Safe riding - rider down outside my house

[Gone in 60]

I just now read this, and deep, deep RIP to this rider. A motorcyclist was killed yesterday when he struck the back of a firetruck that was backing into traffic on my street, less than a block from my house.

This happened where my street makes a 90 degree turn. Fast drivers and riders love to take that curve at high speeds, and there are frequent crashes. On both sides of the turn, there are flashing yellow lights, 35 mph speed signs, and due to the frequency of high speed crashes, concrete barriers dividing the two directions of traffic in the curve to prevent head-on crashes.

On a daily basis, I hear every manner of fast vehicle taking that turn at high speed - motorcycles, loud V8s, raspy imports, you name it. For some reason, it's a magnet for speeders. Every few months, that curve is shut down to clear up a crash, and we have to turn around and take "the long way home" to get to our gate.

Late yesterday afternoon, I went home early to work on our washing machine in the garage. I heard a sport bike at full chat heading into that curve, and thought to myself, as I always do, "man, that sounds fast". I didn't hear the sound of the crash, but heard the throttle cut off, figuring that he was through the turn, past the "fun part" of the road, and had throttled back. The fire station is just down from the site of the crash, so if there were sirens at all to respond to the crash, they wouldn't have registered in my mind - I hear sirens from that department all the time.

Later on, my wife called, telling me she was going to be late getting home because the curve was closed again for a crash and she had to turn around to find another way into our complex.

Just looked this morning to see what the crash was, and learned that it was that same bike that I must have heard screaming into the curve. He struck a firetruck that was backing out from a side street. It must have been a very hard hit, as the three fire fighters in the truck were also injured. I pray for the family of the fallen rider, and for the fire fighters.

I go through that curve and pass the site of that crash at least twice a day. Knowing the distance of that side street from the point in the curve where you can see the side street, If I were going anything less than about 55 mph, I'd be able to bring a truck, let alone a sport bike, to a complete stop before I hit anything coming off of that street where the fire truck was. I can't imagine how fast that bike must have been going.

Very, very sad to read.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Sad to read and a senseless crash. If only he had used his head.
We have our share of crashes and deaths every year and most are due to speed and loss of control.

 

[Houtman_imp]

Very sad but also very stupid , hopefully he did not leave a family behind to pick up the pieces.

 

[Desert viper_imp]

Sad but avoidable....looks like an R1 or R6....was he coming out of the big sweeper on Collins heading toward Wanda rd?

 

[Gone in 60]

Yes, heading toward Wanda. I can only think that if he lost control at speed and ran wide in the turn, he'd be in the right gutter. If he were carrying too much speed without control, he'd be right in the path of the truck which would have been coming out from the right. Looks like the truck wasn't too far out into the street, and if it were backing, it would be moving slowly. There are two lanes in that direction, and if he had control, he had more than a full lane to the left to get around the truck.

 

[pekingduck]

Sad there was a loss of life, but that road is pretty wide and open, and it certainly looked avoidable. No signs of any skid marks, and this is in the area after the road straightens out. Hard to tell what happened, as I couldn't see any damage to the fire truck except possibly at the right front door.

Even though you didn't actually see it, what you heard is valuable experienced testimony to the CHP.

 

[Gone in 60]

Found a video taken by someone standing on the street as the police and rescue crews did their investigation. From the position of the downed bike next to the back bumper of the fire truck, the truck had barely started to back into the roadway from the right. Unless the fire truck pulled forward after the impact for some reason, the bike must have been far over to the right hand edge of the roadway against the curb after making the sweeping left turn.

Unlikely that the fire truck moved, however, as the bike would be more in the middle of the road, not immediately next to the truck.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Unfortunate to read that this was a story. Are you okay Gone in 60?

 

[Cormanus]

Good question, GO.

I’m also sorry to read this thread. It’s not good at all to hear of another person losing their like in a senseless MVA.

To strike a discordant note, perhaps, I do wish people would be a little less selfish. If idiots want to put an end to themselves riding (or driving) dangerously, I do wish they’d do it in such a way that doesn’t physically or emotionally injure others.

 

[jimgl3_imp]

doesn't bring him back, but in Georgia backing into a street is against the law. Bad firetruck!

 

[Gone in 60]

I knew it was inevitable when I was riding home last night. There's a large memorial set up on the street corner, and several people were on the sidewalk holding candles. There were a few bikes parked at the curb at the spot. I wanted to stop, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. My wife left town for the weekend to tend to her parents, and that spot is on our evening walk, so in a few days, I know we'll pass it, and I'll stop and pay my respects. I'm also thinking about my wife's reaction. To my knowledge, she knew there was a crash on our street, but not that it was a motorcycle. She's very accepting of my passion to ride, but she has no interest herself, and having a rider lose his life on our block will no doubt have an effect. She'll ask me how I thought the crash happened, and if I'd ever be in that position.

Also, I'm in the middle of a garage project that had me make multiple trips to the hardware store last night, so I passed the memorial a few more times.

Each time I went through the curve last night, I put myself in a different lane position and waited until I had a clear view of where the firetruck would have been. I used to do accident investigation and reconstruction, so this is rolling over in my mind constantly. From the news footage, the truck hadn't really started to enter the road yet. There were two clear lanes of travel in the bike's direction, and at any speed, even excessive, he would have had a clear view and enough room and time to pass the truck without incident. I can only think that there had to be a contributing factor. Perhaps he was following a car that panic braked when it saw the fire truck, or a car from the side street was trying to get around the truck. Or someone may have been standing in the road to help direct the truck. Something caused that rider to swerve right and hit the truck.

Regarding the firetruck, to your point jimgl3, why was the truck backing into the street? If it were headed back to the fire station a half a block away, it was pointed forward on a street that would have taken it through a winding residential area and eventually back to the station. Was it more convenient to just back up onto the larger street and drive straight to the station? If it had it's lights flashing, did it cause other drivers to react erratically?

Working in the garage until the wee hours, taking advantage of my wife's absence. Late last night, I heard another car, a V8, drop a gear and mash the throttle to speed through the turn. I wondered what his reaction was going to be when he came out on the other side, and flew past a group of people holding a vigil for someone who just lost his life there. Truly sad.

 

[Houtman_imp]

It is very difficult to fix stupid .

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Last year my community streets received speed bumps. They appear to work ... for cars. Pick-ups, SUVs and in particular - motorcycles have no issue. They race over/around them. Even the ultra low sport cars sprint from speed bump to speed bump only to end up crawling over them. In doing so they wake the entire neighbourhood between speed bumps with their engine/exhaust.

Fix stupid? No. Fix selfish self-absorbed. Appears not.

 

[pdedse]

Another one...I was riding home yesterday afternoon through Gresham (Oregon) and took a side street that is normally free of traffic, but this time it was stacked up, both ways. When I got to the main street (Burnside), I could tell whatever was holding up traffic was to my right, and I was thankful that I was turning left; you know, no one likes being in traffic.

This morning, a friend texts and asks if I saw the report about the guy who got killed on a motorcycle. I hadn't, but then I looked it up and realized the accident was the reason for the traffic jam from yesterday.

report

Then my daughter calls from California as she is on her way for a fun European trip, and she's all upset. Turns out the young man killed was a pretty good friend from hers since grade school, then middle school, all the way through high school as well.

I could tell what was on her mind. She asked me to be extra special careful while riding. I asked her if she thought I should give up riding. She said no...that she still wants to ride with me (2-up). Just that it was upsetting.

Safe riding, folks.

 

[Gone in 60]

It's always very sad when you know someone who was in a motorcycle accident. And, it shakes those around us that it may happen to us as well. Years ago, after listening to me brag at the office about how quickly I could get to and from work, and wasn't trapped in traffic like my poor, foolish car-bound mates, a young coworker said "I want to do that too." His commute was much further than mine. I gave him my speech about "are you sure?", and "get your wife/girlfriend's approval", etc. I mentored him, helped him pick out his first bike, helped him get set up for the MSF course, select gear, etc. All too soon, well before I would have let him, he showed up to work on that bike. Later that evening, transitioning freeways, and having a commanding view of the 55 north from the 405 south, I could see red lights coming up. He had left a few minutes before me, and I already knew what I was about to see. There was my coworker, shaken but not stirred, talking with authorities while his bruised SV650 was leaning on the center divider. My heart sunk until I learned that he was not badly injured. His fiancee made him sell the bike immediately.

One of the reasons I had avoided visiting the memorial on my street was that I might look at the portrait that was propped up on the curb and recognize the rider. There are plenty of group rides, hangouts and meet-ups in the area, and you get familiar with people.

A few nights ago, my wife and I took our normal neighborhood walk, and went by the memorial. Looking at the picture, I didn't recognize the poor fellow, but there was, a week later, still a very large outpouring of love on the curb. Candles, flowers, cards, notes, and little things, like packages of food he must have liked. Very sad.

My wife could see me analyzing the remnants of the crash clean-up, and looking at a fresh scrape in the road. She said "I know that guy must have been going fast, and I know that's not how you ride." That was reassuring, at least.

 

[Rocky_imp]

GI60, that story ended much better than what I was expecting to read. Glad your friend survived OK.
You did everything you could to prepare him, and you shouldn't have felt any guilt if things hadn't turned out so well, but regardless, you can't turn your heart and mind off when you know somebody very well.

 

[Gone in 60]

I was just paying it forward. A few years before that, another coworker took me under his wing when I got jealous that he was getting to work faster on his bike.