The case of the invisible motorcycle

This is why i will never get on a bike.

 

Towards the end I heard the driver say "I had the green light and then it just changed". Drivers like that make me sick simply because they SHOULD be expecting a yellow light and it was downtown so the lights are timed, the suv driver was speeding and attemping to make all the lights without having to stop imho. Also I heard no one say call 911, why was that??

Now some of the blame can be put on the bike rider for doing the same thing as he should be even more aware of such things. I love bikes and this is just an example of neither the driver or the rider being fully attentative or aware.

Thank god it did not turn into a DOA/LifeFlight scene.

 

The driver is full of it. The light was green for the bike for as long as you can see it in the clip (~6 seconds at least) so there is no way that the driver "just missed the yellow"... unless his version of "just" is 10 seconds.

I don't accept that the rider has any blame in this incident.

Absolutely!

 

I guess blame was the wrong term so I will detract that statement and explain my outlook in more detail so please allow me alittle wiggle room as this is from a LEO outlook. The biker it seems to me did not leave himself enough safety room and by that I mean he was racing towards the next light just waiting for the light to turn green before blasting through the light. This is a perfect example of why nobody should expect cross traffic to actually be paying attention or obeying the traffic laws.

 

The car would hit an eighteen wheeler... he... or she was probably text messaging

 

Racing towards the light? Blasting through the light? We must not have been watching the same video. Do they train you guys to exaggerate or do you pick that stuff up while working the mean streets looking for speeders? After a few years do you start describing everything you see in extreme action words?

"I observed the woman hurtling through the crosswalk on her Lil Rascal, with complete and reckless disregard for public safety. She was traveling at an extreme walking pace exceeding 2mph in some areas."

 

You have completely misread or misunderstood the intent and message of texasmr2 post.
Your sweeping characterization of le is also patently wrong.

Reread is post and they to add some tonality and context.

PCB

 

As a rider, I cringed frequently, and the traffic was just too dangerous to ride regularly.

The local Ducati club did/does a ride way out in nowheresville, but it takes an hour+ of riding just to get to the starting point. And, at the end of the ride, another hour+ to get back home. 5+ hours on a sportbike in one day is brutal. So, the 996 just kind of sits around collecting dust.

Did anyone take note of the fact that when blackberry's network went down, car accidents also decreased significantly?!

CW

 

Ridding a bike made me a better driver. I scan 360 degress... I ride aware of what may happen... you don't blast streets thinking people may obey the signs... In the end of the day doesn't matter who is wrong... first of all what is on the line is your neck.

 

Many years ago I moved from Palo Alto to downtown SFO. The first weekend there I saw at least 4 drivers blow through red lights, some at serious speeds (set 45-50+) downtown, and cresting steep intersections....

Sold both of my bikes the next weekend. Only just looking to get back on, now that I live on on an island! ;-)

I do agree with Zx - situational awareness is everything! And just as valuable cooped up inside your steel/CF cocoon!

 

In San Francisco, I always look both ways before entering an intersection, even on a green light. About twice a year I'll go... then stop before I get into the intersection, because someone is coming through late. Someone has already touched on it, but right of way is irrelevant. What matters is not getting hit. If you know what you're doing, it's not that hard to avoid.

In the city, mile for mile, motorcycles are safer than walking, and much much safer than riding a bicycle. On any terrain, horses are more dangerous than any of these activities. No one will ever try to talk you out of riding a horse though.

 

That's why I sold my bike. I was run off the road in blind lane changes twice.

Never again.

Jedi

 

good ol' St Louis

 

being "invisible" is what got me off urban streets with a bike... and a look around at those who were no longer with us due to some incident on their bike...it's defensive riding when in motion, but standing still one becomes a target...

I was standing still waiting for on coming traffic to clear to make a left turn, with turn signals on, when I heard the screeching sound of brakes locked up... looked in my RV mirror to see a skidding car nearly dragging its' front bumper on the pavement and tires smoking... I went to full throttle ( and more :=) staight ahead )... I don't think a dime could have dropped between my tire and his bumper... I could hear cars making contact behind me...

It had to be excessive speed and driver's head where it don't shine. Extended skids don't happen at city speed limits for streets.

 

When I ride my bike, I just expect that everyone is trying to run me over. It seems a little paranoid, but when you are on a bike, fault doesn't matter. You don't want to be "dead right"

 

this is true.

 

Take a look at at the light at 0:32 as the biker approached it (3 to 4 seconds before impact). Stale green light straight ahead of the biker. That means the driver of the truck did not have a light that changed, he had a stale red light. Zero chance the light had just changed for the guy in the truck.

There was nothing the biker could do in this situation and it wasn't a case of an invisible biker, it was just a case of a guy just blowing through a stale red light.

 

I agree with you that LEOs tend to sensationalize things for no reason. He did not time it and the light was green for a decent duration. Further, if the pickup driver had been paying attention, the red truck stopped at the intersection, and the first bike crossing through the intersection in front of him would have clued him up even if he missed the changing of the light. His speed is not fast, but it is also not decreasing, so he never brakes until it is too late. Of course the biker brakes, but his wheels predictably lock up almost immediately when he brakes that hard, and he eases off, only to be hit. The light is green for the bikers a good 6 seconds before impact, at 28 seconds into the video you can see the green light at the left side of the intersection, on the smaller pole.

Wouldn't be surprised if the truck driver was texting.

Generally, I consider invisibility on the bike to be a plus. It makes people not do sudden, crazy, unpredictable things. That, coupled with defensive riding, has kept me alive. I try to give cars that could pose a danger a wide berth. In this situation, as I were to approach the intersection, I would have moved to the right lane, just in case someone were coming through like that. I would have had "eyes on" longer, and had more time and space to react/evade. That's about the only thing I would do differently. Perhaps accelerating rather than braking would have carried him past the danger in time, but it's completely non-intuitive and I don't think I would have been able to overcome my instincts to brake either. There's also the danger that the added momentum of my own speed would have led to greater injury if the accident had not been avoided.

 

+1

I love how everything is always automatically assumed its due to texting. I wouldn't be surprised if he is just a typical american driver. Zero situational awareness whatsoever and just completely oblivious to the entire world around him stuck in lala land all day.

I've never felt safer than when I rode my bike in NYC for years. Now that I brought it down to tx I'm thinking of selling it due to all the drivers on the road like this guy. Pretty sad and wish more people would realize that lack of attention to detail can quickly turn into taking someone else's life in a flash.

 

I don't always assume someone is texting. This is way beyond the pale, however, and suggests something is going on that is taking up the driver's attention.
Note how long the light is red for him.
Note how there is another vehicle, a bright red truck, stopped on his side.
Note how he does not accelerate.
Note how he does not brake.
Note how his speed is not that fast, as if he is hurrying through the red light because he is trying to run it. All of these point to his vision and attention being elsewhere.

Note also how he does not appear to be inebriated, clueless, or under the drug when he speaks on camera.

Either he is a complete imbecile (doesn't seem like it from his speech), or he is texting, or reaching under the dash for something for quite some time (do people really do that when approaching an intersection?) or...what? You tell me?

 

I gave up riding for many of the same reasons mentioned. My worst accident happened when I hit a pothole on my '67 Honda. The tires on that thing are really skinny and the pothole was deep enough that I was tossed from the bike and I slid into oncoming traffic.

Thankfully, I waved off the driver behind me. He was tailgating, and he subsequently told me that he would have run me over had I not waved him off.

I was young and stupid - I ended up riding again, but after my second daughter was born, I had an epiphany and sold my last Sportster and purchased a Jag E-Type.