Truly glad you came out as well as you did!
Maybe while healing up you can relate what happened from your perspective?
[If the intersection on Google Maps is at 13499 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Brooksville, Florida]
Looks like she was going southbound on 98, you were going east, and just missed the stop sign?
One single second earlier into the intersection and she would've T-boned you, probably ending your days.
What the damage says is interesting after you hit her at the front of her front wheel and the lower end of the left fork cut the door. The way she spun you to have the pannier hit the rear fender says most of the motion you took was to spin about on a point and that the pannier protected your left leg. You got away with a one in a million!
[ye ol' accident investigator]
The crash happened at the intersection of Ponce de Leon Blvd (US98) and Lake Lindsey Road (CR476) at 1 pm last Saturday. I was westbound on 476 and the van was northbound on 98. I’ve driven this route numerous times and I knew there was a stop sign at 98. My buddy was following me on his Indian, we were riding at the posted limit of 55. I was not impaired or tired.
I don’t remember approaching the intersection, only the pain of hitting the pavement with my lower back and the sound of my helmet hitting the pavement. I didn’t know what happened, just laid on my back trying to catch my breath. My friend was at my side and soon many others arrived and kept me talking but wouldn’t let me get up, my friend told me that I hit a vehicle and I remember asking if the driver was okay. It seemed only a few minutes before EMS arrived and they took me to the ER in Brooksville, they did a ct scan and sent me to the Ocala trauma center about an hour north by ambulance. That was my experience.
According to statements from my friend and the van driver and possibly others, I rolled up to the intersection and stopped and put both feet down. I then proceeded through the intersection and hit the van.
An officer came to see me in the ER and told me that I did stop but I failed to yield the right of way so that’s what he wrote me up for.
Obviously I screwed up big time, my first ticket ever, except for occasional speeding.
There is no excuse for breaking the rules and endangering others, but I’d sure like to know why this happened and how to prevent a repeat. One thing I have thought about is maybe the combination of the polarized clip-on lenses I was wearing, high bright south sun, and the silver coloured vehicle coming north made it difficult to see.