Left Turn Accident

[Toner]

Found this on break tonight. Made me pucker a little...

http://www.break.com/index/biker-alm...ed-by-van.html

[chad23]

I dont get the title (crazy biker) the biker had the right of way not the van. Shit at less he didn't target fixate on the van, it could have been different

[Toner]

I was thinking the same thing actually. After watching it again I'm guessing that the biker took a quick glance at the bikes at the gas station and then realized there was a van in his lane. Hope he made it!

[Spinalhaven]

lol shit was he moving. at least he dodged it

[modette99]

..

[BeoBe]

id kill the sob in the van.. like the bikers that beat the shit out of the cop car that hit the biker lol

[caddygsxr]

i like the description on the side of the video
"An insane biker tries to fly in front of van turning into a gas station, and he ends up crashing his bike in the dirt"

[Mister Z]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blqOUjmg3gU

Is this the vid? Rides right into the cop car... and then a mob on riders attack the car.

[Spiderman]

... the biker had the right of way not the van.

Ya, but I'll bet if he wasn't doing double the speed limit (guesstimate), the outcome would've been a whole lot different.

id kill the sob in the van..

The van driver wasn't expecting anybody to be traveling at that speed... this discussion has come up before in regards to cars making left turns in front of motorcycles traveling at a high rate of speed - the driver looks ahead, sees a vehicle off in the distance, which, if it were traveling at a normal rate of speed (the speed limit, or only slightly higher), would've allowed him enough time to make the turn, but because the bike is traveling at such a high rate of speed, the car doesn't have enough time and there ends up being a collision.

AFAIC, the rider is lucky the driver did finally see the bike and stopped mid-turn, otherwise the bike would've t-boned the van!

He was going a little fast so not like he is totally innocent.

...

[Captain Obvious]

Both at fault. Driver violating the right of way has to accept more of the blame. And if he/she didn't accept it, it would be given anyways.

[Spiderman]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm not sure if a judge would agree. Like I said, if he wasn't going so fast, odds are there wouldn't have been an incident. A judge *might* say that the riders high (excessive?) rate of speed supersedes the failure to yield right of way, eliminating the van driver from responsability/guilt.

The street isn't the track - this video just emphasizes that. If you want to go faster, take it to the track.

[Captain Obvious]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm not sure if a judge would agree. Like I said, if he wasn't going so fast, odds are there wouldn't have been an incident. A judge *might* say that the riders high (excessive?) rate of speed supersedes the failure to yield right of way, eliminating the van driver from responsability/guilt.

Same can be said for the van, had it not turned in front of the motorcycle, the motorcycles speed would not have been an issue. Which came first, chicken or egg?

Depends on the cop responding and the judge later. I'm not arguing the issue the riders speed played in the accident. But, can anyone who was there, with experience and training, say exactly how fast the motorcycle was going? We all know that video skews the appearance of speed. And motorcycles always appear to be going faster to bystanders, especially non-motorcycle people.

Based on that, one can ABSOLUTELY say the van turned in front of another vehicle, violating it's right of way. Skid marks left by the motorcycle might be able to give a rough estimate, but since the motorcycle didn't slide to a stop, there is no concrete evidence of actual speed. Therefore the van clearly was in violation and the motorcycle prolly was. Van gets the ticket with the unknown speed of the motorcycle being a contributing factor. And then told he needed to contest it in court. Many depts require a ticket if possible, then let the judge decide.

[Captain Obvious]

The street isn't the track - this video just emphasizes that. If you want to go faster, take it to the track.

Can't agree with you more. Speeding in occupied areas is asking for trouble. It is tough enough to safely do the speed limit.

[Spiderman]

Same can be said for the van, had it not turned in front of the motorcycle, the motorcycles speed would not have been an issue. Which came first, chicken or egg?

I guess the answer depends on your point of view. IMO, the motorcycle rider is mostly, if not completely, at fault. If he were traveling closer to the speed limit, the van would've completed the turn before the rider got there, so the van driver was not NOT yielding - he was driving with the expectation that others are going to be obeying the speed limit (or at least staying reasonably close to it). Judging the speed of an oncoming vehicle is tough enough, and the small forward-facing signature of a motorcycle makes it even tougher to judge. Emergency vehicles have flashing lights to warn oncoming traffic for this reason.

Also, we don't know where this took place - it may not be in the U.S. (I couldn't see anything in the video that confirmed it was or it wasn't), so the laws and authorities may have different ways of dealing with this type of situation.