Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

EBC Brakes’ U.S. technical and racing service representative Garry Gallagher was seriously injured January 23 when he was hit by a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) while riding his streetbike in his hometown of Woodinville, Washington.

“I was on two wheels, riding at a reasonable speed with my lights on and everything,” half-joked Gallagher, who was riding his street-legal Yamaha YZ426F to the video rental store. “There were two cars ahead of me that waited for the light to turn green then went through the intersection. There was enough space between the cars and me for this lady to turn, but she waited and turned right into me – not in front of me, not behind me, right into me. It was a 1993 Jeep Cherokee with a tubular steel bumper. Typical inattentive driver, she said she didn’t see me.”

Gallagher was taken to a local hospital before being transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, where he underwent five and a half hours of surgery January 24 to have his broken left femur reassembled with a metal rod, screws and “sheet steel.”

Gallagher was released from the hospital January 28 but will go back in February 4 to have athroscopic surgery to diagnosis and repair tendon and ligament damage to his right knee, which he landed on.

Thankful he was wearing top-quality protective gear, Gallagher said this was his first streetbike accident during his 30-plus-year career in the motorcycle industry.

The injuries will force Gallagher to miss the annual Dealer Powersports Expo, scheduled for February 19-21 in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the first time in 24 years, but Gallagher said he will be at Daytona Beach, Florida, for Bike Week.

In the meantime, Gallagher is “taking it easy” at home and trying to answer the hundreds of e-mails and telephone messages he received while he was in the hospital.