The Crash of my Suzuki photo 27617 769 0 right A view of the cracked radiator and broken handlebars from my crash photo I ve been getting asked by lots of people so I thought I d just add a little note about my recent incident As it happened yes I was in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday night I suppose fortunately depending on your POV the worst part of the crash was the damage to my bike I was only about 1 2 miles from my house headed up to Fry s and fortunately wearing my boots jeans jacket and as always my helmet I was probably traveling at about 40 45 mph the speed limit is 45 and there were three cars in front of me Two of them evidently slammed on their brakes to make a left hand turn into an apartment complex Technically you re not supposed to turn there but there is no sign and admittedly everyone uses the turn myself included Regardless the Ford Explorer in front of me was forced to slam on his brakes sending his car into a screeching halt smoke off of the wheels and that whole show I had been keeping a pretty reasonable distance behind him and as soon as I heard saw his tired screeching to a halt I immediately started applying pressure the brakes bear in mind this next part all happens in a few brief seconds I applied gentle pressure at first but quickly realized I just wouldn t stop in time Likely a little panicked I squeezed harder on the brakes something you really shouldn t do on a motorcycle but my options were pretty limited This threw the bike into a tail skid and pretty much sealed my fate Evasive as I could be I turned the wheel hard left to minimize impact but still wound up smashing into the back left part of his Ford Explorer turns out that steel is very hard It s a bit of a blur but part of me hit the side of his Explorer I flipped over the handle bars the bike crashed to the ground and I landed on the pavement more or less in the fetal position with engine coolant pouring all over my legs I was laying there for awhile possibly knocked out briefly until I started hearing people screaming to call 911 and all of that I m sure nobody could tell since it was already dark out but I opened my eyes and saw some people standing over me Even though I knew they were there for whatever reason I just closed my eyes and laid there a little while longer I was surprisingly comfortable laying against the pavement It was the sound of sirens that eventually got me moving After what seemed like minutes but was likely seconds I stood up to the contrary recommendation of most onlookers and observed the scene I hated that I was blocking traffic and didn t want to get a ticket and so I picked up my motorcycle and walked it off of the street and sat it against the sidewalk There was a grass field there and I hobbled over and sat down There were four women helping me and they were all very nice All in all there were 6 police cars 2 firetrucks and 1 ambulance It took me a few minutes but I was able to get them all to go away I just had to actively refuse treatment Turns out that telling them you re uninsured is a GREAT way to do this Tracy came over and took me to the ER about an hour later but ultimately had to refuse treatment for the price Clearly battered bruised and a little bloody the nurses were angry that I would rather save what I was told would be upwards of 5000 00 than be treated for a serious motorcycle accident I very calmly and politely explained to them I didn t need an emergency room and all of that I just needed a caring doctor to take some X Rays of my leg wrist shoulder back and neck They said this just wouldn t be possible and that I d have to pay the full price of admission I looked at them took a deep breath and said ok well thanks anyways as I hobbled my bloody body out of the intake room Instead Tracy drove me around looking for all night clinics until about 1 30 in the morning when I finally decided to give up We just went to Kirby Lane and had a late night meal my leg dragging off behind me Finally I got up in the morning woken by my brother and a friend insisting I go to the hospital and Mike took me to a regular clinic The full exam and 11 X Rays wound up costing me just 252 and it turns out there isn t a single thing wrong with me serious anyways My right knee is pretty swollen but should be okay and I m otherwise just sore as all could be Thanks for the well wishes and I m looking forward to fixing my bike

Chasing After a Hit and Run Suspect What an exciting Monday morning I had 12 12 2016 A U Haul right in front of me on I 35 smashed into some cars and fled the scene I called 911 and immediately began chasing the U Haul photo 597552 740 0 center top left The U Haul just after the crash top right police on the scene bottom left police arresting the suspects bottom right selfie with the arresting officer photo br style clear both After weaving in and out of traffic he exited MLK and headed eastbound He began running red lights excessively speeding and clearly trying to get away Fortunately I know Austin pretty well I followed him south on Chestnut east on 12th northeast on Webberville south on Tannehill and finally west on Jackie Robinson Having destroyed his side mirror in the crash I purposefully kept my truck to his left so he couldn t see me hard to see in a U Haul anyways By coincidence he and his passenger pulled over on Jackie Robinson just west of Axel Lane half a block from property I own They ditched the U Haul I kept a distance of about 100 yards not knowing what they might do They got out of the car and started approaching me I started to reverse my vehicle all the while reporting the status to dispatch I finally told the police to approach southbound on Tannehill so they would intercept them on Jackie Robinson They did Police showed up guns drawn The pair seemingly a couple were arrested on the spot I provided a positive identification of the driver and gave a statement of the entire pursuit photo 597652 740 0 center A map detailing the route of the pursuit photo br style clear both When it was all over the arresting officer said he knew me from when I ran for office in 2014 Kevin Ludlow for TX House 46 I asked how It turns out he was the officer who had broken into my house in 2014 and tried to arrest me citing the smell of marijuana I couldn t believe it and just laughed We shook hands and took a selfie It was nice to make peace with him He appreciated what I had done and said they almost never catch hit and runs Everyone in the accident was okay strong In the News strong KXAN put together a story about what happened I thought it was a pretty fun interview The direct link to their story can be found here a href http kxan com 2016 12 12 u haul driver arrested for alleged hit and run on i 35 http kxan com 2016 12 12 u haul driver arrested for alleged hit and run on i 35 a iframe width 521 height 391 src https www youtube com embed qLBta2KOyC8 frameborder 0 allowfullscreen iframe strong The Follow up strong So this is Prashant the guy whose car was smashed Monday morning He found me on Facebook and invited me out to lunch Turns out he s a software developer too and works right near me He invited me to join him and his wife for an authentic home cooked Indian meal sometime at his house and that he would invite me to Holi in a few months Such a positive feeling being able to help someone I feel great that he s so happy about it all photo 597553 740 0 center About the best ending we could hope for after meeting Prashant the victim in the hit and run crash photo br style clear both