Deadly Drive-Through

[GreaseMonkey]

This is a sad, gruesome story from several years ago I only recently stumbled onto from the website Bestgore.com. From there it spread like wildfire to almost every internet motorcycle forum around the world.

On February 18, 2006, 21 year-old Ricky Lee Villers of River Ridge, Louisiana was killed after crashing his almost brand new Suzuki GSX-R 1100 sportbike into a Taco Bell sometime after 2AM. Villers was traveling in excess of 100 MPH on Louisiana's Jefferson Highway when he failed to negotiate a curve, left the road, and smashed through the restaurant's glass front entrance door.

The bike struck the front counter and disintegrated, but the now lifeless Mr. Villers flew clear across the restaurant's kitchen area before his body exited right through the back wall before landing on the back curb.
The pics were pretty nasty. The crash was violent enough that both of Mr. Villers' feet were amputated and ended up in the ceiling rafters, and part of his brain was oozing out from his skull where he lay.

A poster on one of the sportbike forums commented that he knew Villers, and the whole reason that the crash happened was Ricky had just had a really ugly fight with his girlfriend and went riding to clear his head.
He wasn't wearing any safety gear at all. No helmet, nothing. Just a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

My feelings are the same as the others on the bike forums who commented. It's sad that he died, but it was his own recklessness and stupidity that caused his gory demise.

The Taco Bell is now a Starbuck's.

[Caractacus_Potts]

Worst thing I ever clicked on was a guy who was fleeing police. He crashed his vehicle on an elevated section of highway in the middle of a city. He jumps out of the car and leaps over the railing on the side of the highway without even pausing to look at what might be below.

There were several still pictures purportedly taken by someone who lives in the apartment building next to the highway before the police and ambulance could get there and close off the area. There was a wrought iron fence below the highway with a spiked top. The guy hit one of the spikes right below his jaw. His head stayed on the spike; the rest of his body was crumpled on the pavement at the base of the fence.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

A poster on one of the sportbike forums commented that he knew Villers, and the whole reason that the crash happened was Ricky had just had a really ugly fight with his girlfriend and went riding to clear his head.

I've been riding many years, and in that time I've ridden angry exactly once. Never, ever again. I scared myself, and that was a piddly little 250cc single cylinder bike, not a powerful bike like the GSXR (I owned one of them later on, they're a mighty beast).

It's always sad and unpleasant to hear of another rider fallen, but in some cases they do contribute mightily to their own demise.

[protege]

It's always sad and unpleasant to hear of another rider fallen, but in some cases they do contribute mightily to their own demise.

I too have seen riders do some stupid shit. Worst one had to be when I was driving to my grandmother's one night. I'm barely on I-79 a minute, when some fool on a bike goes roaring past me. I'm well over the 55mph speed limit, and he passed me like I was standing still Not long after, a light blue Ford Taurus did the same. Both vehicles disappeared quickly. They had to be doing at *least* triple digits. I enjoy some uh, "spirited" driving myself. But, doing over 100mph in heavy traffic with multiple potential speed traps, isn't included in it.

At the time, I didn't think much about how fast those assholes were going. That is, until I come around the last bend before the I-70 (you have to get on I-70 East for a bit before getting back on I-79 South) split near Washington (PA). The Taurus is up against the right guardrail...and there's a large dust cloud and a couple of emergency vehicles on the *left* side of the road. The driver, is leaning on the Taurus crying his eyes out.

Found out that night...that these assholes had been racing on the highway. The Taurus swerved to avoid another car, forcing the bike off the highway. It continued across the road, and into PennDOT's storage area. The rider was killed...when the bike plowed into a light pole.

Second one I saw, the rider got off extremely lucky. He destroyed his bike right in front of my grandmother's house! We'd just come home from the store, and I was out on the front porch. It's pretty common for people to go zooming by the house. Didn't think much about it when the bike started to go past. To me, it was just another asshole with a loud exhaust going way too fast.

That is, until I heard the brakes lock up, the bike hitting the concrete culvert (he was heading towards town--when the accident happened, he went into the opposing lane), shattering plastic, and then "Oh SHIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!" When he said "oh shit," I happened to look up, and see the guy flying through the air

I called 911, kept the rider company until the cops and ambulance arrived, and that was pretty much it. Turns out that it was the cousin of a friend in one of my college classes. The guy got off *very* lucky. Had we not been home, he could have possibly died where he landed. The tall grass and weeds could have easily hidden him from view of passing vehicles. Also, since he hit the top of the culvert--he missed slamming into the fence. Had he hit certain posts, there's no doubt in my mind he would have died. Those posts were heavy...and metal!

It's really sad to see just how much people can get blinded by the raw power some of those bikes throw out. Just because you *can* do triple digits...doesn't mean you *should.* Also, the throttle works both ways!

[Crossbow]

It's really sad to see just how much people can get blinded by the raw power some of those bikes throw out. Just because you *can* do triple digits...doesn't mean you *should.* Also, the throttle works both ways!

Amen to that. I had a friend that used to sell motor vehicle insurance,and got tired of explaining to what were effectively kids why their insurance was so high. He finally told one of them that "you've had your motorcycle license less than a year and you're buying a huge crotch-rocket of a cycle. Based on what we've seen, we're betting that we're going to end up owning it in less than six months." And when the kid protested that he'd always wear a helmet, "Great. We'll be able to identify the remains from your dental records."

He doesn't sell insurance anymore. Apparently customers don't want to hear brutal honesty from a salesman. From what I understand, this kid did get his insurance, and was killed less than a year later when he went speeding off the road into a ditch...

[IT Grunt]

I've run into a couple of bike riders that pull insane stuff now and then. One memorable one for me lives in my area, and I've encountered him to and from work quite a few times. This guy is obviously the impatient type. On more than one occasion, he's used a curve to zip past me by taking the inside faster than I am. One of these days, he's going to find himself taking up a new career as a hood ornament and he'll have no one to blame for it but himself. The road of which I speak has two long passing zones that if he was just patient he'd reach them in short order. The kicker, though, is that he's passing me while I'm doing the speed limit (45 MPH), so that alone tells you something.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

On more than one occasion, he's used a curve to zip past me by taking the inside faster than I am.

Yeah, dumb move. Save that sort of crap for the racetrack. Even there, passing on the inside is generally frowned upon, unless you're a world class racer.

The kicker, though, is that he's passing me while I'm doing the speed limit (45 MPH), so that alone tells you something.

yeah, he's stuck in 2nd gear...

I admit to not being a saint on the road on my bike, but I'm a short'n'broad middle-aged woman with a big, powerful bike. I know if I come off it's gonna hurt, big time, and I'm not a healthy young thing that will recover quickly. So I pick my places and circumstances to let the Inner Hoon out.

It's entirely possible to move quickly through traffic without endangering yourself or anyone else, just as it's possible to quickly overtake cars in short distances. But a little of that rare supernatural gift, common sense, helps.

[Marmalady]

In the cemetery of our local church, there's the grave of the younger brother of a boy I was at school with.... he was heading from our village to the next one night along a road that bends sharply half way along, now he had already been stopped for speeding but I suppose he thought, long quiet lane, nobody else about, let's whack that throttle open....

The people whose garden wall he hit, demolished it and replaced it with a hedge.. not because it had been weakened, but because the sight of the marks left by the impact broke their hearts every time they saw them.

[protege]

Based on what we've seen, we're betting that we're going to end up owning it in less than six months." And when the kid protested that he'd always wear a helmet, "Great. We'll be able to identify the remains from your dental records."

Unfortunately, the guy is right. Quite a few kids get cars that they're not suitable for. Think about it, why should a newly-licensed driver get a 500-horsepower Mustang or Firebird? Wants aside, there's no reason why a kid should get one of those cars...until they can prove they can handle it. Sadly, many of them won't. I've seen several junkyards containing Mustangs (and other powerful, sporty cars) wrecked after their owners couldn't handle them. No wonder then, that insurance rates on those cars and younger drivers are expensive.

[cashierbex]

We had a two car crash by my old neighborhood. There was metal and glass everywhere. One car was on one side of the street, the other the opposite. Someone had to be racing. This was a 35 MPH road. They would have to be going 100 to do the damage I saw.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I LOLed at the comment posted about Taco Bell finally using real meat.

There are several things wrong with me.

[Pimento]

Soilant green latte?

[wolfie]

Think about it, why should a newly-licensed driver get a 500-horsepower Mustang or Firebird?

When I was newly-licensed, I went out and bought a 500 horsepower two-seater. Of course, I'd had my regular car license for years, had just got my CDL, been hired by an "Instant owner-operator" company, and the 500 horsepower two-seater is the Peterbilt of Natural Selection.