Fatal accidents - how can they be prevented?-vent

I am still suprised insurance companies cover people who ride motorcycles...let alone dont wear a helmet.

 

That's a hard one. I've been on both sides of that fence, rider, accident victim, hit a bike. I used to think that if I was a safe rider, followed the rules, I'd be ok. I got hit by someone who thought I would move when I saw them coming up behind me at a high rate, I had nowhere to go except the median which was desert and rocks, not landscaping, but desert. I didn't see them anyway and they hit me.
On the other hand about 3 years ago I was on I-10 between Las Cruces and Vado right at the split for I-10 and I-25 and the rider on my left decided he needed to be in my lane and swerved to his right and even though I slammed on my brakes I still hit him.
We've had a lot of accidents here recently and most have been young G.I.s stationed at Ft. Bliss who had been drinking. But some have been just plain accidents.
I loved my bike but I won't ride anymore, I did wear a helmet by the way, always. No matter how safe I try and be, the guy next to me might not be.
Would I tell my son not to ride? No, it's my choice, and his to make. Would I like it? No, but I trust him, I just don't trust all those who think it's funny to pull up on a bike, or "taunt" them by moving over on them, acting like they don't see them.
I know some who have never had an accident, and I knew others I buried.
Just be careful and watch those around you. Don't drink, and just because they can go 200mph doesn't mean you have to.

 

I talked to a fellow once, in his 30s, who wrecked his cycle going 25 mph through town. A small child ran after a ball in the street and he laid that bike down in his efforts to avoid him. The kickstand entered his rectum, sometime during the wreck, and wound up several feet of his bowel, like winding a bobbin. He now has a bag on his side, in place of intestines and a rectum. He was a very safe driver, was maintaining a safe speed and was wearing a helmet but had a life-changing experience anyway. Us nurses call young men on motorcycles "organ donors", as their accidents usually end up fatal and their organs are young and healthy. Is it fun, you bet! Is it worth it, no way!

 

I lost a good friend more than 30 years ago to a motorcycle accident. Nobody hit him. He hit a glass bottle in the street in the dark and wiped out. He bled to death before anyone found him. None of our friends rode motorcycles after Ricky died. Sometimes that's what it takes.

 

I came onto a motercyle accident about a month ago was on the bridge and was stopped for about 30 minutes when a lady and man came by and told me what happened, said a kid was driving his bike and a wine and beer truck (semi) crossed the line and the kid did a tuck and roll off his bike and all he had was road rash, said the bike was under the semi and on fire but couldn't believe the kids was alive and mad as heck because he got the bike last fall and had only road it twice before the weather turned and it was only the second time he had taken it out this year and now it was a goner. I said I know a kid with a new bike from last fall better not be him. I look up and here comes my sister and my neice sure enough it was my nephew and like the people had said just road rash. The cops said that the smartest thing he could of done was to ditch the bike that most people die because they hang onto the bike. The nephew, well had a new bike in a week. The semi driver who was reaching for his log book and crossing a bridge at the same time should be in jail and lose his job at the very least. Thanks for letting me share

 

Quote:a helmet dont do you no good at 65miles an hour or when your legs get run over, they are like a fender that cracks at a certain speed.
my cousin got t-boned with his bike and flew with helmet against a streetsign split the helmet and crushed his skull, he died 15mnth later.

 

Helmet only makes a difference in a collision under 30 mph.

 

Many years ago, as my family was returning from a visit to my grandmother's, there was an accident involving a motorcycle. My father told us all to stay in the van and he grabbed the flares and headed toward the problem (don't know how many times I saw my dad grab flares and head to a problem, but more than a few). He assisted until help arrived. I still don't know exactly what his assistance was, but

Fast forward a few years. My parents had me at an othodontist to consider braces. The Doctor was speaking with my parents, concerned about some misalignment in my jaw (which I learned to live with) and asking some questions that seemed to me to imply that I had bee hit around the face by them (NEVER - the seat of the pants was the point of impact when needed) The the doctor looked down, looked at my dad and asked him if he was in law enforcement - he was - and he said, "You helped at a motorcycle accident X number of years ago on HWY 163 and 15 right?" Turns out the cyclist my dad helped was this doctor's son. Doctor no longer suggested that my misalignment was caused by anything other than my broken head when I cracked my skull but good while bicycle riding (no helmets for anyone in those days!)

 

Helmets arent lifesavers always, unfortunately. About 5-6 years ago, my brother and I were home sick. (Yeah right, we just didnt want to go to school ) Anyways, the night before, a truck had spilled oil all over the road and they had dumped sand on it. They put up a 25 MPH sign since there is no stop sign nearby to make people slow down. The next day, a little before noon, a motorcycle came FLYING down the road. We heard a crash and ran out to see what had happened. A car turned in front of the bike and the bike hit the back right side of the car. The impact was so strong that it flipped the car completely around. The man on the bike was going over 100 MPH, so when he hit the road, his helmet split and he was killed. I think it is stupidity like that that causes a lot of deaths, whether it is a car, truck or motorcycle. After that accident occured, a Stop sign was put up. Unfortunately, he was not the first person killed on that corner, just the first person with a wealthy family who could afford to do something. That corner was the worst for accidents, they happened many times every year. Pretty horrible that a wealthy guy had to die before something was done about it.