A motorcycle crash happened at 11800 South and 4000 West at about 11:30 today.  The motorcycle rider was heading east on 118th South and a car going in the opposite direction turned left onto 40th West and either crashed into the bike or caused the bike to crash into the car. 

The Deseret News, quoting Salt Lake County Sheriff Deputy Shane Manwaring,  reported that the biker was riding a bullet bike and the vehicle that turned into the intersection was a minivan.  Deseret news also said that the van pulled directly in front of the motorcycle causing the bike to crash into the van.

The driver of the minivan was a woman with an infant in the back seat.  Neither one of them were injured.  What is curious is that no charges were filed today against the driver of the minivan. I do not know if this includes citations but at the very least this woman should have received a citation for failure to yield.  She could be charged with reckless driving among other charges depending on the details of the motorcycle crash.

It is not usually a failure to look but a failure to see the oncoming motorcycle that results in these horrific crashes.  What I mean by this is that drivers of vehicles are not attuned, conditioned or sensitized to be looking for motorcycles.  Call it what you will - we usually see what we are looking for and do not see what we are not looking for.  I have written extensively about htis in other places in this motorcycle blog.

This woman, presuming the facts are what they are reported to be, is clearly responsible for this crash.  Having said that my sympathies are extended to the family of the motorcycle rider and the woman driver of the minivan.  I am confident that the woman never meant for the crash to occur and having caused the crash will be burdened with the fact that she caused the death of another for the rest of her life.

The family of the motorcycle rider has a wrongful death claim against the driver of the minivan.  I just hope she has purchased enough insurance to fully compensate the family, at least in monetary terms, for the loss of their member.

Michelle Rioja was killed while riding her scooter at about 4:15 p.m. on Monday November 17, 2008 in Woods Cross Utah.  Michelle leaves behind a husband, a 14-year-old son and others.  Michelle was only 36 years old. Like so many accidents this one happened not too far from their home.  Both Michelle and her husband were out for a leisurely drive in the area to see how far they could go on thier scooters.  The scooters were both westbound on 500 South when traffic slowed and stopped in front of them.  Michelle's husband said Michelle shot past him and ran into the back of the stopped vehicles as he was stopped.

Michelle had completed a motorcycle safety class and had been riding this scooter the year prior to the crash.  She was not wearing a helmet however.  Apparently she died at the scene from massive brain injury.

At teh scene there appears that there immediate suspicion about the condition of the braking system for the scooter.  What should be done in this case as soon as possible is preservation and investigation of the evidence.  In this case the scooter needs to be immediately secured by the police.  If the police are unwilling to secure the vehicle the family needs to make sure the scooter is kept in a tamper-proof location.  Next a certified and reliable scooter mechanic shouldbe given access to the scooter to investigate the condition of the braking system.  This mechanical investigation should be vide-taped to avoid acusations of tampreing that the insurance companies will raise if there is brake or mechanical failure found.

Like so many scooter and motorcycle crashes we handle there is more than meets the eye at first glance.  Investigations need to be timely launched and the law firm persons engagte need the resources to do this.  I wish the best for the surviving family and they have my sympathy.

If you are in a motorcycle accident and someone calls for an ambulance that shows up and you are not injured  and the attendants do nothing for you have to pay for the ambulance?  The answer is yes now, maybe but probably not in the future.

Bill Gephardt took on this issue and brought to the attention a rule implemented by the State Bureau of E.M.S. who interpreted a two-year-old bill sponsered by Paul Ray.  Representative Ray is taking the bill back to the rule-makers to make sure they get it right this time around and outlaw the charges applied and payable to the uninjured victim.

Thanks Bill!

I bet half of the cases I handle involve a vehicle turning left in front of an oncoming motorcycle.

It appears that yesterday a truck was making a left turn off of Mon O' War onto Pioneer Roadin St. George but he could not see the oncoming motorcycle becasue a car turning left in the oncoming lane obstructed his view.  In other words the driver of the truck proceeded intothe intersection without making sure that there was no oncoming traffic.

There were two people on the motorcycle that was clipped by the truck and sent it careening into another vehicle that was at teh intersection.  Both injured motorcycle riders were taken to Dixie Regional Hospital with what was said to be "substantial injuries."

It is so very important that motorcycle riders practice defensive drivingin making sure they are seen by oncoming drivers when approaching an intersection.  Even when we think the driver of the vehicle has seen us often they do not.  When I ride I practice what I call donut driving.  I try to anticipate what action I should take if another driver does something he should not be doing - like turning left in front of you.  This certainly does not mean that crashes can be avoided all the time or deccrease the fault of the other driver - all you can do is drive your bike with the best intentions, be prepared, and hope for the best.

The Spectrum reported on Saturday October 18, 2008 a motorcycle rider crashed and died while traveling north of the Cedar Pocket exit.  The motorcycle was severely damaged and the motorcyclist was dead when officers arrived.

I post this article becasue the insensitivity of reporting this newspaper article without stating the name of the dead bikeris insensitive.  They would probably respond that they did not know the name of the biker and that next-of-kin were being notified before releasing the name.  If that is the case then report it.  Why?  Because many people who bike have friends that bike and they oftentimes cannot stop but think that this might have been one of their friends.  Is the story so important that it cannot wait half a day - hardly - shame of The Spectrum!

The Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday that  52-year-old Eugene Carlston lost control of his motorcycle and crashed yesterday at about 5:30 pm.  The crash occurred south of Kolob Terrace Road where he apparently drove off the pavement, laid the motorcycle on its side and slid.  Mr. Carlston suffered severe head trauma. 

I do not know if this man was riding alone or with friends at teh time of the crash but we do know, from the article, that he was not wearing a helmet.  I am not really sure why newspaper reporters, that whenever they report on a motorcycle crash, feel obligated to report that the victim was not wearing a helmet if he was not.  Let me explain.  Have you ever read an article that says something like driver of car killed - all equipment was working and she was restrained by a seat belt?  Not very often - why?  Because that victim is following the law by ensuring that her vehicle was in good operating shape and she wore a seat belt.  When a motorcyclist is killed and he is not wearing a helmet he is also following the law.

I really think sometimes that the newspapers have a hidden agenda and that is to have legislation introduced that mandates helmet use for motorcycle riders.  Usually however I write-off these insensitive statements of non-helmet use to a desire to sensationalize an otherwise sad accident.

The use of scooters on campuses across the United States is increasing dramatically.  BYU has more than doubled their free motorcycle parking permits from around 700 last year to more than 1500 this year.  The primary reason for the increase in scooter use is, ofcourse, the high price of gasoline.  But there are other reasons to use a scooter or motorcycle that especially appeal to university students.

You get anywhere from 70 to 100 miles per gallon with a scooter and that is economically friendly.  Not only is the high efficiency economically friendly but it contributes to our national security.  National security you say?  Yes - because the less oil we but the safer we will be and the middle east can keep their oil.  Insignificant impact you say?  Not really - if we all take responsibility for our own carbon footprint maybe we can really make a difference. 

Scooters and motorcycles are also easy to park. Ask any university studentm be it BYU or Utah, and you will quickly learn that parking is oftentimes impossible to find an, in the University of Utah's case very expensive.  Scooters can be parked in designated areas and at BYU that parking is free.

The only bad thing about scooters is their danger.  Scooters can be dangerous because you are unprotected and even a relatively minor crash can cause big injuries.  You need to make sure you are properly licensed,  I recommend that you take a riders safety class and last but nit least, but enough insurance to make sure you can cover the costs of injury.

On Tuesday October 7, 2008 at about 2:20 pm in Provo a motorcyclist was west-bound on 800 North approaching the intersection with 300 West.  Waiting in a car east-bound at the intersection was 26-year-old Chris Strong who was waiting to turn left off of 800 North and onto 300 West.  As the motorcycle approached Mr. Strong started to execute his turn.  The motorcycle had no choice except to crash into the passenger side of Mr. Strong's car.

The motorcycle rider sustained severe brain trauma and was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

A majority of the motorcycle crash cases that I handle involve vehicle drivers that turnleft in front of the oncoming motorcycle.  The crash often results in severe injury to the motorcycle rider including bone fractures, burns, brain injury and severe road rash.  

This accident is extremely unfortunate for all involved - the young man that lost his life - his family who is left behind to mourn - his friends who will miss hin - and last but not least Mr. Strong who never seen the motorcycle.

You never think it will happen to you but it happened to Jarauld Lowe in Orem on September 8, 2008.  It appears that a 20-year-old woman in a passenger car turned left in front of Mr. Lowe causing him to crash his scooter into her car.  Mr. Lowe was sent over his handlebars crashing hard against the pavement some 100 feet down the road.

Emergency peronnel  at teh scene said Lowe was conscious but combative at the scene.  This is typical behaviour of a person who has sustained an acute head injury.  The Brain Injury Association of America has an excellent article talking about scooter safety and children.

I am sure that almost every motorcycle rider in and around Utah has heard about the "road rage motorcycle crash" that occurred in Centerville Utah on September 4, 2008.  I have resisted writing about this truly unfortunate accident because I wanted to have an appreciation for all sides before commenting.  This motorcycle crash was an accident that just did not have to happen on so many levels.  Let's look at this accident one ill-fated step at a time.

It appears that the driver of the bike, 50-year-old Michael Rakes, had his 10-year-old son on the baclk of his bike as a passenger.  Michael was not wearing a helmet because he gave it to his son to wear.  I am all for the freedom of choice to wear a helmet once you are old enough to make that decision.  However, having a 10-year-old wear an oversized helmet is not a good idea.

It is alleged that the driver of ablack Mazda, 32-year-old Kris Prinster, threw a cigerrette out of her driver side window.  After the cigerette buttl landed on, near or around Mr. Rahes it appears that he accellerated and pulled up along side of Ms. Prinster.  It appears that Prinster was driving in the top lane and Rakes pulled up along side her in the turning lane. 

I have been the victim of having cigerette butts hit my bike as I followed passenger vehicles.  Did it bother me, yes - was I pissed, yes - did I accelerate and pull up aloing side of teh offending vehicle and start yelling at the driver - NO!  Please understand.  I did not pull up along side of the vehicle once having been hit with a cigerette butt not becasue I wanted to but because I was afraid I would get mangled.  Let's face it people - car versus motorcycle - car wins - every time!

Whatever happened next  is the matter of some argument.  Either the car swerved accidently or intentionally because teh physical evidence shows contact between the bike and the car' left rear panel.  There also appears to be evidence to show that the contact occurred in the turning lane.  Rakes' wife who was riding another Harley behind her husband alleges that Prinster swerved into Rakes.

On the other hand Prinster says there was no intent in throwing out the cigerette butt and she was driving simply to get away from the motorcycle when the crash occurred.  

I do not know what happened.  But I do know this.  Had Prinster not thrown her cigerette butt out the window Rakes would not have been tempted to pull up along side her.  Even after Rakes pulled up along side of Prinster all she had to do to "get away" from the motorcycle was simply roll up her window.  Do not get me wrong.  Rakes should sholder some degree of responsibility but if I had to make the call I would say that Prinster was at least more than 50% responsible for the accident.

Leagally speaking this would be a difficult case to prove liability - that Prinster was responsible for the accident but I think it could be done.  As a side note Rakes' son only sustained  an ankle injury and abrasions.  The son probably has a case against his father's insurance.