Because rules don't apply to motorcycle riders

[BlaqueKatt]

I've seen plenty of cyclists who suck at riding, but why pick on a person simply trying to get to his job and make a living?

If you hang out with enough cyclist groups, the people acting like they do to your housemate(I had the same done to me for years), are for some, the primary reason they drive "badly"(I can understand why they feel that way, and understanding the other side does not mean I in any way condone it-though I am constantly accused of such, understanding =/= condoning) survival+defensiveness, it's sad, and the ones riding legally make easier "targets", who then may become the scofflaws the aggressors hate. -_-

[Ophbalance]

I caught a scooter being an asshat the other day. Here. As I was pulling up to the intersection, the light was changing from Green to Red. If I'd gotten there even 5 seconds sooner I would have been into that intersection when the dumbass in the scooter decided he doesn't have to follow traffic rules and just passes all the traffic in front of him/her. It would have ended badly for one of us... and it would not have been me.

[protege]

The last fatal accident I had the pleasure of cleaning up was that. A guy, sans helmet, in a t-shirt, doing triple digits on a surface street.

Bet that was a mess

I saw one guy crack up his bike in front of my grandmother's house. We'd just come home from a shopping trip, and I was out in the porch. As I turned to come inside, I heard a loud exhaust heading north, towards town. Next thing I heard, was the brakes locking up, followed by "Oh SHIT!" As those two words were uttered, all I saw was the rider flying across the highway, followed by a massive dust cloud

I called 911, then went out to check on the guy. He got soooo lucky.Cops and ambulance crew showed up a few minutes later. While my neighbors were directing traffic, I took a look around. The bike was totaled, the rider got off with some broken bones.

He's actually lucky that nobody was coming the other way...and that he cracked up where he did. A few more feet, and he would have plowed into a concrete culvert. Had he hit that, he would have been impaled on our fence

[paxillated]

The majority of accidents involving a car and a bike are caused by the car driver not seeing the motorcycle. And most of those are from the driver turning left into the path of the bike.

I was "lucky" enough to witness one of those. My boyfriend, no less. His helmet saved him; he landed on his head. Two other riding friends had the same thing happen.

After many miles as a passenger on Beamers, and quite a few on a "pussy pad" on a '36 knucklehead, I always look twice before I change lanes - the second one is purely checking for motorcycles. And I always keep in mind that not all things on the road are shaped like cars.

Ride paranoid, guys! - and never hang out in someone's blind spot.

[Deserted]

There was a motorcycle wreck at my apt complex last year where apparently the rider drifted over too far and "kissed the curb" (wheels bumped against it). From what I could tell (much later), it looked like he lost control, went up onto the sidewalk, and went flying. He hit one of the buildings so hard it needed repairs. The repairs he needed could only be done by a mortician.

[Kazim]

Speaking of blindspots: http://acidsquirrel.com/post/48833
Good to know...

[otakuneko]

Most self absorbed I think was the scooter owner who parked the scooter in the bike rack on the sidewalk. Now, this scooter was over 49 ccs and had a license plate; official vehicle, should park in a regular space. But NO, he said the STORE let him park there. We told him no, store rents its space, the mall owns the sidewalk, so move the scooter off our sidewalk!

I used to do that with my moped. If there was one available, I'd chain it up to the bike rack just like it was a bike. Hey, it had pedals after all. It also had a 50cc motor and a license plate.

On the other hand it only weighed maybe 50-60 pounds with a full (one gallon) tank. Like hell I was going to park it in any sort of spot where someone could just pick it up and throw it in the back of their truck, or pick the steering lock and just drive it off.

[Gerrinson]

I called 911 to report a lunatic on a motorcycle over the weekend. He was slaloming between cars in the northbound lane and riding on the double yellow between north & south bound traffic if there were cars in both lands.

Idiot.

[mhkohne]

I called 911 to report a lunatic on a motorcycle over the weekend. He was slaloming between cars in the northbound lane and riding on the double yellow between north & south bound traffic if there were cars in both lands.

Idiot.

Thank you. None of us want to be on the other end of that fool's meeting with Murphy.

[April]

I've seen tons of "Show off" drivers in my state. I've seen them doing motorcycle tricks in heavy traffic (Standing on the seat, huge wheelies). The ones that really get me are the ones who tail gate me, and the ones who drive between the lanes, in between the cars to get in front. For the most part, the motorcycle drivers are pretty good, but the bad ones stick out a lot. Recently, I just witnessed a moving truck Vs motorcycle accident near work. The motorcycle was driving in the triple digits on a 45 mph zone and tried to make it through a yellow light, and the van turned left in front of him, also trying to beat the yellow light. The motorcycle driver died on scene and the moving van driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter. It was sad all around

[wolfie]

Thank you. None of us want to be on the other end of that fool's meeting with Murphy.

Or, as in the song "Black Denim Trousers", the fool's meeting with a screaming diesel that's California-bound.

The motorcycle was driving in the triple digits on a 45 mph zone and tried to make it through a yellow light, and the van turned left in front of him, also trying to beat the yellow light. The motorcycle driver died on scene and the moving van driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter. It was sad all around

WTF? Someone doing more than double the speed limit is going to look like they're too far away to be an issue when they're already too close to stop. When I do a left out of a particular truck stop, I have to watch out for vehicles over a quarter mile away to be sure I'm not going to be making them slow down. Someone in the triple digits would be on the far side of a hill, so I wouldn't even see them.

[Yes I am watching you]

My apologize, it is legal. I believed I wrote that it was annoying. Last time they were within limits, have seen them do 20mph on a 55mph road with a 35mph minimum. Personally I stick in the 5mph under 5mph over range for driving on roads, less in adverse conditions.

[Shalom]

Apropos of this, I just saw in the news that Florida Highway Patrol caught some fool on a CBR-600 going 157mph on Alligator Alley. That's 87 miles over the limit for that road. He claimed that "he let the bike take control of him", and didn't even see the cops trying to pull him over, so please mister judge, don't charge me with evading pursuit (felony).

He's doubly an idiot because he let his bike run out of gas, which was when they finally nabbed him.

[Argabarga]

Apropos of this, I just saw in the news that Florida Highway Patrol caught some fool on a CBR-600 going 157mph on Alligator Alley. That's 87 miles over the limit for that road. He claimed that "he let the bike take control of him", and didn't even see the cops trying to pull him over, so please mister judge, don't charge me with evading pursuit (felony).

He's doubly an idiot because he let his bike run out of gas, which was when they finally nabbed him.

Well Son, if you freely admit you can't control yourself, guess you leave no option but for the state of Florida to do it for you.

[Seanette]

Under Borough pricing rules, we could conceivably charge him "accident and cleanup" rates. Which are $195 for "vehicles up to 3/4 Ton" But that'd just be plain ol' mean!

You say that like that's a problem.