Witness To A Very Disturbing Bike Accident

[PapoSwing]

Today I was witness to one of the most difficult to watch situations I have ever encountered in my life. As my family and I are stuck in traffic due to the large amount of college students who have recently been moving into our town, I notice a very beautiful baby blue custom bike pass us by at about 40-45 mph. I remember telling my family: "That's a really nice bike, but he's riding like the devil's inside of him". It wasn't more than 10-15 seconds that I see the man impact a truck head on and fly up in the air about 5-7 feet, with his feet towards the sky.

Apparently since traffic was so heavy a car up front was kind enough to let a truck from the oppsing side of the street (upcoming traffic) turn left in order to enter a small strip mall. Unfortunately he was blinded by the massive amount of cars in front of him and turned into the strip mall not seeing the bike which hit the front-right side of his truck. Apparently the man in the bike went onto the right shoulder in order to pass the traffic, a very illegal move. My mother stopped the car screaming " He's dead, He's dead!", you must take into consideration that this was a very disturbing scene with a possible fatality, while I called 911. I decide to get out of my car with some other eyewitnesses in order to see the condition of the rider. When I got to the scene I estimated that the man had flown 10-13 feet from where the impact took place to where he landed. He had suffered trauma to his face and was bleeding through a very deep gash on his head, unfortunately he wasn's wearing a helmet, but was semi conscious. You can imagine at what speed he had to be traveling at for him to be thrown 5-7 feet up in the air with his feet towards the sky (as if doing a front flip) and then landing 10-13 feet over the truck, from the impact. Fortunately this truck was relatively small and only impacted the bike not his body, in fact this was the reason why he flew up in the air, otherwise if the truck had been bigger his whole body including his face would have hit the truck head on and probably would have killed him right then. Police arrived pretty early and so did some firefighters who were in the area. They immobilized his neck and waited for the ambulance. I am not sure of his condition, whether he has suffered any internal injuries, which are very likely in such an impact.

My reason for posting this very disturbing event which I witnessed today is because we can all enjoy our bikes, cars, scooters, whatever, as long as we do it safely. He might have been having the time of his life in that Blue custom of his, but his action of illegally passing traffic might cost him his life tonight. It is amazing to see how your life can change in less than a second, not only for the rider but for the guy he hit and the others who saw it. We must learn from these situations and become more responsible ourselves. It is only human nature to take our cars and bikes to the limit, but if you feel the urge ride hard and fast go to a track where the risks are much less. You also become a better rider or driver if you go to a track trust me. Also always wear protective gear. That man might have been thinking today "I don't need a helmet it won't happen to me" while in reality it did happen. They might be annoying but they can save your life, and I think they look awesome while you're riding.

Well guys thank you for sticking with me this long reading this very important thread. Please take my advice and apply it to your driving, riding, and your everyday life it just might save you sometime. Life is too short but don't make it shorter than what it has to be.

[Z_Fanatic]

It is very sad to hear and imagine in my mind. I myself was witness to an accident between a nice black bike and a green mini-van. Didn't know the story, but had to stop my car and parked it, saw the debris, and my mother and I were speechless.

I was driving through a local highway today, and this rider on a passing by cruiser did the exact illegal pass as you described. I was in the right most lane, and suddenly out of nowhere, he cuts me off as he speeds away in the right shoulder, attempts to get in front of me, but then decides to stay on the shoulder, just to beat a few seconds off of traffic. And all this during moderate rain and slippery road. Then I notice him making a simple right turn to a gas station. The guy had no gear at all, and a narrow shoulder is not a place to be, particularly during rain.

[PapoSwing]

Thanks Z-Fanatic for your input.

[aussieidiot]

I feel for you and your family to have seen it happen. It reinforces the fact that motorcycling IS DANGEROUS and we have to do what we can to limit our possibilities of endangerment. There are enough problems we have to deal with without making illegal actions that can lead to situations as described above. I only hope that we all take something from this and the newbies understand that the 'older' persons within the forums are trying to help them avoid the same situation. Although we learn from our mistakes, let's not make them our last.

[Too New To Know]

with all these stunt movies out its hard for newbies NOT to get involved in crazy actions,
(me being a newbie myself, loved these movies, but doesnt have the balls to try anything like it)

Id also like to see if the motorcycle fatality rate has increased considerably in the last 4 years or so.

The reason i stopped riding dirt is because my dad showed me some pictures (his the local cop in a country town) of a kid in a bike collision with another kid and a passenger, the second bike with the passenger had very serious injuries, the other kid, was in the picture. lying in the bushes...

[aussieidiot]

since we have the new system of courses before you get your licence, our fatality rate had dropped. last time i checked (a few years ago) no-one who had done the course had died. only riders before

[speediva]

In PA, and I believe US-wide, the motorcycle fatality rate has risen the last 7 years or so... now this is not as cut-and-dry as simply that... Additionally, there have been more people riding motorcycles, thus the rise in fatalities is partially affected by that factor alone.

[TEXAS-HOTROD]

When I was in germany I couldn't believe all the bikers that were out and around. They say that in Italy there are crap-loads of bikes. I'm sure too they have their two wheeled idiots just like we do. The story is true, it's the 1-percenters make the rest of us look bad.
It's sad that the average American driver doesn't look for bikers or have any respect for them. Hell the average American (car) motorist can't drive worth a flying f@*# anyway.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by Too New To Know

The reason i stopped riding dirt is because my dad showed me some pictures (his the local cop in a country town) of a kid in a bike collision with another kid and a passenger, the second bike with the passenger had very serious injuries, the other kid, was in the picture. lying in the bushes...

I have ridden dirt bikes for 29 years with nothing more than a scratch.
My friends accuse me of riding like a little old lady (I do), which is the reason why, I suspect.
Common sense and a reasonable awarenessif the potential for injury is essential. However, on the street, entrusting my life to the distracted car drivers out there is spooky. If there were more riders out there, they would know to look out for us more than they do.

[Too New To Know]

Yeah very true, but i wanted to start racing and to race you've got to go to the limits, and my dad was shit scared of what might happen...

over here for new drivers we have to display a little red "P" Plate (picture in my gallery) and im sure thats why as soon as a bike comes near me it gets the f$*@ away from me quick-smart, even though im extremely concious of them

[aussieidiot]

i'm not sure if i'd be more scared of a 'p' plater than a soccer mUm. when i see a 'p' plater he/she is normally driving like he is the best driver ever and with the 'i know more about driving than you' attitude. that tends to make them more aware of their surroundings (i.e cops). i like to do a fly-by just to show them that daddies beemer isn't as fast as they think (usually in first gear just so they get the noise as well)
But soccer mUms in airtight SUV's are very scary. they tend to be oblivious to everything but their next manicure appointment

[Z_Fanatic]

Are you kidding? Your regular Beemers are slow as hell, and they're meant to be driven slow. With the exception of M3, but how many of them do you see on the road? Yet kids today like to zip through the traffic with their 3 series, lol.

[aussieidiot]

further responses not on thread topic in 'off topic thread'

[TEXAS-HOTROD]

My friends used to give me a hard time about safety equipment. We rode our bikes across the street to another dudes house and I had my helmet stuck on my mirror. They couldn't believe I didn't actually wear it for once.
I ran MX tracks and trails for lots of years and have taken my share of spills. Fortunately I always got up and blasted away.
I recently took my bike out of storage and am in the process of changing the style of the bike (street legal Super Moto). I have thoughts of trashing the stock headlight in favor of fabricating a dual head light/driving light set up. I have also been searching and comparing different brands of street armor. I too feel that is a dangerous jungle out there and need the best protection.
I saw a vented/padded jacket that looked pretty cool, so if anyone prefers certain brands over others, please give some feedback.
---TEX---

[aussieidiot]

on a side note. many GP riders don't ride on the street often because they think its too dangerous!