So a guy down the road got hit by a jeep on the highway...

[Ninja Geoff]

Don't know him, though seen him around before. I read it in the newspaper this morning and wish i hadn't, because now i want to smack the writer. He was on the highway going 75mph. Like a LOT of people do around here. On a "YZRF1" or w/e the "fudge" that is (must mean an R1)*. And as he's passing a jeep with two occupants in it, they pull out into his lane and SLAM. Right into it. The paper said he was in stable condition and the jeep somehow flipped when the bike hit it. The occupants were fine. The jeep had pulled out to pass the vehicle in front of them.

A few points:
-If he really is as well off as the paper made him out to be, he had to have been ATGATT. I've never seen him in aything less than jacket, gloves, boots, helmet.
-I seriously doubt the jeep flipped on impact. Probably when the driver lost controll and went into the median. Though I wasn't there, I don't know.
-THE WHOLE ARTICLE MADE IT OUT TO BE THE BIKERS FAULT. WTF. I guarantee if it was a State Police car instead of a bike, the driver would have seen it.
-No charges had been pressed at the time of print, though the accident is "under investigation"
-They made a point of letting you know the driver had the turn signals on. NOT and excuse for missing a passing vehicle.
-That being said, rider should have seen that and been expecting it. Still doesn't excuse the driver of the jeep.
-The passenger was a young girl. The driver should be slapped for endangering her.

*The paper's name is "The Recorder". Though they have a habbit of getting facts wrong, so it's nickname around here is The Distorter.

[BuzZz]

Too right, the media is going to make it out as the rider's fault. And if'n you ain't got the stones to show up at their office with automatic weapons, a tnt vest and a list of demands, the most you can do is write a letter and hope they print it.

Since you're not a raving lunatic, the letter is about your only option.....

[ofblong]

-They made a point of letting you know the driver had the turn signals on. NOT and excuse for missing a passing vehicle.
-That being said, rider should have seen that and been expecting it. Still doesn't excuse the driver of the jeep.

How can you say the rider should have been expecting it when you dont know the whole situation? What if the jeep driver put the blinker on AFTER the biker had passed point of notice? I have seen MANY morons on the road that dont look to their left on a highway, or right depending on which lane, and just go. Hell I have been on the left of someone doing 80mph in my mini van and had someone start to go over and come within 1/2" of hitting my mirror cause there idiots. My brother actually did get hit by an idiot who did try to switch lanes with my brother being pretty much even with the other drivers window. He drives a Dodge Ram with a 7" lift on it. Kinda hard to miss something that big.

[JC Viper]

-They made a point of letting you know the driver had the turn signals on. NOT and excuse for missing a passing vehicle.
-That being said, rider should have seen that and been expecting it. Still doesn't excuse the driver of the jeep.

How can you say the rider should have been expecting it when you dont know the whole situation? What if the jeep driver put the blinker on AFTER the biker had passed point of notice? I have seen MANY morons on the road that dont look to their left on a highway, or right depending on which lane, and just go. Hell I have been on the left of someone doing 80mph in my mini van and had someone start to go over and come within 1/2" of hitting my mirror cause there idiots. My brother actually did get hit by an idiot who did try to switch lanes with my brother being pretty much even with the other drivers window. He drives a Dodge Ram with a 7" lift on it. Kinda hard to miss something that big.

Volvo is making this worse by letting the car do the side and blind spot detection instead of making the driver to head turns. Shame motorcyclists can't be as lazy.

I know the news in NY loves to make bikers out like the bad guy. Even motor cops who get hit by drunk drivers. And the press making the bike seem like a land missile isn't all too new. Meanwhile they glamorize those $50,000 and over cars that can do more than 170mph and applaud the low end market letting a car that can outrun others in its price range.

[MrGompers]

Another motorcycle accident story. This guy actually managed to take out 2 bikes at the same time. Whats disturbing about this story is it seems like the judge only gave the guy jail time because he left the scene of the accident. The guy was drunk. All the bikers + their passengers survived.
Article doesn't say if they were wearing helmets and/or gear. And why did it take a year for this guy to be prosecuted?

Man Gets Jail Term In 2006 Crash

August 30, 2007

NEW BRITAIN, CT - After an hour long hearing that left defendant Henry that and his victims crying, a judge on Wednesday sentenced Henry to 11 months in jail for injuring several motorcycle riders and then fleeing in his pickup truck.

Henry received an eight-year prison sentence, suspended after 11 months. His children, all in their 20s, slumped in their seats as Judge Patrick that announced the sentence. They wept openly when their father handed his keys and cigarettes to a lawyer before being led off by judicial marshals to begin his term.

"This is just a tragic situation for everyone. There's nothing I can do to ease anyone's pain," Patrick said "It clearly was an unintentional, tragic accident. But there was an intentional leaving of that scene."

Henry, 54, had been drinking on the night of Aug. 22, 2006, before he tried to turn into the driveway of his home on Mix Street, according to police. Henry made the abrupt turn in front of two oncoming motorcycles, and both hit the side of his truck. The two motorcyclists and their two passengers were all thrown to the pavement, some seriously hurt. Henry drove across his lawn and over a curb to get back on the road, and then drove off.

Police later found him at his sister's home, and said he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. They determined that his pickup truck was missing a mud flap identical to the one that investigators had found wedged in the wreckage of one of the motorcycles.

After reaching an agreement with prosecutors, Henry pleaded guilty this summer to second-degree assault with a motor vehicle and evading responsibility, charges that could have led to a maximum prison term of 15 years. The plea agreement stipulated that Henry would serve no more than 18 months in prison.

Two victims told Judge Patrick Wednesday about their injuries.

"Obviously I have plenty of scars all over my body to remind me of that night," said Scott, 33. "I want him to get straightened out. He should take responsibility for his actions."

Michelle, 21, the most seriously hurt victim, had a traumatic brain injury, fractured skull, fractured pelvis and fractured leg.

"My life was perfect," she said after limping to the front of the courtroom. "I used to run every day. I can't run anymore. Dancing was my life. I can't do that any more."

As her relatives wept in a back row of the courtroom, Michelle told Judge Patrick that she doesn't expect to fully recover from the brain injury.

"The words are in my head, but I just can't say them clearly," she said. "[After the accident] I felt like I was in kindergarten again."

[Shorts]

The hood of the car of the dude I ran over with my 6" lifted Chevy didn't bother to look in his rearview or blindspot before he swerved into my lane - again, how in the hell do you miss a lifted full-size truck??

People don't even look.

As far as who's to blame for this, can't say without being there. It could be anyone's match and the vid I'm remembering is of a biker who's hot on the rear corner of a car...as the biker goes to pass, the car sideswipes the bike off the road. Same thing, the car was passing the vehicle in front of it.

[ofblong]

well I almost got hit on my bike friday by a big friggen semi. My front tire was about even with his front tire when he decided to just start coming over. Good thing I had a little "flooring" capability left on that bike to get out of danger as well as enough room between me and the car in front of me to be able to do that cause the guy didnt stop coming. I did see him panick after he noticed me not to far from his front bumper cause he swerved a little. So that just proves right there a blinker being on doesnt mean they turned it on before you were next to them. Then again the semi driver didnt put his blinker on either that or his front blinker wasnt working.

course that whole day was weird. I was doing 60mph had a guy pull right out in front of me but I saw his tires start to move so I anticipated it and slowed down to 10mph and was able to avoid hitting him by inches (dam oncoming traffic why do they have to exist lol). Then I had a guy pull over into the left lane on a 2 lane country road so I assumed he was letting me by. Hell no he did it so he could pull over into the right lane and back into his driveway. Good thing that bike has good brakes otherwise I woulda face planted into his Tahoe's hood. Well that and I was only doing 30mph . Kinda hard to find an escape point with a vehicle that goes across both lanes.

[BuzZz]

I will go out of my way..... far out, breaking the law far (surprising, I know ) to avoid traveling beside any other vehicle, ESPECIALLY a semi. On the bike, in the cage, whatever, it's bad joss, man.

All that crap you see on the road? The boards, the hunks of metal, the rocks, the blowed-up tires..... 90% of that fell off a truck. Why would you want to be anyplace near the origin of that stuff? Add on top of that, the fact that you are very easily lost to the driver's view if you are beside one, it is nutz to cruise beside one.

Remember that if you can't see the driver in his own side mirror, he can't see you..... if he even bothers to check his mirrors. Best to get the hell outta Dodge and in the clear if you ask me.

[ofblong]

I will go out of my way..... far out, breaking the law far (surprising, I know ) to avoid traveling beside any other vehicle, ESPECIALLY a semi. On the bike, in the cage, whatever, it's bad joss, man.

All that "crumb" you see on the road? The boards, the hunks of metal, the rocks, the blowed-up tires..... 90% of that fell off a truck. Why would you want to be anyplace near the origin of that stuff? Add on top of that, the fact that you are very easily lost to the driver's view if you are beside one, it is nutz to cruise beside one.

Remember that if you can't see the driver in his own side mirror, he can't see you..... if he even bothers to check his mirrors. Best to get the hell outta Dodge and in the clear if you ask me.

I was in the process of passing the driver. I try to pass asap cause I dont like to be anywhere around them on my bike and there is no way in hell im gonna slow down 10mph under the speed limit for vehicles (speed limit for semi's is 10mph slower than for vehicles in most highways here). Either way I was in a spot where if he would have looked out his window he woulda saw me their. You telling me you dont expect a driver to look out his window and only depend on his mirrors?

[Ninja Geoff]

I will go out of my way..... far out, breaking the law far (surprising, I know ) to avoid traveling beside any other vehicle, ESPECIALLY a semi. On the bike, in the cage, whatever, it's bad joss, man.

All that "crumb" you see on the road? The boards, the hunks of metal, the rocks, the blowed-up tires..... 90% of that fell off a truck. Why would you want to be anyplace near the origin of that stuff? Add on top of that, the fact that you are very easily lost to the driver's view if you are beside one, it is nutz to cruise beside one.

This is why I love 4th gear on the Ninja

Remember that if you can't see the driver in his own side mirror, he can't see you..... if he even bothers to check his mirrors. Best to get the hell outta Dodge and in the clear if you ask me.

Er, what if it's a Ford or Chevy?