Hitting to close to home

[donaldb]

Obviously I would not expect forum members to have a clue as to what I do for a living...so briefly let me just say that I handle all civil liability claims failed against the state of MS..it's agencies..it's employees....and leave it at that.

It's been a tough week...one of those where you question if it's still worth the risks associated w/two wheel adventure.

Late last week, one of our troopers while responding to an accident scene on his issued 07 Harley had another one of those left turners exclaim after the fact..........I didn't see him. :blink: Why the hell not??????????long...flat...straight...unlimited visibility...what the hell do you mean you didn't see him :angry: Accident reconstruction indicates the trooper was traveling the speed limit of 45 w/lights and siren at the time. No match for the side of a minivan.

Not much of an excuse for the family of a man in his early 30's married w/2 small children. He's still at the Med in Memphis trauma, still touch and go. Not sure he will make it..not sure it would be best if he did....I'll leave it there.

Today..I learn a female on an apparent borrowed bike..unsure of make, model, or rider experience veered into the oncoming lane directly in front of a state pickup..hit our driver head on...the ending was not a pretty one....I'll leave it there.

This morning on my way into work, as I accessed I20E via on ramp......apparently over night the construction Co. who is handling a overlay project put down a 2 inch layer of fresh asphalt on I20...but not on the ramp. No signs for warning.....traffic behind..traffic in front..ramp running out..I got to merge onto I20 in heavy traffic and cross over a 2 inch rise. Swing wide right...back hard left..reduce angle as much as possible, and bam..bam..I'm up and over the hump..I can hear the loose asphalt hitting the underside of my front and/or rear fenders. ....SH!T.............It would have been nice to have had some warning ahead of time...rush hour traffic at that location is pretty durn heavy and averages a speed of about 65.

If I make it home this afternoon...I think I'll park the bike until next week :glare:

Too much..in too short of time..too close to home..

 

[wheatonFJR]

Sorry Donald.

Sad about the state workers. Take care on yer way home. :huh:

 

[Bungie]

Late last week, one of our troopers while responding to an accident scene on his issued 07 Harley had another one of those left turners exclaim after the fact..........I didn't see him. :blink: Why the hell not??????????long...flat...straight...unlimited visibility...what the hell do you mean you didn't see him :angry: Accident reconstruction indicates the trooper was traveling the speed limit of 45 w/lights and siren at the time. No match for the side of a minivan.

Same deal up in Sudbury. On Sunday afternoon about 3pm, and off duty OPP officer got in a head on when a car pulled out to pass. Wide open stretch of road, died on the scene. Hwy was closed for 14 hrs with no detours available. This on the Trans-Canada hwy the day a major (6000+) bikers reunion was going on. Hotels were filled on both sides of the accident within a couple hours.

My condolences go out to him, and, everybody involved in your cases.

Their is no plus side, but I did happen to meet a guy with a very severe case of hwy eyes riding from Hartford Ct. to Minnesota. BMW Adventure type, huge aluminum panniers. Got him a cheap hotel and settled in for the night after chatting with him for about an hour over coffee. Gave him some directions to some nice (nay, REALLY NICE) rides on his chosen route. Hope he stays safe and learns to pace himself a little better.

Whats my point? We do this knowing our passion has an inherent amount of risk involved, as does just about anything we do. We choose to accept it and live our life deliberately. I gave up riding for 10 years after a very close call. Got back into it in 2002 and my life is far richer for accepting that risk again.

-Steve

 

[donaldb]

Whats my point? We do this knowing our passion has an inherent amount of risk involved, as does just about anything we do. We choose to accept it and live our life deliberately. I gave up riding for 10 years after a very close call. Got back into it in 2002 and my life is far richer for accepting that risk again.
-Steve

True.......dat!

Just need a break.

Collect thoughts.

Head back straight.

Front wheel pointed forward.

Cant miss NAFO.

Try and be more cautious.

Move on down the road.

 

[RAVENRIDER]

Late last week, one of our troopers while responding to an accident scene on his issued 07 Harley had another one of those left turners exclaim after the fact..........I didn't see him. :blink: Why the hell not??????????long...flat...straight...unlimited visibility...what the hell do you mean you didn't see him :angry: Accident reconstruction indicates the trooper was traveling the speed limit of 45 w/lights and siren at the time. No match for the side of a minivan.

Unbelievable.

: (

 

[double_entendre]

Obviously I would not expect forum members to have a clue as to what I do for a living...so briefly let me just say that I handle all civil liability claims filed against the state of MS..it's agencies..it's employees....and leave it at that.
It's been a tough week...one of those where you question if it's still worth the risks associated w/two wheel adventure.

Late last week, one of our troopers while responding to an accident scene on his issued 07 Harley had another one of those left turners exclaim after the fact..........I didn't see him. :blink: Why the hell not??????????long...flat...straight...unlimited visibility...what the hell do you mean you didn't see him :angry: Accident reconstruction indicates the trooper was traveling the speed limit of 45 w/lights and siren at the time. No match for the side of a minivan.

Speed limit with lights and siren going. Sounds strange, but even so.... "I didn't see him." *sigh* Sorry to hear about your troubles. I never will understand (1) why they let people who are so clearly oblivious to everything around them drive. Oughta just done a Rodney King Pinata Party on her.

Rancho

(1) Yeah yeah, I get it. Most drivers are also voters. Politicians don't have the balls to do anything about it. :angry:

 

[BRDRPEY]

wow. sad to hear about the officer.

let us know his of his recovery. i have an uncle whom is a retired officer and my sister whom was

an officer for many years. so i kind of got soft spot for our officers.

 

[rockhead]

Very sad indeed.

Last weekend I was on a ride with my 15-year old son as a passenger. While on a state 4-lane, a women in a buick I was passing suddenly decided to shift lanes. She would have slammed right into me if I hadn't braked and let her get in front. When I pulled up next to her...sure enough, she was gabbing on the cell phone and not paying attention to her driving. I wonder what could have been so effing important about that call that it was worth putting my son and me at risk! And when I hear stories like the trooper's, I always wonder if a cell phone was involved.

 

[twowheelnut]

"I didn't see him."? Even with lights and siren? Jebus. Hang tough, DB. ****'s bound to get better. I hope.

 

[fattymoon]

I have too many games already, and will probably pick up Creature Creator as a prelude to Spore. So, should I get COD4? Is it everything they say it is?

Obviously I would not expect forum members to have a clue as to what I do for a living...so briefly let me just say that I handle all civil liability claims failed against the state of MS..it's agencies..it's employees....and leave it at that.
It's been a tough week...one of those where you question if it's still worth the risks associated w/two wheel adventure.

Late last week, one of our troopers while responding to an accident scene on his issued 07 Harley had another one of those left turners exclaim after the fact..........I didn't see him. :blink: Why the hell not??????????long...flat...straight...unlimited visibility...what the hell do you mean you didn't see him :angry: Accident reconstruction indicates the trooper was traveling the speed limit of 45 w/lights and siren at the time. No match for the side of a minivan.

Not much of an excuse for the family of a man in his early 30's married w/2 small children. He's still at the Med in Memphis trauma, still touch and go. Not sure he will make it..not sure it would be best if he did....I'll leave it there.

Today..I learn a female on an apparent borrowed bike..unsure of make, model, or rider experience veered into the oncoming lane directly in front of a state pickup..hit our driver head on...the ending was not a pretty one....I'll leave it there.

This morning on my way into work, as I accessed I20E via on ramp......apparently over night the construction Co. who is handling a overlay project put down a 2 inch layer of fresh asphalt on I20...but not on the ramp. No signs for warning.....traffic behind..traffic in front..ramp running out..I got to merge onto I20 in heavy traffic and cross over a 2 inch rise. Swing wide right...back hard left..reduce angle as much as possible, and bam..bam..I'm up and over the hump..I can hear the loose asphalt hitting the underside of my front and/or rear fenders. ....SH!T.............It would have been nice to have had some warning ahead of time...rush hour traffic at that location is pretty durn heavy and averages a speed of about 65.

If I make it home this afternoon...I think I'll park the bike until next week :glare:

Too much..in too short of time..too close to home..

 

[Firedog]

Sorry 'bout your bad week. Sounds like you are in a bit of a dark valley. The good news is...there's only one way out, that is up. Keep the chin up and persevere.

 

[Crash Cash]

Late last week, one of our troopers while responding to an accident scene on his issued 07 Harley had another one of those left turners exclaim after the fact..........I didn't see him.

They really need to start putting people like this *under* the damn jail. I think stuff like this should be handled far more seriously than it is, and people should get prison time for "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See Ya". I'm with the AMA on this one.

It's no less assault with a deadly weapon than me randomly firing off a Glock in the middle of town, and should be treated as such. People are not expected to exercise responsibility when driving, and so they don't. That needs to change.

I'm fortunate enough to have survived a left-turner, so this is a rather hot topic for me.

 

[Vermonta]

Life sucks then you die, but while we are hear try to live every day to the fullest. I spent a year in Nam and after that I always told myself from here on out it's all gravy. I stopped riding for a few years because every time I went out I was sure it was the day I would get it by some cage and I just couldn't relax and enjoy riding. After a few years I started back up riding in the dirt only and eventually got back into road riding. Now I'm having a great time at it again and I just figure if I get whacked I can only think of one other way I'ld rather go than riding. You only go around once so ride fast and take chances. :yahoo:

 

[Tenchi]

They really need to start putting people like this *under* the damn jail. I think stuff like this should be handled far more seriously than it is, and people should get prison time for "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See Ya". I'm with the AMA on this one.

I wish there were harsher penalties for people driving dangerously. Unfortunately there's very little that can be done until it's too late. Even Washington's new cell phone laws are a f*cking joke. To quote this site:

The Washington ban is a so-called secondary offense law -- law enforcement authorities must first find that a driver is committing another offense like speeding before a citation can be issued for violating the cell phone ban.

That's a real half-arsed attempt at making a very dangerous act unlawful.

More recently (specifically yesterday) I was run off the road by an inattentive rider while riding a push bike around Redmond. I've been here 3 weeks, and I'm very fortunate that I did it within the warranty period of my bicycle... the bike was unrideable after running off the road at less than 20 mph. It doesn't take much to check the mirrors before performing an action on the road.... It's not much, but it would save so many lives. It really hit home when I received an email saying that a member of the MS Bikes mailing list had the same thing happen to them and was in hospital facing the loss of sight in one eye. That could have been me.

I just wish they'd bring back the old, "Look left, look right, look bike".

 

[jesse]

It won't always prevent an accident, but it sure helps to slow down at every intersection and assume that someone is going to pull out in front of you from somewhere and your job is to find them. And when you pass through safely and slowly, you win..........

 

[jesse]

Life sucks then you die, but while we are hear try to live every day to the fullest. I spent a year in Nam and after that I always told myself from here on out it's all gravy. I stopped riding for a few years because every time I went out I was sure it was the day I would get it by some cage and I just couldn't relax and enjoy riding. After a few years I started back up riding in the dirt only and eventually got back into road riding. Now I'm having a great time at it again and I just figure if I get whacked I can only think of one other way I'ld rather go than riding. You only go around once so ride fast and take chances. :yahoo:

I like my odds better when I "ride like I want to ride again tomorrow"

 

[Toecutter]

It won't always prevent an accident, but it sure helps to slow down at every intersection and assume that someone is going to pull out in front of you from somewhere and your job is to find them.

My route to work takes me through several sign-controlled side-intersections, with poor sight lines. I slow accordingly, enough to not be surprised by a stop-sign-runner.

Remember:

S-Search

P-Predict (and plan)

A-Act

And stay right....

The cagers are trying to kill you, just by being stupid. Act accordingly. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

Donald,

Hugs. See you at NAFO!

 

[painman]

Db, sorry to hear of the misfortunes of your friends and see that no matter what state one drives in iddiot's abound. Last year I attended 3 funeral's of friends killed while riding their bikes.

I too had issues with even getting on the saddle after those but time does heal and I think makes for more wisdom as we ride which is a plus but not the total answer. And I firmly believe that whatever the good Lord allow's if its your time well then....

Of note a scary thing I see as I make my daily deliveries around town in the van is the number of late runner's through the signal's at intersections. You know those lights are red and as one rides the bike, please just remember to look before you leap....

And also I've heard this somewhere on the board before but I think is worth repeating. "I ride as though I'm invisable" (and added for safety), "And their trying to kill me".

PM. <><

 

[old&slow]

Sorry for the people involved.......

I tried of hearing that, " I didn't see them" ********.... If you are that F#@*ing Blind you shouldn't be on the highway... :angry2:

I'm tried of seeing folks driving down the road reading newspapers ,, putting on make-up ,, talking on cell phone & taking notes ,, etc...

Maybe with gas at $4 a gallon will keep some of the F#@*ing morons off the road,,,,