Motorcycle Enthusiasts-Horrible Accident

[lazs2]

Ok.. choo...  I rode since I was 15.... I rode for many years and have seen a lot of really bad stuff... I have held a guy while he died.   

It is not even that.. I have been in some bad ones myself.. I had a leg literally ripped off.. I laid in the street looking at the bone sticking out of my boot and a chunk of meat holding everything on.. 3 years of not really using that leg after a half dozen operations.   I have hit cars t bone and went over the top.   I have went down at speed.    I know exactly what can happen.    I ride now in little jaunts around town and am on edge and ultra cautious..  which.. is maybe not as safe as less paranoid.. I know.. that sounds wrong but it isn't.. I hesitate when I see people stopped... "does she see me?.. is she gonna pull out?"

I know how a nice day can be turned into a nightmare of pain and months or years of agonizing recovery but...

Leave me the hell alone... You are not "helping" me in the least when you regulate.

What is common about all my years riding and the wrecks?  I never wore a helmet.. not once.. I never once injured my head either.   I hate helmets still.. it is dangerous to ride or hike or ride a bicycle or go camping or swimming... how bout everyone let me decide on the chance I am taking,.    I don't need your seatbelt laws or your helmet laws.   

lazs

[CAP1]

It is also possible that had the riders not been wearing helmets,their increased peripheral and hearing might have prevented this.

I don't belie ve in helmet laws. i do wear my helemt most of the time, but think it should be my choice.

that said.....it it were a hotrod that hit them, or something with louder exhaust i'd agree. most likely was a ""normal"" car that wasn't making enough noise either way.

 whatever the driver was on, the only thing that might've helped those bikers was for them to have looked before they took off.
 now that i've thought a bit more about it, i'm also wondering if the driver was on any revoked lists or suspended already?

[Jackal1]

  Why would any sane person ride a motorcycle?

Wrong question.
The right question would be , why wasn`t there a sane person operating the vehicle that hit them?
Why ride? Freedom.

[CAP1]

Perhaps everyone should spend some time on a bike before they get a car license?

good idea on the surface. badc idea in reality. you ever seen an incurably cllumsy person on a cycle? or a just plain stupid one?
 al they'd do would be to help give cyclests a bad name.

[SD67]

Yeah, maybe not a full bike, just stick them on a moped for 6 months when they are 16 so they learn how to watch where they are going and what the traffic is doing. Folks just cannot (or will not) read traffic anymore.

[SirLoin]

One thing i learned riding a bike was to never use mirrors for a lane change.Always a shoulder check(or two) even when i drive a car.That second vis has prevented several auto accidents over the years too and it was learned from riding bikes.

[lazs2]

yep..  put a finger on the nose bridge of your raybans and turn around.

lazs

[acfireguy26]

If you saw these kids lying on the pavement begging for their lives maybe u would have a different opinion.  They will be with me for the rest of my life.

Seen it many times, but most of the time its just "regular" veihicles involved. You wounldnt quit driving your car if what you had witnessed involved a minnivan with 8 passengers and a semitruck, would you? (that was a bad one) *shivers*

[CAP1]

Yeah, maybe not a full bike, just stick them on a moped for 6 months when they are 16 so they learn how to watch where they are going and what the traffic is doing. Folks just cannot (or will not) read traffic anymore.

that way's not really a bad idea at all.......

[CAP1]

Seen it many times, but most of the time its just "regular" veihicles involved. You wounldnt quit driving your car if what you had witnessed involved a minnivan with 8 passengers and a semitruck, would you? (that was a bad one) *shivers*

semi vs ford e350 15 passenger van.....head on on the pa turnpike. smoking wreckage, smoking bodies still in it, a couple bodies that were ejected on impact.....bad bad thing to see......

and no, didn't and wouldn't now......

[lasersailor184]

semi vs ford e350 15 passenger van.....head on on the pa turnpike. smoking wreckage, smoking bodies still in it, a couple bodies that were ejected on impact.....bad bad thing to see......

and no, didn't and wouldn't now......

How was it head on?  (I'm familiar with the Turnpike).

[Mojava]

  I rode dirt bikes for several years. I love them to death, but I will not ride street bikes.  The difference being, with dirt bikes, I'm responsible for my own actions, with Street Bikes,  I'm trusting someone else not to be an idiot. 

   If you do feel the need to ride a street bike then get a big old heavy Harley, take your time and drive defensively. 

 

[CAP1]

How was it head on?  (I'm familiar with the Turnpike).

IT was truely amazing...and a 1 in a million thing.........the van driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel, and the van drtifted......right through the small opening in the concrete barrier where police do their turn arounds......there was nothing the semi driver could do to avoid it....and we couldnt believe that the van actually got through that opening.

[SpazMan]

"Why would any sane person ride a motorcycle?"

First off I want to salute you for the way you helped my fellow bikers out. It took alot of guts to stand in blood and gasloine to help those people in their time of need......

I believe in a previous post you said the lady that caused this accidient was taken away in cuffs. Which leads me to believe she was drunk or high on something. In your above quote you ask why would a sane person ride a motorcycle. My question to you is why would a sane person drive drunk. If those bikers weren't there it could have been you getting hit, or some kids crossing the street, or some people on bicycles crossing the road, or a minivan full of kids or a family. I ride alot and I'm very cautious when going through an intersection. If I had a dollar for every car or truck that pulled in front of me I'd be living on an island some where resting on a beach. Don't question the sanity of bikers; question the sanity of drunk drivers.

Again  

[bcadoo]

I am not against people riding motorcycles.  I've done it and its a blast.

However, the facts are that you have virtually no protection in the event of a crash, and you are much more difficult to see. (and thats when you are obeying the speed limit...if you are speeding and zipping in and out of traffic you are virtually impossible to see). 

The old saying about there being two kinds of motorcyclists is way too true.  If you ride them long enough (more than a month) you probably will lay it down.

For me its a personal choice.  I choose not to ride because I consider the risk to outweigh the benefits.  (Do a google news search with the keywords 'motorcycle accident' and you'll see why)