Two motorcyclists hit each other head on! (10/11/09)

[750_sport]

WOODSIDE: UPDATE: MOTORCYCLES COLLIDE, TWO MEN SUFFER MAJOR INJURIES

WOODSIDE (BCN)

Two Bay Area men suffered major injuries after their motorcycles collided in Woodside this afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash occurred at about 1:10 p.m. on state Highway 84 east of Old La Honda Road, according to the CHP.

A white 2009 Ducati motorcycle driven by a 23-year-old Alameda man was traveling west on Highway 84 when, for unknown reasons, it crossed into the eastbound lane as he was approaching a 1973 green Norton motorcycle ridden by a 54-year-old San Francisco man, the CHP said.

The motorcycles collided, causing both men to be ejected from their vehicles, according to the CHP.

The Alameda man suffered head trauma and was knocked unconscious, while the San Francisco man suffered a broken right leg, according to the CHP. Both men were taken to Stanford Hospital to be treated for their injuries.

All lanes were reopened on the highway by 2:10 p.m., according to the CHP.

 

[YanaBanana]

Prayers for his quick and full recovery.

+10000!!! Hope they both recover fast!

And Geoff, sorry for calling ya "Schteve" at Alice's!


Yana

 

[sandyxb]

Best wishes for both riders' recovery.

 

[Gabe]

Head trauma! Yikes...

I heard the bike still had dealer tags on it and the kid (a new rider on a 1198) was trying to drag knee...in jeans.

I hope he recovers fully...(and if the above is true) never rides a motorcycle again.

WOODSIDE: UPDATE: MOTORCYCLES COLLIDE, TWO MEN SUFFER MAJOR INJURIES

WOODSIDE (BCN)

Two Bay Area men suffered major injuries after their motorcycles collided in Woodside this afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash occurred at about 1:10 p.m. on state Highway 84 east of Old La Honda Road, according to the CHP.

A white 2009 Ducati motorcycle driven by a 23-year-old Alameda man was traveling west on Highway 84 when, for unknown reasons, it crossed into the eastbound lane as he was approaching a 1973 green Norton motorcycle ridden by a 54-year-old San Francisco man, the CHP said.

The motorcycles collided, causing both men to be ejected from their vehicles, according to the CHP.

The Alameda man suffered head trauma and was knocked unconscious, while the San Francisco man suffered a broken right leg, according to the CHP. Both men were taken to Stanford Hospital to be treated for their injuries.

All lanes were reopened on the highway by 2:10 p.m., according to the CHP.

 

[Dug]

Wow read through the entire thread. Hope for a quick recovery for all involved.

Jesus I can't even imagine starting on a 18-20 grand rocket as your first bike.

 

[bio]

wishing a speedy recovery to both riders.

Wow read through the entire thread. Hope for a quick recovery for all involved.

Jesus I can't even imagine starting on a 18-20 grand rocket as your first bike.

i've seen people on this board go a long way to warn people about getting in above their head.... quite often actually. sounds like this guy could have used the advice

 

[Pelon]

This happened no more than 10 min after I passed that stretch of road. There were a lot of sketchy riders out today. I was hanging out at STP and saw an amazing amount of emergency vehicles dispatched. There was no traffic coming up 84. I knew something bad happened. I hope both riders have a speedy successful recovery.

Do not let your friends get big bikes for their first bike people. Who was the dealer that sold a noob a superbike for their first bike? Just my $0.02.

A

 

[Gnarly Cranium]

I heard the bike still had dealer tags on it and the kid (a new rider on a 1198) was trying to drag knee...in jeans.

I hope he recovers fully...(and if the above is true) never rides a motorcycle again.

Only trouble there is if he pulls a stunt like this again he might be in a CAR instead.

 

[Gabe]

Ace Motorsports

Hey, what happened to personal responsibility? He might have lied to the salesman, or just insisted that he could handle it...I sold bikes and I'll tell you there's not much you can do in those situations.

 

[Pelon]

Hey, what happened to personal responsibility? He might have lied to the salesman, or just insisted that he could handle it...I sold bikes and I'll tell you there's not much you can do in those situations.

I'm not blaming the dealer. It's no one's fault by the riders. I hope the rider's friends at least tried to talk him out of getting such a big bike.

I've met the guy on the Norton before. Nice guy. I really feel bad for him. It sucks that a guy who has been riding for such a long time get's taken out by a noob clearly riding beyond his skill level on a bike he should never have been on.

A

 

[40MPG]

We crashed... 10 min right after that ducati...

we saw the ducati on the flatbed..and proceed along...1 min later...a car blew the double yelllow and my cousin, and my friend's dad and his daughter in back went down...the same chp officer from the ducati scene arrived at our scene...

its the corner with the bent guard rail...i am sure a lot of people know this site..cuz the chp officer shook his head before he even talk to us..haha..


anyone saw us ...two dude with 4 bikes parked at that site all the way untill...8 pm...cuz no tow truck came out...sheriff and chp stop and ask and sent tow trucks...but none came...Kudos to alice restaurant for letting us stay inside after hours to keep warm while help arrived! ;-)

 

[Pelon]

we saw the ducati on the flatbed..and proceed along...1 min later...a car blew the double yelllow and my cousin, and my friend's dad and his daughter in back went down...the same chp officer from the ducati scene arrived at our scene...

its the corner with the bent guard rail...i am sure a lot of people know this site..cuz the chp officer shook his head before he even talk to us..haha..

Ummm.. How did you get that GSXR on that side of the guard rail?
Are you guys ok?

 

[40MPG]

we are ok..the gixxer kinda flew over, my cousin was riding my gixxer and he high sided when he tried to swerve onto the dirt to avoid the car..., and the yellow gixxer low sided, i was last guy and saw it happened, the car kinda sped away quick

 

[Gabe]

I'm not blaming the dealer. It's no one's fault by the riders. I hope the rider's friends at least tried to talk him out of getting such a big bike.

I've met the guy on the Norton before. Nice guy. I really feel bad for him. It sucks that a guy who has been riding for such a long time get's taken out by a noob clearly riding beyond his skill level on a bike he should never have been on.

A

It sickens me, but makes me realize experienced riders have a personal stake in policing our own. Cuz if we don't do it, The Man will come in and do it for us, and we won't like the way he does it...

I don't care how you slice n' dice the data, this shit is fucked up and there's something seriously wrong going on:

Annual U.S. motorcycle deaths
Year Deaths
1997 2,116
1998 2,294
1999 2,483
2000 2,897
2001 3,197†
2002 3,244
2003 3,661‡
2004 4,008
2005 4,253
2006 4,510
2007 4,854
2008 5,357

Nobody can tell me there was a 20% rise in the number of riders between 2005 and 2008. Or a doubling in 10 years from 1998-2008. 5357 is like 20% of all traffic fatalities in 2008! I mean, I don't know what's going on, but we gotta do something...it's making me consider banning motorcycles...

 

[Gnarly Cranium]

the car kinda sped away quick

PLEASE tell me somebody ID'd the car.

 

[40MPG]

oh yeah btw....the tow truck came in a jiffy for the ducati...BUT...we waited 5 hours all the way until 8 pm....no tow trucks...and we called 5 different companies...even sherriff and chp and fire department came and call for us...tow service on 9 SUCKS!!

 

[Pelon]

It sickens me, but makes me realize experienced riders have a personal stake in policing our own. Cuz if we don't do it, The Man will come in and do it for us, and we won't like the way he does it...

I don't care how you slice n' dice the data, this shit is fucked up and there's something seriously wrong going on:

Annual U.S. motorcycle deaths
Year Deaths
1997 2,116
1998 2,294
1999 2,483
2000 2,897
2001 3,197†
2002 3,244
2003 3,661‡
2004 4,008
2005 4,253
2006 4,510
2007 4,854
2008 5,357

Nobody can tell me there was a 20% rise in the number of riders between 2005 and 2008. Or a doubling in 10 years from 1998-2008. 5357 is like 20% of all traffic fatalities in 2008! I mean, I don't know what's going on, but we gotta do something...it's making me consider banning motorcycles...

You have a point there but keep in mind that an overwhelmingly large percentage of those statistics are cruisers (mainly HD riders) with either none or non-DOT head protection and minimal body protection. For the most part, experienced sport bike riders usually wear adequate protective gear and know and ride within their skill limits when on the street. The problem is with people entering the sport and are biting off more than they can chew in bike power and how they try to ride it. It doesn't help they they usually ride with substandard gear. You don't know how many times I have had to almost force new riders I meet to buy back protectors.

 

[akacastle]

What did the car that crossed the double yellow look like? Anyone see such car? Any distinct markings, wheels, paint, etc?

 

[Gabe]

You have a point there but keep in mind that an overwhelmingly large percentage of those statistics are cruisers (mainly HD riders) with either none or non-DOT head protection and minimal body protection. For the most part, experienced sport bike riders usually wear adequate protective gear and know and ride within their skill limits when on the street. The problem is with people entering the sport and are biting off more than they can chew in bike power and how they try to ride it. It doesn't help they they usually ride with substandard gear. You don't know how many times I have had to almost force new riders I meet to buy back protectors.

How many lives a year do back protectors save? 100? 50? Who knows. And how many fatalities are sportbikes? How many are crusiers? Again, hard to say: FARS doesn't break it down by motorcycle type. Cruiser riders may be an "overwhelmingly large" number of deaths, but they are also by far the overwhelmingly largest category of motorcycles...so of course more of them die.

One thing I did find out is that the biggest category of motorcycle injuries so far in 2009 is age 20-29. And we all know guys in their 20s love big ol Hogs, right?

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811149.PDF

oh yeah btw....the tow truck came in a jiffy for the ducati...BUT...we waited 5 hours all the way until 8 pm....no tow trucks...and we called 5 different companies...even sherriff and chp and fire department came and call for us...tow service on 9 SUCKS!!

Holy crap! I'm so glad I rode up north today! I'm even happier you're okay. Sorry about your bikes...

I'm going to buy stock in ABS plastic factories...

 

[Tharkûn]

And people wonder why there is so many LEO's in the hills...