Protect your Noggin

[Jer]

From the Palm Springs Desert Sun Newspaper

MOTORCYCLIST KILLED IN SKY VALLEY CRASH

A motorcyclist was killed in a crash Sunday afternoon in Sky Valley, a CHP dispatcher said.

The man was riding south on Thousand Palms Canyon Road from Dillon Road when he lost control of his motorcycle, was thrown from the Harley-Davidson and landed face first on a rock, said Officer Joe Zagorski, a CHP spokesman.

The Desert Hot Springs man was identified Sunday, but his name was not released because his family had not been yet notified.

The man wasn’t wearing any protective gear and donned only a novelty helmet when he crashed about 4:10 p.m., Zagorski said.

“It didn’t offer any protection whatsoever,” he said. “It actually came off of his head when he landed.”

Investigators are still looking into what led to the crash near Sky Valley, which didn’t close Thousand Palms Canyon Road or otherwise affect traffic.

 

[Bokerfork]

Well, at least he still had the freedom to wear the next best thing to nothing.

I don't know why we pretend to cry over these things.

He was, what some would call, a "Free American".

Chances are, had it not been for the overreaching arm of the California legislators, he probably wouldn't have been wearing any type of head protection at all.

I, for one, hope he died with a smile on his face for the freedom to ride, and a curse in his throat for those who are constantly trying to constrain the rest of us.

I, for one, do not weep for this man, but instead, choose to raise a toast to his bid for freedom.

I, for one, wear a helmet every time I ride. But I never fail to curse those that some of you elected, who decided to take my freedom of choice away.

Okay, soapbox put away. Nothing to see here.

Mark

 

[Eric L]

I am sure any mother or father or siblings or wife or children or friends he left behind are celebrating his choice to ride in freedom as well. I hope his death was quick and painless and he's having a beer with god.

 

[Bearly Flying]

Bokerfork, I agree with You. I wear all the gear all the time, (at my choosing). It is not up to the Gov't to protect Me from Myself. I analyze the risk and choose the protection I want in whatever activity I am doing.

If the Safety Nazi's had their way, You would be forced into wearing a Helmet and full body armor to take a shower, after all more slips happen in the bathroom than anywhere else..... And if it saves one life....... Mind you we would all smell really bad, not being able to shower with all the gear on.

 

[Fontanaman]

Darwin lives.

 

[James Burleigh]

Everyone has a right to be a moron, and I chose not to ride with people who are clearly morons. But what really gripes my a** is when I see these morons imposing their rights on their children passengers, and dress them in a "novelty" helmet, shorts, t-shirt, and sandals. There's the real test, isn't it? If you recognize the risks, then you will dress your kids for the crash. But the fact that you dress them for a day on the beach demonstrates you have a brain the size of a walnut, and like the dinosaurs, deserve to become extinct. :lol:

 

[HotRodZilla]

I am sure any mother or father or siblings or wife or children or friends he left behind are celebrating his choice to ride in freedom as well. I hope his death was quick and painless and he's having a beer with god.

Yeah...His family will mourn his loss, but it was HIS choice to wear that type of helmet. Think what people who don't like motorcycles would say if you died in a crash tomorrow. They would be having this same conversation about how you ended your life early because you ride a bike...Gear or no gear.

Bokerfork, I agree with You. I wear all the gear all the time, (at my choosing). It is not up to the Gov't to protect Me from Myself. I analyze the risk and choose the protection I want in whatever activity I am doing.

If the Safety Nazi's had their way, You would be forced into wearing a Helmet and full body armor to take a shower, after all more slips happen in the bathroom than anywhere else..... And if it saves one life....... Mind you we would all smell really bad, not being able to shower with all the gear on.

If the safety nazis had their way, motorcycles would be banned outright. The ******* things are dangerous. Too bad I love them so much.

Everyone has a right to be a moron, and I chose not to ride with people who are clearly morons. But what really gripes my a** is when I see these morons imposing their rights on their children passengers, and dress them in a "novelty" helmet, shorts, t-shirt, and sandals. There's the real test, isn't it? If you recognize the risks, then you will dress your kids for the crash. But the fact that you dress them for a day on the beach demonstrates you have a brain the size of a walnut, and like the dinosaurs, deserve to become extinct. :lol:

This stuff pisses me off too Hans. I think an adult should be able to ride however they want, but should have the brains and take the time to protect their passengers; especially children...But I also have to think back to when I grew up.

I remember sleeping on the rear dash of my dad's car when I was very small, and I remember my brother and sister standing on the front seat in the center, or riding on my mom's lap. No one wore seatbelts back then...Not even kids.

I rode horses without a helmet. My dad put me on bucking steers when I was a kid just to see if I could hold on. My brother and I learned to use a chainsaw that didn't have a bar-brake, and I used a table saw without an automatic shut off if I got a finger in it. I learned how to hunt and shoot a real gun and not point it at another person.

Patch and I learned to ride motorcycles before we were 10, but we rode in shorts, t-shirts, no gloves, and no helmets. It's just the way it was. Maybe we were too dumb to know we needed it, but back then, people didn't really freak out about stuff.

****...We had lead paint on the walls, took knives to school, had mercury thermometers, real sissors, and no GFI plugs in the bathroom...And we lived.

In the midst of all this danger, I learned to be tough as Hell, and learned how to take care of myself while taking responsibility for my actions. Millions of kids lived this way, and grew up just fine. Think about it JB...You're older than me...When was the first time you remember wearing a seat belt? I bet you were over 18.

I would never let my girls ride my motorcycle without gear on. Hell, I make them wear bike helmets and gloves for their bicycles, but I don't want them to endure the same pain I did when I know how to mitigate it. My 9 year old wears a helmet when she goes to horse jumping lessons, but at my parents house, we ride for hours I always forget it. I shouldn't, but it's just one of those things.

Even with a helmet, if an 1800 lb horse falls on her after a jump or in a field, she could end up really hurt, paralized or dead, but should I shelter her so much that she never lives? I'm sure some parents think I'm irresponsible for letting her shoot, ride my motorcycle, jump horses, ski and rappel, but I want my children to experience everything they can. If something happened to any of them, I would be devastated, but how do we prevent every possible bad thing from ever happening?

I don't agree with the way some parents raise their kids, but they are their kids. I will try to educate them and sometimes cite them, but are they really any more wrong than any of us? I gotta wonder...

 

[Bearly Flying]

Zilla; How in the **** did we survive?????

I will never forgive my Parents for letting me run around like a little Hellion, without the proper Bike Helmets, shin guards, Elbow guards, Peanut free Environment.

My God we could have drowned rafting on the old creek.

Ya Darwin is alive and well. But how many Hyper sensitive Safety Idiots get killed despite all their best intentions..... Too bad Your number came up..

At Least I LIVED.......

 

[SacramentoMike]

Back to the deceased rider, I can't understand how this could have happened to him. After all, he had loud pipes. . :blink:

 

[FJRBluesman]

Back to the deceased rider

Gunny.
Bummer another person/rider is gone.

I'm curious if maybe some other circumstance lead to him losing control...

Too many times the LEO's or media report they lost control, how? Rain, snow (I know it's Palm Springs, it's a general question), a cage, animal, speed, etc. As if motorcyclists just can't handle a bike period! The bike suddenly becomes too hard to handle? :blink:

 

[FJR Bill]

I am sure any mother or father or siblings or wife or children or friends he left behind are celebrating his choice to ride in freedom as well. I hope his death was quick and painless and he's having a beer with god.

Do you have info that God drinks beer? If so will you tell my wife?

Bill

 

[Fred W]

I am sure any mother or father or siblings or wife or children or friends he left behind are celebrating his choice to ride in freedom as well. I hope his death was quick and painless and he's having a beer with god.

Do you have info that God drinks beer? If so will you tell my wife?

Bill

In the words of one of the best loved Americans:

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” - Benjamin Franklin

Also offers a quotation pertinent to the actual topic:

“Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security”

Pssst! I have a little secret: We're all going to die sooner or later.

I wouldn't mind so much if my death was due to some risky behavior that I had willingly chosen rather than some simple twist of fate.

Or perhaps the worst demise possible...

old age.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Pssst! I have a little secret: We're all going to die sooner or later.

I wouldn't mind so much if my death was due to some risky behavior that I had willingly chosen rather than some simple twist of fate.

Or perhaps the worst demise possible...

old age.

I'm with you, Fred. I want my death to be a direct result of my risky voluntary behavior.

In my old age.

 

[FJRBluesman]

Pssst! I have a little secret: We're all going to die sooner or later.

I wouldn't mind so much if my death was due to some risky behavior that I had willingly chosen rather than some simple twist of fate.

Or perhaps the worst demise possible...

old age.

I'm with you, Fred. I want my death to be a direct result of my risky voluntary behavior.

In my old age.

U R old!

 

[SacramentoMike]

Older than this, I meant.

 

[Jer]

HERE IS AN UPDATE ON THIS TRAGEDY.

A Desert Hot Springs man died of natural causes before his motorcycle veered off the road and crashed into a dirt ridge, the California Highway Patrol said Wednesday.

James Scott Rogers, 46, was initially thought to have suffered fatal head injuries.

The Harley-Davidson crashed into a dirt shoulder and Rogers was thrown from his bike along Thousand Palms Canyon Road south of Dillon Road about 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

 

[Fred W]

In that case, it seems Mr Rodgers went out in the best possible way, on the best available terms. He was participating in an activity that (no doubt) gave him some amount of joy when his punch card came up. The only thing that might have been better would be if he was also getting a piece of *** while riding his hog when he stroked out. Sure beats being found dead on the toilet...

 

[Bounce]

I am sure any mother or father or siblings or wife or children or friends he left behind are celebrating his choice to ride in freedom as well. I hope his death was quick and painless and he's having a beer with god.

but there's an excellent point being made that such things are between him and them. they didn't impress on him enough to change his mind so it's not my place to do so any more than it is for me to legislate diet, smoking, sexual preference, right-to-life/choice, booze, and a host of other things that are none of my business.

How in the **** did we survive?????

we survived by having the bar set high. the expectations of what we would learn and do weren't set for the lowest common denominator. the playing field wasn't modified to get equal outcomes. people fought for equal opportunity instead of equal outcome and what we did with that opportunity was a result of what we were "forced" to accomplish. we may not have liked it at the time but goals that are hard to reach force us to stretch even if, as kids, we don't understand and whine that it's hard work. if you cover the world in soft padding then you shouldn't be surprised when the kids raised that way don't learn that hitting hard things hurt.

someone explained the Occupy This protesters as the product of our last 2 or 3 generations of equal outcome, non-compete, everyone's-a-winner system. those kids are now out in the real world where no one cares about their situation. no one will change it but them (and their own efforts). they've never learned to process that. they know they don't like that "life's tough" but can't express exactly what it is in their lives that's being so mean to them. that's why you hear the comments that are so unfocused yet angry about so many different things. (one example: "i took out a student loan and now owe money but can't get a senior VP job straight out of school to pay that loan off. the bank is mean and the people who expect me to start in entry level jobs are mean.") they were never told to rub dirt in it and walk it off.

now pardon me while i step back from the brink of a political soap box and end up giving myself a warning.

A Desert Hot Springs man died of natural causes before his motorcycle veered off the road and crashed into a dirt ridge

damn! another bad batch of 8-balls!

 

[Fred W]

Some very good points made there.

Amazing how alike people of our age, generation (and gender) tend to think.

But, apparently the bar was not set too highly for you in your capitalization grammar lessons. (or is your shift key broken?)