This just sucks...

[Gold Digger]

So, yesterday, I am outside washing my wife's car and as I am doing so, a small white car followed by a hearse goes by my house and stops at the house just down the street. Two families live in this house, kind of the same situation as the house I live in. My wife and I live upstairs and her parents live downstairs. It's the same at the house down the street. A son and his wife and children live with his mom and dad.

Anyway, two men get out of the white car and two men out of the hearse, all four of them wearing black suits. They go inside for a few minutes and I continue to wash the car, keeping an eye on what's going on.

About 15 minutes after arrival, two of the men come back out to the hears, open up the back door and proceed to pull out a body wrapped head to toe in a sheet. (Note: It's common in Japan that when a member of the family dies, they family keeps the body in the house till the funeral.)

I figured maybe the guys father had passed away, so I didn't think much of it. Then, a huge shock. I see the father come out into the street!! This means only one thing.

A neighbor from two houses down goes and speaks to the father down the street. She then comes to my house, speaks with my father-in-law. We learn that the son was killed in a motorcycle accident earlier in the day.

This guy had a newer Kawasaki sport bike, thinking a ZX14, maybe? Not sure, never got a good look, but I remember seeing a 14 somewhere on the body work. Just about every Sunday, he and a friend of his would meet at the house and go out for a ride.

Anyway, don't have any details other than it involved the bike he was riding and a car, but it was pretty gruesome from what's being said. And it may have possible been the driver of the car who was at fault.

The guy was really nice, had a nice family and one of his daughters was classmates/friends with my niece.


I don't know what it's like in all parts of America, but I know in Japan, a good majority of riders over here are offensive riders, usually throwing caution to the wind. Drivers over here are terrible when it comes to being safe on two wheels, with either the motor driven type or bicycles. Most drivers don't stop at the white line like they are supposed to, they will damn near nose out into the intersection, which could spell disaster for anyone on a bike, scooter or bicycle if you're not paying attention.

If you ride, be a defensive driver and always...ALWAYS...be aware of what's happening around you. You never know if a car is going to come out at ya. And ride safely. If you're gonna screw off, do it in a closed-off environment so you don't hurt others should you hurt yourself.

Drivers...always be aware of motorcycles and other two wheeled vehicles. They are harder to spot so you need to be sure you're looking carefully. Remember how in drivers ed, you were taught to stop at or behind the stop sign, then creep forward as needed to see around the corner for cross/oncoming traffic...there's a reason for that.


A very well known guy in our neighborhood is gone now. Man, this just sucks...

[krash]

That sucks man

We have a good variety here in MD. You'll have the more mature riders on ducatis and BMW bikes who are pretty good on the road. Then we have the airhead toolbags who (unfortunately) ride around on crotch rockets acting like asses.

My cousin was in a pretty bad bike accident in India once. He was riding home late at night and some dude clipped the tail of the bike and drove off. The bike's handlebar ended up stabbing through his intestines. He's got a pretty nasty scar now, but he's all good.

Prayer's go out to your neighbor man. Were you close to him at all?

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Nothing angers me more than s*** bike riders...be it human or ICE powered.

[Gold Digger]

Were you close to him at all?

Not at all. We would wave to each other and what-not when he would leave on his bike or in his Odessy, or if I drove by in my car, but it was nothing more than just friendliness between neighbors.

I knew him, but I didn't know him.

[downedzephyr]

even if you didn't know him that's still a scary reminder about bike safety for anyone, especially if he lived down the street. Yeah bike riders piss me off (ICE and human powered), but i still drive cautiously around them; after all sometimes that's me there on the bike. How are your neighbor's parents handling it? I'm guessing that they're taking it pretty hard...

[Bubba1]

I don't know what it's like in all parts of America, but I know in Japan, a good majority of riders over here are offensive riders, usually throwing caution to the wind. Drivers over here are terrible when it comes to being safe on two wheels, with either the motor driven type or bicycles. Most drivers don't stop at the white line like they are supposed to, they will damn near nose out into the intersection, which could spell disaster for anyone on a bike, scooter or bicycle if you're not paying attention.

If you ride, be a defensive driver and always...ALWAYS...be aware of what's happening around you. You never know if a car is going to come out at ya. And ride safely. If you're gonna screw off, do it in a closed-off environment so you don't hurt others should you hurt yourself.

Drivers...always be aware of motorcycles and other two wheeled vehicles. They are harder to spot so you need to be sure you're looking carefully. Remember how in drivers ed, you were taught to stop at or behind the stop sign, then creep forward as needed to see around the corner for cross/oncoming traffic...there's a reason for that.

Sad story. In my area, I don't feel motorcyclists as a group are bad drivers. Though unsurprisingly there are some younger male riders, mostly on crotch rockets, that drive over aggressively and take risks, They seem to have more than their fair share of the high speed gruesome accidents. The guys in the straight piped Harley's can be obnoxiously loud but I have not encountered many that drove with a bad attitude.

What really surprises me is that for as little rider protection a motorcycle offers, and the fact that people in 5,000 lbs SUVs are required by law to have seatbelts on, motorcycle helmets are optional in my state (PA). Seems insane to me to ride without a helmet.

[snwbrdr435]

Exactly why I hate riding on the street. Too many people trying to kill you. Had a close call with a landscaping truck over the summer. Was packed with 5 people in the cab, Teenage kid driving it on the wrong side of the backroad. Almost took out myself and my three friends behind me, one of which cracked his helmet off the mirror of the truck.

[jdrop]

That's really sad.

I have to be honest, I've seen more jerks on bikes than I have responsible riders. There's no helmet law in CT and that makes me really nervous.

[tmeyer29]

A co-worker/friend of mine was killed after a car loaded with drunk teens pulled out in front of him last year. The worst part being he was only 17 and not even out of highschool. I worked at a powersports dealership for 4 years and a vast majority of accidents involving bikes I would hear was the a person driving a cars fault. I cannot count how many times people cut me off or do stupid s*** because they don't see me just in a single week. Its unreal. While I do agree young guys on sport bikes can get pretty damn stupid on a bike, most bad accidents seem to happen within city limits when they are just riding casually.

[AZhitman]

I rode for 5 years... that was enough. I look at it this way: I only get 70, 80 years on this rock if I'm fortunate. I'm gonna minimize my chances of cutting it short if I can. It's just not worth it.

Phoenix is one of the worst cities in the US for motorcyclist fatalities.

[themadscientist]

Riding in Japan, my biggest variable of concern is other riders, not cars. There are four major types I contend with.

Group 1. Harley riders. Now there are idiots on hogs, but most roll in organized packs at a decent speed with no sudden moves and of course, you DO hear them coming.

Group 2. Oji riders. These are older Japanese guys. They are usually moving at warp speed, but to rate a big bike license in Japan, you have proven you can ride so while they are hauling balls and ignoring laws, they are surgeons and don't frequently get nailed.

Group 3. Jerk Americans. This group virtually requires you are on a 1000cc sportbike. R1, GSXR, ZX10 etc. The Busa and ZX14 guys aren't really moving like they can, it's flickable literbikes. There are exceptions, but for the most part, they are seen in groups of pubecent idiots riding way outside their abilities and rolling the dice with their lives at every green light and every new corner.

Group 4. Jerk Japanese. These are similar to the Americans in that they exibit sketchy judgment, but tend to ride 400cc bikes and go slower. Their thing is riding erratically weaving through cars and rolling slow playing tunes with the throttle. Recently these big scooters are the ride of choice and I am routinely assaulted with the farty sound of these things.

Car drivers are a pack of morons. They almost never surprise me, though; I think like they do. I ride with a car driver's mind so cars are very predictable and I have only had a few instances where I was caught flat-footed with a car.

I have been very successful avoiding contact with a "cage" because I assume, ALWAYS, I can't emphasise that enough, ALWAYS ASSUME THAT CAR DOESN'T SEE YOU! They may, but you will bear the consequence if they don't so in my opinion the responsibility is YOURS on the bike to give youself a safety cushion.

I get into arguments with other riders who want to take a stand for their rights and argue about the bad behavior of car drivers, but at the end of the day YOU ARE THE ONE DEAD. I don't try to claim a patch of asphalt against the invasion of absent minded car drivers; that's a fool's stand.

It's the guys on bikes that present a real danger to me. I have tried riding with other people, but I wind up in group 2 or group 3 before too long and it's dangerous.

Group 2 assumes I can hang with them, but I can't so they get way too close and trust me more than they should. When I have that "too much, roll off" moment I can't because I am second or third in a line of guys with another bike right on my a** at 100mph in a corner.

Group 3 produces a testosterone fog of stupid and I am succeptable to it and find myself becoming one of the biggest jerks in the bunch after a couple of miles. In much the way an alcoholic can't have a social drink, I can't go a little fast so much like the former won't go in a bar, I won't ride around people who similarly lack self control.

Helmet laws? No. It should be your choice to wear gear or not. I feel the same about seat belt laws. I would only be in support of such restrictions for minors with the vehicle operator held responsible for noncompliance of their passengers.

Now, if you don't invest in your safety you are stupid and if you plow into my car screwin around and spill the contents of your melon all over the street, don't expect me to feel sorry for you. I have a $1500 bike and almost as much in safety equipment. There is a difference between brave and stupid and it's apparent by what is or is not on your head.

[Amays U G37S]

I love bikes but I couldn't ride in public areas.

Had a buddy that grew up in the neighborhood with my good good friends and he died on a bike. I guess was going to fast or something, and hit a guardrail, couldn't stop.

People have no consideration for each other in a car. I can't imagine even a fraction of that to a person on a bike. I drive next to lines of traffic on 2 lane roads, and sometime people turn or cut across those cars to come and go in the oppoisite direction or the way I am travelling. I can't tell if a bike is there or a car is pulling out. I hate it.

I look twice, or if I have to pull out quickly, I absolutly make sure there is not 1 headlight, or something that resembles a bike. And in the dark I try to see as far down the road as I can because a drink driver might not have his headlight on (or some dude is doing 120 on a bike with no lights on, and just so happens to be a bmw so you can't hear it anyways)

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Call me a p****, but motorcycles scare the s*** out of me. I know for a fact that I would be one of those guys who winds up going face first into a pole or guardrail because the people around here can't drive to save there life. Everyone is in such a hurry to go no where and in a phone induced fog around here, also the pedestrians around here don't pay attention and will walk in front of you in a heartbeat (which is part of the reason we have so many fatal hit and runs here in Philly). Ive seen so many people straight up cut off a bike that I would never feel safe on a bike. On the other hand there are a ton of bikers here in Philly and for the most part you don't see to many being careless and the ones you do see are either acting a fool in a parking lot or are in a pack of other souped up crotch rockets trying to out do each other.

The helmet optional law in PA is only applicable to riders who have at least 2 years of riding experience, DE has the same law but a helmet HAS to be somewhere visible on the bike and passengers have to wear a helmet, plus I think you have to ride for 5 years in DE to be eligible to ride without a helmet. Seat belt laws for cars are a different story, I fully support them, now if they would just pass a law that carries a serious fine for passengers that put there feat on the dashboard or for hanging your feet out the window that would be awesome.

[themadscientist]

Riding a bike is incredibly dangerous. Just getting on one and pulling out into traffic increases your chance of injury or death some percentage. Life is dangerous, though. You could choke on a fatburger this afternoon and be just as dead.

Every person has to weigh the dangers of the activities they pursue and decide how much risk they are willing to accept in their lives. People who won't ride aren't pussys, nor are people who don't desire to ride the newest, fastest crotch rocket despite group 3's prevailing dogma. They have just decided that the risks that those choices expose them to are unacceptable.

In much the same way I don't go to Sandra Bullock movies. She might not suck but the risk that she will is more than I can tolerate.

[nissangirl74]

Helmets aren't required here in AZ so when someone gets into an accident, it's usually pretty horrible. I have only been on a bike once in my life and I swore I'd never get on another one. The guy was going way over 100 mph and I was scared to death. I personally have nothing against bike riders, just people in general who choose to make poor decisions while behind the wheel / handlebars.

I feel sorry for your neighbor's family, I hope they can get past it.