Posted on 07/11/2017 12:48:34 PM PDT by Conserv
Last night I passed a fatal accident involving a smart car.
The smart car was rear ended and then sent flying....
eventually ending up on its side. The driver of the smart car was killed.
http://wgxa.tv/news/local/warner-robins-police-investigating-deadly-two-car-accident
You sound like me. I keep threatening to get a bumper sticker that reads, "Why am I the only one who knows how to drive?" I saw one once, should have bought it.
>I’ve thought of riding again. But I think a move out to the country would have to be part of the deal.
I fully understand that. Around here I do most of riding at night to avoid the traffic or off the main roads.
>I was in the motorcycle repair business for most of the decade of the 70s. I found them to be eminently handleable. The trick is to NOT be a defensive driver. You must be an offensive driver (in any definition of the word you care to think of). You can not drive along by hoping your not going to get rear ended. Your job is to get ahead and off the road itself, if you get the feeling that someone is busy worrying about things beside what’s going on, on the road.
I was alway ON when I road. Especially here on Long Island where it’s nuts. The here are no second place winners while riding a bike.
That’s a good point.
Funny you should say that. I was thinking they look a lot like a teed up football so when they get hit from behind they go flying just like a football.
Physics trumps smart cars everytime.
32 & 33
1959 chevy crashing head on into a 2009 chevy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Asb3Ad-tg
Bflr
Not so at all. I agree with your post 100%. Almost.
My ‘71 Triumph Trophy 500 T100C and ‘72 Bonnie T120V (in my garage, along with a mint ‘74 Trident that is showroom new) are the most nimble bikes I’ve ever ridden, and the Bonnie is my fav.......friend had a new Bonnie in ‘64 he let me ride whenever I wanted and the old Bonnies are my first love.
No matter how offensively you ride, as with your example, you will have moments that you can only be defensive. As I said, a car will more quickly swerve to avoid a sudden “in your path” object than a bike - all the more so at speed.
Have I had close calls in 53 years of riding? I cannot count them. But I still ride. One of my two BF’s that I rode over 10k miles/year with for 11 years and the safest biker I’ve ever known was killed in front of me on February 17th...he was 67 and had just retired as a prof. truck driver. A dangerous stop sign intersection we’ve been through a 1000 times - he had his mind on something else and blew through it and was hit by a big truck. Was I devastated? Of course, I’m human.
We prayed for God’s protection before we rode. Did God fail us? No. Dennis had run the race and his time was up - scripture says God numbers our days as He knows the number of hairs on our head. His passing had an incredible positive effect on not just hundreds, but thousands of people.
I thought I’d never ride again. But the next day I got back in the saddle with a daughter on her Sportster behind me. Neither of us wanted to ride. I felt like we had to. She too knew Dennis well, and loved him. 6 of my 8 kids have their MC license....we ride as a family. Twice they have had major accidents on the same mountain road - but continue to ride. Could any of us be killed tomorrow? Sure. That’s part of the risk we knowingly and willingly take. You can get killed in your car too by a drunk coming into your lane from the oncoming lane....life is not guaranteed.
We all continue to ride accepting the risk - and putting our lives in God’s hands.
Here is Dennis - a quiet & shy guy, not a speaker, in probably the only time he’s been video-taped in his life - 5 days before he “went to be with the Lord.” He’d been riding 51 years....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqCovP2bSEE
Different analogy, same metaphor.
:)
A pickup or larger suv like an explorer are 6000 pounds.
City bus or large truck/semi, forget it.
Smart cars are made to double as coffins. Just scoop the debris pile up and dump in the grave hole.
Heh, thanks. Never took physics. Actually, my shift key is broken. Yeah, that’s it! ;-)
Yes sir. The Winged Express with Wild Willie Borsch driving.
Or hanging on for dear life.
“I always thought those itty bitty cars were dangerous as hell, but I didn’t realize that a hit in the back would put the thing on it’s side.”
The driver probably would have been ok if he wasn’t beat to death by the 8 airbags
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