Avoidable death

[sanjuro]

Should probably save this for the springtime, but really, the license is just one step in learning on how to become a better rider.

Sumas teen dies in crash just after getting motorcycle license
ZOE FRALEY / THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

BELLINGHAM - An 18-year-old Sumas man who had aced his motorcycle license test just a half hour earlier crashed and was killed Saturday morning, Dec. 3.

David T. Swift had just passed the Department of Licensing test and was driving his 2006 Kawasaki west in the 200 block of West Horton Road when he crashed at about 11:30 a.m., according to Bellingham Police spokesman Mark Young.

Medical examiner Gary Goldfogel said no drugs or alcohol are suspected in the crash, though speed and inattention may have been contributing factors.

The Bellingham Police Traffic Unit is still investigating the crash.

Swift, the youngest of seven children, was a 2011 graduate of Nooksack Valley High School who hoped to join the Air Force in the spring and ultimately become a commercial pilot, said his sister, Anika Hildebrand, 27.

At a spontaneous memorial service Sunday night at Riverside Park in Everson, more than 200 people showed up to share their memories and stories about Swift.

"He was so full of life," Hildebrand said. "He was always the life of the party, yet he wasn't wanting to be the life of the party - he just was. He was a very dynamic person. Everyone just loved him."

Swift recently started working for a local contractor to install satellite dishes, and Hildebrand said his boss used to say he wished he had 10 Davids.

"He earned a lot of people's respect," she said. "He was a hard worker."

Swift and his brother had taken Cordata Parkway to Horton after the driving test because of the long curves in the road.

"That's how he lived. He lived life to the fullest," Hildebrand said. "It's a lot easier to think about the good side of it."

 

[planegray]

Good point

It IS a fine line, we ride

 

[DucatiHoney]

Very sad... although I see nothing indicating that the rider was necessarily at fault. Common sense tells me that a teenager on a motorcycle is a likely combination for problems, but I'm withholding judgment until more facts become available. Thanks for posting regardless. If hearing a story like this makes one person slow down and ride a little more carefully then that's good.

 

[scotinexcile]

mmm what "size" was his 2006 Kawasaki? I am going to guess 600cc? I doubt it was a 250 or a 125 or a 50cc which was all we were allowed to ride when I passed my test. I have never understood why you can pass your test and jump on any size bike you like. I guess that is "freedom"!!!!
Sorry the rider passed away he will never know the life long pleasure and friends you make when you ride

 

[Darwin]

Isn't this what so many go on and espouse: Die what you love doing, don't live life afraid of taking risks only to live a long and boring life?

Many details are missing so its impossible to assess whether this was avoidable or not. Speed and inattention are always contributing factors.

There are no guarantees in life. Riding a motorcycle is a conscious choice. And we get to live (or not) with the consequences of the choices we make. Blame others all you want, YOU will be the one who bears the consequences.

 

[kiltwearinfool]

Sucks to see someone with such promise (and seemingly with his act together) leave this world. Hope he didn't suffer.

I've always had a healthy respect for the dangers of our sport. But when I just started riding, I wanted to get nothing less than a 600. When I'd been riding for a while, I started thinking graduated licensing was a good idea.

 

[Ironbutt]

Sucks to see someone with such promise (and seemingly with his act together) leave this world. Hope he didn't suffer.

I've always had a healthy respect for the dangers of our sport. But when I just started riding, I wanted to get nothing less than a 600. When I'd been riding for a while, I started thinking graduated licensing was a good idea.

The bikes available to me when I started riding were less than 5hp.. And for the first 12 years on the road, I rode 500cc bikes.. then I went big for a few years.. now I'm back on 500cc..

I can make more mistakes on a 500cc bike. Not so on a bike with over 100hp to the rear wheel.. No mistakes allowed after you break the sound barrier.

 

[sanjuro]

One other thing to note is going with riders who are not very experienced either.

While these riders may be in control of their bikes, they will not have the wide range of experience to control a ride properly.

He may push it in sections a novice rider cannot handle.

 

[NoGall]

 

[louemc]

Highly promising 18 year olds are behind the wheel, in fatal car crashes every day (OK more at night).


Even with the added forgiveness of four wheels on the ground...it still happens.

Safe to say...This 18 year old boy..didn't think in terms of...I have a tremedious amount to learn, in small manage-able steps, to do this two wheels with power, thing, and stay healthy while doing it.

I don't know which is worse...killing yourself with not enough lessons learned...
Or killing yourself after years of gathered lessons....

The killing yourself is so major...nothing else seems to matter that much.

Condolances to the family and friends that bear this loss

 

[Climber]

I lost a close friend about 15 years ago who had gotten his first motorcycle and died 2 weeks later. I had never gotten the chance to give him my 'Riding is dangerous so never forget the risks' talk because he was living up in Reno at the time and we hadn't gotten together yet. I can't help thinking that if I had given him that talk before his accident, that he'd still be around today.

If you know somebody who is just getting into riding, do yourself and them a favor and tell them with all frankness about the dangers of riding and the importance of always respecting those dangers. You may not think that it will make a difference, but it may just save their life.

 

[budman]

If you know somebody who is just getting into riding, do yourself and them a favor and tell them with all frankness about the dangers of riding and the importance of always respecting those dangers. You may not think that it will make a difference, but it may just save their life.

Good stuff.

I tried to help my daughter BF with such and was rejected. 18 yo just didn't want an old man's interference.. I guess. I have tried a few times.. still no luck.

Oh well.. I tried.

Will again I am sure.

 

[Wack]

Isn't this what so many go on and espouse: Die what you love doing, don't live life afraid of taking risks only to live a long and boring life?

Many details are missing so its impossible to assess whether this was avoidable or not. Speed and inattention are always contributing factors.

There are no guarantees in life. Riding a motorcycle is a conscious choice. And we get to live (or not) with the consequences of the choices we make. Blame others all you want, YOU will be the one who bears the consequences.

I find it ironic that as teenagers many pushed hard and spent too much time on the edge going for broke. Teenagers still have decades of all of the good things in life to enjoy yet gamble on losing it all. If you survive and make it into your 50 or 60's you end up carefully riding a BMW or Harley when all you have to lose is time in the old folks home wearing diapers.

 

[sanjuro]

Isn't this what so many go on and espouse: Die what you love doing, don't live life afraid of taking risks only to live a long and boring life?

Many details are missing so its impossible to assess whether this was avoidable or not. Speed and inattention are always contributing factors.

There are no guarantees in life. Riding a motorcycle is a conscious choice. And we get to live (or not) with the consequences of the choices we make. Blame others all you want, YOU will be the one who bears the consequences.

This thread isn't really about David Swift, who I do not know, or his family. It is about us and the riders we influence.

Riding motorcycles isn't a zero sum game. You bought a motorcycle and you ride. Great.

Have you made a frank evaluation of your skill set? Are you taking steps to improve? Have you chosen the right mentors/groups? Is your bike mechanically sound?

Even living on the edge, there is a checklist we should all go through. And for the noobs, we should teach what the checklist is.

 

[CAmudgeon]

mmm what "size" was his 2006 Kawasaki? I am going to guess 600cc? I doubt it was a 250 or a 125 or a 50cc which was all we were allowed to ride when I passed my test. I have never understood why you can take a multiple choice quiz* and jump on any size bike you like. I guess that is "freedom"!!!!
Sorry the rider passed away he will never know the life long pleasure and friends you make when you ride

Fixed. *You don't need to pass a test and get your license, you just need to get your permit. Then you are good to go get your turbo busa legally.

 

[beginner]

This thread isn't really about David Swift, who I do not know, or his family. It is about us and the riders we influence.

Riding motorcycles isn't a zero sum game. You bought a motorcycle and you ride. Great.

Have you made a frank evaluation of your skill set? Are you taking steps to improve? Have you chosen the right mentors/groups? Is your bike mechanically sound?

Even living on the edge, there is a checklist we should all go through. And for the noobs, we should teach what the checklist is.

What is the criteria for evaluating skills or the suitability of mentors or groups? What is the definition of skill set? Where is a roadmap for improvement? Where is the checklist? I think these things could exist but they don't.

 

[sanjuro]

What is the criteria for evaluating skills or the suitability of mentors or groups? What is the definition of skill set? Where is a roadmap for improvement? Where is the checklist? I think these things could exist but they don't.

Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track

You're welcome.

 

[fast4d]

how about this one?



A 29-year-old Los Angeles man was killed this week when his motorcycle crashed into a dump truck in Malibu, authorities said.

Sean Patrick Flynn was riding a motorcycle north on Pacific Coast Highway approaching Rambla Vista about 8:50 a.m. Monday when he tried to pass a dump truck on the right as it was turning right and struck the middle of the vehicle, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.

The rear wheels of the fully loaded truck ran over Flynn, officials said. He was killed instantly due to blunt-force trauma.

The dump truck was not damaged, and its driver was not injured.

Witnesses said Flynn was driving fast and splitting lanes before the collision, officials said.

© 2011 Ventura County Star



Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/dec...cyclist-killed-in-malibu-crash/#ixzz1fs30c35P
- vcstar.com

 

[beginner]

Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track

You don't say whether road maps for improving skills and criteria for evaluating them are in the book. Regardless, bikes operate on public roads so the safety issues are everybody's business. For competent guidance to exist for the sake of public safety it needs to be in the public domain.