The only accident I have witnessed was my own.

August 2012...2008 Vstar 1100, not the best handling bike. A old guy in front of me was going slow, braking, then accelerating. He veered to the right, got on the shoulder, no signal. Figuring he was pulling into the business on the right, I started to accelerate around him. All of a sudden, he is turning left right in front of me. Being a novice rider and a little too cocky, I jammed on the rear brake. Not sure how much I applied the front. The rear locked immediately and started skidding. I was putting in light steering inputs, not knowing how to do an evasive maneuver at this time, and on a bike that required a lot of skill to pull off that move anyway.

The Vstar started going over low side, tire screaming...I corrected, and the bike immediately flopped over on to its high side, throwing me off and into the path of the driver. I am on my forearms and knees on the asphalt. The driver saw me and stopped, I skidded past the front of his van and into the gravel and grass.

Injuries included a lot of road rash on my arms and legs, and a foot contusion that still swells and causes pain to this day, at times.

I was lucky. DAMN lucky. I could have been run over and who knows what else.

Air crash investigators say that its rarely a major failure that leads to catastrophe, rather a series of small failures that lead up to disaster.

1. I was late for work. I had stopped to talk to a fellow rider for far too long while walking the dog that morning.
2. I was riding faster than I normally do ... 65+ mph on two lane roads I normally ride ~60 mph on...as a result of being late.
3. I didn't take the time to put on my armor jacket, which I had begun to wear more and more often.
4. I wore my sneakers, not boots.
5. I took unusual risks that day, not typical of my normal riding style. Included in these risks was accelerating around the driver, not totally knowing what he was up to.
6. I had done zero practicing / training on that bike.

Not having the right gear resulted in my injuries. If I had the correct gear on, it is likely my injuries would have been minor, possibly non-existent.

I survived, and got back on a bike two years later, after swearing I would never ride again.

It was an experience I learned from. I know where full gear, read and watch videos, reflect on my riding practices, practice evasive maneuvers at low and high speed and ride with caution 99% of the time.

I have signed up for Advanced Rider course, but they can never get enough people in the local class to conduct the training session.

I have logged 25,000 miles since that accident with a few incidents (one person pulled out in front of me, but stopped half out into the lane; a deer ran in front of me and I briefly locked up the front and rear tires on the F6B).