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Bikers Playing Fast and Loose
LA Times ^ | 11.29.06 | Ralph Vartabedian

Posted on 11/30/2006 10:29:41 AM PST by absolootezer0

A Suzuki racing bike screaming at 80 mph in a 25-mph zone slammed into Gigliotti on Oct. 4 as she was leaving her job at Long Beach City College, igniting a fireball inside her Ford Escort.

"It is not uncommon to see these kinds of accidents with motorcycles, particularly high-powered super bikes," said Raymond Dennison, the Long Beach detective who investigated the crash. "The whole function is to go as fast as they can."

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: bike; bikenutz; frhooligan; frhooligans; frmc; hooligan; hooligans; motorcycle; motorcycles; rubbersidedown; shinysideup; squids; streetpizza
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To: absolootezer0
"coulda been worse, imagine if it was an oversized harley doing 100mph hitting the car. much worse impact."

Yeah...or one of those hated SUV's!

21 posted on 11/30/2006 10:40:09 AM PST by traditional1
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To: absolootezer0

It's why we in the insurance claims business call them donorcycles.


22 posted on 11/30/2006 10:40:45 AM PST by Crawdad (Is this thing on?)
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To: absolootezer0

I was told by someone that the police do not even attempt to catch these high speed bikes because they are so fast they can't do it. That may be hearsay.

I can say that almost every single night after midnight 2 of these bikes flash down the road in back of my house. My son says they are doing over 100 mph, and they are so loud they wake us all up. One day they are going to get in a major accident, I just hope it's not us.


23 posted on 11/30/2006 10:40:48 AM PST by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
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To: bagadonutz
She pulled out in front of the bike and he's at fault?

If he was going at 80mph in a 25mph, he was at fault.

24 posted on 11/30/2006 10:40:51 AM PST by wideawake ("The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten." - Calvin Coolidge)
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To: 68skylark

but the bias is against the bike, not the rider.
sure, go after the squids that ride like idiots, but leave the bikes alone.


25 posted on 11/30/2006 10:41:02 AM PST by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: Ouderkirk

hmmmm, my personal best 152 mph speeding ticket on route 22 in NY. It took a lot to get outta that one....


26 posted on 11/30/2006 10:41:29 AM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: bagadonutz
She pulled out in front of the bike and he's at fault?

He was going 80 in a 25 zone. Yes, it was his fault. Even if she was up to speed (25 mph), he would be closing at 65 mph.

27 posted on 11/30/2006 10:42:49 AM PST by Gil4 (This tagline for rent - cheap!)
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To: Ouderkirk

I want one.


28 posted on 11/30/2006 10:43:23 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
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To: faloi

personally, i avoid both classic roadsters (too heavy) and crotch rockets (too fast). i like my vjmc's.


29 posted on 11/30/2006 10:44:17 AM PST by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: absolootezer0

Geez....I missed your post by 2 minutes.....but you got it right!


30 posted on 11/30/2006 10:44:25 AM PST by traditional1
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To: Ouderkirk

Now there's a hobby with a future!


31 posted on 11/30/2006 10:44:36 AM PST by D-fendr
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To: absolootezer0
RUT ROW! New socialist dimocrat campaign will be for motorcycles to be banned.
32 posted on 11/30/2006 10:44:42 AM PST by RetiredArmy (The US Military Services are THE BEST PEOPLE on the planet. God protect them.)
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To: r9etb
I did read the article. This unfortunate incident is a man-bites-dog story. This paragraph proves it:

According to a recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 4,553 fatalities in motorcycle accidents in 2005. Those deaths include only the operators and passengers on the bikes. Agency officials could not say how many pedestrians or people in other vehicles died in these crashes, though statisticians are trying to get the data at The Times' request.

That's because it is very rare! The vast majority of motorcycle deaths are due to car drivers not seeing the bike or the rider's inexperience/lack of training.

33 posted on 11/30/2006 10:45:09 AM PST by bagadonutz (The road goes on forever and the party never ends! - J E Keene)
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To: I still care

"I was told by someone that the police do not even attempt to catch these high speed bikes because they are so fast they can't do it. That may be hearsay."


___________________________________________________________
Wanna hear something funny?

Here in CT if ya get caught on the interstate speeding over 90 mph with a passenger you get charged with "attempted murder".

They pile on a whole bunch of silly charges in an effort to have one stick.

Having said that the roads (highways) here in CT are so crappy and congested....you'd have a hard time escaping from a cop who radio's ahead to have the exits blocked....which is common practice here.


34 posted on 11/30/2006 10:45:48 AM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: faloi
I can state that I've been passed by more idiots on Crotch Rockets doing stunts or travelling at unsafe speeds (roughly, 30+mph faster than traffic), or both, than I can count. I've never seen anyone on a Harley travelling down the Interstate at 80+ on one wheel.

That having been said, I can't imagine that anyone popped for 80 in a 25 should retain their license for long, or that anyone could legitimately defend actions like that as 'OK'. We should enforce the laws we have, IMHO,

35 posted on 11/30/2006 10:46:22 AM PST by wbill
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To: absolootezer0
Sure, go after the squids that ride like idiots, but leave the bikes alone.

It seems to me that the author is saying pretty much the same thing you are:

It would be possible to limit the horsepower of motorcycles, but not politically feasible. After all, operators can take their bikes to off-road tracks and legally test their top speeds. So, the focus should be on stopping extreme speeding on public roads.

36 posted on 11/30/2006 10:46:24 AM PST by 68skylark
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To: RetiredArmy
It has been talked about before......

RUT ROW! New socialist dimocrat campaign will be for motorcycles to be banned.
37 posted on 11/30/2006 10:46:37 AM PST by CORedneck
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To: absolootezer0
I had a bunch of guys on crotch rockets weaving in and out of freeway traffic at over 100 MPH one Sunday not too long ago on I-90 in Ohio. And looking in my rear-view mirror, I saw several cop cars in hot pursuit in the high-speed lane.

As they passed me, I noticed the cops were from the two communities we'd just passed through. They eventually caught 'em.

That's probably lucky for them, if they'd dumped one on the freeway, they'd probably have 50-100 cars and trucks go right over top of them before anybody figured out what happened.

I give bikers plenty of room in front of me because of stuff like that. But some of these guys seem to be competing for the Darwin award.

38 posted on 11/30/2006 10:47:11 AM PST by Kenton
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To: bagadonutz
Boren accelerated with an open throttle from an intersection near the crash site. Dennison said his estimate of 80 mph at the time of impact was conservative. Boren possibly was exceeding 100 mph.
39 posted on 11/30/2006 10:48:24 AM PST by PAR35
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To: r9etb
There are a lot of idiots on these sorts of bikes, and their idiocy endangers others. Best not to defend them.

You're absolutely right! It makes the rest of us look bad.
40 posted on 11/30/2006 10:48:27 AM PST by rottndog (WOOF!!!)
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