Plano — A Plano motorcyclist involved in a close-call wreck Saturday went uninjured, but the footage he captured of the crash on his GoPro camera racked up nearly 400,000 views on YouTube within a day.
Malik Elizee was going north on Custer Road when he stopped at a light at McDermott Drive. The light turned green, and as he rode forward, an eastbound vehicle ran a red light, crashing into an SUV and car in front of Elizee.
Elizee crashed into the SUV and got knocked off his motorcycle. He managed to get out of the intersection and onto a grassy area.
No one was seriously injured in the crash, Plano police said.
Elizee was wearing gloves and a jacket, he said, which prevented him from getting scraped up too badly. Also, since he had outfitted his bike with a frame slider, it went mostly undamaged and he was able to ride it home.
On Sunday, Elizee told News 8 from his Plano home that he was thankful to be alive.
"I was definitely lucky to get out without having to go to the hospital, getting crushed between the two cars, or run over by the Camaro," Elizee said. "That was a reality check."
In the video, you can see Elizee hug the undercarriage of the SUV in front of him during the wreck. If he hadn't, he says things might have been worse.
"I grabbed it so it helped me have better forward momentum. As soon as the Camaro hit us, you see my bike fly off so I'm basically in the air," he said.
"I don't know how to describe what I did, it was almost like I was flailing my legs to kind of run forward to avoid being crushed."
Believe it or not, Elizee says this is the third time another driver has hit him in the two years he's been riding.
But he says it's going to take more than a crash like this to get him off the bike.
"I don't think I'm ready to give it up," he said.