Three local motorcyclists killed in one weekend

[Scoop 0]

Well, makes you wonder huh.

Three motorcyclists died this weekend in crashes in my local area. I don't want to compare it in danger to skydiving (because I wouldn't know where to start to be fair and accurate) but it does make you think. The trouble being we had a scorcher of a weekend, the first of the summer really. Everyone who hasn't ridden their bikes since last year digs them out and has a play and shit like this happens. Which, of course, is an assumption.

I used to want a sportsbike until I went to fatal road accident and decided that maybe I would be pushing my luck, as I know what I'm like driving, let alone if I was on a little missile.

As much as people shake their heads at us and say "you're crazy!" I am beginning to think that, infact, some of the things you might assume to be safer, are actually more dangerous and vice versa.

All you riders, ride smart and remember how blind and unpredictable car drivers can be.

[Zee 0]

Nearly ate a Nissan for breakfast myself last week. Some chick yakkin' on the cell phone (which is now illegal in this state) decided to change lanes without looking and nearly side swiped me. Happens nearly every day unfortunately...

It's all fun and games until you end up a hood ornament on an Oldsmobuick....

Action©Sports

[ChrisL 2]

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Well, makes you wonder huh.

What does it make you wonder?

__

My mighty steed

[Remster 24]

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Happens nearly every day unfortunately...

Seriously?

If it happens (or almost) all the time, I'd suggest its not just the other's people fault. You may benefit from defensive driving classes. I dont mean to insult you or anything, but I ride in traffic / commute 3 days of the week, and if you make a point of positioning yourself out of harms way, you diminish your risk, riding a bike, or driving a car. Same skills.

Remster

[Amazon 7]

I gave up on motorbikes after totalling my Triumph Trident...and that was after destroying a Norton...there are WAY to many people in cars on the road who are oblivious to motorbikes on the road.. and I was unwilling to become an organ donor at such an early age.

At least with my 7500 lb truck around me I feel a bit safer....although it is definitely not as much fun to ride.

[shropshire 0]

As my instructor used to say..... "Treat everyone on the road as if they are going to kill you!! "

Ride to survive!!

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[sharimcm 0]

With the ROT Rally (Republic of Texas) Motorcycle Rally being held this past weekend, there were quite a few bikes on the road. One biker was involved in a hit and run, and unfortunately, he lost his life. Other than that, there were no other injuries or deaths. There were a few more last year unfortunately, but with those, they did say alcohol was involved. Everyone should be careful when on the roads. We have to share them with others.

A good friend of mine riding his bike (he did have a helmet on) was broadsided by an ambulance in California a couple of years ago. The ambulance was not on a call at the time, didn't see him, and they collided. My friend lost his life even after the attempts by the medical team that hit him failed. It can happen at any time without warning, but that goes for a car, motorcycle, bus, etc.

"I had a dude tip his black cowboy hat to me after I provided him with a condom outside my hotel room at 3-something in the morning." -myself

[BillyVance 34]

In my town a couple of days ago there was some fucking idiot in a little car with the hazard lights on. I first saw him right on my rear bumper. He went around me in a no pass zone, right in front of oncoming traffic, nearly causing a wreck. Then he passed the car in front of me, nearly causing two motorcycles coming the other way to swerve off the road. I noticed this car had a fireman's car tag. He turned off on my road with me right behind, then he swerved around the car that just turned in there in front of him, also right in front of oncoming traffic. I thought to myself, what the fuck is this dude's problem??? It's only less than half a mile from the fire station! Sure enough, we saw him pull right in front of the fire station, which looked like nobody was there.

Emergency or not, I don't care who you are, you don't endanger others like that. Get a fucking siren or city vehicle if you need to move through traffic.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[normiss 620]

what he said!

I've been riding for most of my life...I don't see this problem very often although I do realize most cages simply do not see us. Drive defensively...and certainly not crazy fast on a donor cycle!

[Zee 0]

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Happens nearly every day unfortunately...

Seriously?

If it happens (or almost) all the time, I'd suggest its not just the other's people fault. You may benefit from defensive driving classes. I dont mean to insult you or anything, but I ride in traffic / commute 3 days of the week, and if you make a point of positioning yourself out of harms way, you diminish your risk, riding a bike, or driving a car. Same skills.

While I may not commute to work 3 days a week, I do ride over 20,000 miles per year and I also spent well over a decade driving an additional 60 to 80,000 miles per year for work. I have plenty of experience on the road and on the track, thank you very much.

I never insinuated that it happens to me on a daily basis but, it does without question, happen to riders all over the globe every single day. No matter how defensive you drive, no matter how many precautions you take, there will always be some inattentive jackass somewhere in your periphery waiting to turn you in to the next statistic, and no defensive driving class on earth is going to protect you from all of them.

Action©Sports

[n23x 0]

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Happens nearly every day unfortunately...

Seriously?

If it happens (or almost) all the time, I'd suggest its not just the other's people fault. You may benefit from defensive driving classes. I dont mean to insult you or anything, but I ride in traffic / commute 3 days of the week, and if you make a point of positioning yourself out of harms way, you diminish your risk, riding a bike, or driving a car. Same skills.

Goddamn right, I could not agree anymore. Being a defensive (and offensive) driver can provide the required visibility to other drivers on the road.

Unfortunately, my only near serious incident was prevented out of shear luck more than anything else (just happened to knock it in first while sitting behind a car at a stop-light, and was able to jump on the median after some bitch in her suburban screeched to a halt a foot away from the bumper of the car i was behind). It would have been an over, under, or in between.

.jim

"Don't touch my fucking Easter eggs, I'll be back monday." ~JTFC

[Zee 0]

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Happens nearly every day unfortunately...

Seriously?

If it happens (or almost) all the time, I'd suggest its not just the other's people fault. You may benefit from defensive driving classes. I dont mean to insult you or anything, but I ride in traffic / commute 3 days of the week, and if you make a point of positioning yourself out of harms way, you diminish your risk, riding a bike, or driving a car. Same skills.

Goddamn right, I could not agree anymore. Being a defensive (and offensive) driver can provide the required visibility to other drivers on the road.

Unfortunately, my only near serious incident was prevented out of shear luck more than anything else (just happened to knock it in first while sitting behind a car at a stop-light, and was able to jump on the median after some bitch in her suburban screeched to a halt a foot away from the bumper of the car i was behind). It would have been an over, under, or in between.

.jim

That would be one great reason never to position yourself directly behind a car at an intersection - always put yourself to one side where you have a way out, always keep your bike in gear, and always keep a watchful eye in your rearview mirrors - just a few things that are distinctly different between riding a bike and driving a car...

Action©Sports

[Squeak 17]

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to other drivers on the road.

Unfortunately, my only near serious incident was prevented out of shear luck more than anything else (just happened to knock it in first while sitting behind a car at a stop-light, and was able to jump on the median after some bitch in her suburban screeched to a halt a foot away from the bumper of the car i was behind). It would have been an over, under, or in between.

.jim

That would be one great reason never to position yourself directly behind a car at an intersection - always put yourself to one side where you have a way out, always keep your bike in gear, and always keep a watchful eye in your rearview mirrors - just a few things that are distinctly different between riding a bike and driving a car...

I never pull up behind cars, and at intersections i move to the front row of the starting grid, if i am 100yards in front of them they have less chance of taking me out.
and I commute to work on a bike almost EVERYDAY

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?

[Zee 0]

That would be nice, but in most states cops get a little ticket happy if you do that...

Action©Sports

[Squeak 17]

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That would be nice, but in most states cops get a little ticket happy if you do that...

It's not illegal here if the traffic is at stand still.
In fact it was a COP that taught me to ride (many many moons ago) and t'was he that told meto never sit behind stopped vehicles, but to pull along side them

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?

[willard 0]

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That would be nice, but in most states cops get a little ticket happy if you do that...

It's not illegal here if the traffic is at stand still.
In fact it was a COP that taught me to ride (many many moons ago) and t'was he that told meto never sit behind stopped vehicles, but to pull along side them

That very thing saved my ass many years ago. I had stopped at a red light just off the right rear corner of the sedan in front of me. Just a few seconds later that car was rear-ended by another car. Though I was hit by glass and part of a tail light (and shit my pants) I was uninjured.

[normiss 620]

you were lucky!right rear of any vehicle is a very unsafe place to be...

[virgin-burner 1]

i wanted to do the tests for motorcycling, for the small one (125ccm, a yamaha DT), that one went well. then for the big bikes (a honda VFR 750ccm), both i had lended from friends, with the big one, i drove off the guys place that gave it to me, five minutes later i was "shot down" by a porsche.. i stopped motorcycling from that point on..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[shropshire 0]

<> - What's their thinking behind that?

I nearly always do that (and filter through moving traffic - with care) - SOP in the U.K

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[normiss 620]

while "lane splitting" is allowed in a few states in the US, I cannot for the life of me seeing myself ever doing that. It's risky enough out there on two wheels unseen by most motorists!

[shropshire 0]

It's a calculated risk... I weigh up the traffic flow, take a good look (ish) at the behaviour of the drivers that I'm overtaking.... If I see some Dick on a mobile phone, I'll think twice.

Also, use your horn auduble warning device, as per the police riding manual (Roadcraft) - although some folk perceive this as aggressive


If one is going to sit in a queue of traffic, one may as well be in a car.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Squeak 17]

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while "lane splitting" is allowed in a few states in the US, I cannot for the life of me seeing myself ever doing that. It's risky enough out there on two wheels unseen by most motorists!

well you do ride a fat arsed wide body harleyand you're probably one of thsoe who ride knees wide

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?

[normiss 620]

gotta air it out man!

dood...if you saw the way the blue hairs drive in Florida, you'd not lane split here either!
Plus, Florida has become quite the police state, tickets for everything, cameras that generate tickets when the bobbers aren't there in person to boot!
fuckers

[voltage 0]

Until yesterday, I haven't touched a bike for 3 years. Today I borrowed a bike from a friend because I was "hot" and the sky was 100% overcast


I took it on the highway and pushed it for what it's worth (it's a '93 YZF 750R so it's worth some) When nearly at 140mph there was this one car who set the light to change lanes and was about to do it. Luckily he noticed me.

After returning the bike to my friend half an hour ago I am now slowly coming down from the adrenalin rush

For the future I think I may stick to skydiving because it is safer

[smayo76 0]

I'm a state trooper in my state. Here we call them donor-cycles. For the vast majority of people that ride the 'crotch-rocket' versions it's not a matter of if....