Cyclist killed in crash on Interstate 580

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%7E1865%7E2092351,00.html?search=filter

LIVERMORE -- A fatal accident occurred on I-580 along the Altamont
Pass between Livermore and Tracy on Saturday afternoon.

It involved a motorcycle and a sport-utility vehicle headed westbound
on I-580 near North Flynn Road and occurred around 4:45 p.m.

The second and third lanes from the left of the center divide were
blocked for nearly two hours following the accident, California
Highway Patrol reported.



Anybody know who it was?
Brett
01 Yamaha R1
99 Honda F4 (Track bike)
89 Katana 750

 

http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10671~2093751,00.html

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8462963.htm


Be sure to read both articles.

 

Well, who survived to tell his side of the story?

barbz

 

There would have been plenty of witnesses at that time of day.

Brett
01 Yamaha R1
99 Honda F4 (Track bike)
89 Katana 750

 

The second one... both articles say the bike contacted the rear of the
SUV... it could easily be that the SUV violated the riders space by changing
lanes in front of him...in which case the biker was riding way to close to
adjacent traffic.. maybe not technically his fault... but he would be in
error riding in the SUV's blind spot that close.... not smart.

Same if the rider was weaving in and out of traffic as is so common....the
biker is taking the risks, in close quarters at speed in this case.... its
the bikers duty to stay clear so that any sudden swerve even of an adjacent
vehicle can't take him out.

Trusting the public to be good drivers then blaming them for your problems
when they are not is not workable. the general public is a total basket
case... over 60% on mind altering drugs (legal and illegal)... or with
alcohol problems and net 50% illiteracy rate.. (below the level of being
able to read a bus schedule and tell you when the bus is coming).




Phil Scott

 

The SUV driver could have intended to take the bike out... the biker though
should not have been in a postition for that to happen since lane violations
with bikes, are so comon.... for various reasons including blind spots.
most vehicles have a blind spot on either side toward the rear.... if the
biker was riding in that spot, he could have not been seen by the SUV driver
and squeezed as as he made a lane change.

The SUV driver would have been at fault legally... the biker is at fault for
his own death though for being in a position that close to the side /rear of
a cage in the first place.

Phil Scott

 

Moreover, is it statistically accurate to assume motorcyclists themselves do
not fall into those categories?

....pablo

 

Better still, just stay home and watch your CC Ryder tape over and over
and over and....

barbz

 

95.5% of all statistics are made up on the spot. That's a fact!

barbz

 

I dont recall, but you see similar numbers in the news etc...to find
those you would search www.google.com click on the 'web' tab then
type 'literacy statistics' and 'drug and alcohol abuse statistics' into
the search box.

You will get a range for sure... and you have to parse the
demographics...very often statistics are bogus from the start. For
instance most doctors thought the average old fart had a 6% chance of being
diabetic...because 6% is a national number for ALL citizens... the actual
figure over 65 is approaching 50% diabetic or pre diabetic. for kids the
number is under half a percent. Yet that is not parsed in the published
national statistics as a rule.


You can just sit on a bench in any big city though and watch the foot
traffic and take notes and get some astonishing numbers just noticing the
obvious.... people with nose rings, green hair, blurry eyes and their fly
unzipped etc...

Phil Scott

 

Every demographic has its own stats,,, plus and minus... Literacy rates
might be lower in the biker public than the national average... diabetes
would be lower due to the exercise of riding compared to the national
averages...and bikers are generally younger than say for instance shuffle
board players.... so of course the stats would be different.

There are gross national indicators however. As you get older and see more
you can form your own views of whats going on.


Phil Scott

 

Maybe...but 95% of all educated guess have some merit. For the
actual stat, just stand on any city street corner and engage the citizenry
in conversation...in short order you will see that 50% are not literate
enough to answer a simple question accurately...there have been a lot of
studies lately on how many people know what Arkansas is... some said it was
a nation in Europe, or a desert topping.



Phil Scott

 

No need to be a complete idiot timber.... you pass with *clearance, not
just off the guys bumper,,,and you pass fast so that the cage doesnt have
time to swerve into you.

 

I don't see enough evidence to find fault with the rider. Maintaining
clear space in the adjacent lanes on an urban freeway is not a
realistic objective, and riding near the lane divider is ordinarily
prudent.

The allegation that the rider had been swerving from lane to lane
before the accident strikes me as self-serving and underscores the
adage that history is written by the winners -- in this case, the
survivors.

While my take on what happened may provide the rider with a shorter
stay in Purgatory, it doesn't leave him any less dead. RIP, Mr.
Edwards.



R, UB

 

Alzheimer's.

 

Your view is correct from some perspectives such as with wall to
wall trafffic that precludes lane changes...but in this case there was room
for the SUV to change lanes and bike was close by to his rear.... not smart.

Personally I think horsepower is provided by the glorious japanese to insure
that one can haul ass out of those situations.

Bikers swerving in and out of traffic is pervasively common, with myself
included...I try to move faster than traffic and ahead of it, so that
nothing can pack in around me.

and thats the point... also if he had been careful to stay out of
those situations in the first place the accident would not have happened...
I and many others ride always with a view to what the cages nearby could
do...and if they could do it...we are positioned to not be affected by it.

This rider clearly was not positioned thusly...but he has done his duty as a
human on the face of the earth, he has shown many others now the folly in
being in a spot dependent on anothers action to prevent an accident... He
should have been a preventive postion himself. but was not.

we can learn from that...a gift from Mr Edwards RIP.



Phil Scott

 

While perhaps not in a format that is palatable to all, Mr. Scott has
gotten to the crux of the matter if you spend years of riding among
alot of traffic in an area like the bay area.

You can't simply react to the situation as it occurs...to take that
approach will eventually lead to a situation from which there are no
good outcomes, if you ride long enough and don't ride like a total
grandpa (which for many of us would negate the whole point of riding
our bikes). You must be constantly vigilant and pro-active in
positioning yourself so that you never even find yourself in a really
bad situation. If you're going down a multi-lane highway and you
don't like the configuration of vehicles along your current track,
then shift over a few lanes and find a better situation, don't just
keep riding into a position that can be a trap...or if you do, make
sure that you know your options before you're in a position which
might require a split-second decision where you might not have time to
see all of your options. If there is something on your mind and you
can't keep 100% focus on the road, then take the cage..or is you must
ride, don't ride too aggressively because if your mind is somewhere
else, whatever was occupying your mind could very well become moot in
a split second. If you're feeling really good about yourself and feel
like you can just whiz between the cars when splitting lanes... I
suggest that you go to one of the sites with accident pictures or go
to BARF and look for the RIP threads....alot of those people were
under the same illusions...didn't last too long, though.

Like diving, rock climbing, mountain climbing and other potentially
dangerous sports, ours is one where the reality can assert itself with
very final or serious results. It doesn't have to be that way, as
long as you respect the sport and never forget that it's not a video
game where you just hit the reset button if you have a crash.

Brett
01 Yamaha R1
99 Honda F4 (Track bike)
89 Katana 750

 

I was cruising along in heavy 50mph-ish traffic on 1 heading towards the
'fishhook' here in Santa Cruz last Sunday afternoon, I'd been splitting
intermittently a few miles back where it had been slow-n-go but when the
left lane had gotten back up to 40ish I'd merged in behind a car... I'm
watching way ahead as well around me and looking for signs of more
slowdowns, on the right side of the left lane... when this yahoo in a
skidlid and tshirt on one of those custom harley dragbikes with the huge
rear wheel and hugger fendor and funny short straight bars went ROARING by
me, and jumped into the split between 40-n-50 mpg cars, brapping his
throttle every few seconds. christ. I let him go. He got off a few
exits ahead.

 

Im 63, and I goose it up though traffic as a way of staying out of harms
way.. ahead of danger...and Im just now starting to get back in the groove
after 20 years off bikes (it took 18 months). Ive seen others my age ride
the double yellow on semi blind turns in canyons for decades and not have an
accident.


You can weave anything though trafffic. This guy was apparently not being
too bright about it if he allowed his front wheel to get anywhere near the
back end or side back end of a cage.

Weaving in this area is pervasively common, and that includes passing cars
on a lane split over 25 or 30 mph.

Phil Scott

 

Ride behind LX some time... or maybe Coleman if you can stand 150 mph in a
sweeper..Coleman is 63.... the worlds oldest professional flat tracker still
ranked number 10 in the world is Gary Nixon..age over 65.... Im a non pro
flat tracker, ama #329g...age 30 running a 600 rotax...thats about 60 hp in
a 250 lb frame the rear stays loose all the way around the track (1/4 mile
dirt oval). Jay Springsteen is Gary Nixons buddy, a pro flat tracker for
the last 30 years ranked maybe #7 these days (thats hot and any age).. he is
58 or so... flat tracking is one hairy ass sport... thats 130 mph into the
turns elbow to elbow sliding sideways.

Or another guy here on AMS, Bob Nixon aint no slouch either.. on the Arizona
back roads on liter bikes. Bob is close to or over 60... and has a buddy
who is an ex flat tracker in that age bracket still hauling ass in the
mountains.



honestly, none, since i moved up here in 96.

Hang around a while... you will be over 60 some day too..and with 10
times the skill you have now... you too will be hauling ass.

Could be a synthic oil problem if its air cooled...high film heat transfer
coeficient for synthetics... use mineral oil it will run a lot cooler...if
its water cooled, use water wetter and skip the anti freeze.

Phil Scott