it was a dark and rainy night, when....

....actually not, no it wasn't "dark" nor "rainy" or any sort of dramatic conditions like that at all

this all happened on a normal old boring afternoon...sunny, clear, dry, and really run of the mill for Iowa in this time of the year...the air was still, the city was coming to an end of its summer, and even with the influx of students back in town for college a few blocks away, at the Iowa City Johnson County Building there were plenty of parking spaces near by the door, and no lines inside to get my title and plates on the motorcycle(7th I've owned, 5th that I currently have plates and insurance on) that I'd just bought the day before

outside if anything it was a little hot and very dry, with notably light traffic on an un-busy Wednesday ...I really couldn't have asked for a more mundane day to nearly lose my life, that is if I wouldn't mind being taken out by someone else's minor mistake in such an unremarkable way....heck, I wasn't even really upset much when it happened.....yet it is a very disturbing story that I don't like to retell  as often as I have to....so I'm going to make this blog for whomever wants the details


                                       

this is my Granddaughter and Me

 ...my Granddaughter really likes water, and coming outside to help me in the yard...everytime she sees someone on a motorcycle she yells out my name...we have started to figure out that she has a 'crush' on me(I am a pretty nice guy after all..but just wait till she finds out I'll be the same person that tells her to clean her room and put her napkin in her lap, as I did with our boys) she spends about 3 or 4 nights a week at our house, and makes me carry her out before bed to see if we can find the moon...anyway, I took this picture of us about a week before the accident, I just like it and wanted to use it for something...maybe give some people(that might not know me in person) a little idea of who I am

about this blog

some of this blog is very long and detailed...and I'm trying to put everything in it(even tho I'm not the best writer) and do it in my own words...I will also include photos I took with my phone, and diagrams I drew; as well as direct quotes from others, official documentation, professional photographs, and all other evidence from other parties....so it might be hard to read it all...but a few of the people/parties involved have tried to discount some of the facts as maybe not happening the way I experienced them...so its important for me to really lay the whole story out there so they might better judge it...and see how it all really happened

[at this time I'm not including any personal information or names of individuals] 

...also note that typically blogs have the most recent post first and then move back to older things that happened in any following posts....I have reversed that order here, so that this blog starts with what happened first, and will end with the last things that take place 

a brief outline of what these posts are

#1   new motorcycle

{if you are not into information about motorcycles, you could just skim over this post}

...this tells about how it took a long time to find a 2nd gen. 1998~2007 Kawasaki EX500, and why this would have been a safer bike for my Kid to ride...and that it was bought from a man who also had it for his teenage son when he was in high school just like I was trying to do...I was writing more 'casually' here

#2   let's just get to what happened 
...in this post I  tell exactly what the vehicles on the roads did

#3   being hit, next run over, then talking to the driver that did it

{people should really read all of this post}

...here I wanted to describe more of what was happening to me when the car hit me and then didn't try to avoid running over me....and then in the "Once Everything Stopped" part, include the conversations I had with the other drivers

#4   going to the hospital
...I go into what my injuries are

#5   the day after, and things got worse
...this is about getting the bike back, photos of it wrecked...the initial confusion the police had from the witness(now discounted)...and what negligent things the insurance company thought they could do

 #6  witness view photos
...the only problem was with what the witness(in the blue truck) reported...so I took photos from how she would have seen the white car

#7  official police report and photos
...  in the investigation, the police officer and an accident reconstructionist  reviewed all evidence that they gathered from the scene

new motorcycle

Sept. 3rd, 2013 before I was hit

here are the two pictures I took of the Kawasaki EX500 the morning of the accident Sept. 4th, I hadn't even owned it 24hours at this point

I'd been looking for one of these for maybe a year....as my step-son had taken the Motorcycle Training Course and gotten a permit to ride with me on a few little day jaunts we'd go on(we found it impractical for us to ride together on other bikes in my 'collection' as they are kinda mismatched, like with him on the Derbi SuperMotard or Yamaha Cruiser and me on the BMW or SuperSport)....the EX500 'Ninja' does have a very sporty look, but actually is known to be a "beginners bike" I was even a little shocked how underpowered it was when I first jumped on one....I remember during the test ride, pulling away from a stop light and 'opening it up' I thought I was getting on it pretty good, but the car in the other lane beside me catching up and crawling passed, and it wasn't even a very nice or new car with just some 'mom type' lady driving

...tho not much power, the engine is very well mannered, feeling that there is no wrong RPM range to run it in(which finding the 'power-band' of the other bikes I'd let the Kid ride; Derbi or Yamaha, is important for healthy riding) and it runs smooth from low 3,000RPM all the way to 10,000RPM without surprises....with a slightly lower seat height and much more upright sitting position(than any 'real' sport bike) it's actually comfortable.... with neutral predictable easy riding for confidence and forgiving handling, to be a 'safer' bike, this bike still ran strong enough on the highway at 70MPH...I wont let him ride my bigger bikes, and I was looking for something 'mild' I could use around town for myself....this bike was bought as a 100% clean ready to go bike, mostly just so I wouldn't have to mess with the kinda clunky(and often miss-behaving) Yamaha, or the light weight Derbi ... I thought it would be grand for the Kid to tag along with us older folks without giving him a chance to get in over his head, or enough power to try and embarrass us, but besides the looks, its, in a word: "unthrilling"

here are my other 4 current bikes

here is another photo I took the evening  I bought the EX500....my riding buddy's favored brand of bikes is Kawasaki, and he has worked as a mechanic for over 30years...so I took it over to his house to meet his approval

he inspected every inch of that bike...lubed and adjusted things here and there, gave the tires a little fresh air, etc.....I think it was one of the first bikes of mine he actually liked...partly because it was clean, well maintained, and low miles; but guessing mostly because it is a Kawasaki, he even rode this one...he said "it really is kinda a dog" but pointed out some interesting features it had; like dual trip meters, and collapsible cargo tie-down hooks...and he thought it would be good for the Kid to ride

Buying the Bike

I arranged to see the bike with the son(the actual owner was his father)...the guy had ridden it for 6years off and on, mostly just "fair-weather" use, and now he was graduating college and no longer used it....his father had bought it for him when he was in high school, and had always kept the bike for him at his house...I'm guessing that from how great of shape the bike was in, that his father actually was the one who took care of it(judging from how clean and organized their whole garage was)...but his Dad was waiting for me on their porch with his dog(a Golden Retriever with a tennis-ball that it kept trying to get me to play with) when I got to their house....we talked about the bike and his son for awhile, and about riding in general(the father hadn't ridden much, and didn't have a bike of his own) ... then I showed him how much cash I'd brought with me(it was worth a try to get them to come down in price a little) but he said he knew his son would want the full amount....

..I agreed that the bike was worth it, especially with such a nice custom paint job and well maintained low mileage... and that I really didn't need to hassle over a few hundred dollars anyway..

I asked if I  could ride the bike to the bank/ATM to get more money and test it out if he would just hold what cash I'd brought(but it really wasn't a problem as we were both open and trusting of each other)...the bike still had good tags on it till Dec. and I rode it around a bit, even took it out on the highway, but the ATM I found had a max limit that still came up $65 short(including what other cash I had in my wallet added in to try and reach the full price) of what they wanted for the bike, so I rode back to ask if that would work...he suggested I try calling/texting his son and asking...and I asked the father if his son had any riding gear(helmet, jacket, gloves, etc.) that maybe I could also ask him about if he wanted more money for those...all they had was a helmet, and they decided if I paid full price they would give that to me on the deal...so i tried out the helmet(vs one of my helmets I'd brought with me) and took the bike for another ride to get more cash

even tho not moving at all on the price, I felt like I was dealing with good people...and they seemed to be glad the bike was going to a good home with me, as it obviously was something special between the father and his son, and he wished me well and hoped it would be the same between my Kid and I
...I felt so bad that I had to contact them and tell them what happened with the accident, and of course thank them for giving me the helmet that saved my life(they where very concerned that I was OK)...I'm still in contact with both of them, promising that I'll be back to normal soon and that I will get the bike back on the road as soon as possible

let's just get to what happened

 Sept. 4th, 2013 when I was hit

Wednesday Sept. 4th I told my Wife(we'd been married just  2months at this point, but together 9years before that) that I needed to go get title, plates, and insurance on the bike I bought the day before....she called ahead to the insurance to let them know I had another bike and was coming in...I usually like dropping in, just show up and wait until someone can see me, but she thinks that's rude ...she told me that my usual agent wasn't in that day, but I could still go if I didn't mind seeing someone else....I'd already put 100 miles on the bike that first day when I bought it, and tho I was told that I am automatically insured for the first 30 days on any bike I buy, I really didn't want to wait any longer to get new plates and everything for it in my name...I was planning on using it that coming Saturday and Sunday instead of my BMW with the rest of the guys I normally ride with, so I wanted it set to go so they could see it


about 2:30PM I was ready to head out, but first I put on one of my textile mesh armored motorcycle jackets(even tho it was pretty hot for a jacket, I needed the pockets to carry some of the paperwork) and the full face helmet I was given with the bike.....here is an actual overview of where I was headed for my first stop, the building where you get title and plates, and the streets around it

Google Maps image

                                                 
I used the west entrance(3rd one, or the one in the back) to the lot off S. Clinton St. as I'd kinda taken the longer way to get there by riding thru the 'downtown' area on Burlington St. then went south down to where the County Admin. building pictured above is.....I parked by that tree at the end of the row in the lower left corner of the top main lot(that picture must have been taken in the morning, as when I was there, the shadows pointed more at 2o'clock) and pulled thru the open spot in the side of the row nearest the building and stopped in the shady spot(the backside of that first closest row) facing out east.....I went in and it didn't take long to get the new title and plates as there was no line.....I went back outside and switched to the new plate on the bike right there in the parking lot...there were some other cars in the lot, mostly parked closer to Benton St. but I only saw a few people coming and going to the building, not a busy day at all, no other cars driving/moving in the lot when I got back on the bike to leave


I headed straight east out of the parking spot with a little diagonal weave onto the driveway to the east (1st, or front)entrance/exit onto S. Dubuque St. and before turning onto the road way I stopped up high in the raised lot before the sidewalk above where the driveway slopes down and widens into the street ... there was hardly any traffic on the streets around the building area....just a car(the white one) and a truck(big older SUV that was blue)

here are some diagrams I drew the weekend after the accident(as I couldn't go riding with my buddies)

drawing fig. 1               

the white car was just coming past going north on S. Dubuque St. in the far lane(from me) as you would drive normally on a two-way street(but it isn't),  and I needed to turn onto the street in the 'near' left lane as this is a two lane one-way street....even tho the white car was in the other lane farthest from me, and my lane was open; I waited for it to go all the way past before entering the street myself...as I always hate when cars pull out next to me(even when I'm in a car) into an adjacent lane(with two lanes of traffic heading in the same direction), as it freaks me out that they might not turn sharp enough and hit me...the streets weren't busy, and I wasn't in a hurry, so it just felt safer not to pull out beside him....the only other traffic I saw was the blue truck just coming around the corner off  Kirkwood Ave. onto  S. Dubuque St....if you look back at the overview photo above from Google Maps, you can see that the truck was farther away(from the white car as it passed the entrance/exit and where I stopped in it) than what my drawing shows

drawing fig. 2

the white car had just driven past in the far right lane ... I could see the truck also in the right lane now on S. Dubuque St. also headed north, but it was far away so it was totally safe for me to pull out into the near left lane and turn north

...ahead the white car was slowing in the right lane for the curve around corner and I was accelerating after making my turn onto the road in the left lane...motorcycles divide each lane into three "lines" to ride in: the first is where the left tire of a car would roll over the road surface, then second there is the center of the road(but this is where oils drip off cars, and debris can collect; so its not a preferred line to ride on), and third is where the right tire of a car would run...because I'd just done a sharp left turn onto the road, and I had a curve to the left coming up, I was more in the right "line" of that left "lane" to take those turns a little wide, and not be tight along the curb in sand, rough gutter surface, and debris that would collect along  that edge of the road

drawing fig. 3

I was starting to catch up to the white car as we approached and went around the curve...at the start of the corner he was in the right lane with me back about 15~20 feet behind at his 7 o'clock in the left lane...he was going nice and slow, about only 10mph, and was turning smooth and steady as he stayed in the right lane...I still didn't want to come up beside him as we went around the corner even tho my left lane was totally open(sometimes a car might 'cheat' and use both lanes to round a curve that tight) so I stayed back slightly in my lane and by the end of the curve could have only been within 10 or 5 feet back at the least before being beside him, still back and to the left of his rear bumper at his 7 o'clock, him staying in the right lane the whole time, and me in the left lane; both of us safely navigating the curve without any erratic movements and moving onto the straightaway   

drawing fig. 4

I was headed west after the curve on E. Benton St. and started to accelerate so I could shift into second gear, but only getting up to 15mph yet ...I was starting to come up beside the white car, as we were both now pointed straight ahead and the road was clear ...he was still solidly in the right lane, and I was in the left lane ... I was still pretty close to the painted line dividing the lanes, riding along where the right tire of a car would be in that left lane.....the front tire of my motorcycle was just coming up along side his rear tire of the car, with  maybe only 4~6 feet between us in our lanes as I started to come beside(which is pretty normal for cars to be this close beside each other in traffic)

if you look back above at the Google Map image, you can see that there isn't much distance between where the curve straightens out onto E. Benton St. and where the north 2nd (side)entrance/exit to the lot is off that street

I hadn't shifted gears yet, and was looking  ahead on the road  when I turned my attention back to the white car as I noticed it suddenly slow dropping back and I came up fully beside it, my front tire now up beside the driver's door....at the same time I noticed his front left turn signal flash on one first blink, and the car move toward me starting into my lane...so instantly I grabbed the brake, and I started to drop back a little also, to where my front tire was coming approximately beside his rear backseat door to try and avoid him as he was shifting over into my lane nose first ahead of me

drawing fig. 5

before I had any time to take any more action(I really didn't have time to even brake much) suddenly the white car fully turned into and across my lane and the side low rocker panel(just below his door) of his car hit my front tire and I lost control of the bike as it was knocked over to the left  in a lean,  with the rear door area(directly behind the driver)  hitting higher up into the front fairing of the motorcycle pushing the front right corner of the fairing up and back and over some as the whole bike was then fully thrown down to the left hard, hitting the ground  in the center of my left lane...the bike was knocked out from under me, and  I came over the bike and down(pulled down with the bike) and my body was hit squarely by the backseat door panel just below the window and was pushed down to the ground beside the bike(my body bouncing off the car after it hit me) landing flat on my chest, with my arms still down at my sides from trying to hold on to the handle bars

the white car did not stop turning or even slow after the big impacts; the first one right below his door outside the side of his driver seat with the motorcycle tire, the next one a big crunch of the bike fairing/windsheid back farther on the rear backseat door higher behind  his head, and last the car door directly behind and below his shoulder slamming into my body

the bike and I slid forward on the pavement in the center of the left lane as we were knocked somewhat away from the car, but the car kept coming farther crossing more into my lane on top of me and the bike, catching us again under the side rocker panel and dragging us slightly to the left(pushing us more to the side of the road) with the car as it turned in front of me...the car came over the front forks and wheel assembly of my motorcycle(up to the headlight, where it then was broken hit by the rocker panel of the car) and then my head/helmet was jammed under the car as the car continued to cross my lane, and then the rear tire drove over it all crushing us to the ground

then white car still continued with its turn from the right lane across the left lane as he ran over everything in it, not trying to stop at all with my head/helmet and motorcycle being stuffed directly under the floor of his car where he sat

even after driving over what had to be a large noticeable bump(the front wheel of the bike and my head/helmet under his rear tire) the car drove on up into the inclined side entrance of the parking lot, leaving me and the bike lying out in the street

drawing fig.6

here is where the white car finally stopped fully up into the lot, all the way thru and up  the inclined entrance and across the sidewalk, as the car entirely left the street and parking along side the front of the building ... the motorcycle lay still in the left lane(a little off the center of the left lane into where the left tire of a car would roll if driving in that lane) moved off course from the car dragging it across the left lane some, but just out from the entrance/exit of the lot(blocking about half the entrance)...and soon the truck pulled up and stopped in the right lane

being hit, next run over, then talking to the driver that did it

Sept.  4th, 2013 while I was being hit, and then run over

I can not count how many close calls there have been when I've ridden a motorcycle and by the fault of the driver of another car, they'd almost hit me if I wouldn't have taken evasive action...my best estimate would be: "every time I ride"....  sometimes I'll honk my horn at them, or they will hear my tires screech and they will notice what they did, other times they will never have a clue about what they almost caused....once when a lady entered the road right in front of me while exiting the grocery store, cutting across my lane to get over into the adjacent turning lane(I locked my rear brake, hit the horn, and barely swerved around behind her rear bumper) she was so traumatized(and overly apologetic) by what she had done that I had to comfort her! (telling her that: 'it was OK, it happens all the time') as we sat at the stoplight side-by-side...other times people have flipped me off as if it was my fault for being on the road...but mostly they just never know

...to get your motorcycle endorsement on your license; many questions on the written test are about how to avoid accidents and what to do in a emergency situation with a unexpected hazard in the roadway caused by another driver, and then two of the riding tests see if you can take quick evasive action in a panic situation...I don't remember anything close to those extremes on the basic tests for a car driving license(I was just helping my step-son study all this last year)

...motorcycle riders have to(all should at least) be prepared for the worst on the road; wearing a helmet, protective footwear and special gloves, armored jackets, pants or complete body suits made of leather at times...and this isn't to go to war, this is to just ride down the street with cars....you will likely never see a rider drinking a hot cup of coffee, reading a map or newspaper, talking or texting on a phone, having an argument with the passenger or yelling at kids in the back seat, looking for a music CD or fiddling with the radio, putting on makeup, or even eating a full meal, where it's very common to see car drivers doing those things while they operate a vehicle many times the size and weight of a motorcycle and capable of doing far more damage if a slight mistake is made.....and that's all that happened(initially), a driver of a car made a slight mistake and I found myself laying face down in the street next to a smashed motorcycle

OK... Here We Go
(if you really want to know what happened to me and what it was like)

when the white car first hit the front tire of my bike, the bike pitched over into a lean to the left, for just the tiniest moment there I felt as if that was all that was going to happen and I would maybe skid alittle sideways and then regain control...but then the side of the car slammed into the front of the fairing knocking the bike out from under me and all the way down, hard

...I was still trying to hold onto the bike and was yanked down with it as I continued forward until the side of the car smacked into my body full force...I remember seeing all white, and the side of the car door feeling soft and giving as it flexed, and thinking "that wasn't so bad at all"

....at this time the front wheel and handlebars must have been knocked turned all the way to the left, and the hit to the front of the bike(fairing/headlight area) pushed the instrument gauge cluster up and back, shattering one of the glass gauge bezel lenses against the right hand controls on the handlebars..as the bike came over, it hooked my right leg and a piece of glass from that shattered gauge lens pierced my pants and broke off in my thigh(a week after the accident that wound was still festering and not healing, so I convinced my Wife that something was still in there, and she had to dig it out).... my left leg was pushed into the road surface, and the knee of my  pants ripped open so the skin could be ground away(probably the spot on my body that got 'road rash' ground in the deepest)....I really didn't feel any of that at the time(later when people cleaned those two different wounds, it was the kind of pain where I screamed, couldn't breathe, and grabbed on to something tight and just shook)

 ...when my body was in contact with the car, it felt like the car just kept coming, and there was just more and more of it coming my direction(not just a glancing blow) like a door shutting further and further and being pushed by it increasingly harder and more directly as it came around, until it punted me to the ground
....I hit the ground flat on my chest with my arms back stretched down in front of my pants pockets...immediately I felt a harsh pain from the impact with the hard road surface, it felt like a hot fire flashing on my chest, and I knew this was all pretty bad(not just a minor 'tip over' that you get back up and ride away from)

...I didn't really notice that the flesh was being ripped off the back of my hands as I slid forward down the road beside the motorcycle, and didn't have a clue how bad that was until I got back up(later) to turn off the bike and saw blood dripping off my hands(later I also looked at the helmet I was wearing, and saw where one side of the chin guard was all ground away, which would have likely removed most of the skin off the lower left side of my face down to my jawbone,  if I had not had that "full face" helmet on)

... I knew a serious violent thing had just happened to my body, my chest hurt, but I felt as if I was sliding free of the accident, clear of the bike and car now and that would be it...my arms were trapped under my body and I didn't feel in control of how I was sliding, just that I was still going forward....my eyes were open and my head was turned to the right so I could see the bike and the car beside me, and I thought it was over...but the car just still kept coming, and it caught the bike again and was draging it toward me

....I had almost stopped sliding on the ground when the car began to come over the top of me...the view I had got dark, but I could see light out under the car's other side...the bike seemed to nestle back up beside me as it was first jammed under the side of the car, and I had a clear thought/realization that I was now being run over...it was strange, I felt it odd that "how can this thing not notice me here at all, and not react to me, it just keeps coming"...the first thoughts I had during this and after was how sorry I felt for all the dogs and cats that have been run over, and how they must have felt being totally ignored by a big mechanical thing as it was doing such a horrible action to their bodies without caring or feeling, or trying to stop at all

..the left rear tire of the white car bounced up over the front edge of my motorcycle's wheel and then came into my face, I was looking back right into the tread of the tire as it rolled up and over my head/helmet...it all happened so quickly(and all of it together too) that I didn't even have time to flinch or blink, I just watched it happen, helpless  ... I felt a really hard squeeze and pressure on my helmet, and the side of my face and jaw pushed hard into the ground until it lit up in instant severe sharp pain...then there was a hard knock or thud on my helmet as the tire rolled off the back of my head and the tail of the car came down on me as I lay there

Once Everything Stopped...I talked to the driver

for just a second I lay there in the street next to the bike(thinking about dogs and cats I guess, but feeling the pain in my head as it replaced the one in my chest, and I didn't feel that as much anymore because my face and jaw felt way worse) but then I jumped right up, thinking that I didn't want another car to come along and run over me again....so I took a few steps backwards while reaching up and holding the sides of my head/helmet with both hands...I sat down on the corner of the curb that led into the entrance to the parking lot and looked back at the bike lying in the road

...I sat there still holding my head/helmet with both hands and turned my head to the left to see where/if the white car had stopped, and just when I did I saw a young man get out of it and quickly come in my direction looking very angry and yelling at me:
he said: "but I was turning!!!"
I said: "I know, but you were turning from the wrong lane"
...he stopped and his face went blank as he looked back out along the street...I looked too, the blue truck was pulling up and stopping now in the far right lane from us, I looked back up at him behind and beside me now
and he said: "oh"(calmly, and a little reserved or dumbfounded, but he seemed to say that in acknowledgement of knowing now what he really did) as he was looking at the street, I wondered if he saw a sign or something that confirmed for him now that it was a one-way street, where before he might have thought it was two-way
...he looked back down at me now and he was acting totally concerned...
and he said: "are you OK?" and reached out with his right hand/arm towards me
I said: "I think you ran over my head"(I was still holding my head/helmet with both hands)
he replied: "I'm sorry" and he started to step away walking backwards looking very frightened now
and I said: "well accidents happen" as I wanted to calm him down, or say something to relieve the stress

 I looked around some, over at the white car again, and then turned back to look at my bike in the street, just starting to accept what had happened...I could hear a lady behind me sounding like she was talking on a phone calling the police, telling them where we were; I thought it was good that someone was doing that right away...taking care of stuff...from where I sat I couldn't see any fluids leaking from the bike, I saw that the ignition was still on, as the oil and generator instrument lights were on....so I stood up and walked back over to the bike, the motor wasn't running, but I still reached down and clicked off the kill switch and then turned off the key(leaving it in)...this is when I noticed blood dripping off my finger tips and how 'dirty' I thought my hands looked...then I felt like I needed help after seeing the blood, and I didn't need to focus on the bike
...I came back and sat down where I was before, and then an older man in a suit came over and squatted in front of me to the right, he took my right hand and held my wrist just quietly there not saying anything and felt my pulse
...I could hear the lady(that was on the phone before) behind me now telling someone that she saw what happened and they were talking about it...it relaxed me to know people had been around to witness what the car had done to me
she said: "I saw the whole thing" in a loud authoritative voice that I could hear better
I wasn't sure who else was around me yet, and I didn't know if she was talking to me or still to someone else
so I said "oh good" as I tried to turn my head around to the right to acknowledge/thank her, but the sun was behind her and I couldn't see what she looked like or who else she was talking to...I looked back at the guy taking my pulse, he was just calmly looking down at his gold watch as he held my wrist, this also seemed to relax me
then I heard the same lady say: "should I move my truck?(is it blocking traffic?)" and I figured then that she must have been the one driving on the same street as us(in the blue truck)
and I said: "yeah, because I don't think I can move my bike" as I kind of raised my left arm to motion at the bike, and then I thought to take a picture of it there before anyone tried to move it(but the bike looked in such bad shape, I figured that a tow-truck would have to hoist it off the road...that I couldn't have even rolled it out of the street myself if necessary)
she said back to me: "you should lay down" and I think she walked out to her truck to move it, but I really wasn't paying attention to her... now I was trying to get my phone out of my left front pocket with my left hand, and the guy taking my pulse was between me and the truck....still didn't see any other cars on the street,  any other people there must have been behind me on the grass or in the lot, the white car sat up in the lot in front of the building; so the area seemed deserted from my view ... just looking out at the empty street with my bike lying in the middle of it, I started to worry that a car would come and not be able to see it till it was around the corner, and hit it while it was down

the ambulance people were showing up next...and I had just gotten my phone out to take a picture from where I sat up on the curb and grassy incline with the view down to my motorcycle lying in E. Benton St.

iPhone4 Sep 4, 2013 2:54:40 PM 913 S Dubuque St, Iowa City Iowa, US   N 41'65" W 91'53"

going to the hospital

Sept. 4th, 2013 after being hit

the EMT people(I think there were 4 of them) from the ambulance(s) seemed to descend on me at the scene, and I was ready to surrender to their help...they were there quick(I think they only had to come from around the corner, just a little farther north up Dubuque St.).

..they were very concerned about my neck and spine, and had lots of questions for me to test my mental state....I tried to answer everything clearly, and be a good patient....I still had my helmet on, and had put my phone back in my left front pants pocket(I only had time to take the one picture, they were there that fast) but soon they gently helped me out of my jacket...I told them I had important papers in that jacket(the title to this new motorcycle)

one of the worst things I had to do was take my wedding ring off, the EMTs told me I had to or they might cut it off in the hospital....I told them: "but I've never taken it off since my Wife put in on my finger at our wedding, just a few months ago"...I took it off carefully sliding it over wounds with pieces of skin hanging lose from that finger, and put it in the little watch pocket of my jeans ... it made me very sad...(at the hospital they took it out of my pants and put it in a plastic jar, but when they gave me the ring back, it was covered in blood and had deep scratches in it....also everything else in my pockets was damaged, except for my phone as I have a metal case that it is protected by)

...examining my back, neck, arms, and chest better now without the jacket on, they were also listening to my heart and breathing with a stethoscope....I had told them my chest hurt, but really the worst was my jaw and how the car had run over my head....I said: "I think I can take my helmet off" and they kind of hesitated on that, but I started unbuckling the chin strap anyway...it felt like a few of them were holding on to my head/helmet to steady it, and I said: "let me take my glasses off first" and pulled them off my face thru the visor opening(I think one of the EMTs took my glasses and put them with/in my jacket)...I pushed up on the bottom of the helmet edge and they slowly guided it off my head...then they immediately put a huge neck brace on me...but it felt good to have my head back out into the sun and air; as after having my head squished so badly, it was getting claustrophobic inside the helmet

they had me lay back on the grass slope that went up into the parking lot, and put a board under my back....they wanted to slide me up onto the board more, and they asked if I could push up with my legs if I thought I could help...I said "sure, I'll help" and they counted to three...but when I started pushing with my legs, I arched my back up so my butt was out of the grass and my back could slide easily on the smooth finish of the board....they said: "no, don't arch your back"...I said: "oh, sorry" and used my legs to scooch  back down the board, I wanted to be a good patient and do it right starting over...I said: "ok, I'll try again"... one of them laughed a little, and then they just grabbed me and pulled me all the way up on the board

in the ambulance I told the EMT lady with the long silver hair(the person in the photo I took) that the guy that hit me must of thought he was on a two-way street when he turned from the right-hand(wrong) lane in front of me...and asked her if my helmet and jacket were coming with me now, or if they were left with the bike...she said that they were in the ambulance back there with me....she called to the hospital that we were coming, and started to describe me, my condition, and  what she saw could of happened at the scene....she said I had been on a motorcycle and was hit by a car, then had slid in the center of the street for 10 feet, then dragged by the car until my head was run over...and described me as 30 to 40 years old, I interrupted her and said: "I'm almost 50" and she repeated that on the radio(or whatever they use to call stuff in on these days)

when the accident was happening, time had slowed way down and I was aware of everything going on; now it was like everything was happening really fast, I couldn't keep track of everything, and time was flying by...almost as if I was watching live TV with a DVR, had used the slow motion feature, and then had to fast forward a bunch to catch back up to real time

the ambulance driver helped pull the gurney I was on out and push it in to the hospital, I thanked him for the ride...the lady that rode in the back with me also went in, I also thanked her, and added: "I hope I never have to see you again"....she had me sign a paper; it being the only thing I've signed to date so far, since I signed to get the new title on the bike

the doctors seemed really concerned about my internal organs, and of course the neck and spine ... they cut all my clothes off...I couldn't see my body at all, or what they were doing, as I had the big neck brace on, and could only look straight up; but they spent a long time using a sonogram on me(and I wish I could have seen the monitor)....they switched the neck brace to a smaller more comfortable one, as I lay there in just my underwear(yes Mom, they were clean)
...they did all kinds of x-rays and stuff, even stuck me into the big doughnut looking machine(it took some cool pictures of my head that I got copies of, I'll try to make an animated .gif of them and post it here)

they asked me if I wanted anything for the pain, and I started to describe how it felt like a tooth root canal(I've had one done) or a migraine headache was happening in my face and jaw, and that yes, I'd like something...the nurse said: "ok, I gave you something when you started talking, I'll give you more in a little bit"....but I didn't feel any change, so I asked him for something more after a few minutes, and I still didn't feel any effects
...only much later(about 3 hours since I'd been there) when I finally got my Wife on the phone, did I feel a nice warm rush travel thru my body from head to toe...it was like a little roller-coaster ride, but it still didn't change the extreme pain I felt in my jaw and face

finally they came in and said my jaw wasn't broken, and I asked: "then why does it hurt so much?"
...the doctor left the room, and then shortly came back and said: "your cheek bone is fractured", but that it was so "minimally displaced" that they would not have to do surgery

they never did anything about my hands, except one doctor/nurse said something about how they could see right where the sleeves of my jacket ended, and that I was very lucky to have it on...in person you can see how ripped up and scuffed it is, all over the front and arms...it had to hold up much better than my skin...but it's frightening to look at, as my whole torso and arms would have been as bad as my hands in larger areas had I not had it on...the jacket(which was new this summer, and only used a few times) is ruined, but a lot more of my skin is still intact

here is a picture I took of my jacket there in the hospital when they gave it back to me before I left....in this photo it looks better then when you see it in person, as there are many more rips and places where the protective mesh are ground away than you can see in this shot

when my Wife showed up, she asked why my wounds hadn't been cleaned or dressed and that I was still bleeding...she noted that I had blood on the side and back of my right leg thigh, but I said I thought that was just from my hands....a week later I was still complaining about something not right on the side/back of my right thigh(where I couldn't see it) and we looked at the pants I was wearing and found a cut in them where the wound was...I told her it felt like something was still in there, and talked her into(she really didn't want to do it) digging three pieces of glass out of my leg

before leaving the hospital...my Wife had the nurse clean and bandage my hands and left knee....he did this by pouring a bottle of hydrogen-peroxide first into the wound on my knee...wow, that was really painful(I thought I was being a good stoic patient up to that point) ...I was screaming and grunting, couldn't breath, and held on tight to the bed rails, just kinda shaking ....then water(he said: "this is just water" but it was still a shock), last laid gauze into the wound then wrapped it
...he still had to do this to each of my hands, and I timidly had to let him

my Wife took some pictures:

the different colors vary depending on how much skin is gone, some spots there is none left

I have lots of hair on my legs, not all of it was rubbed off and is still in my wound

after about 5 hours they said I should go home, that they couldn't put a cast or anything on my face, and I should not try to move my jaw or eat anything...warning me that if  I had any strange headaches or sinus pain, blood in my nose or ears, trouble seeing, or a salty taste in my mouth; that I should not waste any time and come right back in there...they gave me a prescription for some pain pills...and when I got home I took two of those right away, which gave me the first slight relief from the huge pain I had in my face and jaw since it was crushed under the white car's tire

...I was getting dressed and complaining about the shirt my Wife brought me to wear home, the Doctors/aids/students/nurses finished up in the room, as they all left the last thing that one of the them said to me was: "we are glad that you are alive"...this was a little funny or strange at first, then all the air in the room seemed to stop moving, the little lighthearted quirky things I'd said fell away; and my mind jumped back to that dark moment when my head was underneath the white car being run over, I swallowed hard and said: "oh"

the day after, and things got worse

Sept. 5th, 2013 next day after being hit

I tried to stay in bed pretty late the next morning...when I did get up I could feel pains all over my body....my Wife asked me if I knew where my motorcycle was, and if I had the name and numbers of the guy that hit me; or if I was going to get that information...I said: "I don't know" my head hurt and I really didn't want to think about anything yet...so she said: "before you take any pain pills today, lets try and find out" so she called the police...and told me that they had an "impound release slip" to get the bike out of the tow lot, and a sheet with both drivers, vehicles, plate, and insurance information; all down at the police station...she asked if I wanted a ride down there to pick it up, but I said that I felt like I could drive a car, and I wanted to go back to the scene of the accident and see it again  

so I went down to the police station and waited for the officer my Wife told me had the paper work I needed to pick up....as I sat there I noticed that I had missed a long distance call on my cell phone at 7:46AM that morning, and there was a message left from the insurance company's main office to call them back

I saw the officer, and he asked me "what happened?" so I told him about buying the bike, the next day going to get plates, riding out of the lot, going around the corner and coming up beside a car, then the car turning in front of me, knocking me down, and sliding forward until the car ran over the bike and my head as it kept going and pulled into the lot I just came out of....he said he was impressed that I was still here to talk to him...and he asked me lots of questions about what had happened, almost testing it to see if maybe it could have been a little different in any way

....then he leaned back in his chair and shook his head and said: "according to the witness, she thinks I should give you a citation; because she says you were behind the white car, and tried to squeeze around him in the corner by riding in the gutter, and then the side of your bike hit the side of the car and you fell off" ....with hearing this my eyes popped open wide and my jaw dropped, which hurt my jaw a bunch, so I pushed it closed with my hand, paused for a second, and then I said: "Noooo, no way!...no that's not what happened at all" and I added "I saw the lady that was the witness, and talked to her, was it the one in the blue truck?" reminding him that "I also talked to the driver of the car, and he apologized to me"

.... he kind of sighed a little and said: "let me see if I can get the witness on the phone today, see if she wavers at all on her story" and he got up and left the room.....I sat there and just hung my head, I felt a little dizzy now, and kind of like I might throw-up(but I hadn't been able to eat anything, so it wasn't too bad, so I didn't need to get up and find a bathroom but saw the trash can in the room)...the officer wasn't gone long at all, so quick that I thought he might not have gotten her on the phone to question her story...I sat up, and he said "nope, she said she was sure of herself" as he walked back into the room and sat down at a different desk against the wall in front of a computer

I leaned back  feeling horrible now; my left knee hurt to bend it, my head was ringing, my hands stung and I could see that my fingers still looked very dirty and skin was  pealing off some of the wounds, it even hurt to just breathe...none of what the officer said was making any sense now, not what I was expecting at all to happen by coming here...the room we were in was pretty darkly lit, with no windows; not like the bright room at the hospital, or out in the sun at the accident the day before 

...I sat there quietly, but I noticed he was looking at pictures on the computer from the accident...he turned and asked me: "that left lane looks pretty wide, maybe two cars could fit in it side-by-side...are you sure you weren't in the left lane with the car?"...I shook my head from side to side a little, and softly said: "no..no....he was in the right lane, I had the whole left lane to myself" but then a little louder I said "he did come over into my lane and hit me tho"....another officer came in and asked him a question, then he had that guy also look at some of the photos with him, I couldn't really hear all they were saying to each other, but I wasn't liking any of this...then I heard the first officer say to the second: "I don't even think I can give him a citation for following too close" and the other officer left the room

the officer came back over to the desk in front of me and said: "look, I'm not going to give you a ticket...today...but someone will do an accident report in a few days, and they might see something else...to me, it looks like you were in the middle of that left lane" ...he gave me a sheet that had just drivers and vehicles info on it...I noticed it said damage was only on the side of the car, but just the front of the motorcycle, so I pointed that out to him, reiterated that the witness was wrong and that I had no idea how she could say that...but he was done with me...still I asked if I could get copies of those photos, but he said he didn't know how to do that...and that I should go pick up the impound slip to get my bike out at the front window as we walked out of the office and pointed in the direction I should go 

I got the slip...and then left the police station and went right over to where the accident happened, took pictures with my phone, and thought I should come back with my better camera 

no way I would try squeezing around past the car by riding in the gutter!!!

...not only is that likely not possible to attempt, nor is it logical(because *if* a car took up the left lane, it would have been super easy to swing out into the right lane after going around the curve and pass on the other side)...but because none of the physical  evidence allows that to have taken place

looking backwards into the curve, only the deepest scratches from where the bike was initially slammed to the ground still remain in the road surface...but you can still tell they are very much in the center of the left lane, with not enough room for a car to fit in that lane beside them

In this next photo, a car drives exactly into the same spot of the road where the white car was when it came over from the right-hand lane and first hit me, knocking the bike over leaving those scratch marks in the center of the left-hand lane(shown above)...this is not a location the witness(blue truck) could have seen the accident from

 this car changes lanes after going around the corner in the right-hand lane then once on the straightaway pulling into the left-hand lane....took its picture as it crossed the dividing paint stripe between the lanes...I wonder if the driver looked in the side mirror or did a shoulder check before changing lanes...I'm told that cars do this all the time in this location 

I didn't stay there very long; I was in pain, and didn't feel comfortable there....I did walk farther back around the corner, and try to get a view of from where the witness might have seen things happen...but the hill of the raised lot, trees, and parked cars were in the way to take any good photos, so I didn't bother walking very far south...I got back in the car and headed out to my next stop

seeing the bike again

next I went out to the tow lot where they had my motorcycle...I wanted to see if it had to be towed somewhere to move it at all, or if my riding buddy could come get it in his pickup truck

first view of my bike at the towing impound...this is the side that was next to the white car as I was beside it on the road...you can kind of see where the gauge cluster was pushed up and out of place...but really, this side looks not too bad

in the photo above, notice how this side of the motorcycle actually looks mostly OK, as the car and the bike did not come together side-by-side....the car hit the bike in the front as it cut across my lane...even the mirror and turn signal sticking out the most of this side do not show any damage
however, if you look close at the bottom black fork tube on this side, and at the front fender; you will see black smudges there(my helmet also has this stuff on it), this is undercoating off the bottom of the car that ran over the bike and me!!!

another photo of the bike in the towing impound...showing the smashed headlight and fairing/windshield pushed up and over by the car

then in this photo you start to see much more of the damage...here the bike is leaned over on the kickstand, in the same direction that the car knocked it over starting when it first hit the front tire....in this photo you could recreate where the car would have been when it hit the bike; you could put the white car in that photo to the bike's right(left edge of the photo, other side from the shadow on the ground) coming forward(at the viewer) across the bike's path....and you can see how the front tire of the bike sticks out the most from this angle(and it was hit and turned) then how the fairing/windshield was hit and pushed up and over...and also you can imagine how the whole bike then would have been thrown to the ground from such a dramatic hard hit over and down to right how the shadow lays next to the motorcycle

the tow lot said I had to get it out that day, or they would charge me more for each day it was left there...but that it would roll, and they had people there that would help my buddy load it into his pickup truck

I went to my local insurance office; boy, was that a mistake

I'll add more here later if necessary...but first I'll note that the person I normally deal with still wasn't in that day, and she is great....anyway, the other guy there said he had the new policy for the bike I just got all ready to go from yesterday...then he said: "got some good news and bad news....the good news is the other driver also has [this same] insurance company, so we will be able to settle all this quickly....the bad news is that you don't have any of your other bikes insured on full coverage with us, so we will only pay $1000 medical and no damages" I yelled at him: "oh yes I do!...I was just in here last month paying for another year of full coverage on my BMW"...and then I added: "what does it matter what insurance I have?..he hit me" .....I didn't stay long, he redid the new policy for full coverage on the Kawasaki EX500 and I left

...I then decided that from now on I would always call my local insurance office first, make an appointment to make sure I could see the right person 

trying to clean up the mess

I went home and took a pain pill...contacted my riding buddy, he said if I bought gas for his truck he would go out there and get it; and that he wanted to see me, and of course more importantly what happened to the bike

we took it directly over to the big motorcycle shop...where my buddy knows everyone there

photo of bike at the repair shop...everything on this side of the bike is damaged from being knocked to the ground and sliding...and the front-end of the bike is bent/tweaked/crushed/scratched from the wheel/tire up the forks all the way to the handlebars from being run over

that night I unwrapped all my bandages, and had to rip the gauze out of the wounds....for a while I sat with tweezers picking pieces of gauze, hairs, and as much dirt and gravel out of the road-rash as I could....finally I gave up on the tweezers as it was too painful to pick it one little bit out at a time...so I got in the shower and used a soft(ha!) little fingernail brush to scrub out the wounds...I tried to bite down on a washcloth to muffle the screaming and groans, but it hurt my jaw way too much to do that....but I had to get everything cleaned out to stop infection
...I think I had a milkshake that night to eat or something....I was sad, mad, and alittle crazy after all that happened to me this day...and that finally gave way to total disbelief so that I could get a few hours of sleep

oh, I forgot...I called the head insurance office back at 3:20PM this day(returning the call I missed at 7:46AM that morning) hoping that they might have something better to say to me than at my local office...but the guy there was already pushing for the other driver's stuff to go on his policy, and my stuff to go on my policy, and had most of that already setup to happen, so I wasn't very happy with him...but he said he still needed to get a recording of my story, but couldn't do it now, and wanted to call me back the next day...I said: "ok, but don't call me so early, I have a head injury and I'll be trying to sleep"...he said: "well then how about 8:30AM to 9:30AM"...and I said: "no, that's too early...it'd be better like at 9:30AM to 10:30AM, or even later"
...he called me back the next morning at 8:11AM !!!

[I'll probably just add a whole other post about the insurance company at some point...and about how they still are screwing with my right to good faith representation from them, but I want the lawyers to go over those conversations I had with them first]

witness view photos

Sept. 8th, 2013 the weekend after being hit

I had my Wife drive her car around that corner then up into the lot, over and over in the two different lanes as I took pictures with my good camera

***            note that day that I used a 50mm F2 "fixed lens"       ***
***                   (not 'zoom' nor 'wide angle' adjustable)                   ***

***       I love this little lens, as it gives the exact same view thru      ***
***               the camera as you have with the naked eye                   ***
 ***   so if you see similar shots looking as if one is zoomed closer  ***
***     than another, its because I moved where I was standing    ***

I also took most of the shots from standing up tall, to be the same height
as the witness was in her old blue truck(a 4 door Chevy Suburban I believe)

the things my Wife complained about the most when I made her do this:

1) right or left lanes; she could not see around curve of the corner to where I would point for her to drive next to the scratch marks...mostly the raised parking lot and grassy slope is in the way, but also trees, poles, signs, and parked cars

2) right or left lanes; to make the curve(driving in it) she could only watch the road where she was driving, not look down the straightaway....and I bet that getting that big old blue truck around that curve is a lot harder to do than my Wife taking it in her Audi

3) when driving in the left lane and turning into the lot, she had to go way slower, and almost come to a complete stop before turning at all....this never exposed the side of the car until it was moving up into the lot entrance

4) when driving in the left lane she could not drive around the spot my motorcycle stopped in and pull into the spot where the white car stopped in up in the lot...cars can't turn that sharp....she could only do that coming from an angle out of the right-hand lane then coming across the left-hand lane, how it was easy and she hit every mark every time



here is a look at the map of the streets again

Google Maps overview of the accident driveways, curve, and street

from my view looking back off the map above(facing down) to how far away the witness
blue truck was as I stopped before turning north out of the lot main driveway
(1st east side entrance/exit, in the lower right of the map above)

I had my Wife drive around the curve in the left and right lanes...I was where the witness in blue truck would have seen the car(if my Wife's car was the white car that hit me)....you can't tell which lane she is in

one lane

the other lane

here are a few more photos showing how it is to see around that corner from a little farther in to it

...and you can't be looking far out down the street as you have to watch where you are driving to navigate the corner....these are taken in car from the lane the witness in the blue truck says she was in

this last one has my Wife's car hidden in the photo
this is where the white car was(in the right lane)
with my motorcycle beside it(in the left lane)

then farther around the curve showing the witness' view when the white car first hit me as it came into my lane

all the photos above were taken from different spots going into and thru that corner in areas the witness could have been driving her big old blue truck, as it would be hard to determine the exact spot she was in when exactly different parts of the accident happened for her to try and see...I do know that she was quite a ways back, so I tried to include a wide range of distances between where she could have been and where the white car hit my bike, athlo most of them I was somewhat closer then the witness could have been
...but this last shot is very close up of pulling up next to the scratches in the street as my Wife turns into the lot from the right lane(car in the same spot as the last shot above) taken from much nearer if the witness could have been around the curve and onto the straightaway(but she wouldn't have been yet)...if this were real, the truck would have been right on the car's tail, and beside me(or us, as she told it)....as there was only a few feet I traveled out of the curve on the straightaway before being hit ...so this is taken from much closer than the witness blue truck was, judging from how far away I saw her as displayed in the first photo of mine at the top of this post

this is the best we could do to get a car into the left-hand lane with the motorcycle scratches right beside it...but really the car would have to be farther over the stripe in the road back into the right-hand lane to leave a little room for the motorcycle...as like this the bike would already be under the car...and that didn't happen until almost 10 more feet down the straightaway

of course at some point the witness could have seen the white car over in the left-hand lane with me, as that is where the car hit me as it was crossing over from the right-hand lane intruding into my left-hand lane, then drove across that lane farther and ran over my motorcycle and head with its back tire, and then drove out of the left lane up into the parking lot...the witness could have just come all the way around the curve by the time the motorcycle was already knocked down by the car entering the left-hand lane, possibly only by the time later when the white car was driving over my head, or even as late as just when the car was going up into the lot leaving the left-hand lane
...but to get beside the first(deepest) scratch marks, and make the turn into the lot; the white car had to be in the right-hand lane to start with...as shown in the earlier photos in this post, the witness would not have been able to tell which lanes the bike and car were in as the bike came along side the car as we exited the curve, as witness would have been still in the curve at the absolute closest

official police report and photos

Sept. 9th, 2013 the following Monday, 5 days after being hit

the same officer who I first spoke to(the one that tested my story)...handed me the final police report from the investigation of the accident...this was finished a few days after the accident and we were worried because we hadn't had the chance to submit any of the  photos and information and we had gathered on our own yet, they had only used information they gathered at the scene....but he said: "here, just look at this diagram on here...I think it shows exactly what really happened"...when I saw it, I had to fight back overwhelming emotion and tears...feeling like I was finally coming out into the light at the end of the tunnel

the insurance company has had this document and access to all police photos
 for three and a half weeks now..for some reason, the insurance company thinks
 it gets to decide what happened, independently from the police and ignoring this evidence 

photos police took of the scratches from my bike where it was first knocked over, slid in the center of the lane, then dragged by the car and run over

looking forward to where the scratches change direction as the white car drives over the top of the bike

looking back over the bike to where the white car came from
and moved the bike from where it was sliding in the center of the left-hand lane

deep scratches where the bike was first knocked to the street,
then lighter ones leading up to where the bike is lying 

photo of where the bike was dragged by the car as it tuned into the lot
the bike is blocking half the lot driveway(the exit lane) 

lower left is dent from front motorcycle tire

upper right is red mark from bike fairing

dent in front of wheel is from running over bike(breaking the headlight glass here)

view from beside police car in left lane up to where car and motorcycle stopped

the report states that in the investigation, the police officer and an accident reconstructionist  reviewed all evidence and concluded that...

 the white car:

 "unit #1 was initially in the right lane"

 the motorcycle:

 "unit #2 had been traveling mid-center within the left-hand lane"

and that:

 "unit #1 turned from the wrong lane and in front of unit #2 (IMPROPER TURN)"

also that they challenged the witness(blue truck) and concluded:

 "her report of the pre-crash positioning of both units was not possible"