Lucky motorcyclist walks away from crash that left bike wedged into back of dump truck
Richard Marshall suffered minor injuries and is back at work, but his motorcycle is destroyed
The aftermath of the motorcycle crash looks dramatic: the black sports bike is crushed into the back of a dump truck, its frame firmly wedged between the rear tire and the bed of the truck.
When Richard Marshall, 33, looks back at the photographs of the accident, he considers himself lucky to be alive — let alone up and walking at work just days after.
"It's surreal," Marshall said, who has been riding for three years.
"At a glance, it looks like I went flying into it at about 300 kilometres per hour but I was going regular highway speeds."
He was riding his Yamaha R1 to work on Monday morning through Abbotsford, B.C., when the bike went into the back of the truck.
Marshall said he's not sure exactly sure what happened. He said the truck must have slowed down and he just remembers seeing it getting closer in slow motion before the tires of the two vehicles made contact.
"His back tires grabbed the front tire of my bike and pulled it in," Marshall said. "Because he's got [dual tires], my front tire went perfectly in the space between his two back tires."
Marshall was thrown off the bike and walked away from the accident with nothing more than minor scrapes and bruises — and a bruised ego, he said.
A day later, he was back at his construction job attending meetings.
"It's a little bit unbelievable, honestly," he said. "Everyone told me I should buy a lottery ticket that day."