Biker jumps red light, crashes into my Toyota Corolla Altis

I got out of the car and found a Honda Unicorn, a shattered TV and two people lying behind my car.

BHPian fordfreak recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Never thought I would be posting my own experience on this thread, but I guess fate had other plans.

Decided to go for an ice cream post-dinner at around 9:30 PM on the 3rd of November. There were four of us in my car (including me), with me driving. I've driven this route more times than I can remember and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Pulled up to the red light and waited for it to change. As the lights turned green, I waited 3-4 seconds before moving (to avoid any red-light runners / yellow light stragglers). Looked both ways and started moving. I had accelerated to about 10-15 km/hr and moved about 10 feet, when... BANG!

For the first 5 seconds, I had no idea what had just happened. Gathered my wits and got out of the car, only to find a Honda Unicorn(?), a shattered TV and two people lying behind my car. The pillion came out completely unscathed. The rider was dazed and had a minor cut on his cheek, shin and hand. The TV was toast and the bike was also considerably damaged (front fairing, instrument cluster and forks).

Both of them had thankfully been wearing helmets (a rarity), but the rider's helmet was not strapped and had come off after the impact. Being a large crossing with 5-6 cops present 24 x 7, they were on the scene in seconds. I helped a cop pick the bike up while the rest attended to the biker & pillion. The sergeant asked me to clear the road and park on the side so that we could resolve the situation without disrupting traffic.

A few of the cops meanwhile were screaming at the biker (who was still dazed) for running the red light. I checked on their well-being and asked what on earth were they trying to do. Turns out there were a couple of TV service technicians rushing to deliver a TV to a customer/service center. They basically risked their lives for a (now destroyed) TV and to save about 3 - 4 minutes.

Two constables escorted both of them to the hospital across the road while I waited at the scene with the sergeant to sort out the paperwork. I verified that the entire incident had been caught on CCTV, in the event of this matter heading down the legal route. All in all, the cops were helpful and supportive. All of those present repeatedly told me that it wasn't my fault.

The biker and pillion returned about an hour later, looking much better. They seemed to be reasonable people and said they wanted to settle the matter on the spot without lodging any case or involving the police. Even though it wasn't my fault, I compensated him for the broken TV and his injuries. I felt bad for them as they weren't exactly well-to-do folks and I guessed that their employer would take the costs for the destroyed TV out of their pay. We spoke for a bit (sorting out the matter) and then went our separate ways.

Replaying the sequence of events, I remembered that there was a car on my left which partially restricted my view, but not by much. I concluded that it was a combination of bad luck, bad timing and bad decision making that led to this accident. On my part, I will always wait for my field of vision to be 100% clear before moving, henceforth.

All in all, I thanked my stars that things did not turn out any worse. Had the bikers not been wearing a helmet, the matter may have ended up a lot worse. I was grateful that the biker could go home to his family at the end of the day, hopefully having learnt never to risk running a red/yellow light for any reason.

Coming to my car (Toyota Corolla Altis), the left-rear door, quarter panel, rocker panel, outer tail lamp and front left door - all need to be repaired/replaced. Handed my car over to the authorized service center to begin the insurance claim formalities. Guessing my car will be off the road for at least 15-20 days. The damage looked a lot worse in person than the pictures show.

P.S. - I have tried to narrate the incident in as much detail as possible without making the post unnecessarily long. Irrelevant details have been left out. The police were very professional and neither party involved faced any harassment. The impact did not feel like much, but judging by the damage to both vehicles, the bike may have been doing anything in the region of 35 - 45 km/hr if not more.

P.P.S. - No, we did not end up getting any ice cream.

Here's what BHPian Simhi had to say about the matter:

Good that all four of you along with the biker and pillion are safe. Happy to know that cops were helpful. I hope your damages are fully covered via insurance. Appreciate you going out of the way to compensate the biker. To be frank, I would have thought twice.

Here's what BHPian mayankk had to say about the matter:

PPPS: I hope you've also not shared any contact details with the guys. If so, my cynical side says, expect a phone call in a few days.

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