Topic: Rider down discussions

[Honduh rider]

speed alone isn't a factor in assigning fault. 

look it up.

everyone's a f****** traffic cop.

[suzukinduced]

speed alone isn't a factor in assigning fault. 

look it up.

everyone's a f****** traffic cop.

welcome to the interwebs. enjoi yur stay.

[Dirty]

Ok, I'll be the first to say it.  I find it hypocritical to give so much benefit of doubt to the rider.


Perhaps it's because he's a rider, just like all of us here. Truth is that every time I go out for a ride, I go fast enough to lose my license on several occasions and I will stretch as far as saying that the vast majority of sport bike riders do the exact same - if not much worse.


The difference is that those of us with a few extra IQ points pick our places by going out of town to mess around "safely" and travel slow enough in the city to allow for braking or evasive maneuvers should something absurd happen, such as... say, oh... a kid doing bicycle tricks in the middle of the road.


What's the posted speed limit on Carling between Woodroffe and the Parkway?  50 or 60 right?  I'm sorry but had he been going the speed limit and paying attention, this accident could easily have been avoided.


Sorry if I offend anyone with this post; it's just the way I see things.

I agree 100%. Sounds like an asshat on a motorcycle, driving too fast for the conditions hit an asshat doing tricks on his bicycle on one of the busiest streets in the city. Sounds like they were both at fault.

Sounds like that sums it up right there.

And IMO speeding in isolated areas isn't nearly as bad because you aren't taking risks with other peoples safety or atleast no where near the same degree. It's all matter of when/where, sure you'll have some blind corners and hidden driveways in the country but you've also got alot of areas where you know no person is around to be consequenced by your shinanigans.

I went zooming down( 260km/h +)  a country road at night and saw a deer bounce off the road and into  the woods just feet in front of my bike. Had I struck it the planet would be minus one deer and one dummy, oh well. No harm, no foul.

[Cos]

Nope doing double the speed limit in the back woods may not be the smartest thing, but neither is a certain 1300 sport bike flying up Merivale after leaving a popular hangout, in traffic and then posting about it on facebook after blaming the bike for making the rider 'do bad things'.

Everybody speeds, and everybody falls off their pedestal every once and awhile.

Sorry Brad, can't hear you from up on my pedestal. 

To counter, at least I am alone on my bike when I do bad things. I would never risk the life of a passenger, especially one that I loved, by doing bad things two-up.   

There's no need to counter Dave. Brad's a good rider, age is not always directly proportional with riding skill levels... I've ridden behind Brad and Hillary for a brief section, and at least there, he didn't do anything that I wouldn't do if my wife was riding with me. His bike though needs a tune-up, or new engine, or something, it pollutes like crazy 

As far as speeding goes, it's not the speed that counts, it's whether one is prepared or not to handle that speed. However, this is a thread about paying respects to people who lost their lives, so I'll take Brad's advice seriously and shut-up ...

[Marc]

Sorry to hear about your crash Johnny. I hope you can get it behind you soon. Keep us posted on what you're thinking of replacing the bike with.

[Hayabuser]

Sorry to hear about your crash Johnny. I hope you can get it behind you soon. Keep us posted on what you're thinking of replacing the bike with.

That's where Johnny likes it the best! 

[menglor]

Rider and passenger down last night: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/died+front+cycle+crash+witness+says/3036045/story.html

I wondered what the hell all the sirens on carling were about last night. Now I know  .

RIP to the cyclist and to both rider and passenger, a speedy recovery.

All things asside like blame and what not.  I cant imagine what must of been going through the Bikers mind when you have a body hitting you head on.

I know we have all had bad experiences with bee's hornets and or butterflies.  having something that big hit you must be quite the THump.


With regards to the speed issue,  its easy to give the biker a pass or fail on speeding without much thinking.  I have been pulled over for going through the Greenback and fallowfield intersection for what appeared like I was speeding. 

I know I was doing 73 when I went through the intersection, and the cop was at the light stoped so when the light hit green I flew past him, but its a Clearly labeled 80k zone. he pulled me over and explained that I was moving in excess of 90, when I know I wasnt.

Doing Stunts while crossing a Major roadway is just plain stupid.  even if the guy was doing 50kph, and the bike drove into the intersection, the biker would likely not have the reaction time needed.

And the following point "speed alone isn't a factor in assigning fault. " is the single most important thing to remember from this accident.

If your doing 50kph or 500kph, if you suddenly show up in front of a moving vehicle, your going to loose and be punted like a football, the laws of Inertia hold true.


I do find it somewhat frustrating that The story seems to be edited as the day goes along, so its hard to tell who to believe, the article clearly say that "girlfriend said he was doing tricks while crossing Carling" and now it says

"Freeman was riding his BMX bike on Carling Avenue when a westbound motorcycle drove “really fast and hit him,” Wilson said. “I look away for five seconds and he’s gone.”

[judd]

I used to live near that section of road and traffic (bikes, cars, everything) regularly do 100+ km/h along it.   It's a terrible place to speed because of pedestrians and so many side roads.  It's an equally terrible place to be doing tricks on your bike after dark with no lights or reflectors.  I hope that the media doesn't take the easy road by demonizing the motorcyclist (who am I kidding?)

[GT Pilot]

The mother is in hospital with serious injuries as she piled into the car and her husband's bike.


http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/06/28/14548896.html

[suzukinduced]

The mother is in hospital with serious injuries as she piled into the car and her husband's bike.


http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/06/28/14548896.html

saw this in the riders down section.

f*** peta. birds are not worth more then people.

[Ninja Johnny]

"Quebec law prohibits stopping a vehicle on a highway."
.... well duh. Isn't it the law everywhere, not to mention common sense?

RIP to the father and daughter. I'd hate to face what the mother is/will go through for the rest of her life.

[smokey]

While I really really am sorry this happened, it begs the question on how close they were to the car, I know the driver has been charged but you have to ask the question as to how close the bikes were at the time. Not trying to shift the blame or start anything, but you have to admit, they must have been pretty close to not be able to react in time. I was coming back on my bike from Peterborough and had a family of ducks in the middle of the road, the most scary part was the tractor trailer coming at me that was actually going to swerve, luckily onto the shoulder side, but it make one think. Ducks are cute, but they are a dime a dozen, not worth the life of human for sure.

[ljpm]

While I really really am sorry this happened, it begs the question on how close they were to the car, I know the driver has been charged but you have to ask the question as to how close the bikes were at the time.

They way I read it, the woman was stopped. She is being charged with stopping not slowing down. If she was stopped then they couldn't have been following to close. There are plenty of reasons why they may not have seen the car. There could be a hill or curve. The pictures seems to show two lanes with very little in the way of a left hand shoulder; maybe they pull out to pass a truck and couldn't get back into the right lane.

[Dirty]

I thought it was the person who does the rear ending who is charged regardless of what lead up to it. Remember the fatal OC Transpo accident on the eastbound 174? The car was stopped in the bus lane and the OC driver was charged although he was found not guilty.

A few weeks after that incident I was following a car (on the same stretch of road but other direction) which rear ended a parked car on the highway. I was able to stop 1 foot short of the carnage. The person who had broken down on the highway didn't want to pull off to the bus lane because of what had happened earlier so they stayed on the highway and got smashed anyway.

[Cos]

I too was under the impression that the person doing the rear ending is at fault. How can be determined whether a car was stopped, or very slowly moving?

Regardless, this brings to the front that more focus, and probably skills in some cases, are needed when riding a bike. Some things are unavoidable, but this incident didn't sound like one.

It still amazes me how lightly some people take riding, with that kind of it-won't-happen-to-me attitude.

It's going to be tough for that lady, if she survives...

[Ninja Johnny]

I thoght about how fast the father was going too, but when I crashed in may, I was doing 40 and was 2 seconds behind the car in front of me. I've increased my following time up to 3-4 seconds.

[RickT]

Just a couple thoughts.

1) Just because the car driver is being charged, doesn't mean they are at fault for the accident.  Not knowing Quebec laws it would seem that they are being given a ticket for stopping on a highway.  The bike riders (rip) are most likely still at fault for the accident as they ran into the car.

2) Unless it's a blind curve, I find it hard to think that any vehicle traveling down a road can't stop in time for a stopped vehicle in the road.  I'm guessing speed or not paying attention possibly played a part in the accident.

3) And while I'm with you, a ducks life isn't that important compared to  your own, I think it's human nature to try and avoid running over any living creature in the road.

[Rhetorik]

I've got my bike back on the road finally after my accident last month.

[Hayabuser]

I've got my bike back on the road finally after my accident last month.

And they say once you go black, you never go back. 

[karl_1052]

The two tone does not look too bad.

[Rhetorik]

The two tone does not look too bad.

I like it quite a bit (I'd originally wanted a green bike anyhow) - with some green rimstripes it'll look even better, and I hope to have the lowers painted in a gloss black over the winter. I think that will look quite sharp.

Now just to keep the shiny side up!

[menglor]

its still green though!

[P57]

Not an Ottawa rider, but he's a fellow Hawker. For all those who use UNI pods, take note.

Here is his completed build dated August 9, 2010. The last quote shows how it sits today.

so yeah... got registration and insurance today...took the bike out for a 2 mile test ride tonight and turns out that UNI pod filter oil is like napalm, and my bike was running so rich it backfired at the carbs and burst into flames while I was riding it...

yeah... the bike that i finished building yesterday...now sits charred in my driveway.

[1125R]

Biker fatally injured in crash with cop car

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/09/04/15247266.html

There has to be more to this story to crash into a stationary vehicle...

Certainly is odd running into a parked police car,  which has blocked a road way due to another accident, which was being investigated,

[bir4]

Biker fatally injured in crash with cop car

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/09/04/15247266.html

But it appears the fatality had little to do with police.

They are quick to make the accusation, then they say:

SIU investigator Rob Waters said, explaining it was too early to say why the biker was unable to avoid ramming the cruiser

I would hope the police at least had there lights on if there were blocking the intersection.