Hope it wasnt any of you (Derek's accident)

[Mike]

sweet :thumbup:

[Feersty]

That's great!

[ScottyB]

thanks for taking the time to check on him John.

[JohnC]

Spoke with Derek on the phone today - he's out of the hospital (as of last week) and should be starting physical therapy soon. Hopefully he'll post up here.

[derilict]

I'm alive!!!!

Wow, I'm not quite sure where to start guys...... I can't thank you all enough (esp. John) for the care package of magz and the Peter Egan book. Kind of makes me feel like their is hope for humanity yet when people I've never even met face to face can come together and put forth the effort and caring you guys did. Thanks again for your thoughts.

To dispell all myths, I shall dispense with what very fuzzy memories I have of the accident. I was heading through the light @ S. Main & South Ave (Old Mill), light turned yellow right before I went through it so I cracked the throttle open a little, not much. Anyone that rides a 600 knows they have no torque, so it's not like I shot through the intersection. The Fisher Auto Parts S-10 was turning left (tyring to beat the same yellow light), and turned directly in front of me. The rest, as they say, is history.

So if anyone knows a good lawyer.............. hahaha. They (the po-po) are trying to say that you "can't enter an intersection on a yellow". OK, point taken, but if my light was yellow, I can pretty much guarantee he didn't have a green arrow--which is the only way he could have turned in front of me. I also heard the guy driving was like 80 years old--who knows.

So I'm chillin' in a wheelchair these days. My whole left arm and leg have been rebuilt for the most part. Suffice it to say, I'll be setting off metal detectors for a long time.

So I might have an 04 R6 for sale as a track bike if anyone is interested. Frame, swingarm, forks are all good to go, just need some race plastic and a couple odds and ends (foot peg, lever, etc,).

OK, typing with one hand is getting old, but thanks again for keeping me in your thoughts guys, means a lot.

P.S. I CANNOT stress enough how glad I was that I was wearing my riding jacket, gloves and of course helmet. Take it from me, it's worth it to take the time to put it on. My jacket saved my ass; mostly the right shoulder padding and spine protection. My carbon fiber knuckles did a bang up job as well (no pun intended). The new HJC helmet did her job too. The stainless steel on the Bulova watch got ripped in two though--guess I'll have to step up to that Movado I've always wanted. Haha, yeah right.

Peace!!

[ScottyB]

good to hear you're recovering ok!

it's really true about what others have said about riding a bike around JMU...so many people just don't know how to drive or aren't observant at all.

[Chris]

glad you're ok, all you bikers be safe out there!

[Feersty]

Glad to hear you're doing decent, can you still walk and stuff?

[ScottyB]

can you still walk and stuff?

So I'm chillin' in a wheelchair these days

[BLINGMW]

wow, glad you're recovering! What a crappy shake of the dice. Thanks for sharing with us though.

They (the po-po) are trying to say that you "can't enter an intersection on a yellow".

I can't imagine that this is actually how the law reads. That's quite impossible. If I'm about to cross the stop bar, going 45MPH, and the light turns yellow, I'm supposed to stop? I don't think so. No vehicle can do that. With all the injuries you've sustained, many of which will probably require maintenence ($$$$$$$$$$) in the future, letting the cops determine who is at fault is unnaceptable. I don't know any lawyers up there, but clearly you need one!

[Nick325is]

Derek, I was just down at that intersection and made a couple of observations. If the trunk was turning left then at that point he did not have a green arrow which means he would have had to yield to oncoming traffic ie. you.

Hope all is well


Nick

[derilict]

Thanks Nick, always nice to know people are lookin' out. I've come to the same conclusion--there's no way he had the right of way. Unfortunatly, I've already been denied by one law group for any civil claim; now I get to see how my luck is with the criminal side of the law. Looks like the best I can hope for may be contributory negligence (both or no fault.)

So that being the case, I have a sweet ass R6 "track" bike for sale. Will try to upload pics and put a post under for sale stuff.

FYI--The R6 DOES NOT have a salvage title.... hehehehe