Came across a motorcycle accident today

[metallicat]

And the motorcycle driver was dead on scene. I was at work, and me and another guy left in a truck to get some lunch. We came across the scene before the ambulance and other emergency vehicles got there. The man (who the radio said was 21 years old) was laying on the ground on the opposite side of his completely ruined motorcycle, with four or five people around him just holding him. At the time, I didn't realize he was dead, or at least close to, but we found that out later. Something like this really puts a sense of reality into your head.

The radio news report is saying that a car turned left in front of the motorcycle, and they are not sure whether or not speed was a factor. For all those motorcycle drivers out there, please be carefull. Take care when you are driving, because while I know traffic fatalities are inevitable, I don't want families to have to go through what this young mans loved ones are going through right now.

[Vulcan]

Good advice Oilers Fan. The biggest fear I and a lot of riders have is not being seen and thus getting hit by a car turning left, pulling out from a side street and broadsiding us or getting rear ended, not to mention being run off the road or worse by some inattentive SUV driver changing lanes. It keeps us on our toes for sure and hopefully we stay intack. I'm not saying that some riders don't engage in risky behaviour, but the majority of accidents are cagers fault. Me, I try to avoid the city and heavy traffic but it's not always possible.

[FireFly]

My two cousins were out riding a few years ago. Going the speed limit, wearing all their gear, etc. Obeying the laws. My one cousin John was in the lead, hit a patch of gravel, and wiped out. His brother Norris was trailing, and held his brother in his arms as he died. Not cool.

Another family from Sundre was out for the weekend, dad with the sidecar with their two kids in it, mom riding solo behind... came onto an accident with her whole family killed. I don't know the story there, but I believe they were hit by someone not paying attention.

Either way, I only dirtbike, but I prefer quading. You won't catch me on the highway on two wheels ever.

[4X4]

Rough...

Two years ago, the same thing happened to me. Me & a friend were driving down the hiighway between Nakusp & Kaslo (kootenays) and happened upon a couple of dead motorcyclists lying on the highway. It was a couple on a touring bike travelling with another couple on another touring bike.
Cell phones don't work there, so all we could do was notify the RCMP when we got to Kaslo. Fortunately, another passer by had agreed to do the same thing in the opposite direction.

I'll never forget that. Standing over a person that literally just died. I'm sure I'll remember their faces for many years.

[metallicat]

Thanks for the stories guys. If nothing else, they serve as a reminder to be careful. And a reminder to all vehicles other than motorcycles to watch out for bikes.

This accident today was right near a seniors centre, and a guy I work with mentioned that he hoped it wasn't a senior that hit him. On the news tonight, they interviewed the man in the car that was turning left, and it was an 80-year old man. He started turning and stopped for pedestrians...he never even saw the biker. Incredibly sad.

[Neeper]

Horrible. I can say that I am 100 times more alert when riding than when I am driving. However, we must rely on other drivers to be alert as well. Terrible tragedy. 21 years old, and never even got to live life yet.

[Claeren]

I work at the hospital and track admissions and you would not believe how many people come in from bike accidents. From minor injuries to long stay ICU.

This is actually the slow time of the year. Spring is the worst, where you have lots of new riders and lots of gravel....

As if death is not bad enough, the sight of an elbow or hand or thigh without the flesh and only ground gravel and bone is almost worse...


Claeren.

[Bill Bumface]

I came across a motorcycle accident in front of the university a couple years ago. The ammount of blood on the ground was incredible. I didn't hear about it in the news though, so I'm hoping that the rider made it. Only dirt bikes for me.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, riding a bike is a tough gig. Most riders are very alert and consciencious, but they can do little to control the actions of other drivers. I always try to look out and be aware for people on bikes when I'm driving and allow them a bit more space. Often the biker does nothing wrong, but is the one who suffers the worst fate. I was up in Edmonton yesterday and heard about the accident 123rd, and I forget where else at around 11:15.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by FireFly@Sep 6 2005, 10:51 PM
His brother Norris was trailing, and held his brother in his arms as he died. Not cool.

I have a real sudden urge to hug my brother now. ;_;

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Man that's not fun to see.

My wife used to be an ER & ICU nurse. She refers to bikes as 'donor-cycles' and she'd literally divorce me if I got one.

[Five-hole]

I had a coworker who was in a bad cycle accident; a firetruck had flipped on the onramp ahead of him and he broke his back when he hit the wreckage. He's fine now, thankfully, but like you, BitB, his wife told him to choose her or his bike.

[ken0042]

Originally posted by Five-hole@Sep 7 2005, 10:57 AM
but like you, BitB, his wife told him to choose her or his bike.

I guess I don't understand a woman's logic sometimes. She would rather lose you for sure, than to take a risk of maybe losing you at some point down the road.

I understand how maybe she doesn't want you riding a bike, but that's not what's being said.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I don't ride a motorcycle but when I am out on a highway dealing with some traffic on my bike I can't help but feel lucky that I am alive. Some drivers on the road (usually young people from my experience) don't pay any attention and I have heard stories about some of them that literally try and run a cyclist off the road or in a few rare cases actually hit a cyclist as they are driving by.

It is a sad fate that no one should have to suffer through. My thouhts and prayers are with the mother and the father who just lost a son, I can't imagine the horror they are going through right now.

[Rootbeer]

Back in High School I had a Gym Teacher She was 26 years Old. She was riding her motorcycle to canmore if i remeber correctly she hit a pole. Stars flew her to the Foothills Hosptial if stars had not been there the doctors said she would have not made it. she is Paralyzed from the waist down. It's such a shame she was such a atheltic person she played hockey all her life.

[Tower]

It's always safer to ride on loud bikes in packs... Like wolves.

[Flashpoint]

Never nice to hear about people getting killed. That grade A sucks.

Seriously though - if you ride a bike it is just a question of time right? I mean an accident that is normally just a fender bender between cars will kill your ass. Something that is a busted tail light or scratched paint for a car leaves a motorcyclist perminantly disabled.

There is just no margin for error for bikers on streets filled with inattentive people in cars. Even if you are the safest, most attentive dude in the world, accidents still happen due to other people.

Are the risks really worth the benifits?

[FireFly]

Originally posted by ken0042+Sep 7 2005, 01:33 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ken0042 @ Sep 7 2005, 01:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Five-hole@Sep 7 2005, 10:57 AM
but like you, BitB, his wife told him to choose her or his bike.

I guess I don't understand a woman's logic sometimes. She would rather lose you for sure, than to take a risk of maybe losing you at some point down the road.

I understand how maybe she doesn't want you riding a bike, but that's not what's being said. [/b][/quote]
Perhaps it's because she'd rather lose him for sure, and be able to get over it, find love again, etc., than lose him later in a tragic accident and spend the rest of her life mourning. Just a thought. As a woman.

That said, I wouldn't stop my husband/boyfriend/whatever from riding a bike, I'd just prefer it be a dirt bike, and not on a highway.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I would say it is more of a respect issue with regards to the fact that while they are seperate people and they live seperate lives their actions have a definate impact on the lives of each other. As such their partners opinions and beliefs have to be not only agknowledged but at the same time respected and thus valued. If someone works in a hospital and sees some of the horrors day in and day out and they don't want their loved ones acting int he same manner then at some point the partner has to say I respect your opinion and I understand it, and as such I will not ride a motorcycle.

There have to be limits of course but it is a definate respect issue in my mind.

[Sylvanfan]

My dad worked in the Insurance business for a lot of years. Had to attend a lot of grusome accident sites. The one thing he always told my brother and I was to avoid motorcycles. That seriously was about the only thing he didn't want us getting involved in at any costs.