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I was on the interstate heading out of town Friday, when a van cut off 3 guys on bikes. They were doing about 60-65. The up front guy hit the brakes. Front wheel locked up, he went over the handle bars and landed straight on his head, then tumbled for a little further. I came to a stop about 10 feet from him, lying in the middle of the left lane. Miraculously, the 5 or so cars between me and him managed to stop and pull off without hitting him. I stayed there for a minute till I was sure no one would run him over, and pulled over too. Me and my wife were both pretty sure he was going to be dead, as he wasn't moving at all, and he just took a serious f'ing spill. He was wearing a half helmet (no face shield/visor). After a few minutes, he woke up, and after a while, he remembered who he was and where he was going. (From Texas, going to Mississippi - he made it 9 miles into Ms).
We waited about 30-40 minutes before a cop arrived, then another 20 or so for EMS, then another 10 or so for a chopper to airlift him. He was on the road for at least an hour or more. Had he not had the helmet, his brains would have absolutely been all over the road and he would've been dead, if not from the fall, from sitting on the road for an hour with his brains hanging out. And I'd have the f'd up memory, along with my wife and 5 year old daughter, of watching him die.
Rider 2 laid his bike down, scraped his knees really bad but was otherwise ok. Rider 2 stopped in time. No. 1 was wearing jeans and jean jacket, boot. Didnt seem to have any bad road burn, but we didn't move him to check (his front was in tact, and when I first stopped his back was too me, and looked ok).
I spoke to his mom later Friday - he had 2 cracked ribs and one punctured lung. Serious condition, but not in ICU and expected to recover.
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