This is why you don’t play your Ipod while ridding a motorbike!!!

Ugh—the thing that makes motorbikes (or Mo-sigh if you were Thai) so dangerous in Thailand…is that while YOU might drive carefully…you can’t control how the person next to you is driving.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a friend—John Flicker—loan me his truck until October—but…sometimes it is just easier/quicker to get around on the motorbike.

Last night while the sun was setting Kitty and myself decided to go grab dinner at a restaurant near the Chalong Circle called ‘Anchor Inn’.  It was ‘streetlights turning on’ dark-when we headed out.  Driving about 60KM I noticed a motorbike preparing to make a right hand turn across our lane of traffic and onto a side street.

I flashed my brights, honked my horn, and began to slow down just in-case the Thai driver decided to “attempt” the turn.  Needless to say, even with my flashing lights/honking horn…she ignored oncoming traffic…

Unable to avoid the collision I tried to slow down as much as possible, before eventually laying the bike down and jumping off the seat.  Kitty–ridding as a passenger–was also forced to “jump” before the two motorbikes crashed into one another.  Watching my bike slide like a Chinese Star thrown by a Ninja into the other driver…I covered my head and slid across the street towards the accident as if I was Pete Rose stealing home-base.

My glasses flew from my face, and Poor Kitty was on “tumble dry” as she rolled past me.  Quickly accessing the situation (looking to see if I had all my toes,fingers, and other body parts)…I realized both Kitty and myself were alive.  My glasses—flew across the street, literally smashing the “lens frames” flat.  Picking myself up from the street–my next thought was the driver of the other motorbike—who did not jump off her vehicle.

My bike crashed into her leg as she was unable to get out of the way.  Falling on impact she had minimal “road rash” (or Phuket Tattoo as the Thai’s call it).  She held her knee a bit where my bike had smashed into her leg…but generally was “okay”.

Asking her in my best Thai voice “WHAT YOU DO?!?!”…She had to take the earphones out of her ears to hear what I was saying.  I couldn’t believe it…EARPHONES.  What Thai music could she have possibly been listening to that was more important than my warning sirens and flashing lights prior to the collision?!?!

Having passed a Police officer moments before the accident, he finally caught up with us.  Here in Thailand the “foreigner” is usually at fault…but NOT TODAY~!  It was obvious that the accident was not my fault, and without much delay the officer asked me how much my glasses cost.  I told him 2,000THB and he quickly told the lady to pay for the glasses.

Overall the accident cost me more then “2,000thb”.  I went down to buy new glasses today, and they were a lil’ over 3,000.  Our clothes were not salvageable after the “breakdancing” we did across the asphalt.  Adding insult to injury…because I was unable to see–I had to take a “Tuk-Tuk Taxi” back to my place to put my contacts in.  The Police officer quickly called a cab—which charged me 400THB for a 2 minute ride to my house and back to the scene of the accident…can you say “hustled?!”

Even though the 2,000thb I “earned” for the accident didn’t cover the estimated 5-6,000THB in damages…I have to admit…I am still glad to have all my fingers, toes, and no additional stitches after the incident.

I was hoping to get back into training this week after missing the past two with lower back pains…but I’m going to be on the shelf a few more days while the “road rash” heals.  I don’t want to risk an infection by training on the flesh wound.  Kitty…had to call in to work today, as her body is really banged up from the collision.  I can’t help but to think to myself—“Did all the BJJ Training Kitty and myself have done over the years keep us safe!?”—I’m sure learning how to fall, and protect yourself during a fight–all played into our bodies “muscle memory” as we ricocheted across the pavement.