Off topic: Motorcyclists

[chinamigarden]

Yesterday as I was driving home, a car ran a stop sign and caused an accident with a motorcyclist. The accident happened on the corner where I live. We live in a rural area so its all deep ditches.

I didn't see the accident but I was the the second car on the scene. I found the MC rider in a ditch, I kept his face above water, but in the end he was too badly hurt and he passed away in that ditch.

Looking down the road I see the driver of the car sobbing. She was probably early 20s, I didn't recognize her, but she was similar aged to the girls and boys I coached. She screwed up. Maybe for the first time in her life she didn't look closely and she rolled through a stop sign (maybe she did it all the time). Now a man is dead and her life is changed forever.

Talk to your DDs who are driving, talk to your DDs who haven't started. When they are in that car its not just their lives they are affecting.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Truly sad. We're all guilty of being nonchalant about driving in familiar surroundings in the area we live in at one time or another. I wonder if she had her nose in her phone.

 

[Tatonka]

Thanks for the reminder....we need them as often and in as many places as possible.

 

[quincy]

Last year in the HS parking lot a girl crunched our 3 month old van, just rear ended DW.

Accidents happen, why they are called accidents.

Both DW and DD IMO tailgate, drives me nuts and I am a wreck get out of car.

I have motorcycle, you need to be very very careful.

Other thing is the new cars have so many toys, pull over if you are going to play with the toys.

 

[justanotherguy]

You definitely brought up a not so fond memory. I'm nearly a life long motorcyclist, spent many years road racing as well along with my son. 2 bikes are in the garage now and even considering buying a "project" bike for me and my son to work on which we'll in turn give to my wife or daughter. That being said, many years ago my wife and I (she had her own bike) were heading out for a weekend of fun. My son might have been 4 then, DD wasn't born. We were heading to my wife's sister's place an hour away to drop off our son. She wanted to ride so I followed her in the car with my bike on the trailer, in tow. On the trip, a car was in the turning lane waiting to turn when a driver, maybe not even 20, smashed into the backside of the car waiting to turn. That driver had her wheel already turned. It knocked her out and pushed that car right into the path of my wife. Seeing my wife plow right into the front of that car was one of the most horrific things I've ever seen. Just thinking about it brings back very strong emotions. She was thrown about 20 feet down the side of a hill into some bushes beside a stream (we lived in the TN/NC mountains). A tree branch had punctured her shoulder and her collar bone broken. I vividly remember holding her waiting on the life flight, then seeing the girl that caused all of it seeing this, and absolutely breaking down in a panic thinking she'd killed someone. Thankfully my wife was ok, but her shoulder is still forever "not right" from that. In the end it was just a careless young girl not paying attention that nearly cost my wife her life. I left the street and only raced (I swear racing is safer than riding on the street!) for many many years. Now, every single car I see, no matter where they are and what direction they're going, causes me to think and plan my escape route if they're not paying attention. I'll never get that image out of my head, seeing my wife hitting that car's front end and flying over the top of it, down into the ditch. All because of carelessness.