MikeOnaBike
08-12-2006, 09:46 PM
I was riding my S500 near Tawas City, Michigan today - 75 degrees F and sunny - beautiful day. We were on a busy street - 2 lanes each way with a turn lane in the middle. The speed limit was 35 mph, and that was the speed everybody was going. Lots of businesses on the left side of the road (it was lunch time), and parking lots on the right on the shore of Lake Huron. All of a sudden, I see brake lights on all of the cars in front of my, so I brake to a stop. I thought I saw a motorcycle turn right, about 500 feet ahead, but it turns out that it was only the body of a motorcyclist, being tossed from the opposing lane, across our two lanes and into the grass on our left, over a curb.
Traffic was halted, with about 25 cars in front of me. A police car (that was giving a speeding ticket to a car driver a mile back, rushes up in the right lane (we all moved into the left lane). The policeman starts giving CPR right away - I have never seen that before except on TV. There was quite a crowd, so I never did see the rider. An ambulance pulls up and they literally throw a stretcher out of the back onto the grass. By the time someone halts traffic coming toward us so that we can proceed forward. As I slowly ride by (about 10 minutes after the accident), I see a pickup in the middle turn lane, facing 90 degrees from the direction of traffic. Apparently, the driver pulled out of a restaurant from our left, directly into the motorcycle. The front of the pickup was smashed, and most of the twisted motorcycle was embedded into the front of the truck, with some parts and fluids scattered around. It looked like the motorcycle was heading my direction, but he was laying behind us, so I do not know for sure which direction he was travelling.
I pray the rider survived, but it seemed that they had stopped working on him when I drove by, and they had not even placed him on the stretcher. From the wreckage, it looked like the motorcyclist may have never seen the truck - it was still mostly upright, embedded in the truck.
I do not think he was going over the speed limit, but I do not really know. Even at relatively low speeds, accidents can be fatal. Please everybody, pray for this man and his family that he survived, and PLEASE, assume every driver is a poor driver, and that he/she does not see you, even it they appear to looking right at you. It doesn't matter who was in teh right and who was in the wrong, because 999 times out of 1000, the motorcyclist will be hurt worse than the car driver.
Traffic was halted, with about 25 cars in front of me. A police car (that was giving a speeding ticket to a car driver a mile back, rushes up in the right lane (we all moved into the left lane). The policeman starts giving CPR right away - I have never seen that before except on TV. There was quite a crowd, so I never did see the rider. An ambulance pulls up and they literally throw a stretcher out of the back onto the grass. By the time someone halts traffic coming toward us so that we can proceed forward. As I slowly ride by (about 10 minutes after the accident), I see a pickup in the middle turn lane, facing 90 degrees from the direction of traffic. Apparently, the driver pulled out of a restaurant from our left, directly into the motorcycle. The front of the pickup was smashed, and most of the twisted motorcycle was embedded into the front of the truck, with some parts and fluids scattered around. It looked like the motorcycle was heading my direction, but he was laying behind us, so I do not know for sure which direction he was travelling.
I pray the rider survived, but it seemed that they had stopped working on him when I drove by, and they had not even placed him on the stretcher. From the wreckage, it looked like the motorcyclist may have never seen the truck - it was still mostly upright, embedded in the truck.
I do not think he was going over the speed limit, but I do not really know. Even at relatively low speeds, accidents can be fatal. Please everybody, pray for this man and his family that he survived, and PLEASE, assume every driver is a poor driver, and that he/she does not see you, even it they appear to looking right at you. It doesn't matter who was in teh right and who was in the wrong, because 999 times out of 1000, the motorcyclist will be hurt worse than the car driver.