AMEN BROTHER!!! I couldn't have said it better! I have been on 175hp+ motorcycles for some time now. Yes it is very easy to get into trouble and yes there are lots of riders riding bikes they shouldn't be but like I stated in a earlier post if drivers in their "cages" would just think of this thread before changing lanes without shoulder checking or flying around that left hand corner we might save some two-wheeled riders.

 

This is horrible.....condolences to the victim and his family....

Also keep the lady that killed him in your prayers......she bears the burden of killing a man, and most don't deal w/that very well at all.....this will haunt her for the rest of her life, hopefully she will get some help....

 

I haven't ridden for the last 10 years for 2 reasons- 1) gravity loves to mess with me and- 2) SoCal drivers are the most self-absorbed, careless beasts on the planet. Cattle in feedlots are more courteous to one another.

I'm not defending the minivan lady or disparaging the rider. I saw what I saw, and he never touched the brakes, helmet crushed on the right side, and the minivan was totalled due to the speed of the impact. Minivan made a left and caused a death.

The cop's opinion is pretty valid; a 24-yo on a 150-hp rocketbike is many times more likely to get hurt or die on it than a 54-yo man on a 80-hp cruiser. People don't make lefts in front of crotch rockets more often than in front of Road Kings. It's that mature riders on cruisers are less likely to be indulging their adrenal glands. I know, everyone has a friend or bro-in-law that (insert anecdote refuting above paragraph), but the odds are more likely that a Hayabusa will be wrecked and a Heritage Softtail Springer stolen than vice-versa.

I understand riders' rights, and support them completely. Americans are not "in tune" with looking out for small, nimble vehicles, and we need to be. With the price fuel, there will be more riders -and more accidents unless we keep our eyes open.

 

I will keep you, the rider's family and everyone involved in my prayers.

 

It's not just cops, doctors call them organ donors too. Not just because of the speed, but because they are also diffult to pick out in traffic. I also haven't ridden in 10 years because of other drivers and deer, and one crash was enouph for me.

SD, it'll be a bad memory, but you were there for the guy. Just talking to them can make all the difference. Nobody knows for sure what the person can and can't here. It might be all that it takes to keep them aroused or enouph adrenelin going to get them by til the pros get there. Good job not looking the other way!

 

I had a VERY close call this morning.

I was heading to work and had cruising down our road (speed limit is 25, residential area). I had just checked for traffic in my mirrors, and brought my eyes back to the road ahead, approaching a side street on my left. I noticed a black Ford Explorer do a rolling stop and proceeded to pull out in front of me (he was turning left, headed in the same direction I was). I grabbed both brakes. He never stopped or slowed down. I don't think he even noticed me at all until I blew my horn. I'd like to think that I ended up within 10 feet of his rear bumper before I slowed down enough that I was sure that I wouldn't plow into him. Hard to re-visualize it as it all happened in less than 10 second. Funny how at the time it seemed much longer.

That is the worst event that I have had yet. I wish more people would 'look before they leap'. IMO that would prevent a lot of traffic accidents.

Sorry that you watched someone die. Hope everything gets better for all involved.

 

Sorry for your loss and that you had to witness this. I have also witness this, back in april 30,a head on small Dodge and SUV and the girl died. Good people here gave alot of prayer support. You can know that you were with him at the last and he wasn't alone. My prayers to you and all involved.

 

Wow-- very traumatic indeed.

Prayers for you and them...