Crash Victim ‘Fesses Up, Provides Lessons

Thomas Magnavice was out riding his just-acquired Kawasaki Z1000 last Friday evening when he “went down.” His spectacular crash on Route 72 in Harwinton, CT was captured on video by a driver who was following behind him. State police were immediately called to the scene as were an ambulance and local volunteer firefighters.

As luck would have it, as deputy chief of the Harwinton Fire Police, I responded to help direct traffic on the two-lane state highway – arriving to see Magnavice seated on the pavement and his shoulder already bandaged. I ended up talking with his riding companion, Steve Chouinard, who provided a few details about the crash. We agreed that the fact that Magnavice had just “traded up” to a more powerful machine, and one with throttle by wire, may have contributed to the crash.

It only took a few days for the video to be posted on the CT Motorcycle Riders page on Facebook. And the person posting it was Magnavice himself, who – in his initial post as well as in follow-up comments – candidly admitted his own in role the crash. In introducing the video, he stated, “So this was me passing 3 cars on a bumpy ass road last Friday on I bike that I owned for 1 week.”

Here’s the video:

Magnavice explained that in one week’s time he had managed to put 600 miles on the Z1000 “and was starting to get a little too comfortable on it.” What he didn’t say initially, but which is clearly evident in the video, was that he was attempting to pass illegally on a double yellow line.

Fortunately for him, Magnavice only sustained a dislocated shoulder and a partially collapsed lung. Had he not been wearing an armored jacket and a full-face helmet, his injuries would have been more severe; perhaps even fatal. “If I had cuff gloves and (riding) pants that zipped into my jacket, I would have no road rash,” he wrote.

In subsequent comments in the Facebook thread, Magnavice said, “I know I’m lucky as hell, but it was still a bad decision to pass on a shitty road.” He added that state police only gave him a warning. “I happened so fast I just remember the bars shaking and thinking no big deal.”

Give him credit for taking ownership of the crash. “The reason I posted this is so people can learn from my bad decisions and hopefully save someone’s life. I take full responsibility for my irresponsible actions. I’m just lucky I didn’t hurt anyone else.”

In a message to RIDE-CT & RIDE-NewEngland, Magnavice added regarding the crash, “I learned a lot from it. Not to let riding with someone new make you feel like you need to impress them. Buy better gloves and riding pants. And most importantly don’t go full throttle on a bumpy road.”

Magnavice had been riding about two years and had 20,000 miles experience when he crashed, making him another example of how any rider can get into an accident at any time. His candor is admirable. Here’s hoping that the lessons he learned stick with other riders.