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YODA MASTER
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« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2008, 09:27:23 AM » |
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What the article also went on to say ..... was that just prior to the collision the motorcycle rider was 'zipping in and out of traffic, aggressively changing lanes and riding at a high rate of speed'.
Let's report the facts as they are, complete and germane. No excuses for the cage tuning left in front of oncoming traffic. Hit And Run is a crime.
However there is what accident reconstructionist refer to as ' perception of speed' and 'expectation of speed', each of which have successfully been used in defense of accidents such as this. First of all we are each aware that a motorcycle gives a perception of going faster that it actually is (except for Harleys, of course, which can't go fast at any speed), especially in a turn.
This matter probably has less to do with perception than expectation of speed, assuming the cage even saw the biker. For instance, if 40 MPH is the posted speed, a motorist may reasonably assume that oncoming traffic is traveling at roughly the same speed. Thus when planning for a left turn and using the judgment /experience most of us have gained over the years by driving motor vehicles, our reason kicks in telling us when it is appropriate and safe to make that turn, again assuming by the speed and distance of the oncoming traffic and the time it should take it to reach us, that our turn could be completed within a sufficient time that we wouldn't get T-Boned on the passenger side.
Now along comes Joe crap the Rocketman on his Ninja 3500 cc minimally controlled missile at 95 miles per hour, in and out of traffic and fulfills his final destiny as an organ donor (provided of course they didn’t explode upon impact) by ripping your car in half. Your defense could be that you have a legal right of expectation that Mr. Kamakazi is (1) obeying all traffic laws, including safe, measured and well intentioned (turn signals) lane changes and (2) in your best judgment, based on years of driving experience, that at the distance you first saw the motorcycle, making a safe left turn was entirely logical. It is not your legal responsibility to make the mathematical calculation that perhaps this fellow is traveling twice the speed of sound and he would close that distance way before you would negotiate that turn.
The other defense is also that this unfortunate biker “came out of nowhere”. We motorcyclists are the most ‘aware’ of all motorists, whether on a bike on in a car. And each of us has been startled by a crotch rocket suddenly appearing out of nowhere, changing lanes, usually at a reckless HROS, thereby presently itself as a target.
No, I’m not presenting a defense to the guy who killed the motorcyclist or giving benefit of the doubt. And yes, Daniel, the most unfortunate event was ‘cold blooded’ …. But your comments warranted the complete story and an opportunity for each of us become just a little bit better informed on how stuff like this happens. When I went of Motor Officer school, our standard admonition was to never assume ‘they’ see us, never ride in a lane position where they ‘can’t’ see us and never forget to ‘think’ as they do. If you put the words together it states that “they can’t think”. Too many distractions, etc. Nuff’ said
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