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Just a reminder to all of the riders out there...LOOK OUT! Lost a friend... :(

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Nliiitend1

· Educating Mazda Owners One Thread at a Time
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My fiancee's best friend's boyfriend was killed on Sunday by an innattentive driver who pulled out RIGHT in front of him and more or less ran over him. :(

http://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/2009/05/17/michael-lechner-23-identified-as-victim-in-fatal-buffalo-grove-motorcycle-crash/

And before I hear a bunch of high-horse comments about wearing a helmet, I just want to say that it wouldn't have saved him from this one...In fact, Mike usually wore a helmet. It's just a shame that his death is being sullied by the fact that he didn't have one on this time, even though the car's rear wheel was on top of his chest when the emergency responders arrived...

Anyway, I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind all of the motorcyclists here on the Jet to have as much situational awareness as absolutely possible out there...I don't want to hear about any more stories like this.
 
#2 ·
im very sorry for the loss. Im the president of a local Motorcycle Ministry in Auburn Ca. It breaks my heart to hear when some one is lost doing what we Love. Thank you for the warning, and give my best to your family and friends. I hope this doesn't sway people from riding.

I'm Sorry again.
 
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#3 ·
I love bikes and am riding offroad alot right now. I wear everything I possibly can for safety. Even with that, Im just recovering from broken ribs and a badly brused shoulder.

I am really torn about riding on the street, I may need to for some of the journalistic stuff, and I love it but its hairy out there
 
#5 ·
Sorry to hear about your friend. :(

I know that helmets aren't required in every state, (mine included), and it won't always save your life...but every time I see someone on a bike without a helmet it makes me cringe. It's such a simple piece of safety equipment that can save your life.

I'm not bashing anyone for not wearing one, because I feel that safety should totally be your choice, but I do like seeing a rider with leather and a helmet. I know that it wouldn't have saved your friend, so it doesn't really apply here. but more often that not, it does.

My Dad was out on his Harley one day, and someone crossed the center line and hit a guy that was front of him on a Goldwing. He was wearing a helmet but when the car hit him his head got pulled up through the wheel well of the car. My Dad ran up to help him, but his head was crushed inside the helmet, and he was already dead. Luckily my Dad was there though because the guy tried to flee the scene, and my Dad got the license plate number and description and they found the guy.

Short story long...I always hate to hear things like this.
 
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Discussion starter · #7 ·
Yes, safety gear is a must, but I must re-iterate that it wasn't really a factor in this case.

The issue that should really be hit upon at a time like this is driver awareness, for both motorcycle operators and cagers alike.
 
#9 ·
Yep, we need better training for all vehicles, to meet European standards IMO. Defensive driving and riding gear is an absolute must not just when riding fast or most of the time but 100% of the time without exception. It doesn't matter if you have right of way, look through and both ways on intersections even when green, and expect stuff like deer to jump out and don't always blindly count on vehicles coming to a stop behind you at stop signs or redlights. Since I drive almost exclusively at night, you wouldn't believe the amount of deer I've had to quickly get on the brakes for. Went down six times my first couple years of riding (first couple in a tshirt... yup youth + noobness = failsauce), and then never again in the ten years after that. Cagers aren't going to get smarter anytime soon, so we have to just expect that.
 
#10 ·
sorry to here as well.

I agree with some of the posts on the article i dislike its wording. It make's it sound like the motorcycle was at fault for the crash if you don't read it carefully.

Idiots like this should have vehicular manslaughter charges filed.

I agree bad of him not to have a helmet on but the car was stopped on top of him, he probably was dead helmet or not.

Someone I know was killed the same way here, car shot out of a side road, (the single most common way motorcycles die here and in most states IIRC) and he was wearing every bit of safety gear you could, helmet, gloves, jacket with spine and sholder protection, elbo and knee pads etc... He was also dead on impact.

The US needs to air the UK commercial on this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htJQ1kl2Kt8
 
#11 ·
The retarded thing about that commercial though is that there is no bike the first time!!! :what: They really should have public service announcements up though.

And I know what they are getting at. I have had someone (on the phone, female, asian... a dangerous combo) look right at me, clearly make eye contact with me, and then just cut me off anyway!!! We both came to a stop, I flipped my visor up and just threw my hands up like "What the heck???", and she was honestly surprised somehow and was like "So so so sorry, I didn't see you". Wait, how!??!?!

Sometimes they just don't register single headlight skinny as "car/truck" and so they SEE you but it doesn't register in the brain. Half the time though the motorcycles are going way too fast, and the cars have difficulty estimating a bike's speed since there is just one headlight and more than a couple feet we don't really use stereo vision for depth perception but rather just noticing how quickly two headlights shrink or grow larger to get a perception of speed. Thats why I recommend dual-headlights or even supplemental yellow driving lights by the forks.
 
#12 ·
im sry for your loss:(


no helmet bull**** here...because in cases like this its just like cars when someone says "if he wasnt wearing his seatbelt, he would have survived" like my aunts friends who burned alive because they wore the seatbelts, but who knows what woulda happened if they didn't (probably still died). It just shows in 'most' instances it would save lives seatbelts/helmets...but doesn't cover all, and for those, u can speculate anything just let it go and mourn.

prayers go out:( RIP


-chris
 
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#13 ·
I got hit by a truck on my motorcycle within eyeshot of my house. Its easy as a rider to assume that trips are safer than others. He may not have survived either way, but a high visability helmet and gear could have prevented the accident in the first place.

All the gear, all the time. Its the only way to be sure.
 
#16 ·
as ducman just because people see you does not mean they "see" you. It is scary because eye contact does not mean ANYTHING! It really does not click in some peoples brain that do nothing but drive in areas with other cars and trucks, and have no bicycles, motorcycle, mopeds, or padestrians. Those people just dont click in their head because they are so rare. on a subconchous level it just does not register.

Up here is is seasonal. The first week the weather gets nice and motorcycles start to come out of storage people are a bit in a daze. Lucally after a week or 2 their are enough riders on bikes, mopeds etc... that most people look for them. you can't go more than a block without seeing a motorcycle rider.
 
#17 ·
rpvitiello said:
Up here is is seasonal. The first week the weather gets nice and motorcycles start to come out of storage people are a bit in a daze. Lucally after a week or 2 their are enough riders on bikes, mopeds etc... that most people look for them. you can't go more than a block without seeing a motorcycle rider.
Click to expand...
that same daze applies to riders too, a lot of them act like total asshats the first month or 2 in summer
 
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#18 ·
na those are just the asses in this area that don't have their license the first 2 months of summer. It takes about 2 months for them to all get hospitalized and then you are left with the riders that actually know what they are doing.

A few times I have almost been hit by them doing dumb S*** on the highway while on MY bike. I don't need then to wipe me out at highway speeds as they do dumb stuff.

Regardless that is still the minority of riders. This "daze" really is the #1 cause of bikers getting killed, more than any of the "dumb stunts" they pull. The problem is no matter how good a biker you are. if a car just cuts you off and leaves you no time to react you have nothing you can do. You really are at the idiots in the cagees mercy at this point.
 
#19 ·
Sorrow goes to you, but more so to your friend and her boyfriend's family. I keep reading stuff like this and being very grateful that I live in SoCal. Although there are a ton of people who don't pay attention, I think that the full riding season makes for more conscious cagers. We always hear about downed riders here, but I think that for the most part, people pay more attention because of the higher interaction rate.

This is always bad news, and your advice is good. We should all be as careful as possible, both in cars, and on two wheels.
 
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#20 ·
My condolences.

In Texas, we ride almost year round, but we still see a sharp spike in MC deaths during the warmer months.

It's a damn shame and I believe that cagers need to be properly punished for killing or injuring a motorcyclist.

The "I just didn't see him" excuse is old and tired and it's about damn time someone start seeing us.

I will sometimes ride in a bright orange shirt or a bright red shirt so no one will have an excuse not to see me.

I need to get a hunter orange shirt and have the words, "CAN YOU SEE ME NOW, *******?" printed on the back.

Wonder what the excuse will be if I get hit with that...because it wouldn't be "I didn't see him."

Be seen, Be Heard, Be safe.

More emphasis needs to be brought on Motorcycles during driver education as well.

I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by some punk kid who just got his license or some asshat who's texting or talking on the phone.

Damn shame...


<__________________________>


dave.
 
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