Zfrebird4 Posted March 21, 2010 #27 Posted March 21, 2010 ... there are many ways of getting on disability. I got on it in 1997 due to what I DO NOT HEAR without my hearing aids. I was in administration and public speakiing at the time. But I agree, the type of scoot she was on suggests she had the ability to ride, but just if on a hearing disability, ... riding would not get in the way of her coverage. Now I am fully retired, and prior to retirement and afterwards I have continued public speaking, ... and of course riding. It is a stupid law of wasting money to base disability on what you do (actually don't) hear without hearing aids, especially with todays technology on hearing aids. I wear a hearing aid now when I ride, set to telelphone which eleminates all background noise, but with the external speaker up some on my 86 VR so I can hear horns and sirens. Just wanted to at my $0.02 worth. JackZ and yup, I ride in any direction, except (prayerfully) down, and though I am ready, ... I ain't in any hurry to go UP! LOL Jz:innocent-emoticon:
86er Posted March 22, 2010 #28 Posted March 22, 2010 (edited) I guess this is the thread that started the thread that people on disability shouldn't be riding. I was on disability for almost two and a half years with a back injury from my job at UPS. I couldn't lift more than 10 pounds without sever pain. I couldn't drive or ride in a car for more than 15 minutes without sever pain. I couldn't walk through the grocery store without a cart to hold onto without sever pain and for a while I had to use the electric cart. The only means of transportation that did not hurt was my '86 Venture, even my '97 Intruder (although better than a car) was not as good. I made sure that my doctor, my employer and anyone else knew that is why I was still riding and why. I could ride for hours without pain; I guess because the seating is so upright and ergonomically correct. The girl on the sporty was not riding a "heavy" bike, it is probably around 550 or so.. That bike weighs a lot less than our 835+lb bikes. And you aren't lifting all that weight off of the side stand (or "Jiffy Stand" ). I don't get on a tirade often, but you need to think before you leap! My father uses a handicap sticker for parking although he seems fine, but he is 91 years old and has a hard time walking far. Edited March 22, 2010 by 86er
naturbar Posted March 22, 2010 #29 Posted March 22, 2010 i've got no dog in this fight....but that is why they are called accidents...otherwise they are on purpose....i doubt this guy drove his car into those boulders on purpose....surely he was distracted by the flashing cop lights but rubbernecking is responsible for alot of mishaps.
Skid Posted March 22, 2010 #30 Posted March 22, 2010 On my way to work everyday I see the results of people rubber-necking and not watching the traffic in front of them. Just last week I was on a three lane road and there was a two car accident on the side of the road with the cruiser behind them. Just as I came up on them there was another one in the center lane where one driver slowed down and the second driver was apparently watching the accident, because she ran into the first car. Seems like when there is one accident there will be another near by...
SaltyDawg Posted March 23, 2010 #31 Posted March 23, 2010 It's great to know that there are so many GREAT drivers in this thread. Not a single one could have the same thing or something similar happen to them. Not a single person from this thread was there; it just happened to get caught on camera and you see the results. Then people ASSUME that he was a bad driver and a potential Motorcycle Rider Killer. Like I said, I'm just glad there are so many great attentive drivers on this board. I wonder if a Scoot coming around that corner under the same circumstances could have avoided the rock slide. I'm betting the outcome would have been a lot worse.
painterman67 Posted March 24, 2010 #32 Posted March 24, 2010 It's great to know that there are so many GREAT drivers in this thread. Not a single one could have the same thing or something similar happen to them. Not a single person from this thread was there; it just happened to get caught on camera and you see the results. Then people ASSUME that he was a bad driver and a potential Motorcycle Rider Killer. Like I said, I'm just glad there are so many great attentive drivers on this board. I wonder if a Scoot coming around that corner under the same circumstances could have avoided the rock slide. I'm betting the outcome would have been a lot worse. I was thinking the same thing just wanted to stay out of the argument. David
Freebird Posted March 24, 2010 #33 Posted March 24, 2010 Well....I will acknowledge that there is some truth to your statement, I still think the guy is a bonehead. I mean come on....blue lights..police cars....that really should be SOME clue that there you may need to watch where you are going. Now...that is NOT to say that I haven't done some bonehead things myself and if I were that driver...I would be saying to myself...YEP...I am a BONEHEAD.
LilBeaver Posted March 24, 2010 #34 Posted March 24, 2010 It's great to know that there are so many GREAT drivers in this thread. Not a single one could have the same thing or something similar happen to them. Not a single person from this thread was there; it just happened to get caught on camera and you see the results. Then people ASSUME that he was a bad driver and a potential Motorcycle Rider Killer. Like I said, I'm just glad there are so many great attentive drivers on this board. I wonder if a Scoot coming around that corner under the same circumstances could have avoided the rock slide. I'm betting the outcome would have been a lot worse. While I agree with you, I will also point out that depending on how fast that guy was going he may also be guilty of not slowing sufficiently while passing an emergency vehicle on the side of the public roadway with the emergency alert equipment activated (ie the flashing lights), which may have prevented the whole crash all together; that is had he slowed sufficiently. Of course the spirit of that law is to protect emergency service personnel, not people like this...
Zfrebird4 Posted March 24, 2010 #35 Posted March 24, 2010 ... one lane each way; long slow travel = delay. My 18-wheeling son went through this afternoon and they were making good progress on the other two lanes. No one was injured in the slide. Some rocks were the size of the cab on an 18-wheeler. I think earlier someone here posted I-80 was closed, and it was; just wanted folks who needed to know to understand it is now open one lane each way. JackZ
qdude Posted March 24, 2010 #36 Posted March 24, 2010 I've been a fireman for 30+ years, you would not believe the number of times people run into emergency vehicles, it happens over and over and over. Its like they are hyponotised by the lights and run into them. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnldI4WiiCA]YouTube- Cop Hit By Car[/ame] Dime to donut this goof ball was texting as he pulled up, got distracted by the emergency lights and didn't even look at the road. Everybody uses a cell phone in cars and now many are texting too. So in our cars we got mp3's, dvds, gps, weather, 3g, email, phone calls, video phone calls, cappuccino, and oh yes driving too.
SaltyDawg Posted March 24, 2010 #37 Posted March 24, 2010 Once again assumptions are being made. I didn't see anything in that video that showed proof positive that the police officer had his lights on. In fact quite the contrary. One would think that if in fact the lights on the police cruiser were on that you would see them reflected in the drivers glasses. I didn't. In fact I am guilty of making assumptions too. I am assuming that there is a police cruiser there and it wasn't a police officer on his way to or from work in his personal car. I'm just saying there are a lot of facts we don't know and to make some of the comments that are on this thread about a person no one knows, well to me it's a disappointment. I was raised to give people the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
SaltyDawg Posted March 24, 2010 #38 Posted March 24, 2010 I've been a fireman for 30+ years, you would not believe the number of times people run into emergency vehicles, it happens over and over and over. Its like they are hyponotised by the lights and run into them. Dime to donut this goof ball was texting as he pulled up, got distracted by the emergency lights and didn't even look at the road. Everybody uses a cell phone in cars and now many are texting too. So in our cars we got mp3's, dvds, gps, weather, 3g, email, phone calls, video phone calls, cappuccino, and oh yes driving too. I am glad the police officer survived but I honestly doubt that person was texting given the video was from 2005 and it wasn't as prevalent then as it is today. I agree with you though, it's crazy how many people are on cell phones, texting, on laptops, and even reading a paper while driving. I did a quick survey on the way home from work one day. I ride 50 miles from work to home and I made it a point to look into every vehicle I could to see what they were doing. 7 out of 10 were on the cell phone in some form or another. Either texting, dialing, or talking. Heck I even passed a state trooper who was typing on his cruisers laptop computer going 60Mph down the road. Scary stuff.
qdude Posted March 24, 2010 #39 Posted March 24, 2010 He had his cell phone in his hand when he got out of the car, and you can be CERTAIN the cop had his warning lights on. Sorry years of experience tells me he wasn't looking at the road, and he had the extremely bad luck to be a idiot on film. Distracted people wreck their cars everyday and keep me in business.
SaltyDawg Posted March 24, 2010 #40 Posted March 24, 2010 He had his cell phone in his hand when he got out of the car, and you can be CERTAIN the cop had his warning lights on. Sorry years of experience tells me he wasn't looking at the road, and he had the extremely bad luck to be a idiot on film. Distracted people wreck their cars everyday and keep me in business. Man I wish I had your eyesight because I see nothing in his hands until he is being interviewed. I find it hard to believe he would still have a cell phone in his considering the impact. I also noticed he got his dog out of the car too but not until later.
spotsy Posted March 24, 2010 #41 Posted March 24, 2010 I just wish I could see what everyone's talking about. I blinked and missed it I think. No, my mistake. That's what happens when you have super fast dialup. LOL Spotsy
qdude Posted March 25, 2010 #42 Posted March 25, 2010 Salty If I was on a jury, I'd definitely see your point.... but he looked like an inattentive idiot to me and it was a too bad for him. 99% of accidents are avoidable, by one party in the accident. I go to so many fatalities and injuries where someone ran a light or stop sign because they were distracted. He wasn't hurt, and rightly or wrongly he was entertaining.
Solodadof2 Posted March 25, 2010 #43 Posted March 25, 2010 I watched this video several times and the lights do appear to be flashing, did anyone notice that the suv does not appear to veer till the officer steps his foot our into traffic? I say the officer is playing the odds on a rainy day, with limited visibility and wipers going being so close to the traffic. He actually is standing on the yellow line on a couple of occassions. the fact that he survived is incredible. Can anyone answer why he did not enter the backseat from the passenger side? If someone says so they don't get crushed between the guard rail and the Car I will call Bill Engvall and get you a sign. I am always up for a good debate, but got to say that the officer is just as much at fault here if not more than the driver. As far as distractions no offense to the ladies but everyday on my way to work I cannot tell you how many woman I pass that are putting makeup on and doing things with their hair.
Chaharly Posted March 25, 2010 #44 Posted March 25, 2010 And then we wonder how they can NOT see us on a bike????? I did notice that his backup lights were on, think maybe he slammed it in reverse to stop faster???? He slammed it into reverse as his car went into the air. I stopped the video and looked twice
BuddyRich Posted March 25, 2010 #45 Posted March 25, 2010 By his own words. He was watching the news crew and not the road.
qdude Posted March 25, 2010 #46 Posted March 25, 2010 We drive cops, the public, and especially the highway patrol nuts, we park the fire truck in the lane of traffic and completely block the lane and the accident scene. People still run into the back of the truck but they seldom run over firefighters or accident victims. I have had highway patrol yelling at me because we blocked a interstate, I didn't get arrested but other firefighters have. To a lesser degree situations like this happen daily. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LC6oqLhbr0]YouTube- Cops arrest a Fire Department Captain while on a call[/ame] The last two brother cops killed here died in traffic stops.
dynodon Posted March 25, 2010 #47 Posted March 25, 2010 don't see how anyone can blame the cop in the one video where he gets hit in the rain. It is ALWAYS the responsibility of other drivers to see and react to emergency vehicles (really any vehicle) on the side of the road and give extra room. I do have a problem though with the new (fairly new) law in Illinois and other states that vehicles "Slow down or move over" (note it is OR, not AND, right out of the Illinois rules of the road). I know that cops have given tickets to people who DID slow down, but did not move over, due to other traffic or in one instance, a friend of ours was pulling a horse trailer, and trying a near emergency lane change with a loaded trailer is not safe. She slowed down a lot and pulled as far over as possible, but the truck/trailer still moved a lot of air, and the cop went after her and pulled her over, gave a ticket. The law is poorly written at best, and enforced by whim rather than rule at worst. Last summer I was leading a group of 15 bikes, and came on a police vehicle on the side of a two lane road, I signaled single file and moved the line to the left side of the lane and we slowed, but not too much since there were several cars coming up on us at a rapid rate. No reaction from the cop. As for the fire dept captain getting arrested, I am not sure who has ultimate control in that situation. Is there a rule for that? For sure, it looked like the cop was real grabby, and the captain jerked away from the cop at one point, THAT is enough to make some cops go wild. No doubt that ego's were running wild at that point. Would love to know the outcome of that one.
qdude Posted March 25, 2010 #48 Posted March 25, 2010 The cop was personally sued for illegal arrest and paid a $17,500 settlement, fire or medical controls a injury accident scene.
SaltyDawg Posted March 26, 2010 #49 Posted March 26, 2010 By his own words. He was watching the news crew and not the road. Yes by his own words he said he was coming around the curve saw them waving looked back up and didn't have time to stop. If you were driving the Dragon and coming around the curve and saw someone on the side of the road was yelling and waving their arms at you where would you look? Your first reaction would be to look at them, that may have been all the time needed to cause you to not stop in time and thus you are starring in the video. In case some folks have forgotten the Dragon is 11 miles with 318 curves or so the legend is told. That leaves little room to react to bad things in the road, especially when someone is trying to wave you down. I'm not trying to cause problems I just want to get across that not every cage driver is an idiot. Accidents happen, that's why they are called accidents. Heck that guy might have been a local scouting the Dragon to see if it's clear of sand and leaves so he could come back with his Venture or Gold Wing. Who's to say?
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now