[eon]

From today’s Seattle Times

Helmet saves man who hit ambulance

By Sara Jean Green and Lewis Kamb

Seattle Times staff reporters

A motorcyclist heading north on Interstate 5 near Northgate on Monday morning slammed into the back of a parked ambulance after he apparently became distracted by the commotion on the other side of the freeway as emergency workers dealt with the aftermath of three, near-simultaneous collisions that blocked southbound lanes for nearly two hours.

The 29-year-old Seattle motorcyclist “was watching the accident scene the entire time” and was illegally listening to music with ear buds in each ear, said State Trooper Cliff Pratt.

The motorcyclist “wasn’t paying attention” and slammed into the back of an ambulance that had parked in the northbound car-pool lane, narrowly missing an EMT who had gone to her rig for medical supplies to treat patients involved in the earlier crashes, Pratt said.

Though medics initially didn’t think he’d survive, it appears his full-face helmet — which left a dent in the ambulance — saved his life, Pratt said.

“He’s not as bad as we first thought,” Pratt said. “He’s definitely messed up but it looks like he’s going to make it.”

Traffic was tangled for miles in both directions starting about 6:40 a.m., when seven southbound vehicles were involved in three separate collisions that caused one vehicle to roll onto its top and skid across into the car-pool lane.

That accident caused only minor injuries, Pratt said, but southbound traffic backed up more than six miles, to Lynnwood.

The motorcyclist hit the ambulance shortly after that, “coming within inches of hitting” the EMT, who suffered a bruise to her hand, Pratt said.

The ambulance had “all its lights on” and had been stopped for about 15 minutes, Pratt said. The ambulance crew was helping emergency personnel on the other side of the freeway when the motorcycle struck it.

Pratt said it’s illegal for drivers to have headphones on or ear buds in both ears, though it’s OK to drive with one ear bud so long as surrounding noises can be heard.

The motorcyclist will likely be cited for inattention to driving, he said.

[briderdt]

…that the same thing could happen in a car. I’ve watched people nearly slam into the back of parked trailers before, only narrowly swerving to miss. And this on otherwise lightly trafficked roads. And while the ear buds are illegal, I really don’t think they contributed to the accident.

[Clay Dowling]

Because there isn’t an official citation for “Being a Duffus.”

[zeppelinfromled]

If she has a bruise on her hand, then it seems that he did her hit. I suppose that 0 inches technically counts as “within inches.”

I agree about the earbuds no contributing. Unless he normally would have heard the parked ambulance, they’re irrelevant.

I’m glad the EMT is okay, and I’m glad the motorcyclist will be okay.

[eon]

Why would they mention it could happen in a car? That’s probably what happened on the other side of road with the “3 near-simultaneous collisions”, which barely rated a mention. The story was really only news worthy as the guy nearly died. I was just impressed that the phrase “speed was a factor” was not rolled out.

The quote at the end (surrounding noises can be heard) got me wondering about the legalities of wearing headphones while driving a car? And what about the cool dudes with mega sub-woofers who are like rolling earthquakes. Do they get pulled over? There is no way they can hear surrounding noises.

[zeppelinfromled]

I love the phrase “speed was a factor.” Show me a wreck between two people who aren’t moving, and then that phrase will be valid.

[Elias]

Haha, I’m just picturing two people having a staring contest and then one passes out from exhaustion…”Speed was not a factor”

lol, me and my imagination

[Elias]

I agree about the ‘rolling earthquakes.’ I used to have a medium-line stereo set-up in my old rice burner, and even that would drown out emergency vehicles when I was jamming…

It’s ironic that you can’t have earbuds in when you drive a cage either, but yet you can turn your stereo up as loud as you want as long as it’s not BOTHERING other people

Our poor confused legislatures…

[Always the Runner]

I actually have heard of people getting pulled over for having their stereos up too loud.

Quick google search yielded these results regarding playing music too loud in a car:

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090512093747AAhd51S

Apparently it just depends on where you are in the world, and what kind of mood the cop is in.

[A]

Not having earplugs/headphones in his helmet may or may not have saved him, but looking ahead where he’s going would have saved him rather than staring at the accident scene on opposite side of the highway.

My father once told me to look five cars ahead every few seconds while traveling on the highway, that had saved me from a few mishalps.

[spiccnspam]

I just laughed for ten minutes imagining a terrible accident were two non-moving people killed each other in a horrible staring contest.

but in all seriousness, a car driver blaring his music and staring at an commotion is just as likely to bonk his cage into the back of an ambulance. Hell ive almost done that in my lame-o ford focus, also the overlooking of the multi-car pileup is pretty good. I think i will save this article in my “humorous news stuff” folder.

speed was not a factor.

[gsmurfette]

I was crossing the road (yes, with the white ped guy telling me to go). It’s a one way street, two lanes. I was going across, and an idiot with his stereo blasting almost hit me. I screamed, hello, crosswalk! And I was right next to him, he heard me on the 3rd hello, I was practically in his car. Dumb-ass shouldn’t have a license. Glad I’m not sidewalk art right now! I saw that story on the news, it was “breaking”. Seems like there’s more and more (or maybe I’m just hearing about them more) crashes w/ motorcycles not keeping their situational awareness.

[SantaCruzRider]

Sucks that some idiot didn’t see you in the crosswalk — obviously he wasn’t paying attention. But I’m not sure how hearing you would have made you safer. You could wear the loudest dang shoes in the world and I still would not hear you walking across the street when I’m in my car, even with the radio off.

[Munch]

A lot of that has to do with gas prices. Folks are getting into riding for “economic” reasons and not with the full sight of what they are getting into. Most don’t even have any safety course and some are likely the only person they know that rides. I see it here all the time. Saw a guy behind me the other day try to man handle a sport touring without the full knowledge of how to control the bike. I had to watch him for a while as he was piggy backing me. The first notion I got was watching him lean with the turn signal on… ofcourse the bike did not react much as that was the only in put he gave the bike. Then I saw a sudden jerk over with his head followed by his body, now I start getting nervous. I turned on my signal to go to the left lane to get clear of him as he was trying to merge to the right. Finally I think it kinda clicked with him after watching me make a smooth change. Finally saw the minimal body movement and see him give some input with the handle bars…. though the sudden dive to the next lane gave him a comical oh shit look on his face.

[Speedy Rodriguez]

What, you guys don’t has subwoofers on your bikes??!! :p

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