Cagers and Donorcycles.
What I didn't mention, then, was that there was a kid in my college class that was in the same type of motorcycle-car accident as AD was. In that kid's case, he was in the hospital, in traction, for weeks. He had on a hip-to-ankle cast for a while after that.
With the proliferation of smartphones, it probably has only gotten worse.
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I raced motorcycles offroad for about a decade, and owned one street bike in the '80s. I noticed when my motorcycle racer friends got their driver's licenses that some of them got street bikes to get around on as they were fun and at the time, cheap.
Then I noticed a few of them getting seriously injured and one who died.
These were all expert riders, and all wore appropriate helmets and other gear.
For myself, I'll just say that after you break a helmet while wearing it (and go on to ride in the race you were practicing for that day) you'll wear your damn helmet, and it'll be a quality helmet. Motorcycle racers say that cheap helmets are for riders with inexpensive heads.
I never dropped my street bike (a Yamaha RZ350) in the 30,000 miles I put on it, but I had to bounce off of a '70s Cadillac that changed into my lane like I wasn't there, and I once ran over a skateboard that the rider kicked backwards into my lane as he tried to beat the changing walk signal. I had to put my foot down to save it that time, and as I was riding up Alcatraz street I was grumbling to myself that it hurt, until I came to my senses and remembered that many other motorcyclists would have still been lying in that street from that situation.
My brother was a biker who rode a Harley and never wore a helmet.
My brother is dead, but not from a motorcycle accident.
The mentality that leads one to ride without a helmet doesn't limit itself to motorcycling, and some things don't respond to how big and bad you are.
I never required medical attention from anything I did on a motorcycle, but went to the ER three times from stupid shit I pulled on bicycles, because back then nobody wore helmets to ride bicycles, except in sanctioned competition, during which I wore my motocross helmet and boots.
-Doug in Oakland
The car turning/pulling out is a common one, but the car simply running over the bike from behind is the nasty one. That situation often results in a completely broken rider, where the t-bone is a much wider range of injuries that vary based upon rider skill, protective gear, bike configuration and maneuverability. I always had it in gear, and ready to move, when stopping at a light or sign with a cage approaching from behind.
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