Motorcycle officer killed in accident had green light

[jabo]

Very sad.

[BoKnuklz]

This is sad. This is the #1 accident type (at least in FL). It's a shame that folks don't pay better attention on the roads. As has been said before..you have to be defensive out there. I've been riding since '02 and those left turns at intersections still scare me. No matter how much you think you are prepared, you can't prepare for blind stupidity of the cagers...

[capttwb]

Tragic news... He was just trying to do his job. This is more proof some drivers are just oblivious to what is going on around them. Would not be surprised to hear a cell phone was in use in that van. Yep, ride like they are out to get you and never assume they will do what you think they will do.

[Pwfyrcat1]

A sad story indeed.

But let me tell you that oftentimes when I am at work, I am a firefighter by trade, too often people neither see nor hear emergency vehicles no matter how much noise we make Enclosed vehicles, distracted driving. Add to that, people seem to be confused on which way to go when we roll up on them, and oftentimes just come to a dead stop in the lane we want to proceed in. When I was young, it was pull to the right curb. Nowadays it's left or right. I don't care which lane, just move out of the way. In the state of Maryland our protocols of running lights and sirens does not give us the right away, but rather as a way of notifying people to let us pass unhindered. I don't blow signals, and even when I have the green, I slow down at intersections. That officer never thought or expected that driver to make a hard left in front of him. the driver may have never seen him approaching, and if the officer was travelling at a high rate of speed he was never going to have an opportunity to slow down or stop.

I expect the citizenry to do something completely unexpected(think stupid) when I am behind the wheel with lights and sirens.

When I heard it was a motor cop that was killed, I was surprised he was even out on a m/c, as cold as it's been. Yeah I know, they ride in most dry weather. Saw the picture of the minivan on the news, not pretty. As my mother liked to say, A good looking young man.

Nothing said can make this better. Sorry for the long write

[rquest]

Well it was obvious this A-hole didn't even see the RED LIGHT! Unfortunately the officer was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The same thing just happened to a very close friend, of a friend of mine. I only met him a couple of times but he was a very cool guy. His name was Gary and liked making music, art, computers and motorcycles. RIP

[Crown Custom Conversions]

Prayers for both families.

[scawein]

There are some interesting facts about cagers and all our abilities to see this or that. There are some very 'valid' reasons for people to not see us. Granted, that is not ALWAYS the case (probably mostly not the case) but there are rational scientific explanations for NOT seeing this or that.

See this test and watch 'things' disappear.... http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html


Just means we all have to be diligent and aware that indeed they may not 'see' us while looking directly at us...


Thought this was a good read:
"Get Horizontal"

by B. Jan Hoffman

43% of all motorcycle accidents occur as a result of an oncoming vehicle turning across the path of a rider. Drivers simply fail to recognize the motorcyclist's right of way. Their typical lament is "I just didn't see him". You might lament "How the **** is that possible, you were looking right at me, you zoned-out space cadet!"

Some motorcyclists may feel that drivers deliberately choose not to see us. They feel that drivers resent us because of our agility, acceleration, or designer leathers. Others suspect that some car drivers must be anally retentive psychopaths who compensate for their fear of flying by driving to kill.

In the urban rain forests of LA or New York, that may be true. But elsewhere, most drivers really don't see motorcycles. Well yes, their eyes see us, but the image doesn't register in the brain. Why is that?

Some intelligent doctor types have postulated that the brain is an organ which rejects, rather than gathers information. They believe that if all the information collected by the senses were to register, the brain would experience sensory overload and blow its fuses.

For example, all the billboards, signs and other visual messages along the road can't possibly register in the brains of car drivers. That would cause sensory overload. To prevent that, the brain tends to organize the world into systems; those which are important to the activity at hand, and those which aren't. The car driver's brain has learned to exclude the non-essentials, and to focus only on those objects which are a threat to survival. On the road, those objects are predominantly other cars. Because cars are much wider than they are tall, the brain systematizes threats as objects characterized by horizontal lines.

Things characterized by vertical lines are eliminated from consciousness as non-threatening, extraneous information. Trees, lamp standards, sign posts, bridge abutments, buildings; none of these vertical objects are liable to jump out in front of the driver to threaten his existence.

Along comes a motorcycle. The driver's eyes give it a quick visual scan and the brain determines that this too is a vertical object. No threat. No further focus required. Zone out. Continue replay of last nights debauchery.
The next thing you know, the driver turns left across your lane even though you can see him looking right at you!

In my early days of riding, an experienced rider hammered at me ceaselessly with the message that "You are invisible out there!" All I heard him say was "Be careful". I didn't understand at the time that he was saying "To most car drivers, you are literally invisible."

Anyone with experience on a bike knows that he was right. Many a novice rider has departed the corporal world because he rode his bike the way he drove his car; as if he could actually be seen.

My advice is, if you don't want to be horizontal, look horizontal. How do we do that? One way is to use running lights. Many Japanese bikes have orange running lights up front integrated into the signal light housing. That gives some sense of horizontal perspective to car drivers. Some Harleys have a pair of white driving lights alongside of the headlight. That's more effective due to the increased candlepower.

I've often lamented the lack of stock running lights on unfaired airheads. A single headlight does not give a sense of perspective, and therefore tends to disappear into the background. I replaced the stock signal lights on the front of my Roadster with 4" round signal/running lights. They immediately and dramatically improved the etiquette of the other users of the road. Some Airheads have disparaged the aesthetics of my "police" lights. I find the impromptu installation of a Buick grill even less attractive.

I've also converted the rear signal lights to signal/running lights. As with the additional front lights, they made an immediate improvement in the etiquette of other road users.

I realized the importance of rear running lights when I was following a friend home from Barley Therapy one dark evening. To my surprise, rather than focusing on his GS tail light and spacing myself accordingly, I soon found myself gauging my distance from the rear end of the car ahead of him.
His pathetic little taillight simply dissolved into the brighter lights of the car, and his bike effectively disappeared.

If this can happen to me, you can be sure it will happen to car drivers, who are not attuned to motorcycles.

So, get horizontal. Convert your signal lights into signal/running lights. If you are going to apply reflective tape to your bike, jacket or helmet, make horizontal or diagonal lines rather than vertical ones.

Most of all, negotiate our streets and highways as if you are invisible.

[markdorland]

This is sad to hear and one reason I only have 1,200 miles on my bike. I ride in the country side of the Michigan farm belt and even that is dangerous. I too assume no one is going to stop for me. I watch their front tires to see signs of them turning or still rolling. It is nearly exhausting sometimes but the second you let your guard down bad stuff will happen.

Good gear/helmet will help but in the end they are the 4,000 pound gorilla in the battle!

Saw a teenage girl driving too fast down a country road near me this summer (50 in a 35 zone maybe) anyway, she passes me, I look over at her as she goes buy, she is texting and acted like I was a pothole she needed to avoid. 10 miles up the road I see a mail box and half of it's post in the road! "Crap!" I brake and steer around it. Figured I dodge a bullet there. Another few miles or so I see "said girl" standing in front of her car talking on the cell phone with a busted radiator. THE ONLY REASON SHE STOPPED was she could not see through the steam!!!! There was nothing I could do for her since she was calling Daddy for a tow truck, but I was scared to death that she would be back on the roads soon enough!!

[capttwb]

Originally Posted by scawein

There are some interesting facts about cagers and all our abilities to see this or that. There are some very 'valid' reasons for people to not see us. Granted, that is not ALWAYS the case (probably mostly not the case) but there are rational scientific explanations for NOT seeing this or that.

See this test and watch 'things' disappear.... http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html


Just means we all have to be diligent and aware that indeed they may not 'see' us while looking directly at us...


Thought this was a good read:
"Get Horizontal"

by B. Jan Hoffman

43% of all motorcycle accidents occur as a result of an oncoming vehicle turning across the path of a rider. Drivers simply fail to recognize the motorcyclist's right of way. Their typical lament is "I just didn't see him". You might lament "How the **** is that possible, you were looking right at me, you zoned-out space cadet!"

Some motorcyclists may feel that drivers deliberately choose not to see us. They feel that drivers resent us because of our agility, acceleration, or designer leathers. Others suspect that some car drivers must be anally retentive psychopaths who compensate for their fear of flying by driving to kill.

In the urban rain forests of LA or New York, that may be true. But elsewhere, most drivers really don't see motorcycles. Well yes, their eyes see us, but the image doesn't register in the brain. Why is that?

Some intelligent doctor types have postulated that the brain is an organ which rejects, rather than gathers information. They believe that if all the information collected by the senses were to register, the brain would experience sensory overload and blow its fuses.

For example, all the billboards, signs and other visual messages along the road can't possibly register in the brains of car drivers. That would cause sensory overload. To prevent that, the brain tends to organize the world into systems; those which are important to the activity at hand, and those which aren't. The car driver's brain has learned to exclude the non-essentials, and to focus only on those objects which are a threat to survival. On the road, those objects are predominantly other cars. Because cars are much wider than they are tall, the brain systematizes threats as objects characterized by horizontal lines.

Things characterized by vertical lines are eliminated from consciousness as non-threatening, extraneous information. Trees, lamp standards, sign posts, bridge abutments, buildings; none of these vertical objects are liable to jump out in front of the driver to threaten his existence.

Along comes a motorcycle. The driver's eyes give it a quick visual scan and the brain determines that this too is a vertical object. No threat. No further focus required. Zone out. Continue replay of last nights debauchery.
The next thing you know, the driver turns left across your lane even though you can see him looking right at you!

In my early days of riding, an experienced rider hammered at me ceaselessly with the message that "You are invisible out there!" All I heard him say was "Be careful". I didn't understand at the time that he was saying "To most car drivers, you are literally invisible."

Anyone with experience on a bike knows that he was right. Many a novice rider has departed the corporal world because he rode his bike the way he drove his car; as if he could actually be seen.

My advice is, if you don't want to be horizontal, look horizontal. How do we do that? One way is to use running lights. Many Japanese bikes have orange running lights up front integrated into the signal light housing. That gives some sense of horizontal perspective to car drivers. Some Harleys have a pair of white driving lights alongside of the headlight. That's more effective due to the increased candlepower.

I've often lamented the lack of stock running lights on unfaired airheads. A single headlight does not give a sense of perspective, and therefore tends to disappear into the background. I replaced the stock signal lights on the front of my Roadster with 4" round signal/running lights. They immediately and dramatically improved the etiquette of the other users of the road. Some Airheads have disparaged the aesthetics of my "police" lights. I find the impromptu installation of a Buick grill even less attractive.

I've also converted the rear signal lights to signal/running lights. As with the additional front lights, they made an immediate improvement in the etiquette of other road users.

I realized the importance of rear running lights when I was following a friend home from Barley Therapy one dark evening. To my surprise, rather than focusing on his GS tail light and spacing myself accordingly, I soon found myself gauging my distance from the rear end of the car ahead of him.
His pathetic little taillight simply dissolved into the brighter lights of the car, and his bike effectively disappeared.

If this can happen to me, you can be sure it will happen to car drivers, who are not attuned to motorcycles.

So, get horizontal. Convert your signal lights into signal/running lights. If you are going to apply reflective tape to your bike, jacket or helmet, make horizontal or diagonal lines rather than vertical ones.

Most of all, negotiate our streets and highways as if you are invisible.

This is great information, after having ridden for just about 50 years I can attest everything in this post is 100% factual. The more lights on your front and back the better. Bright helmet and jacket( florescent green ) help make you stand out. I can't count how many motorists looked me in the eye and turned left in front of me over the years. I used to think the most dangerous vehicle on the road was the one with two women in the front seat having a conversation. (the stories I could tell about that) Now it is the single woman driver on a cell phone. Not that men are not just as bad, however most of my encounters have been with women talking on the cell phone. Now the young women are even worse, little driving experience and texting on the **** phone. Cell phones should be locked in the trunk.

[Mike7202]

End of watch for Officer Yung.

click the orange arrow near the top left by his name to hear the end of watch call

https://soundcloud.com/#mike-adel/of...g-end-of-watch