Vail Daily letter: Hit by parking gate
Vail, CO, Colorado
About a week ago I was involved in a motrocycle accident with the gate arm at the Lionshead parking garage. As I rode through, the gate arm closed on me, getting caught on my windshield as I went forward, then snapping back hitting me in the face, breaking my sunglasses, cutting my head wide open, and knocking me off my motorcycle.
I immediately went into the information booth to find out who I could talk to about this dangerous situation. As I sat there bleeding from my head, the person at the desk saw me yet continued to help the people she was with, making me wait 10 minutes before she acknowledged me.
I asked her if she knew who was in charge of the parking structure so I could speak to them. She reluctantly called the person, who then told me I should ride over to the town office and speak to the person in charge of risk management.
So I got on my motorcycle, bleeding, and rode over to the town office.
After making contact with the person in charge of risk management, I was told all I could do was file a police report and wait for somebody to contact me.
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A week later I was told by the town of Vail’s insurance company in Denver that they would replace my sunglasses but nothing more because there was a sign “on” the gate that said no motorcycles allowed in the parking structure and I should have known better.
Being a local and going through that gate for years in a car I had never seen the sign before.
So I promptly went over to look for it. I looked at the gate, no sign. I looked at the gatehouse, no sign. Then I found it. Hidden behing the large free summer parking sign, on a yellow pole, a foot off the ground, was a tiny sticker that reads “Warning: no bicycles, mopeds, or motorcycles” in print so small no normal person could read it even if they managed to see the sign.
So I would just like to thank the the town of Vail for protecting the motorcyclists who live and visit here with that tiny, hidden sign letting them know they are not allowed in the Lionshead parking structure. I just hope one day that same accident happens to a rich tourist who has the money to bring legal action against you.
Just one question, though. If motorcycles are not allowed in the Lionshead parking structure, why is there motorcycle parking?
Brandon Haire
Avon
