eru000
New member
So, I just got into work from my Sunday-morning commute, and I need to get this off my chest. I was riding into Manhattan from the Williamsburg Bridge.
Anyway, I get off the bridge and make my way to Canal Street (I know, should have taken the Manhattan Bridge, but I took the Williamsburg out of habit), heading west and just before 6th or so (I think it was West Broadway), I was filtering up to the front of a red light and swung around to the left of a minivan from behind. Somehow I lost my balance and I had to lean into his van with my shoulder (I was wearing an armored jacket, no injury or anything), but my mirror/handlebar left a nice 2-foot scratch. No dents or anything, just a relatively gentle scrape. I pulled up to his window and flipped up my visor. I apologized sincerely and he asked "*what did you do*". I told him there was a little scratch (maybe "little" wasn't the right word". I'm not sure if he could actually see it but he said "*LITTLE*?!". He then told me to "get out of here" (the light had turned green by this point). I pulled off to the right in front of him giving him plenty of room to pull over so we could exchange info, but he sped off. I'll assume he got my license
I feel really bad for a number of reasons:
I would really like to find this guy to make it right, but I didn't get his license plate after he pulled off (I was a bit frazzled with the whole thing). I'm still kinda stunned, since I've never done anything like this in the nearly 5 years of my motorcycling career. I've filtered up to tens of thousands of red lights and I lane-split on my commute in heavy traffic every day. I've never even come close to hitting someone's car like this, short of maybe knocking a mirror with my mirror (but that's nothing, really). There's not really much I can do now, but feel bad.
Another thought occurs to me, should I expect some kind of police response from this? He was easily able to get my license plate, so in the case that he calls something in as a "hit and run" (which is bullshit, since he left), would they do anything? Should I report it myself? It happened about an hour ago at this point. I'm currently parked in plain view about 3 blocks from where this happened...
Anyway, I get off the bridge and make my way to Canal Street (I know, should have taken the Manhattan Bridge, but I took the Williamsburg out of habit), heading west and just before 6th or so (I think it was West Broadway), I was filtering up to the front of a red light and swung around to the left of a minivan from behind. Somehow I lost my balance and I had to lean into his van with my shoulder (I was wearing an armored jacket, no injury or anything), but my mirror/handlebar left a nice 2-foot scratch. No dents or anything, just a relatively gentle scrape. I pulled up to his window and flipped up my visor. I apologized sincerely and he asked "*what did you do*". I told him there was a little scratch (maybe "little" wasn't the right word". I'm not sure if he could actually see it but he said "*LITTLE*?!". He then told me to "get out of here" (the light had turned green by this point). I pulled off to the right in front of him giving him plenty of room to pull over so we could exchange info, but he sped off. I'll assume he got my license
I feel really bad for a number of reasons:
- I damaged someone's property doing something dumb
- He left before I could offer to pay for damages, or fix it myself (coincidentally, I just purchased scratch remover for my girlfriend)
- I'm sure I left a bad image for motorcyclists in this guy's head (and possibly onlookers)
- This guy had his whole family in the car, and I probably just ruined his day
I would really like to find this guy to make it right, but I didn't get his license plate after he pulled off (I was a bit frazzled with the whole thing). I'm still kinda stunned, since I've never done anything like this in the nearly 5 years of my motorcycling career. I've filtered up to tens of thousands of red lights and I lane-split on my commute in heavy traffic every day. I've never even come close to hitting someone's car like this, short of maybe knocking a mirror with my mirror (but that's nothing, really). There's not really much I can do now, but feel bad.
Another thought occurs to me, should I expect some kind of police response from this? He was easily able to get my license plate, so in the case that he calls something in as a "hit and run" (which is bullshit, since he left), would they do anything? Should I report it myself? It happened about an hour ago at this point. I'm currently parked in plain view about 3 blocks from where this happened...
