It was a Saturday evening and the street was busier than usual with traffic. The town came to life with colored neon lights on and so many vehicles moving around. In the dim street lamp light, everything looked nice and romantic.

I was riding on the motorcycle on my way home after attending a dinner party when I suddenly saw a road work sign only about 2 meters in front of me. In a flash I knew it was impossible to avoid it and my mind was a complete blank for half a second. Still, I managed to turn off the gas and hold the brake tight. That was the only thing I could do at that moment. However, it was too late. My motorcycle crashed into the metal road sign violently and then fell to the left side heavily. I was able to get up and, fortunately, I didn’t seem to feel any pain except the left ear. I touched it with my hand and was astonished to find it was bleeding badly. There was a lot of blood on the left shoulder and the front chest! Not until then did I realize that I had to go to the hospital.

In the emergency room, I was told that one of the soft bones of the ear was broken and had to be stitched up immediately. Of course no anesthetic was needed for such a small operation. You could feel clearly when the doctor pushed the needle into your ear and pulled it out the other side. One stitch, two stitches, three stitches, four stitches…, I don’t know how many holes and stitches were made that night. I couldn’t help but moan throughout the whole process. How I wished it would be the last stitch and the suffering would be over for ever! It seemed hours before the doctor finished the “sewing work” on me. And I had to be on a drip for 8 days!

The sign was put there because part of the road was paved another layer of asphalt. It was supposed to warn people to be careful. However, when I got there later that night, I found the road sign was hit again possibly several times, for it was at least 20 meters ahead from the original place, and one of the legs was gone. It would be safe to say I was only one of them who were unlucky to crash into the sign. I knocked it down but I put it back there, thinking they placed it there for a good reason. I had to admit I was not careful enough while riding. Nevertheless, I felt deep in my heart there was something wrong or more exactly improper. Therefore, I called 110, thinking it should be corrected by the police. Another reason for doing that was that I needed their testimony, for my motorcycle was insured   

The police came in about 8 minutes. When asked if the road maintaining department should bear some responsibility for this accident, they said no and declared it is legally right to place a sign when the road is being repaired. However, they moved the sign to the side nevertheless.

I completely forgot about the police thing, thinking maybe it was wholly my fault. About 2 weeks later, however, I received a phone call, saying after a second thought, they believed both parties were to blame, and thus I could at least get medical expenses paid by the other party as compensation.

It was bad and unfortunate to have such an accident, but on the other hand I think it may be a blessing in disguise. Anyway, it was a good lesson for me. There were some objective reasons for the accident: the light was dim, too many vehicles and there should be a more clearly marked sign. However, all those can never hide the fact that I was absent-mined at that moment, which should never be allowed on a motorcycle. The compensation money did make me feel good and gave me some comfort, but one’s well-being and life can never be measured by money.