Ummm ... watch for stopped trailers.

[ygolohcysp]

Soooo ... this is NOT a post of me getting into an accident. I'm still in the process of moving, and had a friend from work tow my non-drive-able 73 mustang on a flatbed trailer to my new house. When we got there, I started directing traffic. When it was clear, my friend tried to back the trailer down my driveway. He didn't get it right the first time, and pulled forward to straighten out. When he came to a stop, that's when I heard the motorcycle coming. The truck and trailer were obviously stopped, two neighbors up the street that ran outside to see what I had on the trailer were motioning to the biker, and I was signaling the biker to stop. When he showed no signs of even slowing, I emphatically started waving. Still no slowing down. Finally, maybe 50 feet from the trailer, he locked up the brakes and slid straight into the rear of the trailer. Totaled the ZX6R he was riding, face planted into the ramps that were raised on the rear of the trailer. The rider and bike just crumpled into a heap on the road. I thought I just saw a biker die. He eventually became conscious again, and then even started talking coherently. The neighbors and I made sure he wasn't getting burned by anything on the bike, and made him lie still. I think he'll be fine. I didn't think to check for all the gear, but he had on a full face helmet, and a mesh jacket with the armor. He would be dead if he hadn't had that on.

So, PAY ATTENTION while riding, and ALWAYS wear your gear!!!

[steves]

Ugh, I'm glad YOU guys are okay.

[squiggy]

RWD, riding while distracted.

[Sasquatch]

Wow! That was just plain stupid. I'm glad he didn't hit YOU. There was absolutely no reason for him to hit the trailer.

[HemiKat]

Damn sport bike riders. If he was on a Harley he would have seen that trailer (Its hard to hit a trailer you bike is being towed on).

[sassyduck]

We lost a rider here in Southern California last week because he ran into the back of a big rig on the right shoulder.

[newbouldg]

There was a rider in GA that apparently drove into the back of a semi. The only reason the semi stopped was because he found it odd that a riderless motorcycle was in his rear mirror. when he stopped the riders head was smashed into the back of his semi with his body being dragged behind it. Sad really. There's a ton of dumb accidents reported every year on the Army's Safety website

[bob393]

WOW! That's lousy.
Glad everyone is kinda OK.

[ygolohcysp]

Just an update. This guy is now suing the guy that helped me and did the driving. I thought it was laughable, and the insurance stuff would throw it out. It's now at the point where my friend has to get a lawyer. I really hate people sometimes.

[steves]

His insurance company won't lawyer up for him?

[PAIN]

Normally if someone didn't sue, I'd have let something like this go myself. The guy hit YOU, not the other way around. If you were backing out of your driveway in a car and he hit you in a car, it would have been his fault. Just because the vehicles are different doesn't make the accident different.

[Woodmysta]

Glad that everyone is OK....but how can you not see a big arse truck that is sitting across the road that is not moving? Why were the neigbors motioning to the rider anyway if they had no clue or responsibility for what was going on? When I took my riding class they told us to be aware of everything going on around you. That little bit of advice has saved my butt plenty of times. At least he was wearing some protective gear and that the rider didn't leave in a body bag.

[paul.miner]

Glad that everyone is OK....but how can you not see a big arse truck that is sitting across the road that is not moving?

I live off of a four-lane road, and for a while my dad and I needed to back in truckloads of building supplies regularly. So as we approached my driveway, we'd turn on the hazards and start waving at the people behind us to go around. Even if we were the only two vehicles on the road, people would just tailgate us right up until the point we had stopped on the road, and sit behind us dumbly waiting for us to move. An entire empty lane for them to go around, and they would just sit there, completely oblivious to the hazard lights and the hand-waving.

Another time, a car lane changed right into a friend's car, so they turned on the hazards and stopped on the side of a mostly empty 4-lane road to exchange insurance info. While they were talking on the sidewalk, another car plowed straight into the back of his car, totaling it. The only cars on the road, and an inattentive driver still manages to hit him.

The situation posted by the OP reminds me of that video of the landslide on the Dragon, where a vehicle just plows straight into it. I got the feeling both in that video and in the situation described here that the driver may have been staring at the people to the side waving at them and didn't see the obstacle directly in front of them (like if you point at something, and people look at your hand, not what you're pointing at). Not that this makes the driver any less culpable, just a possible explanation for how someone can run straight into plainly visible obstacle.

[Woodmysta]

The situation posted by the OP reminds me of that video of the landslide on the Dragon, where a vehicle just plows straight into it. I got the feeling both in that video and in the situation described here that the driver may have been staring at the people to the side waving at them and didn't see the obstacle directly in front of them (like if you point at something, and people look at your hand, not what you're pointing at). Not that this makes the driver any less culpable, just a possible explanation for how someone can run straight into plainly visible obstacle.

Very true I had a buddy once run into a sliding glass door because he was staring a some chick's rack.

[Wild-Bill]

Very true I had a buddy once run into a sliding glass door because he was staring a some chick's rack.

I did not!