Minneapolis Motorcyclist hits pothole is thrown to his death

[bill in mn]

 

 

Motorcyclist hits pothole on I-394, thrown to his death

 

"A motorcyclist struck a pothole along a winter-worn stretch of a Minneapolis interstate and was thrown to his death, authorities said Wednesday.

Anand Baskaran, 30, of the Long Island community of East Northport, N.Y., hit the pothole along eastbound Interstate 394 near Theodore Wirth Parkway about 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the State Patrol.

Baskaran was wearing a helmet.

While the patrol says Baskaran is from New York, his LinkedIn page and other professional web profiles note employment with Maplewood-based 3M. Also, state records show a couple of minor traffic violations months apart since late 2012 in the Twin Cities area.

I-394 in both directions between downtown Minneapolis and Hwy. 100 was particularly vulnerable this winter to potholes because a thin asphalt overlay was peeling away. Crews have been patching up spots in recent weeks.

Originally built as a concrete freeway, I-394 drew noise complaints from abutting Minneapolis neighborhoods.

The Legislature in the 1990s directed the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to put down an asphalt mixture with a higher friction resistance to reduce tire noise, a state pavement engineer said in January.

The first layer was put down in 1996. When that wore out in 2004, MnDOT replaced it with a material that was stickier and gooier, allowing the agency to put on a thinner layer.

MnDOT said it has been that layer, scheduled to be replaced in 2015, that has been peeling away and creating the gaping craters"

 

I have to ask what going on ? It's still winter conditions here , melting snow everywhere and temps dropping below 32° at night. There are giant pot holes ,salt ,sand and ice and a lot of all these. I hate to see anyone lose their life and if you live around here you know it's not ridding time yet. R.I.P. Anand Baskaran

[bongobobny]

Yup! I won't ride until the salt has been washed away with a couple of really good rainstorms.

 

Interesting they mentioned several violations, suggesting he was a speeder...

[Howard B]

They don't say speeding, they could have been parking tickets. And how deep is the layer of asphalt that when it peels up it creats a "crater".

[jet3279]

sad to hear. I almost broke the trunk off my 87 when I hit one a few years ago. gotta love the roads in Minnesota!!

[cowpuc]

Man oh man,, another one,,, so sorry to read this,, prayers and condolences to Anands family,, man that is terrible.. It is soooo easy to get geeked about getting to ride again and forget how dangerous the road can be.

[Flyinfool]

My bike is still safely buried behind a wall of snow and ice.

 

Maybe they will have the roads fixed by the time I can get it out.

 

Kind of like natures way of protecting me from myself.

[TDbiker]

Latest report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune is that he was traveling 100 mph. After dark, and during pothole season. Not a good combination.

[BigLenny]

A couple years ago I read an article in Rider Magazine about a large research that had been done on motorcycle accidents. It had revealed a lot of interesting findings about when/where/time they happen and the circumstances. The glaring stat that dominated the article was that; over 70% of all motorcycle accidents in America are caused by rider error.

 

Sadly. it appears this gentleman made some decisions that resulted in him contributing to the stat being over 70%.

 

It's so sad when we hear of this. I pray for his family.

[SilvrT]

Latest report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune is that he was traveling 100 mph. After dark, and during pothole season. Not a good combination.

 

This and the so-called traffic violations should be irrelevant. When various levels of govn't continue to take a REactive approach to such things ... this is what happens and they should be held accountable IMHO.

[Greekdog]

How can the speed be irrelevant. 100 mph in any condition is dangerous. Why should the gov be responsible for someone else's behavior. Next you'll be complaining about big brother sticking his nose where it does not belong....just saying.

[bill in mn]

Latest report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune is that he was traveling 100 mph. After dark, and during pothole season. Not a good combination.

Yep he was going over 100 mph and so was the other bike with him. The sun is shinning today and it's 28 ° this is the worst driving conditions there is, ice everywhere. I had my truck sliding earlier today thinking it was just wet.

Edited March 12, 2014 by bill in mn

[MikeWa]

A pot hole on a high speed interstate highway that is life threatening is unacceptable. The state, feds, county, city or who ever is responsible needs to get their -sses out there and at least put a temp patch on these. We expect these highways to be safe at interstate speeds 70 or more miles per hour. If that kind of danger exists it should be clearly marked and or repaired immediately.

 

Mike

[TDbiker]

A pot hole on a high speed interstate highway that is life threatening is unacceptable. The state, feds, county, city or who ever is responsible needs to get their -sses out there and at least put a temp patch on these. We expect these highways to be safe at interstate speeds 70 or more miles per hour. If that kind of danger exists it should be clearly marked and or repaired immediately.

 

Mike

 

I'm guessing you've never lived in this part of the country, where we have some of the harshest winter weather conditions that takes its toll on the roads. This time of year when it starts to warm up, snow starts melting and frost starts trying to leave the ground, potholes can appear quickly. Ideally, there would be enough resources to patrol the roads and make instant repairs on a 24x7 basis, but that's unrealistic. Besides, this time of year all they have to work with is 'cold patch' which (on a busy highway) usually doesn't last the day.

[BradT]

Sorry to hear this news. At a 100 mph he should have cleared the hole with a little bump or that was one large hole.

 

I believe it is too early to ride but the pot holes need to be repaired immediatley and that does not happen. I would not want to hit them in a car let alone a bike sure can do some major damage. A few years back I bent a steel rim and took out the tie rod, cost me a couple hundred and I did the work.

 

Brad

[baylensman]

I hate to hear estimated speeds after the fact. I have a close friend who is a retired traffic investigator. He says police routinely over estimate speeds based on physical evidence. part is poor training part is they are told to round up whenever there is doubt.

The distance a rider ended up after an accident on a bike is so variable its unbelievable. My cousin JC crashed at over 60mph and was less than 4 Ft from bike while Randy t-boned a car and did a superman at 20mph and ended up 30,ft away!

[dacheedah]

pothole farm here has a bumper crop, we had a 5 mile section of highway closed for a week, IDiOT, oops IDOT repaired it and now it's only a very rough ride in a truck. . . I have a friend who says they do not have the funds for all the repairs needed and exceeded the budget for salt and the snow ain't done coming yet.