nanook 1 #1 November 3, 2011 . . .a comment I made to the driver of that truck who took out that Harley. It was a rough day on the I-15 on our way home. Twenty miles away, an accident reduced the commute to a stop-and-go. Motorcycles (legal in Cali) were splitting lanes and as a passenger of the van-pool, watched them pass by appreciating some of the nice bikes passing by. We saw a Harley, definitely tricked out and well cared for, pass us in our lane three. He split the lane between three and four for one more car and got in front with his whole lane to himself in lane four. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a red Chevy truck veer sharply for what he thought was a clear lane. . .make that two. He was in lane two and shot over two lanes for four. His cut was so sharp, I saw the side profile of his truck. We in the van knew what was going to happen and just watched in horror as he clipped the bike. Next thing I see is a spinning harley, parts flung all over the place and it's rider flying in the air. "We're stopping now." I said, which was a statement not required as the driver, who rides himself, started applying the brakes. We stopped the van in the middle of the interstate, got out and sprinted to the scene shouting "don't touch anything. Don't move him!" Us and a couple of others blocked lanes three and four with our vehicles and I kneeled on the ground, my knees on either side of his helmet, hand on his back, comforting the guy while preventing him from moving which might exaberate a possible unknown spinal injury. He was in some serious pain and thankfully, pissed off. At least he will not go into shock. I didnt see any obvious signs of compound fractures and other than bad roadrash, not any arterial blood. but he was hurting from his hip and arm which was tucked underneath him. Ten minutes later, CHP showed up and thankfully a Corpsman from Pendleton. Cop asked us to help clear the bike from the road and afterwards stayed till the ambulance showed up. All told, about thirty minutes. The kid in the truck was obviously nervous and in tears, but I didn't care. I was pissed that he would be so stupid to rush multiple lanes in what I presume to be impatience. He could have killed him. Out of stupidity! I'm still pissed. People! Understand this. There's no crumple zone on motorcycles and 30 miles an hour is still a deadly speed to be knocked off a bike. Be cautious with lane changes even and especially in slow traffic!!_____________________________ "The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildcard451 0 #2 November 3, 2011 True. Splitting lanes in traffix however, seems to just be begging to be hit thiugh. So stupid all around I say. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewbrinkhaus 0 #3 November 3, 2011 It sounds like from nanook's description, that the rider had entered the fourth lane and was riding normally at the time he was side swept, not lane splitting. I am a rider myself, and being very new to motorcycles (about a year) I am always very alert on the road, especially on the freeway. It's the place where you tend to want to relax and enjoy the open road the most, because usually you aren't slowing down, stopping, speeding up, etc. your mind wants to zone out, but it's definitely one of the most critical places to stay focused and SEE (search, evaluate, execute) for when things like this happen. Accidents aren't always avoidable, and it sounds like this would've been really hard to detect before hand especially if the guy was rocketing into his lane. Glad to hear the rider wasn't hurt too bad. Please be safe and responsible out there! Do not pursue happiness. Create it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nanook 1 #4 November 3, 2011 You are right. He wasn't lane splitting at the end. He had the whole lane to himself. The truck shot through two lanes jockeying for a hole. The bike had his own lane for a bit._____________________________ "The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildcard451 0 #5 November 3, 2011 QuoteYou are right. He wasn't lane splitting at the end. He had the whole lane to himself. The truck shot through two lanes jockeying for a hole. The bike had his own lane for a bit. Still does not change my opinion of his initial behavior. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiver30960 0 #6 November 3, 2011 QuoteQuoteYou are right. He wasn't lane splitting at the end. He had the whole lane to himself. The truck shot through two lanes jockeying for a hole. The bike had his own lane for a bit. Still does not change my opinion of his initial behavior. ...And the lane splitting may have contributed to the pickup driver's lack of awareness of where he was. He may not have been expecting a motorcycle to have moved up in traffic so quickly. Elvisio "deleted a long rambling opinionated paragraph about donorcycles" Rodriguez Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
david3 0 #7 November 4, 2011 Quote"deleted a long rambling opinionated paragraph about donorcycles" Good idea skydiver. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nanook 1 #8 November 4, 2011 QuoteQuoteQuoteYou are right. He wasn't lane splitting at the end. He had the whole lane to himself. The truck shot through two lanes jockeying for a hole. The bike had his own lane for a bit. Still does not change my opinion of his initial behavior. ...And the lane splitting may have contributed to the pickup driver's lack of awareness of where he was. He may not have been expecting a motorcycle to have moved up in traffic so quickly. Elvisio "deleted a long rambling opinionated paragraph about donorcycles" Rodriguez He didn't move up quickly when splitting. The relative speeds weren't even greater than about 2MPH. He had his own lane when he got hit. The reason he got hit was because his lane was going faster than lane two and three. The guy saw an opening straight across and shot through two lanes. The kid would have hit a car in the same situation._____________________________ "The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #9 November 4, 2011 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteYou are right. He wasn't lane splitting at the end. He had the whole lane to himself. The truck shot through two lanes jockeying for a hole. The bike had his own lane for a bit. Still does not change my opinion of his initial behavior. ...And the lane splitting may have contributed to the pickup driver's lack of awareness of where he was. He may not have been expecting a motorcycle to have moved up in traffic so quickly. Elvisio "deleted a long rambling opinionated paragraph about donorcycles" Rodriguez He didn't move up quickly when splitting. The relative speeds weren't even greater than about 2MPH. He had his own lane when he got hit. The reason he got hit was because his lane was going faster than lane two and three. The guy saw an opening straight across and shot through two lanes. The kid would have hit a car in the same situation. I lane split ALL the time, but only when the traffic is Stopped. I have been riding too long to not know that splitting in moving traffic will introduce you to the local fuckwit driver sooner than expected. People move over to block your passage, put arms out windows throw stuff out of the car. Loads of things happen when the traffic is moving.You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
