20 bike crash near Portland, OR

eon's picture
Submitted by eon on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 14:20
in

I don't normally post information about crashes as there are so many of them this board would be swamped, but I thought this one deserved an honorable mention.

‹ My bikes, for now.. We are not bugs . . . ›

http://www.kval.com/news/loca

Elwood1960's picture
Submitted by Elwood1960 on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 14:48.

http://www.kval.com/news/local/59789107.html

Info in print. (No speakers at work.)

I have never seen anything like that either. I wander what caused the SUV to "slam" on its brakes? The story said two SUV's involved, road rage thing maybe? In any event, the formation was to tight if no one could stop. Sounds like an older club, if it had been a HOG chapter I might chalk it up to to many new riders on big bikes they did not know how to ride. As it is, it would be interesting to see if more information comes out of this what really happened.

2006 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide
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Wow. You don't see that

owlie's picture
Submitted by owlie on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 19:20.

Wow.

You don't see that everyday.

I wonder how much target fixation had to do with this? I would imagine it was a big factor.

ummm... I think I'll go practice my quick stops and swerves now.

One of my favorite excerpts from Proficient Motorcycling

eternal05's picture
Submitted by eternal05 on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 19:34.

...is when David recounts a conversation with a younger rider who, when confronted with a four-way stop intersection, assumed his right of way would keep him safe and broke his leg on the front of a truck. Put in "English," he trundled across the intersection while a big truck ran its stop sign, t-boning him at low speed and breaking his leg.

So, it goes something like this:

Young guy: "...but he had a stop sign!"
David: "...but he didn't stop!"
Young guy: "...but I had right of way!"
David: "And now you have a broken leg!"

Point being, this is definitely one of those situations where, from the sound of it, it may have been caused by irrational or abrupt braking on the part of the SUV. On the other hand, if these guys hadn't been riding in a swarm with too small a following distance to the next car, most of them would still be alive, unbroken, and riding onwards. Having an appropriate following distance is one of the most important parts of safe riding or driving, yet nobody seems to do it.