Road Rage in the Southland

[BStrong]

Highways sometimes have security cameras so he may have been photographed. Sometimes there are ways to know where he exited and where he went, again by looking at cameras.

Maybe.

Depends on if the camera's in question are actually working. You can access Cal-trans cameras on their website, but when you check for yourself many are out-of-service on any given day.

There's also the issue of camera resolution, camera angle and the condition of the plate. Nothings more frustrating than having a dead camera or a bad angle on a driver/rider/vehicle whatever.

 

[Elagabalus]

Yeah, I know the guys you mean. 20-year-olds who get a high-powered bike and think that means they can go weaving in and out of traffic at 90 mph.

In my MC club we call them "squids" - because that's what their innards look like when they're splattered across the road.

But just think of the entertainment value:



Be sure and watch all his crash vids.

An oldie but a goodie: Hipster on a scooter

 

[William Parcher]

The plate number may not be necessary if you can figure out where he came from and/or where he went.

The other and easy route is to ask the public for help. He may have already bragged about it.

 

[BStrong]

The plate number may not be necessary if you can figure out where he came from and/or where he went.

The other and easy route is to ask the public for help. He may have already bragged about it.

Could well be. There may be other video from witnesses that hasn't yet been released, but usually on a deal like this everybody tries to get their footage out in public asap.

 

[LTC8K6]

I'm going with 99% the car's fault and 1% the biker's fault.

The car driver nearly killed the biker earlier, apparently. Car driver apparently changed lanes right into the biker earlier, which set this whole thing off.

The biker kicked at the car, but then the car driver tried to kill the biker again and lost control in the process, causing the accident.

The biker will have to answer for leaving the scene, though.

I don't know if I would have stuck around with a car driver trying to kill me, though.

I also read that the car driver is claiming that the biker flashed a knife at him, but I'm not buying that.

 

[BStrong]

But just think of the entertainment value:



Be sure and watch all his crash vids.

An oldie but a goodie: Hipster on a scooter

That corner on Mulholland has been a bike graveyard since there's been bikes.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Not a rider myself at the moment, but I've heard from friends who are that there are far too many PV drivers out there who seem to think it their life's purpose to make things as hard as possible for motorcycles of any sort. Up to and including running them off the road. I've seen plenty of near-misses involving motorcycles (and encountered more than a few myself in my PV) from jackass PV drivers who simply don't pay the slightest bit of attention to the traffic around them. The younger and/or more affluent, the worse they behave.

I can't really blame the rider for lashing out, but he did it in a profoundly stupid way.

The witness said the cycle rider passed them between lanes. Could also be the guy did something similar to the car who was changing lanes and didn't see him. 19 yr old vehicle driver, reckless bike rider with an attitude...

There is more than one possibility.

From the link upstream describing the witness account:

Chris Taber, the driver who shot the video, says moments before he grabbed his phone, the motorcyclist had also passed him between lanes.
Then, when the Nissan’s driver tried to get out of the carpool lane, he bumped the motorcycle. Traber doesn’t know if it was an accident or on purpose. That’s when the two men started yelling and the biker started kicking the Nissan driver’s door.

“I’m sure the guy on the motorcycle was scared and totally startled because he almost went down and I’m sure his adrenaline kicked in,” Traber said.

So where was that cycle when the Nissan bumped him? In between lanes? Not just in the car's blind spot but in a spot you might not see when you checked your blind spot.

Not saying which possibility was the actual one, just saying not every cycle rider is so innocent.

 

[Elagabalus]

The witness said the cycle rider passed them between lanes. Could also be the guy did something similar to the car who was changing lanes and didn't see him. 19 yr old vehicle driver, reckless bike rider with an attitude...

There is more than one possibility.

You can 'lane-split" in Ca, SG.

 

[GodMark2]

You can 'lane-split" in Ca, SG.

But only when traffic is moving at less than 30MPH...

 

[luchog]

You can 'lane-split" in Ca, SG.

There's a push to legalize lane-splitting here as well.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

You can 'lane-split" in Ca, SG.

I don't know about that, but even so, it doesn't make it safe. If the cyclist contributed to the Nissan not seeing him, some blame shifts to the biker.

 

[BStrong]

The witness said the cycle rider passed them between lanes. Could also be the guy did something similar to the car who was changing lanes and didn't see him. 19 yr old vehicle driver, reckless bike rider with an attitude...

There is more than one possibility.

From the link upstream describing the witness account:So where was that cycle when the Nissan bumped him? In between lanes? Not just in the car's blind spot but in a spot you might not see when you checked your blind spot.

Not saying which possibility was the actual one, just saying not every cycle rider is so innocent.

My post from another thread:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11890026&postcount=130

There is a study on the practice of lane splitting by motorcyclists:

http://www.ots.ca.gov/pdf/Publicatio...afety-2015.pdf

Result in a nutshell. Lane splitting is safe. The higher the speed differential between the motorcyclist and passenger vehicle, the greater the risk.

LA Times article:

http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...729-story.html

But anecdotal evidence suggests many drivers are uncomfortable with, or irritated by, lane-splitting.

So does research.

More than three-quarters of drivers interviewed for a 2012 study conducted by the California Office for Traffic Safety said they thought lane-splitting was unsafe. Almost half thought it was illegal. Two-thirds said they disapproved, and 7% admitted they had swerved to block a motorcycle trying to lane-split.

IME, that 7% may be grossly low.

I don't know know any rider who lane splits that hasn't had the experience of a passenger vehicle driver either trying to block them, or actually succeeding - a driver will pull halfway into the adjoining lane to block the rider from passing.

It's not just a male ego thing either. I've been on the receiving end of female road rage more than once.

From the same thread:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11895112&postcount=160

 

[BStrong]

But only when traffic is moving at less than 30MPH...

There's no statute specifying the legality or the illegality of lane splitting.

CHP issued a position paper on lane splitting declaring it a safe practice.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016...-a-reality-in-california-with-chp-guidelines/

An individual objected to unlawful law making on the part of the CHP and filed a complaint through the Office of Administrative Law which up held the complaint:

http://kpia.com/chp-removes-motorcycle-lane-splitting-guidelines/

It's up to the officer that observes the lane splitting as to whether or not the rider is operating the bike safely.

 

[NoahFence]

My post from another thread:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11890026&postcount=130

There is a study on the practice of lane splitting by motorcyclists:

http://www.ots.ca.gov/pdf/Publicatio...afety-2015.pdf

Result in a nutshell. Lane splitting is safe. The higher the speed differential between the motorcyclist and passenger vehicle, the greater the risk.

LA Times article:

http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...729-story.html

But anecdotal evidence suggests many drivers are uncomfortable with, or irritated by, lane-splitting.

So does research.

More than three-quarters of drivers interviewed for a 2012 study conducted by the California Office for Traffic Safety said they thought lane-splitting was unsafe. Almost half thought it was illegal. Two-thirds said they disapproved, and 7% admitted they had swerved to block a motorcycle trying to lane-split.

IME, that 7% may be grossly low.

I don't know know any rider who lane splits that hasn't had the experience of a passenger vehicle driver either trying to block them, or actually succeeding - a driver will pull halfway into the adjoining lane to block the rider from passing.

It's not just a male ego thing either. I've been on the receiving end of female road rage more than once.

From the same thread:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11895112&postcount=160

I will never believe that lane splitting is safe. That's absurd. There's a space between cars for a reason. If either car, or both, drifts, the bike is screwed.

And why would a driver focus there? There's no need. Since nothing is supposed to be in that space, as soon as you've determined it's safe you pay attention to what's in front of you and maybe glace over once in a while.

 

[William Parcher]

It's not just a male ego thing either. I've been on the receiving end of female road rage more than once.

Yeah but another thing can happen too. Some chicks see a dude on a bike splitting lanes and think he is righteous or hot or sexy or just a real man. That's because he is grabbing the gusto and taking what is there to be taken when there is only one life to live. He's the kind of dude who brings home the bacon, or if she is Jewish, he brings home the brisket.

Sometimes a lane splitter dude is the one she marries.

 

[BStrong]

I will never believe that lane splitting is safe. That's absurd. There's a space between cars for a reason. If either car, or both, drifts, the bike is screwed.

And why would a driver focus there? There's no need. Since nothing is supposed to be in that space, as soon as you've determined it's safe you pay attention to what's in front of you and maybe glace over once in a while.

If you read the links to my posts there was my description of me being rear-ended while riding, including pictures of the crash damage in situ. I also described the death of one of my friends who was rear-ended while riding w/o lane sharing on a bridge that resulted in his death.

You may not believe it or want to believe it, but a rider stopped in traffic is one inattentive second away from being killed or seriously injured in a type of accident that would be inconsequential for a passenger vehicle. Lane sharing is intended to be a safe alternative for riders in passing passenger vehicles, not as a standard lane position at speed. I was not lane sharing because the roadway and the vehicles parked along the street prohibited safely doing so.

I was very lucky. Lot's of people aren't.

I don't believe this particular rider was doing much thinking, in at least what we see in the video. What this incident has to do with actual lane sharing is yet to be determined.

 

[BStrong]

Yeah but another thing can happen too. Some chicks see a dude on a bike splitting lanes and think he is righteous or hot or sexy or just a real man. That's because he is grabbing the gusto and taking what is there to be taken when there is only one life to live. He's the kind of dude who brings home the bacon, or if she is Jewish, he brings home the brisket.

Sometimes a lane splitter dude is the one she marries.

Not in my experience, but ymmv.

 

[William Parcher]

Not in my experience, but ymmv.

What, a lane splitter dude never brought you bacon?

 

[BStrong]

I don't know about that, but even so, it doesn't make it safe. If the cyclist contributed to the Nissan not seeing him, some blame shifts to the biker.

IMO the rider did something incredibly stupid that may or may not have caused the PV operator to do something incredibly stupid w/ potentially lethal intent, and after that things just got worse.

Lots of fault to go around but the fact the rider didn't stop tells me he didn't believe he was in the right. If I had the good luck to ride through an attempt to hit me while I was riding and that type of chain reaction accident went down, I'd want to bear witness on the spot.

That guy split quick.

 

[BStrong]

What, a lane splitter dude never brought you bacon?

Never.

The object of the exercise was always to get from point A to point B .

Point V wasn't part of the equation, but I did ride w/ some pretty ladies that were great sport riders in their own right.

I used to tell them if I weighed 120 like them they could never catch me.

And they'd laugh.