The price of stupidity

[Loonette]

Totally selfish behavior, and yes, he got what was destined to happen with that sort of activity.

yah know, a lot of ppl say that about us who ride bikes, just for riding..

Well, frankly... I DON'T CARE!! It's legal for me to ride my motorcycle, and I DON'T ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES THAT ENDANGER THE LIVES OF OTHERS!!!!!! So if the non-riding public has the same view about me, it's because they're ignorant, and I'll see them at the voting booths if it ever comes to that. My opinion of this guy's behavior isn't based on ignorance. You, like a few others here, are still comparing apples to oranges.

[Fast Eddy B]

I search Google news for the article about Dennis Krone because of the previous posts. It's easy for us to talk about Darwin Awards, and stupidity and selfishness, but it might feel wrong to talk ill of the dead.

Dennis Krone lived on motorcycles as far as I can tell. He lived and breathed them, and he died riding one. We can all agree that his actions were unsafe for Dennis, and likley unsafe for accidental onlookers.

But Dennis Krone represents me no more than Evel Knievel does. In fact, both of those men have more in common with BASE jumpers, shark divers, race-car drivers, and mushroom collectors. They accept higher consequences for their behaviour, and believe that superior skill and mindset makes up for it.

I believe we are talking about addicts, speed-freaks, and social psychotics when these actions are done in public. From the sounds of his skill he might have been able to turn his stunting ability into a career. But that takes WORK, and might impress the ladies but not ladies RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!

The young men drivers of Bahrain treat the public road like a race track. I know some who believe they are "professional". I will never ride in a car with them again however. When asked why they don't train at the ACTUAL Formula 1 track in order to get a race license, the reply is "It's too expensive". In actual fact, it's probably because the driver/rider finds out his skills are mediocre at best, and others can do as well or better. Plus, only the best get the fame.

Street-racers and stunters are big fish in small ponds. They need a safe way to let this aggression out, and if caught in public, MASSIVE fines and/or jail time to turn them off it.

As far as Dennis Krone goes, condolences to his family, and hopes that new riders learn the importance of safe riding.

[MicheleZ]

Well I feel very sorry for the folks who loved him, but not much sorrow for him. What he did was very wrong and he paid the highest price. I am just happy no innocent by standard paid the price with him.

[Nibblet99]

What can I say, Judging the risks wrongly is each and every persons perogative, its their life. But what he did was add innocent bystanders to that risk. At least he didn't hit them.

I have a lot of sympathy for the people he left behind, but almost none for the rider. He chose his own border of risk vs reward, and thats all that matters to me.

At the end of the day, shouldn't I have the right to drive on stunter free roads? Much like I should have the right to sit in a restaurant and not breathe others cigarette smoke?

Finally as regards the comments about what does an extra 10mph do, we have a series of adverts over here at the moment, stating hit a pedestrian at 30mph, and theres an 80% chance they'll live, hit them at 40mph, and theres an 80% chance they'll die... Thats a world of difference

Of course I'm not saying you should never speed, I'm just saying that theres times you should follow the law to the letter too. Or at least know the reason those speeds were chosen to be limits before you choose to break them

[Jthmeffy]

Totally selfish behavior, and yes, he got what was destined to happen with that sort of activity.

yah know, a lot of ppl say that about us who ride bikes, just for riding..

Well, frankly... I DON'T CARE!! It's legal for me to ride my motorcycle, and I DON'T ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES THAT ENDANGER THE LIVES OF OTHERS!!!!!! So if the non-riding public has the same view about me, it's because they're ignorant, and I'll see them at the voting booths if it ever comes to that. My opinion of this guy's behavior isn't based on ignorance. You, like a few others here, are still comparing apples to oranges.

lmao, calm down! I wasnt comparing "poo poo", i saw your statement and it made me think for that.


I feel bad for his family/friends, mostly, but i feel bad for him too. He made a mistake (an extremely dangerous and stupid one), and it was too bad he had to die instead of learning his lesson. Human life is too damn precious to think someone "deserves" to die every time they do something stupid. IMHO, at least.

[Puyopop]

I definetly feel sorry for this guy's family and friends it sucks to loose someone abruptley like that. I think what he was doing was irresponsible and it was stupid but as a few have said I don't think dying was the fair punishment. The guy was unlucky to of died, but unfortunetly thats the risks that go along with acting foolish, and especially in public.

[Nalian]

Human life is too damn precious to think someone "deserves" to die every time they do something stupid. IMHO, at least.

Most people don't put that much value in human life that they don't know personally, unfortunately. Then of course, once they know them personally the whole situation is different.

[sapaul]

I have been missing from this forum for some time now because of

www.thinkbike.co.za

I have to say that if you guys attended as many funerals as I have recently then some of you would change your opinion. There is nothing wrong with wheelies, if they are done in the right circumstances and this does not include public roads full of traffic. There is nothing wrong with stunting, most guys in europe find car parks and deserted streets and compete amongst themselves.

Our findings are that most accidents are when a vehicle intrudes on the bikers right of way. Stunts on a public road are just a way to balance the stats and that is the last thing that we need.

We all know what is right and wrong deep down, we just get defensive some times.

[Jadien]

I was thinking about this topic this morning as I was on the freeway heading to work.

Let's suppose:

While riding the freeway to work, you were hit square in the chest by one of those kamikaze birds in the middle of a semi-tight left-hand turn. Now normally you have both hands on the bars, but this exact instant you had to adjust the neck of your jacket, the knee of your pants, or something to that effect. With the sudden jolt and lack of control, you do the fun little wiggle we all are afraid of and you high-side. Since it's shortly after rush-hour, there happens to be a family in a sedan behind you heading off to their vacation cabin up north. Your high-side causes the bike to come flying in towards them, meaning dad has to swerve hard to avoid your bike. He swerves too hard and goes head on into the median wall. Since little brother is going through his rebelliousness phase, he isn't buckled in and becomes a kid-rocket out the front windshield. Mom busts her head open on the a-pillar, and dad gets his arms, and legs broken. Little sister luckily makes it unscathed. Unfortunately, mom and little bro die from their injuries, dad can't work and doesn't have insurance (he spent all his money on the vacation cabin), causing little sister to be put up for adoption because the closest family is in their native country, India.

You, on the other hand, were wearing protective gear (your leathers because it was cool enough this morning) and helmet. Because you thought ahead you come out with a broken arm, lots of bruises, and a killer headache.

The thing is; if you hadn't decided to ride your bike today, you might have had a little bird guts on the window of your truck. Maybe you would have gotten a cracked windshield, but you definately wouldn't have lost control and caused that poor Indian family to be destroyed. You're love of a dangerous activity caused those innocent bystanders to suffer losses they can never recover from.

The moral of the story is: We have chosen to participate in a dangerous lifestyle/activity that has the potential to put others in harm's way. We cannot give people the right to call us idiots or say we deserve to die because of our choices. Otherwise, IMHO, we should not have the right to ride at all; it's simply too dangerous.

(For all you physics fan-boys out there, spare us the explanation of how this scenario isn't possible. Just plug in your own scenario that has the same end result in your head. Same goes for the expert riders out there that would have caught the bird with their bare-hand and took it home to their children to play with.)

[jonnythan]

You're equating a freak accident while following all lwas and riding responsibly with doing a 1/2-mile 80mph wheelie on public roads?

Are you serious?