Ive hit 3 cars with bicycles & totalled 3 motorcycles, so I have at least some understanding of how you feel when you say "I crashed". I always replay every crash, over & over in my head till I can see where I played into it & what should I do in the future. It sounds to me like you may have been a little too relaxed & following too close. I dont like riding with others, because its hard to know what thetre gonna do. Get some distance between me & whoever Im with & Im okay, but I need like 1/2 a block. Im GOING where Im Going & well meet there.

Ill ride "with" others, just not in close formation. Everyone knows where we're going & gets there. If someone wants to take a different route, okay. If we wind up side by side at a light, thats cool, but while Im rolling down the road, gimme the room I need to not need to be watching your every move.

Just for general information at 40 mph:
2 seconds = 117 ft or approximately 8 car lengths
3 seconds = 176 ft or approximately 12 car lengths
recommended following distances are 2 to 4 seconds depending on who you listen to.

Human responses to stimuli (the time that it takes your brain to get input) is around .2 seconds.
Humans applying the brakes after seeing a light turn red or reacting to a video tape takes about 1/2 second .
Note that these are times when people aren't doing anything but waiting for a stimulus and reacting as fast a possible. At 40 mph this is going to mean about 4 car lengths for a rider to begin applying the brakes if they have their hand on the lever just waiting for something to happen up ahead so that they could immediately apply the brakes.

went to the dr's today and saw the xrays for the first time. looks like i broke the collar bone pretty good.i'm scheduled to have surgery this friday morning.

Best wishes to you as you go thru surgery and start the healing process. I have some extra pain pills in case you need them.. Hugs.. Kim

Here's to a speedy recovery.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is all about interval. And you should throw in a little "situational awareness" too ... like they teach fighter pilots. Motorcycles are not too far removed from fighter aircraft. They depend upon their maneuverability. Here is a situation that few think about:
You are standing still at a stoplight in a line of cars. Nobody seems to maintain their interval there. Everybody lines up nearly bumper-to-bumper at a stoplight. The last accident I experienced was generated by this circumstance. As the line of vehicles started to pull away, one driver (a young kid) suddenly got spooked and slammed on his brakes. We were all accelerating from a standing stop, so I had a fraction of a second before eating his bumper. I wasn't going very fast, but I took a spill, a little road rash, but I broke the fender on my plastic pony (a 150cc scooter). It was the cager behind me that got my attention, but he was good. He managed to avoid my overturned scooter without hitting the car in the adjacent lane. I heard his tires squeal as I was rolling off the road for the ditch.

Another thing about interval. I maintain it and some jerk will often pass me and put his fat butt right into that reaction space between me and the car ahead. So, I have found that I either have to maintain less than a car length in interval to keep the jerks out or just back off more when some A Hole pulls into it.

And about situational awareness ... I have been riding since 1965. I have had 5 accidents ... lets call them negative experiences, as in Rubber Side Up. I walked away from all of them because I saw the situation developing and was able to mitigate the impact ... either slow down and slide or head for the boonies and leave the bike altogether.

Of course, my number could come up any time. If some cager pulls out right in front of me or makes a left turn right across my path, and I'm doing even moderate speed ... I am probably going to die. When someone asks me whether I would recommend they take up two wheels, I tell them that they should consider this. When I had young children who needed a dad to be around, I did not ride.