accident

My dad had an unpleasantly literal run-in with a van today. He came away with just scrapes, bruises, a mild concussion, and wounded pride. This is the first time he has been admitted to a hospital since 1960 and it is his first accident involving another vehicle in his 40-odd years of motorcycle experience. It wasn't his fault. The other driver didn't see him and turned across his lane right in front of him. He laid his bike over to avoid hitting it straight on but still skidded into the side. He looks kind of out of it in the picture. He was like that for a while. It is never pleasant to get a phone call from the hospital about an accident. It could have been much worse.

The bike — the glorious VTX 1800 — should be ok. The front forks, fender, headlight, and left side turn signals need to be replaced and there was a coolant leak somewhere but the engine, drive-train, gas tank, and most everything else, don't have a scratch on them. He doesn't have collision insurance but that's ok because he wasn't at fault according to the accident report. This whole thing has shaken me up a bit. My dad is a much more defensive rider than I am. I need to be more careful. I'm not reckless and I wear a helmet but that is far from an assurance of safety.