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Hi again. Another (relatively) new rider question: I know this isn't something you plan for, but is there any particular way you should try to land after highsiding? Should you try to make yourself roll, or just go fetal?
Example: I was hit by a left turner last September a month after getting my license and went flying over the SUV's hood. I had maybe a half-second on the brakes so I'd guess I was going about 35 at the time. When I landed, I planted on the pavement with all my weight on my shoulder, which was smashed up pretty good and required a metal plate to be inserted in my arm, but suffered no other damage except a little road rash when I slid backwards and my jacket was pulled up. Since then I've often thought that, had I the presence of mind to roll when I impacted the ground, I might have lessened the impact on my shoulder and come away completely unscathed. On the other hand, I'm worried that I could have done damage to my spine or neck that way, or whapped my head against the pavement a few times before coming to a stop. The jacket I was wearing then didn't have a back pad, but the ones I wear now do, not sure if that would make a difference. I also have a theory that my leather jacket may have "grabbed" the pavement, whereas a textile jacket would have slid more and lessened the force of the impact. That's obviously not a great feature if you slide into other cars/trees/guardrails though.
I guess there are alot of variables here that could affect the answer, but under ideal circumstances is going into a roll after a highside a good or bad idea?