A Nevada man named Joel Mcrae was killed on Saturday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m. on State Road 143 near Brian Head.  Utah Highway Patrol reported that Macrae's 1996 Harley Davidson tipped on a curve and he and the bike slid into the oncoming lane when an east-bound Mitsubushi hit the bike and ran over Macrae.  The crash is under investigation.

I do not know if Mr. Macrae was on his way to Thunder on teh Mountain but it is a possibility.  I also do not know how much Mr. Macrae enjoyed riding his motorcycle but my guess is he loved to ride.  I have rode my bike to Brian Head and the roads and scenery is spectacular.  The Utah Travel Inductry has an excellent article on Thunder on the Mountain and talks about why bikers are bikers.  I read the Utah Travel post just after reading about Mr. Macrae's death.  However, the Utah Travel article was posted before the crash that killed Mr. Macrae but I bet that the article explains why he and all of us bikers are bikers.  My thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr. Macrae.

The Utah Highway Patrol reported that Charles Taylor, 56, of West Jordan was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-80 in Parley's Canyon near Jeremy Ranch on July 3, 2009 at about 1:25 p.m..  Mr. Taylor was riding east with a group of motorcycles when he was forced off the freeway by a car that "cut him off."  From reports it looks like the offending car swerved into his lane and slowed and although Mr. Taylor slammed on his brakes he crashed into the back of the car causing him to flip several times.  Cameron Roden, a spokesman for UHP said "The Marquis made a lane change in front of the Harley-Davidson The Harley was in the center lane, - the driver was not able to avoid the collision." The driver of the Mercury, a 65-year-old Minnesota man, might be cited in the crash, Roden said. A medical helicopter was dispatched to the scene and Mr. Taylor was transported to the University of Utah Hospital where he was pronounced dead ten minutes after arrival.

Coincidentally I was also riding home on my motorcycle with my son on his motorcycle from a day trip to Mirror Lake.  We had stopped in Park City for a break and something to drink when I received a call from a friend who knew we were in the area making sure we were not the victims of the crash.  The motorcycle community is a close-knit community and whenever we hear of a motorcycle crash the cell phones light up to see who was involved - making sure it is not someone we know.  We finished our drink and mounted our bikes for the always hairy ride down Parley's.  Maybe it is just the nature of the road and traffic in Parley's but I also think that inpatient drivers dealing with slower-moving trucks that make this road treacherous.

I received another call later that night from another motorcycle friend telling me that Mr. Taylor was a friend of theirs and for the first time remembered meeting the man at a bike rally on our way to Elko a couple of weeks previous.  Mr. Taylor was a seasoned motorcycle rider and knew how to handle a bike.  This very sad crash goes to show that no matter how careful we motorcycle riders are that we must be constantly vigilant in not only how we ride but how other people are driving.  Even the best riders get killed by the momentary indifference or inattentiveness of a driver who does not look where they are going.

Sabisch laid down his bike about 126 feet prior to the intersection and hit the left rear tire of the woman's Ford Explorer. He was not wearing a helmet, deputies said.  Sabisch was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the SUV was cited for failing to yield, Anderson said.

I always find it interesting to read the comments that are posted to these articles.  Helmet use in Utah is not mandatory for motorcycle riders unless they are 18 years of age or younger.  There are arguments on both sides of the issue and the issue provokes heated debate depending on your point of view.

The Standard reports that a man on a scooter was transferred by helicopter to a downstate hospital after a Wednesday evening scooter collision on 400 North.  While heading east a truck pulled out in front of the scooter causing the crash at 100 West causing the 20-year-old scooter driver to suffer head injury and "a major femur injury" in one leg, said Bountiful Police Sgt. Todd Hixson adding that the scooter was "... completely crushed."  The victim was life-flighted to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray for treatment.

The article in the Standard, at least to me, seems to infer that becasue scooters are small that all of the onus of protection is in the scooter rider to ensure his own safety.  Shouldn't drivers of vehicles be on the lookout for scooters and motorcycles.  It is not the law in Utah to wear a helmet unless the scooter or motorcycle rider is 18 years old or younger.  There are no definitive studies that clearly demonstrate that helmets prevent death - none I am aware of anyway.  It is a libertarian / freedom argument that wearing helmets are up to the user.  I know the arguments the other way too - claiming that helmets minimize damage and therefore should be mandated to take the burden off of society for caring for persons who sustain brain injuries when not wearing a helmet.

What do you think?

On June 24, 2009 near 400 North and 100 West in Bountiful, Utah a man was severely injured in a scooter crash.  Reportedly a truck was stopped at  a stop sign and the scooter rider drove through the intersection just as the truck started to go again.  KSL reports that Bountiful police Sargent Todd Hixson said "The truck, from what we can tell so far, didn't see the scooter, pulled out in front of him, and the scooter hit the side of the truck."

The KSL article did not say whether there was a stop sign facing the scooter rider or who was responsible for the crash but the rider did suffer a broken femur and sustained head injury.  Apparently an investigation is ongoing and the police say if they cite anyone, it will be the truck driver.

This is the whole point to my recent television campaign - to alert drivers to the fact that there are motorcycles and scooters on the road and to look for us.  Let's all be careful out there.

 

Robert Adkins, 48, of Henrieville was heading east at about 9:00 p.m. when a Honda Accord heading west turned left in front of him causing the crash.  Adkins was riding his Harley Davidson Super Glide when the Accord turned left to enter Harold's Place Inn in Panguich.  Left-turning vehicles are a major cause of crashes with motorcycles - often the driver of the vehicle claim they just plain did not see the motorcycle.

Becki Bronson, the Garfield County sheriff's spokesperson says Adkins was leaving the Silverado Boys Ranch south of Panguitch when he was killed. He had recently started a job there as a counselor after finishing a master's degree in social work at Southern Utah University.  Mr. Bronson leaves behind a wife and six children.

This crash needs to be fully investigated and screened by the county attorney for possible charges.  This is a horrific and totally unnecessary accident that could have been prevented had the driver of the Accord simply slowed down and looked.  There are great losses resulting from this crash including a father to six children and a loving husband who was about to contribute to society as a social worker helping troubled youth at Silverado Boys Ranch.

There was a crash involving a car and a motorcycle in Utah yesterday on Bargerter Highway at 5400 South at about 4:00 p.m.  One person was described as having "significant injuries" and was taken to hospital.  This story was reported in the Salt Lake Tribune.

If there is a question of liability notice needs to be served on UDOT immediately to preserve the video from the commuter-link video that is in operation at the scene.  Sometimes the difference between winning and losing a case is the up front investigation done in the case by the attorney and their staff of professionals including plain old digging to accident reconstruction engineers.

What is curious is that there are no other news stories on the web about this crash.  I am interested in this crash because I have handled another crash at the same location last year involving a drunk driver and a motorcycle rider.  The intersection is a large intersection and when I have ridden that stretch of road on my bike I feel very open and very vulnerable thinking that car drivers are looking at everything else but me.

Roy Utah was the scene of a motorcycle death on June 11, 2009 at the intersection of 1900 West and 5900 South when he was struck by a car.  According to Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham a car pulled out of a parking lot hitting the motorcycle.  Apparently the initial crash sent the motorcycle rider into the oncoming lane where he was hit by two other vehicles.  The rider of the motorcycle was Dallas Olsen, 29 years old of Roy, Utah.

As of today the crash is still under investigation but police are releasing the names of the three motorists involved in the crash, but won’t say which one could face charges. The three others involved have been identified as Dustin J. Delair, 31, Amy Fennell, 40, and Brandi Peterson, 28. "At this point, because it’s a preliminary investigation, we won’t release their positioning in the crash," Whinham said. "So far, there has been nobody cited and no charges."

This senseless crash follows another recent and senseless crash just north of Chicago.  In the Chicago crash a woman painting her fingernails failed to notice or even slow down rear-ending and killing a woman on a motorcycle that was waiting for a light to change.  There is a lot of talk about stiffening criminal charges for people who blatantly ignore the traffic laws and end up killing others.  What do you think?

On June 6, 2009 a distracted tow truck driver initiated a sequence of events that would leave one man dead and others fighting for their lives.  Michael Carver was killed when his Honda SUV was struck by the tow truck after it crashed through temporary concrete lane dividers.  The tow truck then struck a pick-up and landed on top of a Toyota .  All of this happened in a construction area on I-15 in Davis County.  About one half hour later two people on a motorcycle were thrown from their motorcycle when they came upon the crash created by the tow truck.  The man and woman motorcycle riders were airlifted to local hospitals in critical condition.

I often find it very interesting to read   that follow the article in the press.  One such list of comments can be found on the Deseret News site.  From reading the comments it sounds like there were people doing what was needed to be done from helping the man out of the crushed Toyota to simply holding onto others while they waited for EMS to arrive.

UDOT claims that the things they "...do in construction zones meet and exceed National (Transportation) Safety Board standards," according to the Davis County Clipper.  However UDOT also increased safety measures by placing more barrels on the road to warn drivers so they have more time to merge away from highway construction sites.  The National Transportation Safety Board has very specific and stringent rules that control the placement of warning signs in construction areas.  I have read these rules very closely when investigating other cases and what most impresses me is the line between too many signs and not enough.  Too few signs and there is inadequate warning - too many and the construction zone becomes a maze of confusion.  Human frailties have to be considered and any human tendency to attenuate is under stress in unique and new situations - in other words there is a fine line.  The rules exist for a reason and that reason is that the NTSB does the research and determines the best rules to follow.

I do not know if all of the NTSB rules were being followed by UDOT but I know that they need to be investigated.  Were the lane dividers of the proper size and weight?  Were there too many signs - too few?  Were the correct signs being used - were they in good repair - properly positioned?  These are all questions that need to be asked - and answered.  I address these issues in another recent post where another motorcycle rider died on I-84 in Utah concerning construction areas.  The bikers injured need a good motorcycle injury lawyer to fully evaluate their crash.

 

The Deseret News reported that another motorcycle crash Friday claimed the life of a 62-year-old man. A couple from Edmund, Okla., was riding on state Route 24 near Cainesville about 2:30 p.m. when the driver lost control for an unknown reason, Roden said. The motorcycle went down an embankment and overturned, killing Ronald Burkhart and injuring 67-year-old Rosetta Blocker.

It appears in this report that the motorcycle driver lost control for no apparent reason.  As a motorcycle rider myself I am always skeptical of these reports.  It is almost impossible to lose control for no reason.  You can completely let go of your handlebars and most bikes will drive themselves at least for some distance.  Sand on the road or an animal are better explanations.  As for fatigue and falling asleep it is almost impossible to fall asleep on a motorcycle - at least on my Harley that is true.

This crash needs to be investigated.