I hear ya - in my town 75K+ been a firefigter here for 27 years.... Red light means two more cagers - bikers beware and we are... I have tried what you did - in and around schools in the morning hours - bottom line - you are right - they really do NOT care - they will only listen after (more than one) dies...

I went so far as to take photos of the BS that was happening - still NOTHING.... amazing but true..

As biker WE have to watch after ourself - I am convinced that if ALL drivers drove there car the way most bikers ride their bikes - accidents would drop A LOT!!!!!!!

Even with all this - I still love riding (so why am I sitting here on the computer????) - Think I will go for a ride... BYE

 

The last few post sound just like our government when ABATE or other speakers try to make them understand the utter carelessness of drivers towards bikers. Well there’s two sides or some other smooth talk. When you get in your car or bike YOU have a responsibility to yourself and others FIRST AND FOR MOST PERIOD. If your life or preoccupation in that car has you to the point you can’t take the time to LOOK GOOD, get out of the road and car until you can. If that man didn’t take the time and pulled out there and killed that biker, YOUR DAM RIGHT he should be brought up on charges . People today get in there cars and think OH BOY or listen to my radio or lets talk on the c-phone or flat out FU*K YOU IM FIRST YOUR LAST I WILL RUN YOU OVER. There’s a huge responsibility to driving.
So im cleaning my gun on my front porch and I put a shell in it to make sure it will clear out ok and i pull the trigger and kill your child, you bet your going to want to know why in the hell i was out there with a loaded gun. Accident or stupidity ? Your to busy putting on makeup and drinking coffee and turn into the road and kill two people on a bike. The magic word is I DIDN’T SEE THEM. Works every time. I don’t care what your life is like, day or night raining or sun, we all have a huge responsibility for the other driver. If we can’t accept that responsibility in a responsible fashion and or impaired by any of the above, PULL THE DAM CAR OVER TILL YOU ARE.
My grandmother God bless her soul, always told me. Boy , don’t get behind the wheel of an automobile unless your willing to except the responsibility and consequences or your actions. When I pull out of my driveway I realize I have a responsibility to my neighbors and any other human driving on the same road . We play way to much on the highways of this country. First and formost shut down the c-phones. Turn down the radios. Don’t multitask while driving. DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE.
There’s one thing for sure. This is going to get worse and people are going to start getting shot for stupid driving practices until we make stricter laws. I can take out a GUN and shoot it by your head missing you by three feet and go to jail without bail, but I can get in my car and almost run you over by one foot and nothing will be done about it. WHAT THE HELL IS THE DIFFERENCE ? As long as we keep reasoning away the FACTS like the above post and make excuses, the killing will continue ....and I DIDN’T SEE HIM is a BULL **** EXCUSES FOR I HAD MY HEAD UP MY ***. But you let one biker throw a stick or nail at a car and OH BOY LOOK OUT here comes the charges. So lets go over this again. A cager can dam near kill you but if his car didn’t tough you there’s nothing the law will do. You walk up and "ALMOST" knock his head off and cuss him out and you go to jail. Neither person hit the other. How ironic is that ?

 

First off, it is very tragic. For the riders family, the driver that hit him, AND especially to the drivers children, that were in the car. I can't begin to imagine the trama their lives will now take on. And, I am sure the driver of the vehicle WILL have a hard time sleeping. Heck, sleeping, working, playing with his kids. Imagine the way he must feel. Taking a life is horrible for all concerned. The rider, if he had a family, is now without a father, husband, son, all that. There should definately be consequences for this accident. But, charging the man with murder, taking him from his family, is that the right decision? Isn't one families total destruction enough? I know, the guilt would eat me alive, personnally. And, I hope I, and my family, never have to experience it.

On a side note. When I was eight, my mother got t-boned by a motorcyclist. The man laid in a coma for months, before he died. My mother, never knowing this man, and not at any fault of her own, went to see him in the hospital the whole time. Even after the man's family had stopped going. I know it eats her up inside, and she was not at any fault. The bike ran a red light, and hit her. She is a critical care nurse, and tried all she could do, on the scene, before ems arrived. But, some things happen, even when it is not your fault. She has learned to deal with it, but hates that I ride. Should she have been charged with murder? NO! Without all the facts, of any given accident, who are we to judge?

Just my opinion. God bless those little kids, and the family of the rider. The pain and loss is nothing that I ever care to experience.

 

Any accident like that will stick with those kids FOREVER.

When I was 16, (now 52), I was first in line stopped at a red light in the downtown area of my city. Behind me was a jacked up pickup truck who was going to turn left into a business (S&H Greenstamps). Coming the other way at the red light was a college student (Berkley College of Music) on a Harley stopped at the red light waiting to go straight. I remember commenting to my girlfriend on his funny looking brown leatherlike helmet.

Lights turn green - I go forward - the cyclist goes forward - the pickup truck turns left - all at the same time.

To this day, 36 years later, that memory of the pickup up truck running over the biker - the sounds, the scene, the horror, the mangledbody, the blood, the screams/cries of my girlfriend- are still vivid in my mind as the day it happened. He was obviously dead. Andwe were traumatized.

So Dads and Moms, drive safely, cause your kids will NEVER forget that accident till the day they die!!!

 

last week while in gatlinburg and after running the dragon and on my way back to the hotel a guy in a pick up shot out of an intersection and made a left turn infront of me . i broke hard and was lucky . i stopped in time and the bastard gave me the finger and laughed as he continued thru his tuen and went his way.

no, i did not follow him. unless a cop is there to see it you do not have a case .

been there done that and to no avail.

and the worst part is that the guy in this previous instance came out of the car towards me with a baseball bat or something like that in his hand .
i had my .45 with me, ,concealed and my hand on it ready to pull it . but i decided i did not need the headache and i i asked the guy if he was drunk and when he replied no , i told him ,ok no problem ,just go .,i only wanted to make sure you were ok .
.....and he did ............

well, some may say just shoot. self defense ,etc.......
but ,i want to avoid lawyers and so on.

 

Just my two cents worth after dealing with my dad being killed in a car accident. Never ever assume that the other person is going to follow the rules even if you have the right of way and the rules are in your favor. You must do this on a bike and you should do this in a car or walking etc. Ride safe and keep your attention where it needs to be.

 

Ditto, although I didn't lose any parts.

After a spill I took back in '83 my family and friends think I'm out of my mind for ever getting back in the saddle. I'll admit it took me 15 years to get over it myself, but once it's in your blood you can never get past missing that feeling of freedom.

 

Its probably a good thing you didn't bust a cap on that SOB. Even with him with a bat or something like that, you're better off being cool, like you were. I know some of our brothers, will say I'd have done this and I'd have done that, but there's no telling how bad you would have screwed up your life if you'd lost your cool and pulled the trigger.

I reckon when you have to use a gun to defend yourself, you had better be able to prove, beyond any doubt, that your life really was in danger and I don't know how easy that would be to do..

Way to go.
Hack