| Author | Message | ||
     Dougshd |
I was in a accident where a woman crossed into my lane on a sharp bend.I never had a chance. My 09 CR burst into flames and my buddy behind me slid into my bike on his 09 1125R.Both bikes were burnt to a crisp. I spent 69 days in the hospital. Has anyone else heard of fuel tanks splitting open? I uploaded a picture,I hope it's sized right.  | ||
| Crabby |
You mean the frame splitting apart? | ||
| Gemini |
glad to hear you lived through it http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/06/07/news/ srv0000008472534.txt | ||
| Stirz007 |
I don't think "frame splitting" is common, as in: "I doubt this is, in any way, attributable to manufacturing defect". Now throw a 3000 lb vehicle collision into the mix, then all bets are off. I am unaware of codes or requirements for motorcycle gas tank construction to resist impact from a car. Check NTSB. Or our resident elves may know. Sorry about wreck - hope you mend. JM | ||
| Trekerguy |
Im glad you are ok. Sorry about the bad crash. Having been in an accident where I was burned over 35% of my body and 60 days in a burn unit I can relate. I wish you the best...I was much younger at the time,the scars are still here . If you ever need to chat just EMAIL. Mark- | ||
| Budgolf |
That's freaking nuts man. | ||
| Trbulnt |
Sorry you wrecked. According to the article though it states that... State police said that Heimbach's motorcycle was traveling around a curve in the road and drifted into the westbound lane, into the path of the Infiniti. yet you state that the car came into your lane. Like others mentioned, that the impact would most likely cause the frame to crack allowing the gas to hit the hot exhaust, ending in fire. What are you trying to get at with this thread? | ||
| Dannybuell |
Dougshd - I hope you heal so quickly that June 2010 becomes a distant memory. | ||
| Dmhines |
Wow. That's crazy! I notice in the article it says you crossed lanes not the car. Did they ever retract that statement? | ||
| Lucky_jim |
Wow dude.. um.. glad you got healed up!! Seriously, I can't even imagine going through something like that. I think I've seen a bunch of other accidents where the bikes have caught on fire, but I don't know the circumstances behind them. | ||
| Marcodesade |
Guy Martin at Isle of Man, this year:  | ||
| Naiguy |
the day before guy crashed a rider passed away crashing in the same turn. I think an exploding bike is a blessing if you live See the blue sky and smell the flowers again! I'm glad you are able to have healed up and live on. I think buell are less likleh to explode than a regular tanked bike IMHO in a day to day crash but in a " destroyed in seconds" crash all things are outof control. | ||
| Father_of_an_era |
Wow! That is unbelievable and I hope you and all involved are doing much better. Do the police reports support your recollection of the accident or do they support the story written by the Mercury? How is your ridding partner and the driver of the car? | ||
| Davegess |
My understanding is that the front end of the frame, in front of the fuel section is designed to fail from certain impacts well before the fuel tank would fail. Lots of impacts could cause fuel to leave the fuel tank, most bike have very thin steel tanks that would rupture with far less impact than the Buell tank would take. Glad you are OK. Very scary'! | ||
| Catalan42 |
Wow. I'm glad you are still alive and I hope you are healing well. I was once rear-ended in a car at about 65 vs 5 mph which crunched the trunk and ruptured the just-filled tank, pouring 12+ gallons of gas onto the road in about 5 seconds. I am still surprised it didn't all go up in flames at once.... | ||
| Painkiller |
It also said it was two Harley Riders in the article. But the ZTL disc is still clearly visible. Don't trust the paper or the cops. They are biased against us. *rant complete* Hope you have a speedy recovery and no lingering effects. Amazing that the bike got toasted. | ||
| Jules |
OK, color me confused... It says "explosion" in the thread header but there was no explosion according to the witnesses... Yes, fuel tanks do split open, fuel does spill and it does ignite.. it's the same with most vehicles so what was the point again? Glad you survived, not surprised your recollection and that of the press differs, it'd be interesting to learn what the final outcome was in the "who is to blame" stakes but moreout of idle curiosity than anything else. | ||
| Blake |
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=225457 Doug, Police report you ran into oncoming lane. You state "fuel tank explosion." Looking for a lawsuit? "Has anyone else heard of fuel tanks splitting open?" Of their own volition? No. As a result of severe collision? Yes. It can happen to any vehicle anywhere. | ||
| Marcodesade |
One of my first questions (about who was in whose lane) would have been answered, I thought, by whether the turn was a right-hander or a left-hander. On a right-hander, running wide puts you in the opposing traffic lanes; on a left-hander, you end up on the shoulder. So I was guessing that whoever was making a right was probably the one on the wrong side of the line. Unfortunately, if you zoom in on the map included in Blake's link, you see (from the bike's eastbound perspective) a right-hander FOLLOWED by a left-hander (and that left-hander is a right-hander to the car coming in the opposite direction). So, based on the "accident site" arrow, the bike is in a right-hander, and the car just finished one. I can't make a presumption based on the map alone who was on the wrong side. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Both articles state the bike drifted into the car's lane. Unless you have evidence otherwise sounds like operator error on your part. Fuel tank explosion? Not hardly. More like catastrophic failure due to a head on collision. Sorry you got hurt. Rewriting history won't make things better though. | ||
| Pattio |
'History is written by winners' It's been my experience that cops simply write down whatever drivers tell them when interviewed. Therefore, the (probably uninjured) car driver can say whatever they want while the rider is en route to the hospital, or worse. | ||
| Hootowl |
"It's been my experience that cops simply write down whatever drivers tell them when interviewed" Been there. I got t-boned by a car that blew through a stop sign at a 4-way. I neglected to tell the cop I was turning left (I thought it was pretty obvious from the position of the wrecked vehicles, and I was lying in a hospital bed) so he had the diagram on the police report wrong. The other driver's insurance company refused to pay because it was no longer obvious who was in the intersection first. Lesson learned. | ||
| Court |
>>>Looking for a lawsuit? There may be one against the driver of the other vehicle if negligence could be proven. There's no liability whatsoever on the part of a motorcycle manufacturer to keep gasoline from burning or to prevent a metal vessel from rupturing when impacted by a car. (Note: There are such requirements for cars) If you were a passenger you may have a cause of action against the operator of the motorcycle. Tough call. For a rather complete treatise on duty of manufacturers to produce safe products and the extent to which "how safe is safe enough" (sometimes known as the "greatest idiot doctrine) read any of the writings by Anita Bernstein, I suggest "A Products Liability Anthology". | ||
| Court |
In theory . . . using the one car length for every 10 mph that we were all taught . . . . this would indicate that if the motorcycles were going faster than 20 mph the rider was following too closely .. the motorcycle would have had many more exposed hot parts than the car. There MAY be a lawsuit by motorcyclist #1 against #2. Speed is never mentioned so it's impossible to tell. There is a chance the the fuel was ignited by one motorcycle following another too closely. | ||
| Pwillikers |
From the Hurt Report findings: 15. Fuel system leaks and spills were present in 62% of the motorcycle accidents in the post-crash phase. This represents an undue hazard for fire. | ||
| Jules |
That's the same report that says: 55. Less than 10% of the motorcycle riders involved in these accidents had insurance of any kind to provide medical care or replace property. That hardly seems likely.. | ||
| Froggy |
The study was done about 30 years ago, I would like to see more modern results, but I doubt it is much higher than that now. Insurance laws and regulations vary by area, many I know ride with only minimum coverage on their bikes, usually only basic liability insurance, and not medical or collision. | ||
| Stirz007 |
"Less than 10% of the motorcycle riders involved in these accidents had insurance of any kind..." Less than 10% had insurance at all? That IS really low... Basic liability coverage is required almost everywhere in the U.S. (I think). So being the genius that I sometims am I decided that because I have full medical through work, I did not need to go full medical on the bikes. (Somewhat of) A big mistake. I managed to launch myself through the back of a Exploder a few years back - Owner was nice enough to send me a momento shot. Getting my nice ride to the ER covered took over 11 months. Classic pissin match - Geico wouldn't cover, because not part of motorcycle policy. Blue Cross wouldn't cover because I had Geico on my bike. I finally threatened Blue Cross with a breach of contract suit after the hospital finally got tired of being patient. Claim settled within a week.  | ||
| Dannybuell |
Utah plates implies Regence BCBS, doesn't surprise me. | ||
| Stirz007 |
Danny - good catch. Actually parent company is out of Iowa, or BCBS of Iowa, but same FUBAR kinda deal. Good thing I keep all my documentation - caught them lying a couple of times. JM |
