By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
This is not a sentence I planned to ever write, but this past Friday I was run over by a truck, while riding home early to beat the weekend rush hour. It was a warm sunny day, and I was happy about the weekend and the new iPod Nano I had in my backpack as a surprise gift for a friend.
The pics I provide are my way of trying to at least get something scienetific out of a very bad day. As you can see here, a semi-truck will run a Nano flat, will bend a latptop screen like a shell, and nothing seems safe, even the bent batteries inside a cordless Logitech mouse.
I guess in the end, I am thankful to be alive and amazed at how much damage a huge vehicle can cause. To all riders, let me just remind you to wear your helmet and take care.
Luckily for me, the truck ran over my backpack (that was on my back at the time) and just a small portion of my left hand (which has seen better days but is minor all things considered) but as you can see here, almost everything in my backpack was destroyed including my beloved ThinkPad, Blackberry, all the chargers and even the electrical prongs and batteries deep inside the mice and chargers.
Well atleast you have one hell of a story to tell your kids/grandkids. How many people can say they were run over by a semi and lived?
Not even a truck can stop you Alice! Electronics can be replaced, People can’t. At least now you have a good story for the . I’m glad you are alright.
I have to say that when I stood up and the tires were almost waist high I had to sit back down again and almost started crying -it scared me that bad, but it is definitely something I wasn’t expecting to have on my list of experiences. When you fly over 100K miles a year to really scary places, I guess I figured my number would come up that way, not a block from my office on a nice and mellow friday afternoon. An idiot opening their car door or someone who cuts you off, maybe, but a semi parked at a light who decides to jump the traffic and doeasn’t see you up in front. Ouch!
I still don’t get how batteries inside a mouse, deeps inside a backpack bent, and how the prongs snapped off the charger to my new Pepper Pad (Which I left at home) so now that is out of comission. But man, I was lucky!
My goodness!!! I am glad you are at least mostly physically ok!!
I hope he/she loses their license.
Get well wishes from here to you Alice!
Mike
P.S. It was only an Ipod – now if it was a REAL mp3 player, we would have problems
(I’m glad your ok!) I would total up the damages and turn it into the truck drivers insurance company, maybe you can get reinburst for your equipment. Just trying to look out for you, Alice!
Good to see your left hand is still typing Alice
Alice, don’t you know truckers own the road and you are supposed to get out of thier way?
Glad you are okay.
Wow…glad you are okay! It basically looks like you sent those items through the US mail, on a good day. No scooter pics?
Glad you’re ok, Alice. If I were you, I would contact the law firm of Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, and get compensation for the excruciating mental anguish that you are obviously going through.
Whoa. That’s scary. I’m glad you’re alright. I hope your hand gets better. Take care.
Holy Crap! I’m glad you are doing somewhat ok. Glad you survived, hope you get better real soon.
very sorry to hear of your accident..VERY glad you are ok. Now you can hear a little something i heard when i was a young man “there are two types of riders, those who have wrecked and those that WILL wreck”. Now that you have yours out of the way, proceed with caution, as always. You might want to consider some leathers for further protection. I can recommend some (Harley FXRG clothing, helmet, etc.), but there are others. I can tell you fromn personal experience that the FXRG gear WORKS!
Once again, glad you are OK!
Wow, I am glad that you are still with us! Now if today’s gadgets were built like the old Dell black Lats… Basically, I know of a CFO who years ago, accidentally ran over her laptop bag with her 1988 gas guzzling Buick, and all she had to do was snap the Dell’s case back into place.
=:8
On the brighter side, I wonder if the Nano’s screen got scratched
lol 
We’re all glad you are OK.
Andy Out!
Have you considered commuting in an Abrams tank?
I hope your left hand (as well as the rest of you)is OK.
I’m glad that you are ok. You should be able to recover the lost equipment through insurance.
I’m glad that you are ok. Take it easy next time….:)
Just tell Bill to relax.. one day his site might be as good as Realtechnews. Till then he has to stay on the east coast!
I don’t know if there’s a patron saint for bikers, but it sure was good to hear that you weren’t hurt any worse. Please take care.
> Just tell Bill to relax.. one day his site might be as good as Realtechnews. Till then he has to stay on the east coast!
Where is Bill’s site?
Andy Out!
Alice:
Good to hear that you are ok. Get well soon!
wow! glad you are ok. looks like the stuff you had with you weren’t. as for the people taking shots at others here, this just isn’t the right place or time.
Take care Alice!!!
Thanks everyone. That was a close one, but I am doing well and working on getting a new laptop and so on. And yes, note to self – Trucks always win!
Holy crap!! I’m catching up on my normal Monday reading (on Tuesday, 24th was a public hoilday)and my little heart missed a beat…thankfully you are ok Alice. Our community in tech/geek world seems so close as we are only a mouse click or typed word away from each other. Even though we are seperated by oceans and land mass.
Even down under in little old New Zealand people on scooters always come off second best. Maybe the scooter could be painted bright orange or something then everyone would notice you on the road!!
Alice, take care and glad to see you up and running…
Cheers Ken
Wow, I’m glad you’re OK. I rode a motorcycle for more than 20 years and if there’s one lesson I learned it’s this: no matter how careful you are, if the truck isn’t looking for you, he can’t see you. I can’t tell you how many times I would move out of the way then hit my horn and then laugh at the expression on their faces when they realize they could have killed me because they weren’t paying attention.
hell!!! holy crap well well just that it’s really bad that happened to your stuff, but the important things is that you are alive, i’m real sorry, i’ve i were u i had commited suicide for the loss but well that’s not so important
Wow! It’s much more fun restoring data to your replacement electronics than healing in a body cast (or worse…), just remember that for the next 3 months while you rebuild all of your personalizations into your devices.
Oh my God! Glad you are OK. Electronic devices can be replaced …except for all those damn phone numbers….but wait, what of your left hand? Is that the hand you hold the champange glass in? Say it isn’t so!!!!
Hey, keep us up to date on your recovery. Seriously, contact a lawer. The trucker must have insurance and he deserves to be held accountable for his damage to our favorite writer.
Hope you get to feeling better.
Come down here to Ivins, Utah and enjoy the sun. It will help you feel better. We have an extra bedroom.
Jim
What Really Happens To The iPod Nano When It Gets Run Over
This is not a sentence I planned to ever write, but this past Friday I was run over by a truck, while riding my scooter home early to beat the weekend rush hour. It was a warm sunny day, and I was happy about the weekend and the new iPod Nano I had in …
Atleast I’m not by myself anymore, 3 years ago A Semi took me out from the rear, lost everything, and was left stranded along side the road, having to walk with severe neck and back injuries 122.3 miles back to my place of employment, then get to a DR., but being stubborn, I have not missed one days work since this. Oh by the way I was 58 when it happened. Ended up with three broken ribs, 2 severed nerves in my neck, and 4 pinched, still suffer for the pinched nerves, and have learned to live without the 2 in my right arm and hand I can’t feel or use. Took over 8 months to recover anything from the accident, but waws just barely enough to replace my vehicle, and stop me from walking/hitching, or riding a bycle everyday to work and the Drs office. Would send you some pictures but thats not allowed here i believe.
Good thing you weren’t badly hurt… Sounds kind of familiar. A few years ago I was walking home from work and a block from my apartment got hit from behind by a Jeep, on a sidewalk. I had my PowerBook and Zip drive in my backpack and the Zip drive was toast, but the PowerBook still functioned, though the screen was badly damaged (and not a scratch on the outside of the machine) and degenerated over time with big, bright orange splotches… The drive drove off pretty fast, leaving me lying face down on the sidewalk. Fortunately I wasn’t hurt too bad, but I couldn’t breath normally for a few months…
Wow these last two stories (#33 and #34) are horrible. I feel like I got off lightly. Should I be concerned that my insurance company has not called me back?
Been riding for 40+ years. Now you know why the “older”* riders have bags mounted on their bikes, you don’t want ANYTHING connected to you in a crash (except helmet and gloves, of course). Hope your hand heals OK, I once got my foot run over by a race car! Actually we were pushing it out to the staging area. Soft tires, no damage.
*You got old pilots, and you got bold pilots – there are no old, bold pilots!
Sorry to hear of the accident. We are all glad that you are OK.
Remember that your helmet must be replaced if it took a bump. Also if you need a lawyer, I would suggest Angela and Scotty Storey in SJ (www.twowheellaw.com). They are one of the sponsors at the annual MC Safety & Survival Day in La Honda. They both ride and they specialize in MC cases
Alice; I feel for you, am recovering from being hit by a Camaro backing up in a parking lot. Get a good Lawyer!!! Real glad you are ok, now you know how it feels to biker’s everywhere, pedal and engine powered. As to your Insurance Co., make like a squeaky wheel, if still no answer, get the afore mentioned Lawyer. Your Friend
Tom
get a car, hippie
Hey – Look at my gear. Hippies don’t carry ThinkPads! And I was on a bad ass Helix and not a bicycle.
yes, yes they do. a scooter is worse than a bike, you think your a car, but you cant get out of anyones way.
gas motor scooter
wow you are one lucky person!! i experienced the same thing… however i was taken away with two broken femurs along with many other injuries!!!
I was hit by a car on my bike, they saidmy healmet saved my life