Bike hits car that cut him off, rider cartwheels to safety and fame

[syscrusher]

The car cuts him off with a bone-headed inconsiderate left turn and the rider launches into an amazing cartwheel and walks away. In reference to the thread about the Canadian woman who will go to prison for leaving her car on the roadway where a motorcyclist and daughter hits it and dies, it may seem harsh but I'm seeing a lot of riders killed here by flagrant disregard of cagers. Every week it seems someone is killed by a car turning right in front of them and the news report will say "the driver of the car was not injured, no charges have been filed." The girl stopping for ducks was likely unaware that her actions would kill a motorcyclist but it seems to me that cagers know they will not be injured and likely will not be charged for cutting off bikes, turning directly in front of bikes, running a bike out of it's lane, changing lanes like the bike wasn't even there. Sometimes it makes me wonder about justice.........

 

And now the video:

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcJO64YiohA]Motorcyclist cartwheels in air after being hit - YouTube[/ame]

[Guest tx2sturgis]

The car cuts him off with a bone-headed inconsiderate left turn and the rider launches into an amazing cartwheel and walks away.

 

Looks like the rider was approaching an occupied intersection at full speed. Shame on him..that car was midway in the process of turning before the bike ever got there.

 

As all motorcyclists should be aware, a green light does NOT mean you have the 'right of way'......what it means is, you are free to proceed thru the intersection if it is clear and safe to do so.

 

The rider made the wrong move here. Sorry.

 

I'm glad he's ok.

 

Edited June 21, 2014 by tx2sturgis

[syscrusher]

It's in every driver manual, turning traffic MUST YIELD!

 

We can't see enough of the approach to see whether he was panic breaking, but the turning car should have been certain it could clear the intersection before the bike got there, instead he languished in the path of the bike. What we can see doesn't look like full speed to me. In the interview with the rider he said he was on both brakes and leaped at the same time as he hit the car.

 

Do you ride a motorcycle?

 

The original link disappeared, but here is [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egJzU_29C3I]another one:[/ame]

[Venturous Randy]

It does not appear to me that he was running nearly as fast as the auto traffic that went through the intersection before him. It looks to me like the driver of the turning car simply did not look and pulled into his path.

One thing we can all agree on is he was very lucky.

RandyA

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Let me clarify my point.

 

I did NOT say that the car driver made no errors. It looks like they probably did. And maybe even received a citation for the error.

 

I DID say that the motorcycle rider seems to have entered that intersection too fast....apparently trusting that the cages would all wait for him.

 

WRONG assumption on his part. He was probably a young rider on a high performance bike...hard to tell exactly.

 

Cars violate our 'right-of-way' all the time. It's our job to slow down, cover the brake, swerve, countersteer or whatever it takes to survive out there on the streets.

 

Your opening title "Thru traffic always has the right-of-way!" on post #3 does not apply to motorcycles. We only HAVE the right of way when we are GIVEN the right of way. I'm talking about survival in traffic, not the rulebooks.

 

If you dont know this as a motorcycle rider, you will become a statistic.

 

And I'm still glad that he seems to be OK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2014 by tx2sturgis

[syscrusher]

And a major part of my reason for posting was that without serious penalties for causing accidents involving motorcycles, the trend of this situation seems to be getting worse. The law protects the fragility of the pedestrian to a heightened degree but treats a scooter and a humvee equally. This is in spite of the fact that the rider has little more chance of surviving a collision with a humvee than a pedestrian has.

[Hummingbird]

after watching the video - it sure looks to me that the car had the right of way.

 

all of the straight traffic had cleared the intersection and the traffic was then moving on the turn signal. It appears the bike was NOT turning left as was the rest of the traffic.

 

need more info than the video gives

 

bike riders have some responsibility too

[Guest tx2sturgis]

And a major part of my reason for posting was that without serious penalties for causing accidents involving motorcycles, the trend of this situation seems to be getting worse. The law protects the fragility of the pedestrian to a heightened degree but treats a scooter and a humvee equally. This is in spite of the fact that the rider has little more chance of surviving a collision with a humvee than a pedestrian has.

 

Well said. I agree. In the other posted story about the Canadian biker and his daughter who were killed, it seems that justice was possibly a bit harshly applied toward the cage driver...but as you say, collisions with motorcycles are usually bad news for the rider.

 

I have always agreed with the bumper sticker that says: Kill a biker, Go to jail. Car drivers jump out after an accident with a motorcyclist and claim at the scene that they 'didn't see him...' and they get a slap on the wrist, while the rider is dead or severely injured. There needs to be serious consequences...the job of ANY driver is to pay attention and SEE the other users on the road.

 

[baylensman]

after watching the video - it sure looks to me that the car had the right of way.

 

all of the straight traffic had cleared the intersection and the traffic was then moving on the turn signal. It appears the bike was NOT turning left as was the rest of the traffic.

 

need more info than the video gives

 

bike riders have some responsibility too

 

this happened right up the street. The driver of the car was cited for making a left turn on RED cycle rider did not have motorcycle endorsement. Multiple accidents at that intersection monthly. FHP needs to review the timing of the lights there

[Hummingbird]

this happened right up the street. The driver of the car was cited for making a left turn on RED cycle rider did not have motorcycle endorsement. Multiple accidents at that intersection monthly. FHP needs to review the timing of the lights there

 

yep, the bike had no business being there and the car ran a red light. I guess that makes it the cages fault (again) the biker has no responsibility what so ever