Interesting discussion I read online about a rider who was killed on the freeway in San Diego over the weekend.
It was at night, and some kind of "landscape debris" had gotten kicked up and struck the guy on the helmet, knocking him off the bike. According to the news report, his motorcycle landed 100 yards away (that's a football field's length).
One guy posted a comment...
Full face helmet may save him
Really?
The guy is already dead. Does he need to know that now?
It seems to me that kind of attitude is prevalent amongst riders who frequent motorcycle forums. That whatever got a rider killed, could have been prevented had he utilized better safety equipment.
"It's always the rider's fault", seems to be their attitude.
Even if he was stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn green, and someone rear-ends him and kills him, some other rider on a forum will say the same thing, "He should have worn a full body glow-in-the-dark yellow jump suit".
Why can't we just pay a rider his respects?
Why can't we just blame the landscape debris in this case?
Why are riders blaming their fellow riders for their own deaths, even when someone/something else was actually to blame?
A vagabond who hauls a motorcycle around the country in a toy hauler, earning a living as a website developer. Can often be found where there's free Wi-Fi, craft beer, and/or public nudity. 
Well said.
ReplyDeleteThat was a non-rider that made that asinine comment. More than likely, someone who let the debris fall from his 1972 Chevy Sanford n' Son pick-up.
ReplyDeleteThis is one reason I really don't like to ride at night. I'm harder to be seen, it's harder for me to see with limited headlite distance. How would it be my fault if riding along at night and all of a sudden there is a pothole, I hit it and it pitches me into the other lane of an on coming tractor trailer. Was I at fault? Had I been wearing the urban cowboy lighted and flashing gear would I have been saved? I guess we could blame it on the state for not having a light down in that pot hole so we could see it. Or the non riders could say 'He shouldn't have been riding at night anyway.' It wouldn't have been my fault but I'm sure somehow I would be to blame. Hindsight is always, always twenty twenty, I just wish auto drivers had twenty twenty when it comes to us.
ReplyDeleteYou need to follow certain rules to maximise your safety, but that does not guarantee nothing will happen to you. Sometimes accidents really do just happen, and all the prep in the world won't save you.
ReplyDeleteYou all seem like new riders !
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong, whatsoever, with someone offering an opinion or thought. Would bet that all of you have experienced a short lack of attention to what's in front of you on a night ( or day ) ride ... and been a bit shaken, realizing you were not paying attention and narrowly missed something in the road.... if NOT ... you ARE a new rider.
My error, once, TOTALLY MY FAULT: on a moderately well lit section of the 405 fwy ( So CA ) .. 10:00+ at night ... hit a semi-truck tire ( on the rim ).. just a moment after checking speedometer/morrors for traffic. Result was scrapes and brkn collar bone .. bent fork tubes. ABSOLUTELY MY FAULT FOR NOT PAYING ATTENTION ... THAT'S A BIG TIRE ...NO TRAFFIC .. PLENTY OF SPACE TO MANEUVER. There were many friends that offered thoughts ... never occurred to me that the comments were well intended.
So ... stop making stupid and illogical comments ... THINK !
Rider for 45 yrs ... 5 trips east to west coasts
... all solo riding ... Ducati / Buell / Honda / Yamaha / BMWs .... not new to this shit !! .... still riding and learning !
I think bikers are scared to death to say this in person to one another amongst friends and fellow bikers. In person it's never the bikers fault. Your friend gets cut off and it's always the car drivers fault even though you know your friend rides way too fast and doesn't cover the brakes. So my theory on why you see so much of the opposite attitude on the net is because people finally get it out of their system even if it not the case in that particular incident. I was in the dog house for awhile for telling the truth. Quite often it is the bikers fault! But few have the honesty or balls to say it among one's own riding club. Youwill be shunned if you do.
ReplyDeleteThe Internet has brought us all closer together. With that comes the fact that people read about a terrible accident like this and have no connection with the person who passed and comment with no thought or respect.
ReplyDeleteI see it all over the web.
If you can't accept that you can be killed without a moment's notice while riding a bike, or that you operate under the theory that you can abolutely prevent an accident than you should probably keep the bike in the garage.
ReplyDelete