Here we go again

[cactusjack]

Sad, I heard this on the radio while riding yesterday. They had that intersection shut down for about 5 hours for the investigation. The driver will probably just get a failure to yield citation.


Motorcyclist, 20, killed when driver, 84, failed to yield




By Yihyun Jeong The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:05 PM

A motorcyclist died after a car tried to make a left turn in front of the motorcyclist at Cave Creek Road and Union Hills Drive in Phoenix Wednesday, officials said.
Police responded to a serious injury collision at the intersection of Cave Creek Road and Union Hills Drive around 4 p.m., Sgt. Steve Martos, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department said. Police were told that a motorcyclist was down and his motorcycle was on fire.
The motorcyclist, Angelo Wright, 20, was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of injuries, Martos said.
The police department’s Vehicular Crimes Unit responded to the scene and determined that an 84-year-old female driver of a Volkswagen Rabbit, was heading east on Union Hills and tried to make a left turn at Cave Creek Road to travel north, Martos said.
The driver failed to yield to Wright, who was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and collided with him.
Wright was not wearing a helmet.

[Bud2rat]

Sad indeed, RIP.

[Loafer]

I hate it when I hear that someone cut off a rider and they died.
How do we educate everyone to watch for motorcycles?

[Old Bear]

Originally Posted by Loafer

I hate it when I hear that someone cut off a rider and they died.
How do we educate everyone to watch for motorcycles?

No one likes my solution. Start telling drivers that motorcyclists are carrying high explosives in the front of their bikes, which detonates two seconds after impact. That's after the biker has been thrown clear of course. Nightly news regularly shows cars being blown in half from pulling out in front of bikers. THEN cagers would start watching for us!

We've had several bad accidents around here as well, several fatalities. I know my headlight modulator annoys some, but they damn well see me!

[ringadingh]

Thats too bad, I wonder if wearing a helmet would have made a difference in this case.

[blowndodge]

Every intersection the Grimm Reaper is waiting for us. I approach each one as if He's there!

[Sin City Stan]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

Wright was not wearing a helmet.

Neither was the cager, does that make it alright to turn in front of a motorcycle?????????????????

[davidhollinger]

Sorry but we need to make anyone over 65 or 70 take the driving test every 6 months. Not the written test, but drive a car with an officer in it like he is 16, and pass the eye exam as well. After a certain age things can detoriate quickly. I am only 42 and I know my eyes are going fast. My contacts get stronger every year and I need bifocals. Cant imagine what an 84 year old was seeing or NOT SEEING! Dont mean to offend those of you over that age but my dad is that age and he scares the hell out of me! Also push back the driving age to 18 instead of 16 and make a motorcycle safety course part of the final exam.

[Old Bear]

Originally Posted by davidhollinger

Sorry but we need to make anyone over 65 or 70 take the driving test every 6 months. Not the written test, but drive a car with an officer in it like he is 16, and pass the eye exam as well. After a certain age things can detoriate quickly. I am only 42 and I know my eyes are going fast. My contacts get stronger every year and I need bifocals. Cant imagine what an 84 year old was seeing or NOT SEEING! Dont mean to offend those of you over that age but my dad is that age and he scares the hell out of me! Also push back the driving age to 18 instead of 16 and make a motorcycle safety course part of the final exam.

My knee-jerk reaction is to agree, but it is a daily occurrence to see idiots of all ages behind the wheel. They are texting, playing with the radio, watching a movie (!), eating, turned around yelling at the kids in the back, every thing but driving! Personally, I would like to follow some of the old German mentality. Take out of the cars and ban any and all entertainment (radio, MP3, movies, etc), no cup holders, no cigarette lighters, no ashtrays. When you get in the car to drive, DRIVE! Being caught doing anything else cost you your license. No drive-through windows for restaurants. You're hungry, thirsty, need a cigarette, need to pee, STOP and take care of it! Then get back in and DRIVE. You are controlling a DEADLY WEAPON THAT KILLS A LOT MORE THAN GUNS DO! So CONTROL IT!

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Loafer

I hate it when I hear that someone cut off a rider and they died.
How do we educate everyone to watch for motorcycles?

My solution would be to make everyone ride a motorcycle or scooter for a year before they can obtain a driver's license and drive a car. Spend some time in the crosshairs and you'll start seeing motorcycles when you're behind the wheel.

[Thomas]

Its painful to see this week after week in Phoenix. I know over a dozen riders that fell victim to the left turn. Staying sharp and on your toes doesn't cut it anymore. You need to be a mind reader.

[glwilson]

Seems like that area in Cave Creek is ripe with accidents all the time. Ummm...

Hey look guys... we can and should blame the cagers... but the bottom-line is that we need to pay attention when in town and where ever there is traffic and QUIT ASSUMING people see you.

If there is a place for a car to turn in front of you, then you had better plan on that happening and ride accordingly.

Protect yourself first...

[MarkG]

This is bike week down here and things always seem to go wrong. I was doing a demo ride today and coming back into the staging area. They have flag men out to stop the traffic so the rides can get in and out safely. My guess is the tail gunner gave the lead rider a heads up. All of a sudden the lead rider cut to the right hand side of the road just a few yards before the left turn and without thinking most of us did the same thing. Follow the leader these guys don't make sudden moves without a good reason. A second later a HD rider went blasting through the group from behind crossing the double yellow lines way over the 25mph limit. Flag men were frantically waving for him to stop to no avail. We waited several seconds before any of us decided to finally turn into the staging area.

There was no excuse that rider could not have waited a few more seconds for us to get out of the way. Only he was trying to impress everyone with his skill of revving his loud pipes and weaving down the road. Coming home tonight I saw several so called riders, and I will use that term loosely, all over the road, cutting in and out, and not paying a bit of attention to the traffic around them. More than one car was slamming on the brakes to avoid these idiots and none of the drivers were elderly. Even though there were a half dozen DPS cars on the freeway they can't catch everybody.

Now don't get me wrong, much of the time the people in the cars are flat out not paying attention and I don't really think it makes any difference about the age groups to a certain degree. I firmly believe they are not ticketed enough and there should be more enforcement rather than ignoring the sanctions because a biker got hit. However when I see the total irresponsibility of these idiots who only ride during a bike week to show off how cool they are I sometimes wonder who is really at fault on occasion.

It comes down to what all of us have said a number of times. Watch everything and everybody being prepared to do what we have to do to avoid being a casualty.

[Loafer]

Maybe we will never see an end to the nonsense out on the highways.
More education would be nice though.