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.

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