Technically, My First Motorcycle Accident

I barely felt it. My rear tire absorbed 90% of my impact. The other rider wasn’t so fortunate.

I was following a songthaew down a narrow soi in the old city. No room to pass. No need to pass because my turn was close. The songthaew stopped abruptly. I was 4 yards behind him, we were going < 10 MPH. I eased to a stop.

One thousand, two thousand, three — Bump. My bike rocked forward about an inch, without moving my feet. In the mean time, the other rider slowly fell off his bike with multiple distinct impact sounds. A several gallon capacity water cooler he’d been carrying between his knees fell the farthest. He’d stepped off the bike without falling, both wrists still carrying the long, tall plastic bags holding  multiple Styrofoam containers of take out food. In Thai terms, his ability to control the bike was uncompromised by such a trivial and easily handled load. I guessed he had been texting.  He didn’t say a word or even look at me, so I road off.