Posted on Jan 23, 2015
What is the craziest crash/accident/incident you've been in?
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List the craziest, funniest, weirdest, or most dangerous accident/crash/incident you've ever been in...
Here's mine: in 2012, I was the Safety Manager for a Battalion at Fort Bragg. I was responsible not only for safety of the Soldiers, but also for the Motorcycle Safety and Motorcycle Mentor-ship programs.
August 2nd, at 0-dark-30, I was riding my motorcycle (a 2005 Harley Davidson Night Train with custom paint, pipes, bags, etc.) in to work, and had a backpack on my back with my ASUs (The new class "A" uniform like in my profile pic) folded neatly. The reason I had them in there, was I was supposed to sit on a promotion board that morning as the 1SG for my company.
As I came around a sharp left turn at about 55 MPH, a car coming the other way had it's high-beams on. I was temporarily blinded for about 1/2 a second, and during that 1/2 second, my rear tire slid out from under me.
I remember thinking "I'm done". To my right, was a five foot deep ditch, full of boulders. On the far side of that ditch, was a treeline of tall pines.
Instinctively, I had (in my mind) two choices: 1) Straighten out and try to recover (very unlikely because of the ditch - I'd have wound up riding right into it and doing what's called a "High-Side" flip into the trees - a "High-side" flip is the most dangerous way to crash on a motorcycle). 2) Pulling back on the handle bars and bringing the bike down, then riding out the slide. Still dangerous, but less dangerous than a high-side.
I pulled back, and the bike and I slid, into the ditch. At this point, I was only along for the ride, and I couldn't see anything due to how dark it was that early in the morning. The bike and I, now separated, both hit boulders or something in the ditch, and we both tumbled. I felt my head (I was wearing a helmet) hit the ground several times, and the bike actually came down on top of my right leg as well, crushing my gastrocnemius (calf muscle).
Eventually, we stopped. I remember lying for a second in the ditch, and hearing the bike engine still running. I lifted my head, and looked at my feet at the bike, which was lying in the bottom of the ditch about 10 feet away from me, and then I thought "I shouldn't have done that" (this was in regards to me lifting my head, not to the crash - though, I shouldn't have done that either).
The driver of the other vehicle came running over and asked if I was "Ok". I said "I think my leg is broken.... Call 9-1-1". He did, and a paramedic who just happened to be on his way in to work somewhere else, saw the accident scene and began triage on me.
The ambulance showed up, and when they took my BP, the EMT said "That can't be right..." I asked him what was up, and he says "Your BP is perfectly normal, as if you haven't just been through a crash at all..." I said "Dude, after three combat tours, getting blown up and getting shot at, this ain't sh*t..."
The lesson I learned from this, is one I learned during an advanced street riding course I took the next year... S.T.F.D.... as in: "Slow To Find Direction"... yes, you can say it another way....
The bad thing of this, is as the Safety Manager, Motorcycle Safety Manager, and Motorcycle Mentor, I got ribbed for quite some time afterwards...
Here's mine: in 2012, I was the Safety Manager for a Battalion at Fort Bragg. I was responsible not only for safety of the Soldiers, but also for the Motorcycle Safety and Motorcycle Mentor-ship programs.
August 2nd, at 0-dark-30, I was riding my motorcycle (a 2005 Harley Davidson Night Train with custom paint, pipes, bags, etc.) in to work, and had a backpack on my back with my ASUs (The new class "A" uniform like in my profile pic) folded neatly. The reason I had them in there, was I was supposed to sit on a promotion board that morning as the 1SG for my company.
As I came around a sharp left turn at about 55 MPH, a car coming the other way had it's high-beams on. I was temporarily blinded for about 1/2 a second, and during that 1/2 second, my rear tire slid out from under me.
I remember thinking "I'm done". To my right, was a five foot deep ditch, full of boulders. On the far side of that ditch, was a treeline of tall pines.
Instinctively, I had (in my mind) two choices: 1) Straighten out and try to recover (very unlikely because of the ditch - I'd have wound up riding right into it and doing what's called a "High-Side" flip into the trees - a "High-side" flip is the most dangerous way to crash on a motorcycle). 2) Pulling back on the handle bars and bringing the bike down, then riding out the slide. Still dangerous, but less dangerous than a high-side.
I pulled back, and the bike and I slid, into the ditch. At this point, I was only along for the ride, and I couldn't see anything due to how dark it was that early in the morning. The bike and I, now separated, both hit boulders or something in the ditch, and we both tumbled. I felt my head (I was wearing a helmet) hit the ground several times, and the bike actually came down on top of my right leg as well, crushing my gastrocnemius (calf muscle).
Eventually, we stopped. I remember lying for a second in the ditch, and hearing the bike engine still running. I lifted my head, and looked at my feet at the bike, which was lying in the bottom of the ditch about 10 feet away from me, and then I thought "I shouldn't have done that" (this was in regards to me lifting my head, not to the crash - though, I shouldn't have done that either).
The driver of the other vehicle came running over and asked if I was "Ok". I said "I think my leg is broken.... Call 9-1-1". He did, and a paramedic who just happened to be on his way in to work somewhere else, saw the accident scene and began triage on me.
The ambulance showed up, and when they took my BP, the EMT said "That can't be right..." I asked him what was up, and he says "Your BP is perfectly normal, as if you haven't just been through a crash at all..." I said "Dude, after three combat tours, getting blown up and getting shot at, this ain't sh*t..."
The lesson I learned from this, is one I learned during an advanced street riding course I took the next year... S.T.F.D.... as in: "Slow To Find Direction"... yes, you can say it another way....
The bad thing of this, is as the Safety Manager, Motorcycle Safety Manager, and Motorcycle Mentor, I got ribbed for quite some time afterwards...
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Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
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Incident: Coming back form a 9 month deployment, ad I got the "Golden Ticket" you get to leave the Aircraft carrier days before the ship pulls into home-port. Packed dressed and standing on deck waiting for our helicopter to arrive. Some 15 sailors and Marines board and we takeoff. The ships is about 20 miles out and we have a 15 minute ride to the tarmac. Well, about 5 minutes and 10 miles out a hydraulic line breaks in the overhead, fluid is spraying everywhere, uniforms went from dress Whites to Dress Pinks! People are shouting, air-crewman trying to fix it, he's got a eye full of fluid. We jump in trying to do anything to get it to stop. The helicopter is doing an Ariel Ballet, bouncing up down and sideways over miles of open water. We get it patched but the aircraft is still doing some funky version of flight, shaking like a leaf in the wind, smoke is filling the cabin, but we barely make it to land before we're forced to land. Kudos to the Pilot and crew! Some Amazing piece of flying, and he got us home safe! We had to wait for transportation in a field just off Naval station Norfolk. One Very Scary ride! But, not quite as scary as the C17 "Air Turbulence Rodeo" over the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Another story for another time.
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Where do i start?
Craziest: I had just bought my very first Brand new car. # miles on the dash. Got off work because snowstorms were moving in. First intersection (4way) No Snow, and No ice. Just a little rain. I pull into the interaction because I was the only car there. Or so I thought. Admirals 16 y/o daughter driving a Mercedes S class decides to run the stop sign and T-boned me full speed, they said 45, felt like 80. Knocked me unconscious, spun me 180 into a telephone pole. I came to just before they put me in the ambulance and there's an AT&T rep shouting at me and handing me his businesses card "I saw the whole thing, call me if you need a witness"!!!
Craziest: I had just bought my very first Brand new car. # miles on the dash. Got off work because snowstorms were moving in. First intersection (4way) No Snow, and No ice. Just a little rain. I pull into the interaction because I was the only car there. Or so I thought. Admirals 16 y/o daughter driving a Mercedes S class decides to run the stop sign and T-boned me full speed, they said 45, felt like 80. Knocked me unconscious, spun me 180 into a telephone pole. I came to just before they put me in the ambulance and there's an AT&T rep shouting at me and handing me his businesses card "I saw the whole thing, call me if you need a witness"!!!
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We were convoying "somewhere" (where they speak Pashtun). I had the Skipper in the right seat and I was driving. We got stuck behind some jingle trucks and the ditch on the side of the road looked pretty passable...at least there was grass coming up out'a the water, so I thought I was good to go. Turned out the "grass" was cane several feet tall and the ditch more of a river with vertical sides. The Humvee went into a pretty impressive 90 degree roll, pitched my gunner (thankfully without a scratch) into a crowd of amused Afghans, and inserted Skipper into waist deep, fetid water. He sat there quietly for a minute before saying, "Dizzy...I'm wet. Fix it." The icing on the cake was when the driver of the jingle truck jumped out, hooked up our tow strap and pulled us out of the ditch...the "who let the LT drive" jokes may commence.
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