Just got word from my GF that there has been a fatal moped accident on Lincoln and KK. She's unsure if its a cafe racer or moped as it's under the car.
Be safe out there kids, hope its no one on here.
PEACE
Just got word from my GF that there has been a fatal moped accident on Lincoln and KK. She's unsure if its a cafe racer or moped as it's under the car.
Be safe out there kids, hope its no one on here.
PEACE
Shit road conditions, shit weather, rush hour & one crazy intersection. I can only hope that this never happens again.
RIP
appears to be a "moped" or chinese scooter or small motorcycle fron the linked photo.
Those small two wheeled vehicles in traffic are hard to notice , especially for the fatigued driver..
I noticed that today, watching a Puch Maxi rider on a very busy road. The rider was cruising about 40ish, and wisely wearing a full face helmet.
shiiit. that is EXACTLY why I ALWAYS wear neon-colored gloves and over-jacket at night or every time it rains. I'm going to buy a full-face to replace my 3/4 as soon as I can afford one.
may everyone else avoid such an unfortunate end :-(
I saw this on the news tonight and the newscaster of course said moped but it did look like a scooter to me, no matter. I agree that is a truly crazy ass intersection especially in foul weather. I noticed the damaged scooter was either black or blue so likely hard to see in those conditions. I wear a flourescent lime/yellow vest, a blinking head light and a white helmet and drivers still look right through me as if I were invisible. I look at myself and ask how the hell can you NOT see me. Apparently drivers are looking for cars and trucks and not anything smaller. It saddens me to hear of anyone being injured or killed although I realize its a danger we all face everytime we ride.
This is very sad. People in cars are for the most part oblivious to all but the bumper ahead of them. The best you can do is just stay out of the way, I' am convinced that many of these accidents happen because the rider assumes since he/she has the legal right of way it will be given to them. This is simply not true, sometimes I pull over and stop, wait through lights even hop curbs to get out of the way. Car trumps moped/scooter/motorcycle every time. Never forget it and you will live. Never assume a car driver sees you unless you lock eyes with them, this does not include mirrors. Even then be prepared to get out of the way. Stay as far as you can from anyone driving while on the cell phone, they are in another world, as bad as if not worse than a drunk driver. RIP rider, and watch the hell out everyone else.
Always follow the lug nut rule. Sad, indeed.
I had a Lincoln jump into my lap without even knocking on the door of our Datsun. The driver throttled up after running a stop sign at 35 or so, T-boning us and crushing in the driver's side door, briefly pinning me between the door and the Datsun's center console. He said he didn't see our car. He apparently didn't see the stop sign either. Had I been riding I would have been a smear on the asphalt.
A few days later I went back to the scene and looked from his perspective. Our copper brownish Datsun almost matched the color of a fence that was in the background from his point of view.
I now always turn on the headlights when I'm driving. When riding, I still get flinchy when I see someone approaching from a cross street. I give wide berth to all two wheelers and follow 3 seconds behind them even at residential speeds.
Expect the ludicrous. (edited)
these threads bum me out so hard
I was run down on a bicycle last year, by making the mistake that a driver would actually look where he was driving. He was looking left and turned right into me. I had the right of way. It was a hot day , I was tired and impatient and I did not wait for the driver to show me eye contact.
DRIVE DEFENSIVELY.
Here in Lexington SC 2 scooter riders have been killed about 1 mile apart less than 2 weeks. Both hit and runs
despite my efforts to make myself highly visible, I'm going to assume that other drivers do not see me regardless of where they're positioned. The #1 thing I've seen has been cars at intersections don't see us. I've also nearly been rear ended at stop lights, again I must be invisible. I'm adding a blinking red light to the back of my seat or helmet or a strobe light on top of my helmet like what we see on school busses. Yet we see school busses getting hit often too.
The strobes and blinking lights are a distraction to drivers. They end up looking at the strobe and not watching the road. I have been guilty of being briefly distracted by the cool blinky lighty thingies. But as a rider I agree, you gotta do whatever you can to be seen.
A catastrophically chartreuse vest is noticeable in traffic.
intersections are by far the most dangerous place for motorcycle and scooter riders. always take a look ahead when youre approaching one, and size up traffic coming from all directions. even if you have the light or right of way--are cars speeding into the intersection? those are the ones that cause fatalities, and those are the ones you need to look for.
also, go high-vis.
so many of those things cruising around and the riders have little to no personal protection. unfortunate way to open people's eyes to safety. ride safe y'all.
jeeeez this is freaking terrible. im sad to hear. it really opens up your eyes to how dangerous it is out here. i always ride carefully but a few weeks ago, a woman completely blew a stop sign and took me out.. from the far lane!! She knocked me out cold and i dont remember a thing, luckily a witness saw.
The Hi-vis is a great idea. I bought a neon jacket after a car broadsided me
last year running a stop light. This thing is so bright I think it's legal to slap a driver if they say "I didn't see you".
They aren't popular so mine was 70% off, $60 I paid and it has pads, rain liner and a warm liner. Look around for deals!
It is more dangerous out there than ever before, cell phones and cars that almost drive themselves are making drivers too relaxed. Certainly many don't give a shit, our little bikes are a nuisance in their hurried lives.
Be a witness if you have a chance, it may be paid back.
i hate to be the asshole saying it but given the way most people on twist and go scooters ride, its amazing there isnt one of them killed every single day.
i'm not saying that auto drivers shouldn't be held responsible when they screw up, but the fact of the matter is that its physics... as my mom always says 'it doesn't matter who has the right of way when you're dead'
riding in milwaukee, especially in neighborhoods where people dont give a damn and dont have insurance anyway, is bare-knuckle combat. you could ride around in a 12 foot tall penis costume, half these tank-driving, cell-phone-poking idiots wouldn't ever see ya. gotta be prepared to take matters into your own hands, take evasive action, and find a hole.
Late this afternoon while driving into the bright setting sun, on a busy four lane divided road I found myself behind a motorized bicycle. The rider was a guy about 55 or 60, no vest, no light or reflector and wearing dark clothes. The moron was in the right traffic lane instead of the clearly marked bicycle lane. He had the little Chinese two stroke, stuck on a cheap wally world bike, at the legal 19 mph. He suddenly (at 19 mph sudden is relative) swerved into a right turn only lane and blew through the red light and turned right.
No hand signal, no look over his shoulder, blissfully unaware or apathetic, he was a DOA waiting to happen. I slowed down to allow about three mistakes distance and stopped at the light.
He continued, in the traffic lane, not the bike lane, now going the same direction I was and suddenly (again it's all relative) swerved from the far right lane across two busy lanes and into the middle turn lane, all with no signal, look or care.
If I had not slowed to allow for a stupid factor, he would have swerved into my car or directly in front of me.
Motorized bikes have had a dubious reputation since their recent popularity. The majority of the riders are clearly meth addicts and drunks. This guy was a classic example of why drivers hate on conscientious riders of mopeds and reasonable polite motorized bikers. (edited)
^way to play Devil's advocate, but yeah that guy is a DOA waiting to happen, Darwin will take him out soon. It dose suck that we all get lumped into this group by the few cagers who do notice us. All the more reason to stay alert all the time.
Harsh. I hate when I see these posts its so sad. If people didn't need to drive 10ft up off the road in their stupid SUVs this might have been avoided.
There are a few reasons I sold my honda Elite 80 scooter. 1) since I have mopeds, I can ride those cheaper 2) I am afraid of the traffic to ride exposed as a motorcyclist. So far I have great luck not getting hit riding on the side of the road on a bicycle and driving very defensively for the last 48 years so thats how I plan to drive any two wheeled vehicles.. Off the beat paths, and way right hand out of the traffic lanes, if at all possible.
Not born to be wild.
The new report says an SUV turned into the guy as both tried to beat a yellow light... and that the victim was apparently NOT wearing his helmet?
and that he died of massive head trauma..
I tend to yield to 4000 pound vehicles when in doubt.
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