Stay vigilant while on roads under construction

[koji52]

Terrible news. I ride this road frequently, as does jstark and probably a number of other guys on here. Stay safe.

BORDENTOWN TWP. — Two Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders, one a distant relative of Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo, were killed in separate accidents yesterday a half-mile from each other on Interstate 295.

Each struck macadam ridges between newly paved lanes.

Jude Bihari, 52, of Birch Hollow Drive in Bordentown, is believed to have struck a 2.5-inch ridge on construction lane paving at 4:11 a.m. while traveling north at mile marker 57.3.

Bihari’s Harley went down and slid on its side into two other lanes, where his body was run over by two other cars, State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones reported.

Bihari, a glass-installer with a wife and daughter, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jones said the ridge between lanes was marked by a solid white painted line to warn traffic not to leave the lane.

He said the roadway was marked with construction signs indicating a bump and uneven pavement.

“Construction had ceased about 3 a.m.,” he said. “Bihari was driving a 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle northbound in the right lane of travel.

“He attempted to move into the center lane of travel, and lost control. The bike fell onto its right side.

“He slid into the center lane of travel, where he was struck by a 2007 BMW 525i operated by a New Jersey woman,” said Sgt. Jones. “And then he was struck a second time by a 2007 Hyundai Sonata driven by a man from Virginia.”

Asked if the macadam lip caused the fall, Jones said, “Essentially.”

Neither of the unidentified car drivers was charged.

Jude Bihari was pronounced dead at 4:34 a.m. by a doctor from a hospital in Voorhees.

“This is really a tragedy,” Mayor Bencivengo said. “This is the third time I’m hearing about a motorcyclist hitting a ridge or an incline in the road.

“Well, maybe the state, when they’re doing these construction sites, ought to consider not allowing motorcycles to go through them. Or, at a very, very, very low speed.”

The mayor said Bihari was in the glass business as an installer, and had been married to Cynthia Bencivengo, his father’s cousin’s daughter. “Cindy and I were playmates on Elmer Street when we were young and growing up in Trenton,” the mayor said.

“It’s awful. The Bihari family is from Reeger Avenue. The mother and father (Andrew Bihari) still live there,” Bencivengo said. “They (Jude and Cynthia) had moved to the Bordentown area, and I rarely see them.

“But I had met him (Jude) once at a church service at one time — they were very very good family people.This is really a tragedy. I’m sure they’re taking it very, very hard.”

No sooner had the last of that accident been cleaned up, when another Harley went down at 12:33 p.m., a half-mile away at Exit 57 (to Route 130 north and south).

State Police Sgt. Julian Castellanos said that Harley, driven north on 295 by Ronald Ross of Macungie, Pa., attempted a change from the right to the center lane and hit the grooved construction surface.

Castellanos said the accident was the result of Ross’ Harley “contacting the higher surface” — the 2.5-inch ridge — between lanes and the Harley came to “a final rest” alone on the highway.

Ross was ejected from the seat and suffered serious head and chest injuries.

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2009 ... 382777.txt
He died at 3:18 p.m. at Capital Health-Fuld hospital in Trenton.

[jstark47]

Huge mess yesterday morning - five mile long traffic jam - I heard about it on the news and used Rts 130 and 206 to detour through Bordentown.

Some random thoughts -

• - it's an active project, so it's hard to know from day to day where the macadam ridge is going to be, it changes daily
  - DOT is NOT tapering the edge of that ridge at all, it's straight up and down in some places
  - the height of the ridge varies - wife and I rode through there Sunday afternoon, it wasn't rush hour so I could go slower and look at the ridge more closely. Can be anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 inches.
  - different bikes probably have different success negotiating that ridge. Wife's BMW dual sport would probably be fine, and my V-strom too. Sunday I was on my Bonneville, thought about going up over the ridge..... then decided, nah, too much excitement.
  - there's a technique for doing this - did these two Harley riders know how? You have to hit it at a pretty oblique angle, with a lot of power on to lighten the front end. It's kind of a funny maneuver, I won't try it if there's lots of traffic around
  - there's no particular reason to try to hop the ridge - stay in the lane you started in until past the construction. There's pavement milling going on, but it's mild - hardly makes the bike twitch at all.

“This is really a tragedy,” Mayor Bencivengo said. “This is the third time I’m hearing about a motorcyclist hitting a ridge or an incline in the road.

“Well, maybe the state, when they’re doing these construction sites, ought to consider not allowing motorcycles to go through them. Or, at a very, very, very low speed.”

I understand the mayor is a grieving relative, but he's also a public official. He should stick to talking about what he knows about, or just be quiet. Why should I be banned from riding to work because these two guys messed up? Why should we create massive, miles-long traffic jams by enforcing a ridiculuously low speed limit? Once again, it's that tired old mentality: government has to step in to save us from ourselves because a small number of individuals screwed up. I feel sorry for these guys, even more for their families, but my privileges shouldn't be constrained because they couldn't negotiate a common road hazard.

[dr_bar]

Outside Boise, I was force to cross a ridge like that about 10 times through the construction site. They kept traffic going back and forthe between lanes for about 10 - 15 miles. All I can say is thank goodness that the ridge was tapered to some degree. Even then it was a bit too much excitement pulling the trailer up and down that ridge...

[roadwing]

Ron Ross was a friend of mine. I received the horrible news this morning from a common friend. Ron was an experienced rider as well as a certified Harley mechanic who worked for numerous dealerships in the state (Trenton, Barbs) before starting his own motorcycle shop in Hightstown NJ. Ron was a gentle soul as well as the best mechanic I've ever had experience with. He could fix not only Harley's but anything on two wheels. Please keep Ron in your thoughts today...and be careful out there. It's not only cagers that can trip us up no matter how experienced you are.
Ride Safe
Roadwing

[zeligman]

condolences to both of their families and friends.

just wondering - at that time of night, could the ridges even be seen? maybe that's the safety issue - 'uneven pavement' somehow seems a less than adequate warning for this very dangerous situation.

[Velocity]

condolences to both of their families and friends.

just wondering - at that time of night, could the ridges even be seen? maybe that's the safety issue - 'uneven pavement' somehow seems a less than adequate warning for this very dangerous situation.

Don't know if the ridge could be seen, but I hope that the single solid white line between the lanes was easily enough seen. If it wasn't, it should be - and if it was, there's a good reminder there to respect the single solid line.

I saw another potential incident tonight, and some good riding. I was in the cage with a motorcycle just ahead of me in my lane. He slowed (as then did I), and then I saw why he had slowed. There was a highway overpass undergoing construction, and there was water falling from it; enough to cause ponding on the road surface underneath. The rider handled it perfectly, but someone who was not riding as carefully might've found himself or herself in sudden and unexpected trouble.

It was night, by the way, and while the area before that was marked as a work zone, there was no special warning about this particular additional hazard.

[RhadamYgg]

My Kawasaki Ninja 250 encountered grooved highway with a ridge. I was doing 65 to 70 mph and it produced a tank slapper. (not crossing the ridge, just riding in the grooved highway)

I didn't cross the ridge. Although sometimes at the end of the grooved road I have seen a straight up edge, but traveling perpendicular to it - it isn't a problem.

The edges straight up, I believe grip the tire higher up than the contact surface contact patch jerking the wheel momentarily to the side.

If I had to cross such a ridge I'd swerve away from it and come at it as perpendicular as possible.

But if the ridge is 3" tall, though I don't think it would be fun.

The problem I have is that I know the construction crews know that these are dangers to riders. Beveling the edge would definitely save lives.

And I also know that construction crews do not always line the ridges. At night I can only imagine it would be hard to have the depth perception to see the ridge and how tall it is.

Also..(!) the construction crews leave their signs out past the time of the construction by days or even weeks. You never know if you should believe the signs or not.

Their choice of tactics in construction could eliminate this problem entirely.

You see - they do one lane at a time. They may certainly have their reasons for this. But since they are working overnight - they could direct traffic to the shoulder - and do all the lanes at the same time. Cover the same amount of surface area - just not length wise. Only ridges would be at the shoulders and these could be minimized by being slanted instead of straight up and down.

RhadamYgg

[RhadamYgg]

[deleted - duplicate post - TMW down?]

[RhadamYgg]

condolences to both of their families and friends.

just wondering - at that time of night, could the ridges even be seen? maybe that's the safety issue - 'uneven pavement' somehow seems a less than adequate warning for this very dangerous situation.

Don't know if the ridge could be seen, but I hope that the single solid white line between the lanes was easily enough seen. If it wasn't, it should be - and if it was, there's a good reminder there to respect the single solid line.

I saw another potential incident tonight, and some good riding. I was in the cage with a motorcycle just ahead of me in my lane. He slowed (as then did I), and then I saw why he had slowed. There was a highway overpass undergoing construction, and there was water falling from it; enough to cause ponding on the road surface underneath. The rider handled it perfectly, but someone who was not riding as carefully might've found himself or herself in sudden and unexpected trouble.

It was night, by the way, and while the area before that was marked as a work zone, there was no special warning about this particular additional hazard.

They keep doing work on the Henry Hudson and on the way home on the lower level there is always water - guess where - right by the tolls...

[CountryBiker]

Condolences to both of their families and friends.

Very scary thing to hear about as a new rider.

It was explained in MS course to keep away from going over high
spots in construction areas. But even the instructer
was forced to drive over it at an off ramp on her
way in to teach us. She said usually they do one
side of the road then the other, starting from the
center and working their way to the shoulder so getting
on and off the highways would be safer. They DOT left
that night without finishing the off ramp and she had a hard
time safely getting over the pavement and off the ramp.

I have only been on back roads and even with pot holes being filled have experienced, on a small scale, how the bike doesn't like
going over thing sideways. It just seems to push the bike in the opposite
direction.

Think Clear and Alert. Be Safe

CountryBiker