Saw A Motorcyle Crash
08-19-2003, 09:28 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 5,425
Friday, I ate lunch in my office, and decided to spend my hour driving around on my motorcycle. Well, going down one main road (4 lane), I saw a small line of cars up ahead on the other side of the road. I figured someone got into a fender-bender. As I got closer, I saw the bike laying there, and the rider laying motionless on the ground, with people on cell phones, and surrounding the guy. I decided to keep driving, knowing that there was nothing I could do besides complicate the situation. I was really shooken up, and I didn't even change lanes all the way back to my office.
Today, my coworker says, "did you hear about that guy that died on a motorcycle?" So I went to our newspaper's website, and sure enough, the mototcyclist died later that day in the hospital:
"Motorcyclist dies after being struck by car
A Tallahassee man died Friday afternoon, a few hours after he was struck by a car on North Monroe Street at Lake Ella, according to Tallahassee Police Lt. Sandra Garber. Dennis Edward Cousins, 52, was riding his motorcycle on Monroe Street about 2 p.m. when a car pulled out from a shopping center and struck him. The driver of the car was Jamie Lynn Harrison, 19, of Tallahassee."
I'm young, and I have a family. Lately, I've been thinking about whether or not I really want to take the risk of riding anymore...
Today, my coworker says, "did you hear about that guy that died on a motorcycle?" So I went to our newspaper's website, and sure enough, the mototcyclist died later that day in the hospital:
"Motorcyclist dies after being struck by car
A Tallahassee man died Friday afternoon, a few hours after he was struck by a car on North Monroe Street at Lake Ella, according to Tallahassee Police Lt. Sandra Garber. Dennis Edward Cousins, 52, was riding his motorcycle on Monroe Street about 2 p.m. when a car pulled out from a shopping center and struck him. The driver of the car was Jamie Lynn Harrison, 19, of Tallahassee."
I'm young, and I have a family. Lately, I've been thinking about whether or not I really want to take the risk of riding anymore...
08-19-2003, 09:37 AM
#2
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Toledo, OH
Posts: 736
I understand, my parents are adament about me not getting a bike while I am under their roof, and encourage me to not buy one ever. They tell me this not because they don't think I am a good driver, but because their are so many other bad drivers or people who simply don't pay attention.
You have to be very vigilant on a bike to look for pssible threats, and be prepared to react quickly.
You have to be very vigilant on a bike to look for pssible threats, and be prepared to react quickly.
08-19-2003, 01:29 PM
#5
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 5,425
Originally Posted by wraith' date='Aug 19 2003, 02:24 PM
every rider goes down at least once......a few of my friends have bikes, and they've only had them for about 2 months...out of the 4 that have them 1 hasn't gone down yet.
My friend had 2 wrecks in less than a year, the second totalling his bike and putting him in the hospital.
I learned on a 750cc about 4 years ago, and I've never been down.
08-19-2003, 02:57 PM
#6
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL
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This is a pretty sad story from a guy on the bike forum:
I understand exactly.
My closest friend/co-worker, Terry, passed away last week Monday.
Terry and I got our bikes together and have been riding ever since.
On August 11th, he and I left work on our bikes. Heading home, we left at about 10 minutes after 5:00. We proceeded out of the parking garage and only a short block and a half from the office, I passed through the intersection with Terry behind me. A woman in a blazer failed to stop at that intersection where she had a stop sign and ran in front of Terry. His bike hit the left side front of her vehicle and he flipped over the car. We were doing about 30 miles per hour and the impact caused severe head injuries. From what I was told, the woman did not take immediate control of the vehicle and ran over him after the impact.
I was in front of him and did not see or hear the crash. I looked in my mirror and did not see his headlight, so I turned my head and looked back to see his bike in the middle of the intersection. I quickly turned around and hauled *** back there and ended up holding his head up until the paramedics arrived. He was taken to a local hospital and put on life support. He was "brain dead" and we waited for any signs of response. A few LONG hours passed and he quickly digressed. The decision was then made to take him off of life support. By 9:30 that evening he was gone from this world. He was a husband, a father, a son, and a friend to all and will be greatly missed.
It is my intent to inform you all of this tragedy so that you might see how precious life is and that spending the time that we have here with our loved ones is so very important. I personnally know that this has been a great awakening for me. Within seconds, this could have been me. I have not ridden yet, but I know that the many times that Terry and I went dirt bike riding... he would fall or get hurt and have to put his bike up. Every time he did, he would always tell me ... "Don't stop riding just because I got hurt". I am going to take that and do what he wanted me to, and continue life without fear and live as if he was still here with us.
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/081203/..._ofblazer.shtml
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/081303/..._leepayne.shtml
I wish you all the best.
Bret Hightower
(bhightx)
My closest friend/co-worker, Terry, passed away last week Monday.
Terry and I got our bikes together and have been riding ever since.
On August 11th, he and I left work on our bikes. Heading home, we left at about 10 minutes after 5:00. We proceeded out of the parking garage and only a short block and a half from the office, I passed through the intersection with Terry behind me. A woman in a blazer failed to stop at that intersection where she had a stop sign and ran in front of Terry. His bike hit the left side front of her vehicle and he flipped over the car. We were doing about 30 miles per hour and the impact caused severe head injuries. From what I was told, the woman did not take immediate control of the vehicle and ran over him after the impact.
I was in front of him and did not see or hear the crash. I looked in my mirror and did not see his headlight, so I turned my head and looked back to see his bike in the middle of the intersection. I quickly turned around and hauled *** back there and ended up holding his head up until the paramedics arrived. He was taken to a local hospital and put on life support. He was "brain dead" and we waited for any signs of response. A few LONG hours passed and he quickly digressed. The decision was then made to take him off of life support. By 9:30 that evening he was gone from this world. He was a husband, a father, a son, and a friend to all and will be greatly missed.
It is my intent to inform you all of this tragedy so that you might see how precious life is and that spending the time that we have here with our loved ones is so very important. I personnally know that this has been a great awakening for me. Within seconds, this could have been me. I have not ridden yet, but I know that the many times that Terry and I went dirt bike riding... he would fall or get hurt and have to put his bike up. Every time he did, he would always tell me ... "Don't stop riding just because I got hurt". I am going to take that and do what he wanted me to, and continue life without fear and live as if he was still here with us.
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/081203/..._ofblazer.shtml
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/081303/..._leepayne.shtml
I wish you all the best.
Bret Hightower
(bhightx)
08-19-2003, 03:35 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,784
Originally Posted by Sinful7' date='Aug 19 2003, 12:30 PM
see a pattern? Female drivers= you decide.
Anyways thats why i dont get a bike. No matter how good a driver you are a bad driver can mess that up. and while the same goes for cars its much less likely.
08-19-2003, 03:41 PM
#9
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,985
Originally Posted by Dramon_Killer' date='Aug 19 2003, 02:35 PM
Anyways thats why i dont get a bike. No matter how good a driver you are a bad driver can mess that up. and while the same goes for cars its much less likely.
Oh, and I think it's just as likely in a car, only when you get hit by another car at 30MPH you more often than not will not die...