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Dan Diego

2 bike fatalities in SD yesterday

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There were at least two motorcycle fatalities yesterday.  Not to be profound, but I’m certain neither rider thought they had only hours to live when they got on their bikes that morning.

A motorcyclist died after running a red light and colliding with a car in a busy intersection in Grantville: http://www.kusi.com/story/36721831/motorcyclist-killed-pregnant-woman-hospitalized-after-collision-on-san-diego-mission-road

A man riding a motorcycle was killed when a suspected drunken driver ran a red light and crashed into the motorcycle in the Linda Vista area of San Diego: http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/10/30/1-person-killed-in-linda-vista-motorcycle-crash/

Please be careful out there, folks.

 

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Oh man...bummer to hear these stories...God Speed to them both...

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I will stick to dirt. cars/trucks and motos don't mix well

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Riding is a risk.  You can manage it to a certain point, but the risk level is much higher on two wheels.  Be careful out there friends.

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I generally do not commute on a motorcycle and try to not ride at night.  I am hoping that betters my odds, but you never know when it is your time. 

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I try to just limit my street riding to back country highway stuff.  I try not to ride in town and avoid freeways as much as possible.  I love the freedom of bikes, but not as much as I love the  security of enclosed vehicles.  Like others have mentioned, dirt is the best place to be on two wheels.

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Thanks for posting Dan.  

After a decade Moto-Hiatus, I've been road riding daily for about 3.5 years in SD.  I've been on the GS now for the last 1.25 years or so.  I am certain that dirt riding is far more hazerdous to my aging skeleton that pavement.

I owe my 'luck' commuting so far to a couple things.  Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough, I read it on day one, and re-read it every couple years. Bottom line is I adopted his philosophy of "If I get hit, it's my own fault".  I can't afford to allow anyone to hit me. So I don't (so far).  It sounds harsh to say, but David would say that the man hit by the drunken red light runner.... was at fault.  Because he didn't anticipate it.  This philosophy really pisses alot of riders off.  But I ride with this mindset.  I already know I'm invisible, and therefore ride like it.

NOTE: I am NOT dancing on this guys grave with a self righteous attitude.  I am specifically commenting on a mindset, because it has kept me exponentially safer on both the bike, and in the car.  I only share this to encourage others to buy and read the book regardless of how long you've been riding.  It's my experience that many life long riders can often have the worst attitudes and habits.  My own father has ridden his whole life and never been hit.  Yet he scares the ---- out of me every time we ride!!

Most road accidents are the result of late night riding and alcohol (in the rider).  Once I started pointed those factors out to wifey when we saw them on the news every, she began to relax a little.  I can control those two factors. Another huge factor is Hooligan-ism.  I can control that as well (usually).  Take those 3 factors out of the equation and the numbers swing dramatically back into safer territory.

I wouldn't trade my daily commute on the bike for the world.  Love it.

For extra credit please download and read the Berkeley report.  Many riders are shocked to see the actual numbers regarding percentage of bike crashes and level of injury from lane splitting.  A simple google search will pop it right up.

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27 minutes ago, dirt dame said:

I try to just limit my street riding to back country highway stuff.  I try not to ride in town and avoid freeways as much as possible.  I love the freedom of bikes, but not as much as I love the  security of enclosed vehicles.  Like others have mentioned, dirt is the best place to be on two wheels.

Hi Dirt Dame,  I would encourage you to read the Berkeley report.  You'll find that the freeways are absolutely the safest pavement to ride.  Back roads and side streets have much higher accident rates.

I figure I can't afford to rely on what my experience or so called common sense tells me.  To get it wrong could be fatal, so I started research actual statistics.  Hope this helps...

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1 hour ago, Zubb said:

Hi Dirt Dame,  I would encourage you to read the Berkeley report.  You'll find that the freeways are absolutely the safest pavement to ride.  Back roads and side streets have much higher accident rates.

I figure I can't afford to rely on what my experience or so called common sense tells me.  To get it wrong could be fatal, so I started research actual statistics.  Hope this helps...

Meh....I've had more close calls in my cars and truck in the last 7 months, commuting on the freeway, than I have in all the rest of my life either with bikes or cars anywhere else.  I'll stick to cars for the freeway driving, thanks.

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4 hours ago, Zubb said:

Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough, I read it on day one, and re-read it every couple years. 

David would say that the man hit by the drunken red light runner.... was at fault.  Because he didn't anticipate it.  This philosophy really pisses alot of riders off.  But I ride with this mindset. 

Good points, Zubb

I wholeheartedly subscribe to the philosophy of "If I get hit, it's my own fault."  I totally get it. 

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zubb

Fellow daily commuter. Thanks for the book recommendation! The path to mastery is accepting that you will never be done learning. Always looking for good lessons and these accidents usually have some to teach. I go through the Linda Vista intersection daily, very disconcerting for me.

My bike has a "flash to pass button". I REALLY like having this, I use it often when approaching intersections. I am currently wiring a BRAKE LIGHT FLASHER into it so I can strobe anyone looking distracted. Not sure how quickly I'll get a ticket for it but I'm willing to find out. I've had one wired to my brake light for over a year and never had an officer hassle me over it, can't recommend them enough!

pw-13001-1.jpg

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My Dad taught me many years ago to spend nearly as much time watching your mirrors as you watch your forward path.  I would rather see something coming up on me and have a chance to react than to take a blast without warning.

Thoughts and prayers to the families impacted by these accidents.

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20 hours ago, 97xr400r said:

zubb

Fellow daily commuter. Thanks for the book recommendation! The path to mastery is accepting that you will never be done learning. Always looking for good lessons and these accidents usually have some to teach. I go through the Linda Vista intersection daily, very disconcerting for me.

My bike has a "flash to pass button". I REALLY like having this, I use it often when approaching intersections. I am currently wiring a BRAKE LIGHT FLASHER into it so I can strobe anyone looking distracted. Not sure how quickly I'll get a ticket for it but I'm willing to find out. I've had one wired to my brake light for over a year and never had an officer hassle me over it, can't recommend them enough!

pw-13001-1.jpg

I had a brake light modulator on my Duc and deduced that it helped.  My '6' is my most vulnerable side and I am most nervous about cars behind me.  I need to put one of these on the GS.  With the loss of my noisey Duc, I noticed a significant uptick in number of drivers who weren't aware of me.  Loud pipes do save lives.  Wether they are annoying is a totally seperate topic.

I replaced my crappy worthless PIAA's with some cheap chinese LED driving lights mounted to the crash bars.  As soon as I did this, my surprise encounters with other cars dropped dramatically.  Moreso that even when I had a louder bike.  It's crystal clear that many many more cars move over, and much farther up the line once I put on these lights.  So far it's my absolute #1 safety  feature.  After all... we know we are invisible, but the lights reduce that factor dramatically.  But I still ride like I'm invisible anyway.

Oddly, while they are strikingly bright and are more of a blue light than yellow... they are not blinding at all.  I have them aimed just below my low beam range.  Yet you'll see them from a hell of a long ways away in broad daylight.  I think I paid $70 on Amazon.

Holy crap.... they're down to $40!  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CTG55TI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Most common response to Driver after killing a cyclist,  " I didn't see him ".

   Common response after Dirt Accident,  " I was texting,,,suddenly I was on the ground. "

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.there is not a gadget or rider in the world that deal with some drunk plowing into him at a red light.........I will stick to cages on street. Be safe out there y'all and trust NO-ONE even when they look right at you.

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