The Drive to the Airport IS more dangerous than flying

vontresc

vontresc

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vonSegelGoober
Well I am sad to report, that after 16 years of driving I had my first accident while returning from the glider club.

I was driving home, and got to an intersection where there were several vehicles waiting to turn onto the road I was on. This was where a detour meets up with the highway I was driving on, and I was on the part where people would not expect much traffic to come from. So I see the first vehicle turn onto the Highway, and I step on the brakes and lay on the horn. the first car pulls over to the side, but the second guy behind him just pulls right into my path at the last second.

Boom I hit them, and the airbags go off. Long story short no major injuries, but it turns out that the guy I hit blows a .10 (he had a history of OWI), and his buddy in the van is on probation for his umpteenth (i think the cop said no 8) OWI (drunk as well). Both are spending the night in jail. To top it off though this guy had his whole family in the car! Including his 10year old daughter!!!!!

I'm glad everyone is ok, but I can't believe that people are willing to put their own family at this much risk, in order to have their beer.

Sorry I just had to vent a bit. and yes I forgot to take pictures

I did get a 1:45 flight in the Ka-6 though
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-826685745
 
Wouldn't a family be able to tell whether or not their father/husband was drunk?

I'm just using common sense here
 
I'm glad things weren't more serious. Hopefully he was insured.
 
I hope the right judge gets his case. Child endangerment should be tossed in and aggravated at that.

I'm glad your ok and no harm came to his family, particularly a child.
 
hey nice glider flight! i had 2:20 today with some great gaggles with other club members, a wonderful day!
 
Hey Pete, I'm glad you didn't have any serious injuries! Whattamess. Can your car be fixed or is it totaled?
 
When I was driving to Chicago this week I made my usual mistake of actually getting into the right lane to exit a full mile before the ramp. I was prepared for 3 cars that noticed the exit later and just had to use the two car lengths I left in front of me to get over, until the little snowflake came out of nowhere. A full size van came from my left blind spot pulled ahead and litterally made a sharp right turn for my engine. :hairraise: I slam on the brakes, got a reminder that the horn doesn't work, and tried desperately to help my liver process the adrenaline overdose. There was literally 8 inches from my front bumper to the back door of the van. I screamed a few very bad words and looked over to my right and see that little Buffy IS SMILING! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: You know, that "Omygosh. I'm such an airhead but my cute little smile will get me through as usual and Dad will bail me out" smile.

I'm going into business selling heat seeking missiles for vehicles. Anybody wanna invest?
 
FWIW department.

And yes, it is real hard to stop and think in this kind of situation.

But...

I assume you have a relatively recent vehicle with anti-lock brakes. It is AMAZING how well you can swerve and avoid even pushing as hard as you can on the brake.

I took some driving classes for work - and one of the exercises was the "emergency lane change" - they set up cones - the entrance was one lane wide. A couple car lengths beyond the entrance was a row of cones across the lane, and on either side were alternate lanes (marked by cones). You are told to do a wide open throttle acceleration (in a police spec vehicle in my case) until the instructor says "brake" and then tells you which way to go (right or left). So, there you are going like heck, waiting for the instructor to say brake - and he doesn't, and you are thinking "no way" and he is still silent. You pass the point where you can't possibly do anything, still no word. Then WAY beyond the last minute he says "brake, right". You slam on the brakes, into the entrance, swerve into the lane to the right, and finally come to a stop. Every cone is still standing.

If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have believed it. Will I remember this if I need to? Who knows. But it was an eye opening exercise.

(all this assumes that there is another lane to swerve into, of course).
 
Dragan said:
Wouldn't a family be able to tell whether or not their father/husband was drunk?

I'm just using common sense here
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sounds like it could be an abused family who would be afraid to take the keys or refuse to get into the vehicle.

glad you are ok!
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
I assume you have a relatively recent vehicle with anti-lock brakes. It is AMAZING how well you can swerve and avoid even pushing as hard as you can on the brake.
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Just be very careful about doing this in larger (ie higher CG) vehicles, or you'll find yourself sitting on your side in the ditch watching the other guy drive away. Sometimes, it's good to swap paint.

Sorry to hear about this Pete. It's gettin' worse, and something big must change before it'll get better. :(
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Just be very careful about doing this in larger (ie higher CG) vehicles, or you'll find yourself sitting on your side in the ditch watching the other guy drive away. Sometimes, it's good to swap paint.

Sorry to hear about this Pete. It's gettin' worse, and something big must change before it'll get better. :(
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Not only that--you better be damn aware of what is around you. As much as everyone may try, if you found yourself needing the emergency lane change you probably already failed at situational awareness. It is just too easy to swerve into a guy like me on a motorcycle.

The swerving into my lane thing seems to be increasing lately and I'm not sure why. My horn is not audible at highway speed. If I'm at least half way up the car I'll slam on the throttle. I also glance to see if I can go onto the shoulder which is generally possible. I avoid braking too hard because it's easy for someone to sneak up behind me, especially with luggage and a passenger. The best horn I have is pulling in the clutch and rapping up 11,000 RPM at them. Generally this gets their attention as I'm forced onto the shoulder beside them.
 
jesse said:
Not only that--you better be damn aware of what is around you. As much as everyone may try, if you found yourself needing the emergency lane change you probably already failed at situational awareness. It is just too easy to swerve into a guy like me on a motorcycle.

The swerving into my lane thing seems to be increasing lately and I'm not sure why. My horn is not audible at highway speed. If I'm at least half way up the car I'll slam on the throttle. I also glance to see if I can go onto the shoulder which is generally possible. I avoid braking too hard because it's easy for someone to sneak up behind me, especially with luggage and a passenger. The best horn I have is pulling in the clutch and rapping up 11,000 RPM at them. Generally this gets their attention as I'm forced onto the shoulder beside them.
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That's why I had a pair of air horns on my motorcycle in college. Ran off a small compressor. Added them after I had the bike fixed after getting run over by an idiot running a stop sign in his 1968 Mustang. I had a switch to select the beeper that came with the bike, or the airs. Air Horn Arming Switch would have been the label if I'd added one. Sneak up behind a VW bug and light those off. You could see the whole car jump. Now, if they had just been the same pitch as the ones on a semi... :D :D :D
 
jesse said:
The swerving into my lane thing seems to be increasing lately and I'm not sure why.
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Same here. My theory is that drivers haven't got in their annual quota of attempted murder on motorcycle riders this year so they're stepping it up. I've been trying but I simply can't seem to disprove the theory yet.

jesse said:
My horn is not audible
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One word: Stebel
I got to hear a stebel air horn go off a while back from a motorcycle slightly ahead of me. My ears are still ringing from it. The cager reacted like they were about to get smooshed into the pavement by a tractor-trailer rig. I gotta get me one of those soon...
 
From what I hear the old Fiamm horns can nearly raise the dead as well. I might have to put a pair on the old beemer. BTW it isn't just motorcycles those cagers are trying to kill. On Sunday after the accident, some broad in a giant minivan did a u turn across 2 lanes of traffic cutting me off on the bicycle. I was so ****ed at her I actually stopped, and asked her if she had even seen me. She was totally oblivious. Ugh this stuff just maked me mad.
 
fgcason said:
...
One word: Stebel
I got to hear a stebel air horn go off a while back from a motorcycle slightly ahead of me. My ears are still ringing from it. The cager reacted like they were about to get smooshed into the pavement by a tractor-trailer rig. I gotta get me one of those soon...
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Thanks for the tip. Now I know what I need to shop for to replace the bum horn on the van.

Had a "neighbor" bore right through a stop sign to get in front of me yesterday, which I think is S.O.P. in Illinois now. We must have copied the California law.
 
vontresc said:
From what I hear the old Fiamm horns can nearly raise the dead as well. I might have to put a pair on the old beemer. BTW it isn't just motorcycles those cagers are trying to kill. On Sunday after the accident, some broad in a giant minivan did a u turn across 2 lanes of traffic cutting me off on the bicycle. I was so ****ed at her I actually stopped, and asked her if she had even seen me. She was totally oblivious. Ugh this stuff just maked me mad.
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Two wheeled vehicles -- motorized or not -- are invisible to most drivers, I've concluded.

The older the driver, the less likely he/she will see you.

I've ridden motorcycle on some pretty busy roads (I-95 around DC, I-81, PA Turnpike, NY Thruway, etc) and my tactic is to spend as little time near or next to other cars as possible. I pass fast -- no lingering. If I can't get by quickly I drop back and wait.

On a bicycle, it's a bit harder to pass, but on back roads I use as much of the road on turns as possible to make the oncoming traffic slow down and pass -- otherwise they just zip by inches away or cut in when oncoming traffic forces them over.

I've run down a few idiots at stop signs or lights on the bike. They are a bit surprised when you knock on the side glass.

One kid in a pickup tried to run me down on 741 outside of Strasburg, PA (nice wide shoulders on that road to accommodate the Amish buggies). He sideswiped me, drove me up into the dirt, trow a bottle, and sprayed gravel. His mirror missed my head by inches.

I took off and time-trialled into town and caught him at the light. I was on the driver's side and his window was down and I was ready to rip out his esophagus when a cop rolled by the opposite direction and asked what the trouble was.

Anyway, I don't recommend chasing down trucks and cars on a bike, but sometimes when death flashes by you when some idiot is just "having fun" it's hard to control the impulse.

I just wished I'd been competing that day -- my average speed over the rolling 7 miles into town was 30 MPH.
 
dmccormack said:
...
I took off and time-trialled into town and caught him at the light. I was on the driver's side and his window was down and I was ready to rip out his esophagus when a cop rolled by the opposite direction and asked what the trouble was.

Anyway, I don't recommend chasing down trucks and cars on a bike, but sometimes when death flashes by you when some idiot is just "having fun" it's hard to control the impulse.

I just wished I'd been competing that day -- my average speed over the rolling 7 miles into town was 30 MPH.
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DON'T END THE STORY THERE! How many days in county jail did the judge hit you with? ;)
 
mikea said:
DON'T END THE STORY THERE! How many days in county jail did the judge hit you with? ;)
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LOL!

It was close....

The cop talked me down from the ledge ("This punk's not worth it...") and then informed me "No blood, no foul."

Which I later learned is utter Amish Buggy Effluent -- Vehicular Assault requires no contact -- only the attempt.
 
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jmaynard said:
A request: If you don't want us car drivers talking about "crotch rockets", please don't call us "cagers", okkay? It's pejorative and insulting, even if not intended that way.
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Fer cryin' out loud, how is "cager" insulting? :dunno:


Current cager, former crotch rocket/rice grinder/jap bike jockey,
Trapper John
 
jmaynard said:
A request: If you don't want us car drivers talking about "crotch rockets", please don't call us "cagers", okkay? It's pejorative and insulting, even if not intended that way.
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I will stop calling them Cagers when they stop running us off the road :D

Seriously though, most motorcyclists will refer to their car as a cage. And yes it goes both ways. We call our helmet loathing, flipflop wearing, idiot sportbike riding bretheren Squids :-)
 
And boy aren't I glad I ride a fast bike. Screw braking, I accelerate out of trouble, before the damn idiot cagers murder me. Sorry, people who for the life of them can't see a giant red racing bike with a guy on it festooned head to toe in brightly colored racing leathers deserve some pejoration.
 
Well the verdict is in. Total loss, and I get a whopping $6913. Which is pretty much blue book value for my car in good conditon.

Anyone know of a car that's only been drivin to church by their grandma?
 

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vontresc said:
Well the verdict is in. Total loss, and I get a whopping $6913. Which is pretty much blue book value for my car in good conditon.

Anyone know of a car that's only been drivin to church by their grandma?
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We had pretty good luck using Auto Trader online to buy our last car.

Use caution in settling the vehicle claim - sometimes the insurance company will try to slip in a liability release for future medical/other liability claims. American Family tried to pull that one on me once, the b*stards. :mad:


Trapper John
 
vontresc said:
From what I hear the old Fiamm horns can nearly raise the dead as well.
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I have THREE of those in the nose of the RV. They do wake the dead and scare them to death again afterward. (When I push the quit-being-an-idget button, I don't tap it like most people do. I use it as an eductional device by holding the button down until the problem ceases to be a hazard...which can take a while sometimes :rofl: ) I'm seriously considering taking one off and installing it on the motorcycle when I realign the other two horns for maximum effect.

Don't think vehicle size makes a difference for an instant. Motorcycles are just easier to squish with less damage to the attacking vehicle. When I go Wanderabout in the RV, I'm almost 6 tons, 8 feet wide, 10.5 feet high and 41 feet long with the trailer (which is typically loaded to roughly 1300lbs) and have substantial steel I beams for support behind the big steel bumpers. People are often totally incapable of seeing even that for some reason. Last year I had a suicidal police car attempt to pull out in front of me doing a U turn while I was at speed. He almost got himself mooshed out of existence. I simply wasn't going to crash myself in a vain attempt to save him at that distance or velocity. It was going to be a controlled very survivable impact on my part. We didn't touch but it was very close and he would have taken on a lot of kinetic energy real quick. That's the first time I ever wanted to be pulled over by the police.

A request:
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Sorry. No offense intended.
Cager is a term used to describe the occupant who resides in the driver seat of a moving vehicle that does not function as a driver and behaves as if careless and wreckless as well as attempted murder is acceptable behavior.
BTW: The correct term for the motorcycle equivalent of cager is not crotch rocket. It's Squid - which stands for Super QUick and Invariably Dead. Same basic behavior pattern, different vehicle, less kinetic energy available at impact. You can usually identify them at a great distance by their shorts, flip flops, no shirt, occasional sunglasses (even at night) and a cheap glitzy helmet strapped down to the luggage rack.
If the individual does not want the title of cager and/or squid, they need to start acting like a driver/rider and pilot the vehicles in a sensible safe manner while remaining aware of what is going on around them. IOW, hang up, don't be piddling around in the backseat floorboard, look out the windows and drive.

I don't discriminate. I use both terms as appropriate as well as driver, rider or pilot depending on their actions and behavior. I routinely operate 2, 4 and 6 wheel vehicles ranging from 475 pounds to 6.5 tons plus the trailer.

FWIW, I refer to my jeep and RV as cages. Well, the RV is a wagon but it's the same basic thing. If you're riding inside a box, you're in a cage. I do not operate any vehicle as a cager or squid does.
 
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I don't think it is intended to be - you are in a protective cage.

Tim

"sportbike" rider, but you can call me whatever you like - can't hear ya' the earplugs in, anyways.

jmaynard said:
A request: If you don't want us car drivers talking about "crotch rockets", please don't call us "cagers", okkay? It's pejorative and insulting, even if not intended that way.
Click to expand...
 
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vontresc said:
Well the verdict is in. Total loss, and I get a whopping $6913. Which is pretty much blue book value for my car in good conditon.

Anyone know of a car that's only been drivin to church by their grandma?
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That Jeep next to it in the first picture looks like it has a story attached to it.

Sorry about the car. Good luck in the search.
 
vontresc said:
...snip... And yes it goes both ways. We call our helmet loathing, flipflop wearing, idiot sportbike riding bretheren Squids :-)
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I call them organ donors. Time (and talent) is against them.
Sorry about the car, Pete. I've lost three IN MY DRIVEWAY, sleeping quietly, not harming anyone. You never win when the insurance companies are involved.
NEVER!
 
vontresc said:
Well the verdict is in. Total loss, and I get a whopping $6913. Which is pretty much blue book value for my car in good conditon.
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Walk in to pick up the check with a neck brace and crutches...they'll see the light!

:rolleyes:
 
steingar said:
And boy aren't I glad I ride a fast bike. Screw braking, I accelerate out of trouble, before the damn idiot cagers murder me. Sorry, people who for the life of them can't see a giant red racing bike with a guy on it festooned head to toe in brightly colored racing leathers deserve some pejoration.
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Using the term "cagers" to tar us all with that broad brush is not the way to fix the problem. I make an effort to look out for motorcycles. Even so, I'm sometimes defeated by the idiots runinng 30 MPH above the speed of prevailing traffic, weaving in and out of traffic, riding in between vehicles that are staying properly in their lane, coming up out of the blind spot, and sending gravel flying from the shoulder, all while hunched over low on their crotch rockets in a sleeveless T-shirt, board shorts, flip flops, and no helmet.

Not all motorcyclists are like that. Not all drivers are, either. Please put away that broad brush unless you'd like it used on you, too.
 
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