Yesterday I witnessed a horrific crash out side my work shop , where sadly a fellow biker lost his life.
At around 10am I heard the scream of the engine from a sports bike and a second later the thump of a crash followed immediately by screech of cars . I knew right away that something bad happened , so I ran out to see I could be of any help , where I saw the mangled body of the biker laying in the middle of the road , his severed arm a few feet away and the bike all twisted up on the side walk about 50' . thankfully there is a fire station within a 100 yards of the accident , and they got there almost instantly and covered his body up soon after determining that he had perished . I took some pictures but I think I'll spare every one the gruesome details.
Apparently the bike made left turn on to the main road going East bound , at the same time a P/U truck pulled out of a lumber yard across his lane trying to go West. and since the bike accelerated so quickly the driver never saw him . and from the looks of things ,it seems that the biker never saw the truck either , perhaps he was looking back as he was merging on to the traffic lanes.
I don't know why I brought this up here, I certainly don't want to spoil anyone's weekend, but this really hit home for me , because , I often make the same turn at the same spot and although I don't hit the rev limiter coming out of a corner , I do accelerate quickly out of the turn when I see an opening, and this has made me pause and reevaluate my riding habits. The other thing was the fact that everyone was blaming the biker for going too fast, and causing the accident and when the police officer got there , she basically agreed and made her mind up rather quickly and even made a comment as to how "stupid bikers cause accidents and deserve what they get" . This really got under my skin, because the bike could not have been going faster than 45mph, because the distance from where he made his turn to the driveway of lumber yard is less than 100' , and I don't think a 600rr can reach more than 40-45 mph from a dead stop in 100', even at full throttle , in my mind the PU pulling out is clearly at fault , but since the biker was not there to defend himself , he not only lost his life, he also got the blame for it , and that is just wrong .
So I am going to say a prayer for the young man and his family , and wish for happy and safe rides for every one .
Geez, Mantel...that's a rough thing to have to see. I've had to respond to some fairly grisly scenes while doing the FF/rescue thing, I can understand why it's sticking with you a little bit. Just keep your situational awareness up while your riding, man... I don't know if that spot has lots of accidents or not, but I will tell you that there are certain places in my town where I will go around the block instead of having to make a turn across traffic, or to avoid other hazards that I've seen...
Sounds like the truck driver could have been ticketed, but I can't absolve the rider from some responsibility too, from your description. Regardless, I'll send some prayers...
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Well, fire the engines! Spur this iron space-pony on!
Thanks for sharing. I don't like hearing stories like this, but figure it's good for me and encourages me to ride safer. I'll definitely say a prayer for the perished biker and his family.
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Don't steal! The government hates competition.
Was the biker in proper riding gear? It's sad to hear stories like this. Reminds us all to be aware and expect the worst from other drivers.
no , he only had a helmet and some short length gloves on, having said that there are no gears available that could have changed the outcome in this case , this was a massive impact ( although I do encourage ATGATT). On an even sadder note ,it seems that he was active US navy sailor on leave, from what I gather looking at pictures and notes left on the make shift memorial on the side of the road . RIP
really dont see what riding gear has to do with it...Mantel you did say you herd the scream of the engine ..crusing at 45 mph and a engine pulling hard and hitting something at 45 is two different..things.....something i would not want to see
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dont need a bike to ride the fast lane
RIP rider. mantelhonda you should let the police sargent or comanding officer know what you witnessed and what the officer said because if she did it there she has done it before and will again and granted the rider has some fault but sounds like most of the fault is the driver of the truck. this may also give the family some closer.
RIP rider. mantelhonda you should let the police sargent or comanding officer know what you witnessed and what the officer said because if she did it there she has done it before and will again and granted the rider has some fault but sounds like most of the fault is the driver of the truck. this may also give the family some closer.
It could also help with liabililty and insurance responsibility issues to have a friendly witness on the deceased's side. I deal with accident liability daily in my business, what's sad is even though the rider was killed, the truck driver or his insurance company may well sue the rider for damages.
We had a taxi driver killed in Pensacola following Hurricane Ivan, the city was under curfew except for taxis and emergency vehicles, power was still out, traffic lights not working. Our driver was t-boned in an intersection by a FEMA employee, hit in the driver's side door and killed instantly. So, guess who's being sued?
Anyway, RIP fallen rider and my thoughts and prayers to his family.
or better yet not post the photos..... remember the rider and leave the dead to the dead.... there is no desire to see blood and guts here... there are plenty of other sites that cater to that......
i personally have seen *(in 11 years of leo) enough blood and guts to float and sink a battleship...
or better yet not post the photos..... remember the rider and leave the dead to the dead.... there is no desire to see blood and guts here... there are plenty of other sites that cater to that......
i personally have seen *(in 11 years of leo) enough blood and guts to float and sink a battleship...
Remember this... you witnessed the 'sound' of an accident and then witnessed the aftermath.
Speculation is just that.
The driver of the truck has had their life changed forever too. If the truck was loaded, it was not moving fast at all if just pulling out. Possibly less than 15mph.... it would seem to me they might have actually been being cautious from your description. The truck may have actually been half in the lane before the bike accelerated....
We don't know.
Should the police officer have commented to a by-stander? Nope.
But the LEO is human too and trying to deal with it in their own way.
And their perception is based on experience, no different than ours.
Prayers to everyone involved.
Blame to none.
And remember if you do call the insurance companies... all you can offer is sounds.
I know a fellow rider who suffered the same fate in almost identical circumtances. I never saw the incident, but was told that he came around a corner and gunned his R1 hard, and had just got to redline in second, when a car came out of a drive way, the driver not expecting a two wheel missile having reached 140kmh in less than 100m.
The moral is I suppose, don't ride in such a fashion that it will exceed the expectations of cage drivers. They just have no idea of the perfromance capability of modern sports bikes.
__________________ Growing old is compulsory. Growing up is optional.
Too many times I've seen the cager blamed when in reality, the motorcyclist was exceeding normal boundaries - and we all know, most cagers are on the lower rung of capabilities when it comes to driving.
I'm not sure how I survived youth, and I am pretty sure that applies to more than a few others in these forums.
Crashes and death, I guess and as sad as it is to say, you go get numb to it to a degree after a while.
Had one guy miss a corner and go into a chain link fence, would of been nice if he only lost an arm.
Another face first into a metal street light pole.
Did not even put a dent in the pole.
Most of the accidents I witnessed or were a part of would of never happened if the "operator" would of used just a little more restraint.
Godspeed to all those we've lost, and more common sense to those left here with us now.
And again, I do feel this does need to be at a minimum discussed, as you can be guaranteed to loose more and more friends and aquaintances as time goes on.
And as for the pictures (google/rotten.com/others), if you've not seen the horror of what a bad accident truly looks like, it is worth seeing because it might actually cause you to think twice about riding on the street in a manner best reserved for the track or private property - and even then, sheep dip happens......
I'm speculating that we've all done a stupid thing or two in our lives. Just remember to know where and when to be stupid. Cagers and bikes must share the road. Both species have their idiots!
Being totally alert and aware of your surrounds can and will save your life. Be prepared, be ready, always be roving with the eyes and try to always have an escape route. Unfortunetly, sometimes its out of your control.
So few people actually practice emergency drills; braking, steering, etc.
__________________ It's better to have loved and lost than live with the psycho for life!
I'm speculating that we've all done a stupid thing or two in our lives. Just remember to know where and when to be stupid. Cagers and bikes must share the road. Both species have their idiots!
Being totally alert and aware of your surrounds can and will save your life. Be prepared, be ready, always be roving with the eyes and try to always have an escape route. Unfortunetly, sometimes its out of your control.
So few people actually practice emergency drills; braking, steering, etc.
This is so very true.
Thanks for not sharing the pictures too...No need for it.
RIP rider...
And for all of us that read this and to the riders that have witnessed these types of accidents, as sad and sometimes frustrating they are cause most of the time these accidents could have been avoided, we learn from them and go on. I'm sure at some point just about any accident could have or can be avoided if we think and operate our bikes differently on public roads. We've all been there, done that when it comes to riding aggressive and fast when we know we shouldn't have.
One night around 2 am while working the city's main trauma unit, we got a call of a biker who was reported to have crashed his sport bike on I-26 in downtown Charleston and was barely hanging on. He had been moving at an extremely high speed when the center guard rail acted like a giant razor blade and had removed several of his limbs. The EMS guys made sure they loaded up all the severed parts they had found at the scene and bought them in with him where our doctor pronounced him DOA. EMS workers were drained from attempting at keeping him alive till they got to the hospital. This is when we noticed that the biker had two right hands, one was smaller, could he of had a passenger? It was about this time when the call came in that the clean up crew had stumbled on a foot in the darkness and had then found a young female on the opposite side of the interstate, 150 yards down from where the bike impacted. Dead. Our shift had ended before we had the story about this crash.
The next night I was at work when a officer who had been at the scene came in with a prisoner transport. We asked if he knew what had happened and he told us that the rider had been drinking at a popular bar on the Isle of Palms, the Windjammer, when a woman he knew asked him to take her home, that she had been drinking too and needed some sleep before going to work. This was told by her worried friends the next morning.
It was estimated he was throttling his Ninja at approximately 165 mph when they didn't make the slight bend in the highway and impacted the rail. There was an eye witness, a taxi driver who they had just passed and said that he was in the act of telling his dispatcher to alert the state troopers when the rider had impacted the railing in front of him. He told the cop that he never recognized there was a passenger as the bike had blown passed him so quickly. I will never forget that trauma. The rider had on only casual dress and tennis shoes, the passenger was in a dress with flipflops. No helmets.
I don't really believe anything would have done much in that violence of action.
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JDubya
Harleyville, South Carolina
USA
well ... this guy actually hit a bike head on ... right on the front wheel ... i couldn't even imagine what happened to the bike ... much less the rider ... its sad to know that the biker was drinkin and swerved right along into the vehicle when they went to miss him ... :\ kinda reminded me of this when i read the thread ...
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... Never take life too seriously ... Nobody gets out alive anyway ...
it is very sad to read this type of reports, unfortunately it seems to be more frequent these days . I can think of at least 10 fatal crashes involving bikes in and around the canyons here in Malibu . mostly single bike crashes, resulting from excessive speed, limited riding ability, and presence of alcohol. the "CHP" has increased its presence in this area on the weekends that has slowed things down a bit for now .
I don't really believe anything would have done much in that violence of action.
Gosh, thought I got the chills from Mantel... Naked/ss, that story really gave me the creeps. Those were my old stomping grounds for 6 years (windjammer, Ilse of palms etc). That's the Island I decided never to drink heavy again about 5 years ago. Glad I don't drink anymore. Sobering story's guys, thanks for posting up.
... its sad to know that the biker was drinkin and swerved right along into the vehicle when they went to miss him ... :\ kinda reminded me of this when i read the thread ...
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