Who got hit by a motorcycle?

[Z because X was taken]

If you have ever been on two wheels more than riding up to bike night you would have a totally different perspective on the crazy shit that drivers do. Fact: most accidents are caused by drivers crossing into a bikes right of way. Fact: distracted driving is as bad as drunk driving. When have you ever seen a motorcyclist scrolling their phone? Lane splitting is by far safer for a motorcyclist than riding with the flow of traffic, dont believe me, look it up. CA has had this law forever and accidents dropped dramatically, yes drivers needed to get used to it but once it became normal, less dead bikers.

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[EasternSierra]

In some locales, like California, where they've been doing it for decades it is predictable.

Been driving in CA my whole life and it's no big deal. You should be paying attention and watching out for motorcycles at all times, anyway. If they can get to their destination before I do, then more power to them. It's their reward for taking a risk I'm not taking.

Reckless riders excluded of course, but then I've seen plenty more drivers than riders racing each other on the freeway and weaving recklessly through traffic.

 

[Nickhick]

Hit by a motorcycle? No
Rear-ended by a Probe? Yes

Seriously. Got rear ended by a Ford Probe. Totaled my Ranger.

 

[KABQ]

This dude made the same move on me in his Camaro. Severe TBI at best, I actually don't know if he survived. He was street racing his friend in a CTS-V and swerved around me at the last second going at least 100 on a city street, looped it, and ended up going into a steel bus stop. He collected a street sign along the way that occupied the exact same space as his head in the cabin. He was breathing, but it was agonal. The dick he was racing never even slowed down.

Luckily it happened right in front of an urgent care. I actually had to use my basic trauma training and point to individual spectators to say "YOU call 911, YOU go into that clinic and grab a nurse, YOU find a fire extinguisher." It was pouring gas. I only took these two pictures after AFD showed up and I knew he was still alive at the time, and I've actually never shared them until now (over a decade later).

 

[DaddyO]

Ended 51 year riding career last August going around a curve at 25 mph, hit dirt and slid off the road into a concrete culvert. Life flight to hospital. 2024 Harley ultra limited. Beautiful bike-totalled.

 

[DaddyO]

Ended 51 year riding career last August going around a curve at 25 mph, hit dirt and slid off the road into a concrete culvert. Life flight to hospital. 2024 Harley ultra limited. Beautiful bike-totalled.

Before and after
Ross 10-15k miles a year average

 

[Desmolicious]

They just made lane filtering legal where I live. I expect a lot more 2 wheelers to get hurt doing so while simultaneously complaining about car drivers.

There's also a push to make lane splitting legal, which is even more stupid.

You've never ridden a moto in traffic have you?

Lane splitting is generally safer than sitting in traffic, provided it is done at reasonable speeds and in low-speed traffic. Comprehensive data, including a landmark study from the UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies, confirms that lane splitting drastically reduces a rider's vulnerability to severe collisions.

 

[Dan00Hawk]

Wasn't me! But reading the discussion here highlights some common things many of us tend to think about bikers vs drivers. Each of us has a unique perspective based on our individual experiences, and it's difficult to understand another perspective that may contradict those personal incidents we have observed for ourselves.

1). There are absolutely shit bikers that are irresponsible and have no regard for other traffic on the road while they slice through traffic at high speeds.
2). And there are absolutely shit drivers that don't pay attention and/or don't drive with respect for others in their vicinity.

These two things are not exclusive and can both be true. When we run across one of those, it may make us disregard the rest of the safe and normal bikers and drivers that we regularly see on the road that barely even register in our consciousness. I'm not a fan of the jerks and dimwits on the road either, but don't take it out on the vast majority of others that have not done anything wrong...

Ultimately, all of us want ourselves and loved ones to make it back home safely regardless if we are on 2 or 4 wheels.

 

[MilesTeg]

1). There are absolutely shit bikers that are irresponsible and have no regard for other traffic on the road while they slice through traffic at high speeds.
2). And there are absolutely shit drivers that don't pay attention and/or don't drive with respect for others in their vicinity.

This is true. But, in my experience, the number of shit bikers -- per capita -- is far higher than shit drivers. By "shit biker/shit driver" I mean someone intentionally operating their vehicle in a very dangerous manner. Wheelies off the red light, extreme speeding, dangerous lane weaving, etc. Heck, a few weeks ago I witnessed a joker doing wheelie tricks down a major road for the better part of a mile.

Apropos to this conversation, despite dozens of interactions, I have had zero experiences where there was a biker doing anything that I would call responsible lane filtering. Just yesterday a guy on his bike filtered up next to me and blew right past the stop line, blocking the people trying to use the cross walk. Luckily just blocking them, as it's unlikely he even saw them. Then, he proceeded to lane split down the barely wide enough to be two lane road, blocking both lanes of traffic. The only reason it wasn't a huge problem is he was doing about 20 over the limit, hah.

I get that responsible lane filtering can keep a biker from getting rear ended (though a study in France showed that lane filterers actually got into more accidents), but until I actually see responsible lane filtering be the norm (and not 0% of my interactions) I will be opposed to it.

Ironically, most of the 2 wheelers I see that are actually riding responsibly are the ones wearing gang cuts, hah.

 

[Desmolicious]

..

I get that responsible lane filtering can keep a biker from getting rear ended (though a study in France showed that lane filterers actually got into more accidents), but until I actually see responsible lane filtering be the norm (and not 0% of my interactions) I will be opposed to it.
..

Link to that study in France otherwise it doesn't exist....
The study I provided can be seen here:

https://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/29/motorcycle-lanesplitting-report/

Your claims are completely anecdotal- you report what you choose to see.
I see terrible bike riding. But I see even worse car/truck driving. Here in LA I see cars constantly running red lights and stop signs, but I hardly ever see motos do that because it seems they are aware that the consequences are far greater.

However... I do see kids on ebikes riding far more dangerously than any car or moto driver. They hardly ever stop at stop signs, blow through red lights, etc.

Again, all anecdotal.

 

[userdude]

No it doesn't. Put the stupidphone down, put your lipstick on before you leave the house and you're more capable of noticing things going on around you when sitting in traffic.

Hey! I put my lipstick on at the house, it's the blowup doll in the passenger seat that's always needing a touch up...

 

[Desmolicious]

Hey! I put my lipstick on at the house, it's the blowup doll in the passenger seat that's always needing a touch up...

If you could leave it alone for just a little bit, it would not need so much touching up.

 

[MilesTeg]

Link to that study in France otherwise it doesn't exist....

https://www.advrider.com/french-study-concludes-moto-filtering-is-more-dangerous/

The study I provided can be seen here:

https://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/29/motorcycle-lanesplitting-report/

Your study examines outcomes of accidents, not likelyhood/frequencies of accidents:

“It’s important to note that from the data in our study, we are unable to estimate the risk of getting into a collision in the first place,” said Rice. “What we can do is look at motorcycle collisions that have occurred, and determine whether lane-splitting poses a greater risk of injury to riders, and whether the manner in which riders were lane-splitting was predictive of particular injury types.”

Your claims are completely anecdotal- you report what you choose to see.
I see terrible bike riding. But I see even worse car/truck driving. Here in LA I see cars constantly running red lights and stop signs, but I hardly ever see motos do that because it seems they are aware that the consequences are far greater.

However... I do see kids on ebikes riding far more dangerously than any car or moto driver. They hardly ever stop at stop signs, blow through red lights, etc.

Again, all anecdotal.

I agree it's anecdotal. Which is why I also mentioned the non-anecdotal data.

 

[userdude]

If you could leave it alone for just a little bit, it would not need so much touching up.

Hey! The people at the DMV said those videos were private.

 

[Desmolicious]

https://www.advrider.com/french-study-concludes-moto-filtering-is-more-dangerous/



Your study examines outcomes of accidents, not likelyhood/frequencies of accidents:

“It’s important to note that from the data in our study, we are unable to estimate the risk of getting into a collision in the first place,” said Rice. “What we can do is look at motorcycle collisions that have occurred, and determine whether lane-splitting poses a greater risk of injury to riders, and whether the manner in which riders were lane-splitting was predictive of particular injury types.”



I agree it's anecdotal. Which is why I also mentioned the non-anecdotal data.

That French study overlooks the fact that their motocyclists like to smoke when they ride. Hot ash in the face while filtering.... will increase the likelihood of an accident.
American riders - particularly ones on Harleys - prefer to chew their tobacco resulting in fewer accidents but more stains.

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