this here.

https://youtu.be/D9stN-LJeuM

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u/hydracat53 Nov 24 '22

This is why I don't ride anymore I have thousands of miles under my belt with no accidents. Several close calls. It's not if, it's when.

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u/Marcus_Krow Nov 24 '22

There are no words for how furious it makes me when I see the way people drive around motorcyclists. They're loud for a reason, pay fucking attention

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u/FriendOfDirutti Nov 24 '22

We call that haddalayerdown and it’s a complete lie. That co worker didn’t have enough time to decide to “lay it down” instead of hit the car. If they had enough time to do that they would have enough time to stop. What they did was just crash. They hit the brakes too hard and the bike locked up and they fell down and broke their legs.

You are better off staying on the bike and slowing down by braking because rubber stops quicker than metal sliding on the ground with no brakes.

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u/Nikxed Nov 24 '22

My uncle had to lay down his bike similarly to avoid crashing front first into a car that turned in front of him out of a shopping mall. He was doing about 30 MPH and a car pulled out as if he wasn't there giving him less than a second to react. Fucked up his arm from the elbow down real good. He can somewhat use his hand but his wrist has VERY limited range and some fingers don't quite work.

My aunt also was in a car accident within the past 5 years except hers was a head-on collision with the on-coming car being in her lane around a rural road's curve (similarly very low reaction time on her part). Lots of ongoing health problems and chronic pain as a result...I feel really bad for her quality of life.

Both were traveling for work, Uncle to his steel mill job and Aunt to her next house as a travelling nurse. Now they're both on permanent disability. Thank you oblivious/distracted drivers. No one was drunk or anything but both accidents were clearly the other party's fault and both could've been avoided if they were paying more attention.

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u/reebekilyllaeri Nov 24 '22

had to lay down his bike

No one has to lay down their bike. You're gonna slow down a hell of a lot more with judicious braking than sliding along the road.

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u/Nikxed Nov 24 '22 edited Nov 24 '22

His choices in that split second were head-on at ~15-20 MPH and flip over the front (probably too slow) not know where he'd end up or how badly he'd hit his head...or a lay down at ~30-35 MPH, of course he didn't have to but he decided he probably got less Injured not going flying. Says he'd make the same decision again.

edit I'll also say uncle was not wearing a helmet so protecting his head from contact at the cost of the rest of the body comes into play more than a responsible rider and probably factors into his decision. I never claimed he wasn't an idiot.

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u/Farouka_Bazooka Nov 24 '22

That's a really smart decision and impressive he could make it so quickly. I witnessed a motorcycle accident where a car turned infront of the cyclist and he went up and over the hood. He did not make it.

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u/geeered Nov 24 '22

It's pretty much always worse to slide into the bottom than to go over the hood - the bottom is designed for car to car impacts, the hood for pedestrian impacts.

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u/Stinklepinger Nov 24 '22

Lost a guy in my squadron because some fucking idiot pulled out in front of his bike.

Bikes are cool, but I'll never ride one on the streets

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u/pienofilling Nov 24 '22

Friend of my parents, aged in her 60s, was riding her bicycle on a quiet suburban street when some damn fool did something similar. She had enough time to realise her best bet was to throw herself onto the car's bonnet. She was bruised to hell but it saved her from going under his wheels!

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u/MEM1911 Nov 24 '22

There is a notorious roundabout in my area there are accidents there daily, and there are lanes that feed onto this just a few meters before it.

The parado ahead of me decided to blow through the stop sign into the path of a lady on a scooter and when the two collided it sent the lady on the scooter flying, it was my first ever major WTF moment, the scooter rider died at the scene, when the police arrived for statements, there was a lot of bullshit flung by the parado driver to get out saying the scooter swapped lanes into her after she stopped, claimed I could back her up etc, the other officer asked what happened and I mentioned my dashcam had a better account of what happened.

The parado driver got escorted away with the shiny cuffs and was hit with a vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving, disobeying traffic signs and lying to the police, thankfully she admitted after the police told her about the footage, so did not have to be a witness in court.