"You always look perfect" --
Sunday, March 16, 2003
I learned on Saturday that a very close friend of mine was involved in a motorcycle accident coming home from work. A motorist travelling in the opposite direction made a left hand turn in front of him, which he was unable to avoid. Hes been in the hospital since Friday with two broken arms, one of which is so badly so that the doctors have yet to devise a plan for putting it back together.
Seeing Adam on Saturday was hard. The pain he was feeling was told by his face, despite the self-administered morphine. I layed my hand on his head and I cried. It was hard to see one of my closest friends barely coherent and completely immobile.
What I heard was absolutely shocking. The motorist, after initially fleeing the scene, returned and asked Adam, who was then lying on the pavement, bleeding from the injury to his left arm, why he "ran into his car". First and foremost, if you make a left hand turn in front of oncoming traffic, and that oncoming traffic has nowhere to go but into you, you are at fault. Without question. You fucked up. Secondly, as noble as it might have been for the motorist to actually return to the scene of the accident, the time and place to start berating an accident victim is not when that person is laying semi-conscious in the middle of the street. It seems that San Francisco is home to a very special breed of asshole.
Thankfully the accident report filed by the police department spoke the truth. Nice try, I suppose.
So often motorists fail to see other vehicles, motorcycles in particular, because they're busy talking on the phone or they're in such a rush. Stories like this hit close to home, and decisions like these practically give motorists a license to kill.
"Anyone who has practiced law in this city for over 30 years, as I have, knows that people don?t see motorcycles. They somehow overlook them."
It makes my stomach turn.
I couldnt sleep last night thinking about Adam and the challenges and risks motorcyclists assume daily. You can drive as safely as you like, and in the end, you put your well being into the hands of every motorist you encounter.
And in this town, thats not a decision that should come easily.
Aa.
