Ok I will share mine..................
On September 9th, 2005, Ugghh I was involved in an accident on my motorcycle. While traveling along
Collings Grove in Dartmouth I had a mishap.... ok.. Accident... , First off.. I was coming home from Halifax
and was cold....... really cold, so I stopped into Tim Hortons Five corners to put on my leathers but got
gabbin and then got side tracked and decided to just jump on my bike and get the heck home.. It was
cold!.. I was cold to the bones, only because it was in the evening, and the weather had been changing
fast... . So off I go to venture home, on my way up Portland Street when Im approaching Portland
Estates I see that there is a string of traffic and the police are detouring traffic up Spring avenue....
ugggh again! I just want to get home.. Im freezen, so up we go to Collings Grove.. I get up to the bottom
of Collins Grove and decide I don’t want to ride on my clutch all the way up the hill behind a line of very
slow moving traffic... and Im frezzen so I swing around to get back to Dorthea Drive and scoot home.....
Little did I know that the street had totally changed since I was last on it.. You used to be able to ride
straight thru to Spring Ave from Collins Grove, something I guess the community didn't like because all of
a sudden they put in a new boulevard, so you would have to stop and go around it..... well..... with no
street light and no warning signs, I'm on top of the corner and the curb and lookin ahead, when I see the
corner fast approaching me.... ......hmmmmmmm I see the garden ahead in the boulevard, I'm sure I can
get thru the garden and to the other side safely and then venture on... It was on me so fast that I really
didn't have much of a choice other than to get up over the curb and get onto the other side. When I first
saw the curb... ... I grabbed onto my brakes and waaaaaaalaaaaaaaaaaa I locked up my brakes, I
thought that I should tap on my brakes and get myself out of this situation.. So I go for it!.. Tap tap tap..
Ok.. I'm out of the locked brake situation ... so on I go.. But... I ride with my feet on the controls with my
feet pointing outwards.... big mistake... here I am in a situation and motoring out of control on my bike
thru a landscaped garden with my feet out.... little did I realize there were poles sticking up out of the
garden that you couldn't see - they were in the ground for the cable, electricity, etc for the condos on
Collins Grove..... so on my travels thru the garden with my feet in the outward position I hit a pole.......
and in doing so.. I knocked my foot off.....Big fat ouch!.I don’t really remember my chin hitting the
windshield but the bruises inside my mouth told me so.. So when I get to the other side of the garden I
put my bike down, very carefully....... ....... Now.. My bike is pointing one way, and my body is pointing in
another.. So that tells me....... . In my head I was saying “ Jump. Jump jump,!" Thank goodness I didn't
run into a car, because there was a whack of traffic there.. .. I know there was a lot of cars there and for
some strange reason I got to put my bike down ohhhhhh so carefully alongside the curb. I looked up and
thought... thank goodness Im not hit and , Im ok.... then I looked down to my foot..... uuuuugggh again.....
my foot is now off.... and the only thing holding it together is the ligaments and muscles... like my foot was
knocked off!... sooooooo what else is a gal to do...... I started to scream my face off, and loudly... .....
And I continued to do so until the ambulance got there.....and poked me with a big fat needle. With the
"shut the chick up medicine inside" My little angel in all of this was Carson...... He heard the crash and
came running out of his house.. I looked over into his driveway to see a big honkin bike sitting there.. So
in there was a sigh of relief there... ...... a biker.. Phewwww he will understand all of this.... and of course
he did, He called 911 and stayed with me along with several others until the amublance got there.. I kept
saying to him.... ya gotta look after my bike... And he assured me that everything would be ok.... He said
who should I call... I said.. Mark my neighbor... he was a biker too and he would take care of the
situation...... bikers bikers bikers.. I knew I could count on bikers...... He was there within minutes to take
my bike back home to where it belonged while I was taken off to the hospital to get that foot put back into
place... uuurrrrg again.. Because it hurt!.. Im laying there in Emergency, and in comes the police....
uuurrggg again.. He says to me... I had to come in to see you..... “I'm a biker too!” And I wanted to see
you were ok and tell you - I think you handled the situation well. You did everything possible to avoid the
worst... and then proceeded to hand me a ticket for not having my insurance on my bike.. $930.00!!...
ouch.. But gave me time to produce it so that I wouldn't be nailed with a fine that high... I had it on the bike
.. They just couldn't find it......... so all was cool. He was a young police officer.... and while I was in
emergency, anticipating surgery to get my foot back on..... He stands there and hands me back my
helmet...... and says to me.... “ Here is your HAT back” Knowing very well that I was riding my bike with a
NON DOT approved motorcycle helmet..... I just looked at him and said...... I'm going to change that........I
promise!!!..... and with that said he turned around and walked out of emergency.......no fine!... I had a
nice big sigh of relief because he could have charge me on that one too...... Where was my head in this
situation? I'm embarassed to tell the story, but also feel this could have happened to anyone....... at that
time - DOT was not being enforced... Leathers didn't matter, getting home was #1...... all for what!.. I
have changed my views now on leathers, DOT and not being aware of my surroundings........
On the days that followed I became aware of how fortunate I was to have wonderful people around me for
support, the right kind of insurance to handle increasingly large medical costs, and an understanding
employer to allow me to heal before going back to work.
Wayne, family and my neighbors were my greatest supporters! My neighbor and my brother Bill and
Lorraine, showed up on our doorstep the day after the accident to offer their support and continued the
flow of Tim Hortons coffee for weeks!!!.. . After showing off my road rash and broken bones, I started to
think about those bikers that have gone down in similar or even more serious crashes. And I always
wanted to figure out a way for me as an individual, to help bikers who don't have anywhere else to turn. I
was so fortunate..... I had everything.. But I thought endlessly of those that didn’t have that
luxury.....
That is when I thought about doing something for the bikers........... me and Pam, and Marlene , Jimi and
Rene....... and so many others - its always been on our minds!.. That is what happens when you are in
that situation........ We need help and we need awareness......... It's a way for us all to help out by
supporting awareness through education. Through this society we hope to:
Help Bikers Down.... of course
Provide safety information.
Help bikers become aware of different insurance coverage options.
Provide assistance for those in need.
So with that said........and the story told........ I would hope you would support this... and stand behind the
biker....... and make a difference in many bikers lives!..
If you have any stories you want to share.........please do so at janice@novascotiabikers.com
Got stories........?
Greg’s Story
Well, here goes.. On September 18th, 2001 I was coming home from the city and was about 3
miles from my home at 10.30 -11.00 pm. I had just enter into a s-curve and realize that the car
that was coming was on my side of the road. It was looking like a head on collision but because
of the ARC courses I had taken over the years had taught me not to freeze but to react to this
kind of thing. I tried to counter-steering to avoid the head on collision, I thought I had but.... he
still hit me . Boy, did things start to change then. I could feel the impact of the two vehicles
coming together and it seem like forever before we came apart. Everything seem to slow down,
really slow. Once apart the bike started to shake and I tried to gain control but could not. The
bike went down and I realize that I had to get away from it. The bike and I both landed in the
ditch and I had to climb up the bank back up to the highway. What a experience that was! .Once
up on the highway I had a hard time trying to get my helmet off because my left hand was in bad
shape also my left side was hurting like hell. I finally got it off and could not believe my eyes.
There was no car or what ever hit me to be found..I started to stagger around and finally saw a
set of lights coming at me. I started to wave at them to stop and sure enough it did. Talk about
good luck, it turn out to be the RCMP in the car . Boy what luck. Someone was looking after me
that night. He (RCMP) thought I was drunk because how I was falling around . Once out of the
cruiser he realize that I had been hurt.. He could still hear my bike running in the ditch. I told him
that I had been hit by someone and that they had taken off. I also said some other things that I
will not print.. He (RCMP) saved my life that night, because of his actions, getting the
ambulance and taking charge of things. I was rushed into the QEII trauma center and had
to have surgery right away because my spleen had been ruptured badly and I was bleeding
inside. I lost my spleen and also parts of my left hand and had my wrist bones scattered. I spent
10 days in the hospital and had so many visitors come see me and a hell of alot of the people
were from the bike world. Boy what an experience this was. I had so much help from everyone. It
help in my recovery..That accident happen in September 18, 2001 and in April 2002, I was back
on the bike. I had to get a different one, mine was totaled. I believe that because of the different
safety courses I have taken over the years and someone looking after me , that is why I am here
still today. My thoughts of life are that, I fell off my bicycle when I was young and also fell off a
horse and still got back on.. I was pushed off my motorcycle but still managed to get back up in
the saddle again. This experience has taught me a lot about motorcycling and how quick your
life can change.. I still enjoy our sport and , I hope I am a little wiser. I have since then gone
across Canada on my bike and enjoy every bit of it. Remember to always drive safely....
but shit still happens to anyone . Keep the shinny side up. Have a great and safe summer,
Gregory A Gallant..(GWRRA ,CHAPTER " A"
August 12, 2005.
It was a beautiful clear sunny summer afternoon. I rode from West Porters Lake to Toads to get
something checked on my 650 V-Star. After leaving Toads with a clean bill of health, I decided to
head westbound through Westphal to the Irving station at the Forest Hills intersection to get a little
extra riding time. Just before Montague Road, I changed into the left lane so I wouldn't have to make
the lane change where there would be more traffic as it was getting to be that time of day. Traffic
was building in the right lane but the left lane was clear so I was doing close to the speed limit of
60km/hr. Then I noticed a mini-van heading in the opposite direction. He was stopped and
signalling to turn left into the Gateway Meat Market. I focused on him in case he started to pull out in
front of me. As I said, traffic was building in the right lane and slowing down for the light at Forest
Hills Drive. Beside me there was a van or SUV or something bigger than me which naturally
obscured my vision. The next thing I knew there was a car directly across my path. There was no
time to stop but I hit both brakes and then make that wonderful "hazard avoidance" steering
technique that I learned in the Gearing Up program. That action saved me from T-boning that lady's
car but what it did do was put me into the oncoming traffic. I kept trying to pull a tight right-hand turn
to get back in my own lane but there was just not enough space between the vehicles and I hit the
on-coming van head-on. I remember saying "Oh, shit" and I remember hearing the van's headlight
break. The next thing I knew, I was on the pavement. I don't remember hitting the windshield but
the windshield was cracked and I had a laceration in my mouth so I am guessing that I did. I don't
know if I became a little airborn or if the bike just slid away from me, or a combination of both, but
where I landed was about 6-10 feet away from my bike. I did not lose conscientiousness and I did
not have any sign of head or neck injuries but I knew that I had broken bones. Didn't know how
many or how severe but I knew I had them. A man that was behind the van that I hit jumped out of
his vehicle and offered to help. I asked him to call an ambulance. A lady came up and offered to
help and I asked her to call my better half. Her message to him was simply, "Your wife was in a
motorcycle accident and the ambulance is on its way." Scared him half to death. A few minutes later
there was another man who knelt behind me and offered support. He also seemed to take charge of
what was happening. I don't know who he was as I coudn't see him and he didn't introduce himself.
When the parmedics arrived he gave them a report and he also gave a report to the responding
RCMP officer. The paramedic asked him if he was a doctor and he said that he was RCMP, so
obviously he was not in uniform so either undercover or off-duty. Incidentally, the lady was charged
at the scene under the Motor Vehicle Act. Like Greg in your first story, I uttered a lot of words that
cannot be repeated here both because of the pain and the stupidy of the other driver. My obvious
injuries were to my left leg and right arm so the paramedics had to cut off my clothes so they could
effectively complete their examination. By this time it is peak traffic time and I am in the middle of
Main Street with very little clothing on. The paramedic asked a fireman who was standing there to
pass him a blanket out of the ambulance. The fireman says. "Huh?" The paramedic repeated the
statement. The fireman says, "You want a blanket?" So, I said, "It's about the privacy thing. Maybe
you aren't used to covering up the ones that are still talking. Yes, a blanket would be nice." So I got
splinted, collared, put on a back board and loaded into the ambulance. The pain was unbearable so
my defence was to be witty. Once he completed his physical examination, did the neurological
screen - you know the drill, follow my finger, and how many fingers do you see and started an IV, he
radioed the QEII emergency to get an order for IV morphine. It seemed to take forever for the
Morphine to take the edge off but when it kicked in my thoughts turned to spending a nice Friday
evening in the emergency department and having to cancel a bike trip we had planned to Cape
Breton the following weekend. At the QEII emerg. the x-rays and all that stuff happened. The
laceration in my mouth required sutures and I had 3 fractures in my left leg that required surgery, a
fractured radius (arm/wrist), fractured left 5th finger, torn rotator cuff which luckily did not require
surgery and multiple bumbs and bruises. I was in hospital for 10 days and I was not allowed weight
bearing on my leg for 10 weeks. I couldn't use crutches because of my arm and shoulder so I was in
a wheelchair for those 10 weeks. I also had a hard time with the wheelchair because our house is
not wheelchair friendly and I only had one useful arm that only had a half useful hand on it.
The recovery process was a slow, painful and frustrating nightmare. I attended 105 physiotherapy
sessions, I went to aquatherapy for a few months and I spent a year with a trainer in a gym. I had 2
additional surgeries on my leg, during that time, as it wasn't healing and after 3 years I am left with
range of motion limitations in my right wrist and left pinkie finger and I have impact and endurance
restrictions in my leg. I returned to work after 9 months but I had to retire early as I could not
perform all of my duties. I am now working part time hours at the physio clinic that I attended, making
little more than minimum wage.
My bike was written off. I bought a new one in 2006 and I am back in the saddle but my riding
attitude is very different. I am very nervous and paranoid when surrounded by other cars and prefer
to ride in the relative safety of country roads. That's why you don't see me around much anymore. I
am thankful that things were not a lot worse, which they would have been if the guy I hit had been in
motion, but I resent the people who say, "You were lucky." That's like saying someone is lucky
because they got to work without getting hit by a bus. "Lucky" would have been no accident at all. I
am thankful that I was not killed or had serious head injuries, but "lucky?" No!
So now there is the insurance settlement thing. That is the biggest nightmare of all. My insurance
company was excellent. They were very supportive and went out of their way to make sure that I had
everything that I needed to support my recovery. I can't say enough about them. Because this is
still an open case, I will not name names but I will tell everyone, for future reference, what can be
expected if they are unfortunate enough to be in the situation. Most insurance companies will refuse
to negotiate a settlement. My lawyer sent the initial "letter of demand", as they call it, on December
5, 2007 and there was no response until August 15, 2008. Legally you have 3 years to file a claim
so they waited until the last gun was fired to give a response. In response they filed a defence with
the courts alleging that it was my fault. The defence made many derogatory statments including,
"failure to drive in a safe manner, failure to maintain the bike in good condition, failure to take
avoidance actions, failure to pay attention, driving while incompetent, etc., etc., etc. Even though I
am the plaintiff in the case, they have turned it around and put me on the defensive. Now the onus
is on me to prove their allegations to be incorrect. My legal counsel advised me this is standard
practice and that the defence wording is standard text. They want to try and show that I contributed
to my own injuries in some way to reduce the amount that they have to pay out. Also, the longer the
money is in their bank account, the more interest they get. They also hope that the more time that
passes, the more I will forget, misplace or otherwise not have and they hope that I will be hungry
enough to take their first offer. Sadly, this happens in too many cases. I was advised at the very
beginning to keep track of everything and to keep a detailed journal. I did exactly that. As a matter
of fact, I am still keeping the journal. I keep my journal in volumes so that I can send it to my lawyer
at periodic intervals. That way it is more likely to be read in its entirety and there is no room for
anyone to accuse me of changing anything after the fact. My case will be going to discoveries within
the next 12 months. My lawyer told me that because I have so much documentation and I have all
the I's dotted and T's crossed, that hopefully it will still get settled out of court. I am determined not
to let them beat me. Financially, things are tight but I am not starving and the bills are getting paid.
I have had a few close calls since then (drivers not paying attention, or on cell phones, etc.) but I
have been "lucky". Today though, a man in a 1/2 ton truck backed into me in a parking lot. He was
a fellow biker and felt very bad. He honestly didn't know I was behind him. He has offerd to pay the
damages ($500) to my bike and I was not hurt. I put added stress on my weak leg and knee to keep
the bike from falling over and I have a fair amount of discomfort there at the moment but that will
pass with a couple of Tylenol.
It's a dangerous world out there and it stands to get worse. With the ever increasing interest in the
sport itself combined with the need for a more fuel efficient mode of transportation, there wil be more
and more motorcycles and bicycles on the roads in the future and drivers of the 4-wheel variety
seem to be getting worse. I have a friend who said that she never saw motorcycles until I started
riding and now she sees them all. I honestly believe that the new drivers handbook and road test
should have a section on motorcycle awareness. May or may not help but it certainly couldn't hurt.
Kathy Allison
West Porters Lake
'06 Boulevard C50T
It was a beautiful clear sunny summer afternoon. I rode from West Porters Lake to Toads to get
something checked on my 650 V-Star. After leaving Toads with a clean bill of health, I decided to
head westbound through Westphal to the Irving station at the Forest Hills intersection to get a little
extra riding time. Just before Montague Road, I changed into the left lane so I wouldn't have to make
the lane change where there would be more traffic as it was getting to be that time of day. Traffic
was building in the right lane but the left lane was clear so I was doing close to the speed limit of
60km/hr. Then I noticed a mini-van heading in the opposite direction. He was stopped and
signalling to turn left into the Gateway Meat Market. I focused on him in case he started to pull out in
front of me. As I said, traffic was building in the right lane and slowing down for the light at Forest
Hills Drive. Beside me there was a van or SUV or something bigger than me which naturally
obscured my vision. The next thing I knew there was a car directly across my path. There was no
time to stop but I hit both brakes and then make that wonderful "hazard avoidance" steering
technique that I learned in the Gearing Up program. That action saved me from T-boning that lady's
car but what it did do was put me into the oncoming traffic. I kept trying to pull a tight right-hand turn
to get back in my own lane but there was just not enough space between the vehicles and I hit the
on-coming van head-on. I remember saying "Oh, shit" and I remember hearing the van's headlight
break. The next thing I knew, I was on the pavement. I don't remember hitting the windshield but
the windshield was cracked and I had a laceration in my mouth so I am guessing that I did. I don't
know if I became a little airborn or if the bike just slid away from me, or a combination of both, but
where I landed was about 6-10 feet away from my bike. I did not lose conscientiousness and I did
not have any sign of head or neck injuries but I knew that I had broken bones. Didn't know how
many or how severe but I knew I had them. A man that was behind the van that I hit jumped out of
his vehicle and offered to help. I asked him to call an ambulance. A lady came up and offered to
help and I asked her to call my better half. Her message to him was simply, "Your wife was in a
motorcycle accident and the ambulance is on its way." Scared him half to death. A few minutes later
there was another man who knelt behind me and offered support. He also seemed to take charge of
what was happening. I don't know who he was as I coudn't see him and he didn't introduce himself.
When the parmedics arrived he gave them a report and he also gave a report to the responding
RCMP officer. The paramedic asked him if he was a doctor and he said that he was RCMP, so
obviously he was not in uniform so either undercover or off-duty. Incidentally, the lady was charged
at the scene under the Motor Vehicle Act. Like Greg in your first story, I uttered a lot of words that
cannot be repeated here both because of the pain and the stupidy of the other driver. My obvious
injuries were to my left leg and right arm so the paramedics had to cut off my clothes so they could
effectively complete their examination. By this time it is peak traffic time and I am in the middle of
Main Street with very little clothing on. The paramedic asked a fireman who was standing there to
pass him a blanket out of the ambulance. The fireman says. "Huh?" The paramedic repeated the
statement. The fireman says, "You want a blanket?" So, I said, "It's about the privacy thing. Maybe
you aren't used to covering up the ones that are still talking. Yes, a blanket would be nice." So I got
splinted, collared, put on a back board and loaded into the ambulance. The pain was unbearable so
my defence was to be witty. Once he completed his physical examination, did the neurological
screen - you know the drill, follow my finger, and how many fingers do you see and started an IV, he
radioed the QEII emergency to get an order for IV morphine. It seemed to take forever for the
Morphine to take the edge off but when it kicked in my thoughts turned to spending a nice Friday
evening in the emergency department and having to cancel a bike trip we had planned to Cape
Breton the following weekend. At the QEII emerg. the x-rays and all that stuff happened. The
laceration in my mouth required sutures and I had 3 fractures in my left leg that required surgery, a
fractured radius (arm/wrist), fractured left 5th finger, torn rotator cuff which luckily did not require
surgery and multiple bumbs and bruises. I was in hospital for 10 days and I was not allowed weight
bearing on my leg for 10 weeks. I couldn't use crutches because of my arm and shoulder so I was in
a wheelchair for those 10 weeks. I also had a hard time with the wheelchair because our house is
not wheelchair friendly and I only had one useful arm that only had a half useful hand on it.
The recovery process was a slow, painful and frustrating nightmare. I attended 105 physiotherapy
sessions, I went to aquatherapy for a few months and I spent a year with a trainer in a gym. I had 2
additional surgeries on my leg, during that time, as it wasn't healing and after 3 years I am left with
range of motion limitations in my right wrist and left pinkie finger and I have impact and endurance
restrictions in my leg. I returned to work after 9 months but I had to retire early as I could not
perform all of my duties. I am now working part time hours at the physio clinic that I attended, making
little more than minimum wage.
My bike was written off. I bought a new one in 2006 and I am back in the saddle but my riding
attitude is very different. I am very nervous and paranoid when surrounded by other cars and prefer
to ride in the relative safety of country roads. That's why you don't see me around much anymore. I
am thankful that things were not a lot worse, which they would have been if the guy I hit had been in
motion, but I resent the people who say, "You were lucky." That's like saying someone is lucky
because they got to work without getting hit by a bus. "Lucky" would have been no accident at all. I
am thankful that I was not killed or had serious head injuries, but "lucky?" No!
So now there is the insurance settlement thing. That is the biggest nightmare of all. My insurance
company was excellent. They were very supportive and went out of their way to make sure that I had
everything that I needed to support my recovery. I can't say enough about them. Because this is
still an open case, I will not name names but I will tell everyone, for future reference, what can be
expected if they are unfortunate enough to be in the situation. Most insurance companies will refuse
to negotiate a settlement. My lawyer sent the initial "letter of demand", as they call it, on December
5, 2007 and there was no response until August 15, 2008. Legally you have 3 years to file a claim
so they waited until the last gun was fired to give a response. In response they filed a defence with
the courts alleging that it was my fault. The defence made many derogatory statments including,
"failure to drive in a safe manner, failure to maintain the bike in good condition, failure to take
avoidance actions, failure to pay attention, driving while incompetent, etc., etc., etc. Even though I
am the plaintiff in the case, they have turned it around and put me on the defensive. Now the onus
is on me to prove their allegations to be incorrect. My legal counsel advised me this is standard
practice and that the defence wording is standard text. They want to try and show that I contributed
to my own injuries in some way to reduce the amount that they have to pay out. Also, the longer the
money is in their bank account, the more interest they get. They also hope that the more time that
passes, the more I will forget, misplace or otherwise not have and they hope that I will be hungry
enough to take their first offer. Sadly, this happens in too many cases. I was advised at the very
beginning to keep track of everything and to keep a detailed journal. I did exactly that. As a matter
of fact, I am still keeping the journal. I keep my journal in volumes so that I can send it to my lawyer
at periodic intervals. That way it is more likely to be read in its entirety and there is no room for
anyone to accuse me of changing anything after the fact. My case will be going to discoveries within
the next 12 months. My lawyer told me that because I have so much documentation and I have all
the I's dotted and T's crossed, that hopefully it will still get settled out of court. I am determined not
to let them beat me. Financially, things are tight but I am not starving and the bills are getting paid.
I have had a few close calls since then (drivers not paying attention, or on cell phones, etc.) but I
have been "lucky". Today though, a man in a 1/2 ton truck backed into me in a parking lot. He was
a fellow biker and felt very bad. He honestly didn't know I was behind him. He has offerd to pay the
damages ($500) to my bike and I was not hurt. I put added stress on my weak leg and knee to keep
the bike from falling over and I have a fair amount of discomfort there at the moment but that will
pass with a couple of Tylenol.
It's a dangerous world out there and it stands to get worse. With the ever increasing interest in the
sport itself combined with the need for a more fuel efficient mode of transportation, there wil be more
and more motorcycles and bicycles on the roads in the future and drivers of the 4-wheel variety
seem to be getting worse. I have a friend who said that she never saw motorcycles until I started
riding and now she sees them all. I honestly believe that the new drivers handbook and road test
should have a section on motorcycle awareness. May or may not help but it certainly couldn't hurt.
Kathy Allison
West Porters Lake
'06 Boulevard C50T
Kathy's Story