View from the cop

By jack

July 22, 2008 2:15 PM | Link to this

Actually, that AJC article was about bicyclists not motorcyclists. But your point is very valid. I’ve been riding motorcycles for nigh on 30 years now and had my share of scrapes and broken bones. It’s not fun. As you say, two-wheeling is not for everyone.

By Ken Hoffman

July 22, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this

Lt. Rose: I see that you often look at home protection. I’d love to invite you to Winder GA,(its made at AMS Inc. at 824 Bill Rutledge Rd.) where the “Hurricane Hutch” a specially designed container to protect tools, valuables, collectibles etc. is being made. It looks beautiful in the garage but this storm proof container keeps the theives away with specially designed bolts and locking system. Please let us know if you can stop by. Thanks Ken Hoffman, President Hurricane Hutch Corp and check out our website. www.hurricanehutch.com

By Ken Hoffman

July 22, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this

Lt. Rose: I see that you often look at home protection. I’d love to invite you to Winder GA,(its made at AMS Inc. at 824 Bill Rutledge Rd.) where the “Hurricane Hutch” a specially designed container to protect tools, valuables, collectibles etc. is being made. It looks beautiful in the garage but this storm proof container keeps the theives away with specially designed bolts and locking system. Please let us know if you can stop by. Thanks Ken Hoffman, President Hurricane Hutch Corp and check out our website. www.hurricanehutch.com (908) 251-3041

By Stone

July 22, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this

Uh, Lt., the article you alluded to about the guy with two broken elbows was actually about a dude riding a bicycle on the street, not a motorcycle. However, your point, as always, was valid: driving a two wheeler on the road, motorized or not, is just asking for trouble. I lost a friend Christmas day due to one minor mistake. He was on a motorcycle, she in a car. He lost.

By Harley Less

July 22, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this

As my Pappy always used to say, “Never fergit — when you have a fender bender on a motor-sickle, YOU are the fender.”

By Tom T

July 22, 2008 6:58 PM | Link to this

As a past Chapter Educator for the GWRRA (GoldWing Road Riders Association) and long time motorcycle rider, I want to issue a coupld of pieces of information.

1) The most common motorcycle vs 4-wheeler crash is caused by the driver of the 4-wheeler turning left in front of the motorcycle. (As Lt. Rose correctly stated)

2) ANYTIME a motorcycle gets into a crash with a 4-wheeler, the motorcycle loses.

3) ALWAYS wear a helmet, and not the cheapest one you can find!! If your head is worth more than $50, your helmet should be, too.

Ride safe, ride aware, and ALWAYS yield the right-of-way, even if you aren’t REQUIRED to. Pretty good way to keep from having the ER staff have to dig rocks out of the wounds on your butt!!

By Van

July 22, 2008 7:02 PM | Link to this

Yeah, I agree that in spite of the appeal of the 2 wheels there are 2 types of motorcyclists, those who have been in an accident and those that are going to be. I myself would love to have one, but all of the safety courses in the world can’t change the laws of physics.

By Traumatized for Life

July 22, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this

This past spring my husband and I were sitting at a red light waiting to turn right. There was a lot of traffic so we couldn’t turn and were literally just sitting there. Neither of us saw exactly what happened because his gaze was focused on the light waiting for it to change and I was getting my glasses out of my purse, but we heard a crash and turned toward the sound. To our horror, we saw a motorcycle going under a car with two people flying off the motorcycle, through the air, toward our van. I actually locked eyes with the driver of the motorcycle right before he hit the driver’s side of our van. His passenger also hit the side of our van and became wedged underneath the driver’s side door. There were legs smashed into bits, skin torn, bones protruding, and a brain damaged beyond saving. The worst part is that there was not a darned thing we could do to prevent it nor could we help once it happened because these were injuries well beyond our scope of training. Ultimately a young girl is left without a mother and we, along with several witnesses, are left with the vision of two people smiling one second being violently smashed and horribly broken the next second. Our bones are not made to withstand the kind of force put on them when they, at 40 mph or so, come to a sudden stop because they’ve met up with a hard stationary object. The bone shatters, our skin tears, and the bone moves from its usual safe place to a not so good place outside the body. Even if a helmet is being worn, when the helmeted head hits the pavement or a guardrail or the side of a vehicle, the brain sloshes forward, backward and sideways, each time striking the inside of our skull. Remember now, the amount of force with which the brain comes in contact with the inside of our skull is the weight of the brain x the speed the brain is moving. So if a brain weighs 5 lbs and hits the inside of the skull at 40 miles per hour, it’s as if the brain weighs 200 lbs. That’s a lot of force for a soft, easily bruised, life-essential organ to endure. Now, how many people do you know that actually drive 40 miles per hour? So multiply the weight of the brain with the “usual” speed of 50, 55, 60 mph traveled on residential streets and you basically end up with mush. Anyone who has a child or someone who loves them owes it those loved ones to put a For Sale sign on that bike and buy a hybrid.

~ Just call me “Traumatized for Life”

By el jefe

July 22, 2008 9:05 PM | Link to this

I like how Atlanta’s finest pulled me over the other morning for not wearing my seatbelt. The fine? $15. The cop who wrote the ticket? On a motorcycle. I thought about asking him where his seatbelt was, but figured that probably wasn’t in my best interest.

What a joke.

By Willie G

July 22, 2008 9:35 PM | Link to this

Riding a motorcycle is like making love. It is fun, but it can be dangerous. You have to know when to hold them, know when to jump.

By Wendy T.

July 22, 2008 11:07 PM | Link to this

Lt. Steve, my husband drives a motorcycle and no matter how careful he is, there are always IDIOTS who are not paying attention. I just want everyone to remember ‘Look twice save a life, motorcycles are everywhere’

By Dave

July 23, 2008 2:09 AM | Link to this

I love my Harley. That’s why I don’t take it out of the neighborhood very often. I’m afraid someone will hit it and scratch it up.

By It's all about the money

July 23, 2008 5:41 AM | Link to this

To By el jefe @ July 22, 2008 9:05 PM , Never mind the motorcycle, cops have an exemption that they don’t have to wear seatbelts in vehicles. Like most all the laws, the laws that are foisted upon us like tinted windows, speeding and running red lights don’t apply to cops. They get to do whatever they want. I want to know why they continually pass me on the highway doing 75 in a 55 zone. But the bottom line is that it is really all about the money. The speed traps, seatbelt laws and HOV ramps are revenue generating extortion schemes for localities to bolster their bottom line. Trying to get the cops to find who burglarized your house is a waste of time because there is no money in it.

By Jared

July 23, 2008 8:31 AM | Link to this

My uncle died on his motorcycle in 1994.

I ride a Vespa to and from work each day. I carefully laid out a route (although a little longer) that keeps me off of the main roads and out of major intersections.

I spend $4 a week on gas.

If more people would get rid of their cars and get scooters we could acomplish a few things:

By Hear the Herd

July 23, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this

Motorcycles are for trimming the herd. I’ve never met a nice motorcyclist. They’re all rebels and confederate trash.

Bicycles are for trimming the herd too. I’ve never met a nice kid on a bike. They’re all rebels and confederate trash.

Walking is for trimming the herd also. I’ve never met a nice person on foot. They’re all rebels and confederate trash.

This country would be perfect if we could trim the herd the way herds need to be trimmed, if’n you get what I be intimating this day.

Word. UP!

By David

July 23, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this

To hear the Herd, You sound like some Yankee idiot that should move back North. The confederacy disbanded over 140 years ago! You also are probably a rude trashy road hog!

By Hear the Herd

July 23, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

Soccor moms in spandex pushing baby carriages is for trimming the herd, too. I never met a nice soccor mom or even a half way polite baby in a carriage being pushed by a soccor mom in spandex. They’re all rebels and confederate trish-trash, (splish splash).

That’s why the good lord invented physics, if’n you be hip to what I be intimatin’ to you this day.

Trim the herd. (or get some trim from the soccor mom in spandex afore you trim the herd)

Trim! Word UP!

By gadyke

July 23, 2008 1:33 PM | Link to this

Looks like the M-Factor is alive and well with Hear the Herd.

By gadyke

July 23, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this

Looks like the M-Factor is alive and well with Hear the Herd.

By Hear the Herd

July 23, 2008 5:26 PM | Link to this

Hear this: Booyah!

By Lt. Steve

July 23, 2008 7:07 PM | Link to this

Uh, oh yeah, that was a bicycle article. Sorry.

By Stone

July 23, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this

Think twice, save a life, leave your motorcycle at home.

By Dixie

July 24, 2008 7:25 AM | Link to this

http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/615894.html

By Dixie

July 24, 2008 7:31 AM | Link to this

The motorcyclist was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where he died.

Neither Beltran nor Sanchez were hurt.

http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/615894.html

By Dixie

July 24, 2008 7:56 AM | Link to this

Car hits motorcyclist, then runs him over http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/615894.html This was just yesterday in FL but likely once a day somewhere in the US.

By Southern Born

July 24, 2008 8:27 AM | Link to this

Re: “Hear the Herd”:

What’s the matter, PoFo, having to troll the other blogs while Wooten’s away?

By Dixie

July 24, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this

I boo hoo in my 15 year old Glenfiddich, thank you!

By The Forgotten Messiah.

July 24, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this

Southern Boring: Huh?

The satirically-deprived are often the satanically-derived.

By Road Rash Hurts

July 24, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Every day I see more and more motorcycles on the road, and at least half of these riders are wearing shorts, t-shirts, and some cool-looking brain-bucket helmet. Please Don’t Do this!

Two rules of saving you life on a bike: **1) full-face-helmet 2) road-gear (pants/jacket/boots gloves).

In my career I’ve seen plenty of nasty bike crashes. You may not look as cool wearing motorcycle pants, but try sliding down GA-400 on your butt, or worse, your head, at 80mph and compare injuries. Heck they even make airbag jackets now that inflate when you go off the bike.

When I worked at a bike shop, I would tell every rider…highway bars, full face helmet, full gear..period.

One guy came back to thank me. A drunk driver went left-of center on a two lane country road, and the bike crashed hard. The rider slid about 200 feet on his face….he just about wore thru the chin bar of the helmet. His only injury was to the tip of his nose.

By Road Rash Hurts

July 24, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this

Every day I see more and more motorcycles on the road, and at least half of these riders are wearing shorts, t-shirts, and some cool-looking brain-bucket helmet. Please Don’t Do this!

Two rules of saving you life on a bike: **1) full-face-helmet 2) road-gear (pants/jacket/boots gloves).

In my career I’ve seen plenty of nasty bike crashes. You may not look as cool wearing motorcycle pants, but try sliding down GA-400 on your butt, or worse, your head, at 80mph and compare injuries. Heck they even make airbag jackets now that inflate when you go off the bike.

When I worked at a bike shop, I would tell every rider…highway bars, full face helmet, full gear..period.

One guy came back to thank me. A drunk driver went left-of center on a two lane country road, and the bike crashed hard. The rider slid about 200 feet on his face….he just about wore thru the chin bar of the helmet. His only injury was to the tip of his nose.

By Road Rash Hurts

July 24, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this

Every day I see more and more motorcycles on the road, and at least half of these riders are wearing shorts, t-shirts, and some cool-looking brain-bucket helmet. Please Don’t Do this!

Two rules of saving you life on a bike: **1) full-face-helmet 2) road-gear (pants/jacket/boots gloves).

In my career I’ve seen plenty of nasty bike crashes. You may not look as cool wearing motorcycle pants, but try sliding down GA-400 on your butt, or worse, your head, at 80mph and compare injuries. Heck they even make airbag jackets now that inflate when you go off the bike.

When I worked at a bike shop, I would tell every rider…highway bars, full face helmet, full gear..period.

One guy came back to thank me. A drunk driver went left-of center on a two lane country road, and the bike crashed hard. The rider slid about 200 feet on his face….he just about wore thru the chin bar of the helmet. His only injury was to the tip of his nose.

By Fruitless Objections

July 25, 2008 9:36 AM | Link to this

Like I said, motorcycles R 4 trimmin’ the herd. They’re not cool, they’re not even economical. they only get 30 or 40 mpg, not much when you consider the risk. Now if a motorcycle got 300 mpg, which they should get, I mean, they’re motorcycles, then maybe the risks are worth it.

But you can survive 10 thousand days riding a motorcycle and all it takes is one driver error, and gee, who ever heard of a driver that made an error?

Then, you’re a plate of spaghetti.

Dont ride motorcycles. Just dont. A full face helmet will only allow your casket to be opened during your wake.

By pelotonia

July 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this

I get about a billion miles to the gal. with my Trek racer, & I’m able to go slow enough through intersections to take a good look into the eyes of those drivers who are most likely to affect me(whether they’re turning R. when I am TO their right, or turning left in front of me or into me). I want to see them looking at me (or in my direction if they’ve got sunglasses on) before I go ahead. Even then, there have been hundreds of times when a driver has looked right at me, but underestimated the speed at which I’m travelling. I can fortunately see it in their body language, though, that they’re determined to make that turn without taking a second to determine my speed, or to think about which is more important to their own life: that they shave two minutes off their time to get where they’re going to avoid being late, or that they avoid killing me and spending way more than two minutes in court and maybe then in prison if they fail to proof that I just “came outta nowhere”.

Better sorry than safe seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

By pelotonia

July 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this

I get about a billion miles to the gal. with my Trek racer, & I’m able to go slow enough through intersections to take a good look into the eyes of those drivers who are most likely to affect me(whether they’re turning R. when I am TO their right, or turning left in front of me or into me). I want to see them looking at me (or in my direction if they’ve got sunglasses on) before I go ahead. Even then, there have been hundreds of times when a driver has looked right at me, but underestimated the speed at which I’m travelling. I can fortunately see it in their body language, though, that they’re determined to make that turn without taking a second to determine my speed, or to think about which is more important to their own life: that they shave two minutes off their time to get where they’re going to avoid being late, or that they avoid killing me and spending way more than two minutes in court and maybe then in prison if they fail to proof that I just “came outta nowhere”.

Better sorry than safe seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

By Pigskin Life.

July 26, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Like I said, Peladopia, treks R 4 trimmin’ the herd. I nevers mets no ones nice on no trek, they’re all confederate rebel trash. So’s I sees it that the good lord be trimmin the herd with trek racers stuff.

By Stone

July 26, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this

So Pig’s kin, are you claiming everybody who rides a bike is Confederate trash? (whatever that is) Sounds like your mind is stuck on trash and you can’t think of anything else. Come up with a new put down, the confederate stuff is getting rather stale.

By Nice2Fool

July 26, 2008 7:33 PM | Link to this

Glad you love the material, Stone. Feel free to steal. then, folks’ll think that YOU’RE the genius, instead of the twin-lipped meat thermometer your face truly is.

JK LOL

No ,seriously Stone, I’ll try to define what confederate trash is so that you will know what it is that I say to you this day.

Confederate Trash: A no good, dirty, yellow piece of lyin, thievin’, murderin’ scum who never uses deodorant, soap or even a face cloth, and smells real bad, and lives only to get drunk. Now most women cant resist a man like that, and I lost two girlfriends to trash like that in my day, and that only makes me hate confederate trash even worse. I wonder what pamela and gracie are doing today?

Now do you finally understand what I say to you this day?

By Stone

July 26, 2008 8:39 PM | Link to this

Like I said, getting kind of stale, dude.

By think i know

July 26, 2008 9:24 PM | Link to this

Jais is that you?

By Post Haste

July 26, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this

You’re a dude, dude. You’re stale. Look at your last fifty comments. Just go back and read them. Now you know why folks here think you’re such a joy.

The power of words, dude, the power of words.

Maybe you should try giving up blogging for like two years. Then maybe you’ll come up fresh.

dude

By FRANK OUDKIRK

July 27, 2008 8:08 AM | Link to this

I’ve been riding motorcycles for over 40 years and have fallen down a few times but never been hit by a another vehicle.

My secret is that I assume that every other driver out there is an idiot who can’t see me or is deliberately trying to kill me and that around every corner is an un-exspected obstacle.

I don’t tailgate, ride alongside vehicles in other lanes and never approach an intersection without preparing for the worse!

By Huff Much?

July 27, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this

Frank has an angel. A hell’s angel. I got hit from behind. This drunk driver just slammed on the brakes too late and skidded into me. A lady told me I looked like evil kneivel flying through the air. I went into the oncoming traffic lane and landed square on me bum. By a miracle there was no oncoming traffic. It was rush hour. Miracle.

Frank, you can be as cautious as you can, but there’s no defense against the drunk behind you. None.

No, motorcycles are for trimmin’ the herd. Period. They’re like a watering hole in the jungle, where tigers and gators stalk unsuspecting prey, who never seem to remember to wear their helmets.

By Harris

July 27, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this

At least he got you to stop complaining about confederate trash for once dude!

By EZ2C

July 27, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this

CONFEDERATE TRASH-U REREAD 50 PAST COMMENTS FROM SOMEONE? RU KIDDING? SOUNDS LIKE U NEED 2 GET A LIFE DUDE.

By reader

July 27, 2008 6:15 PM | Link to this

Friday a.m., I saw a cyclist and a car come together. He wound up ramming into the car. Yup, the car driver was making a left-hand turn…into driveway of an office park, and there was no traffic light at the intersection. It seemed as though the driver made sure that the oncoming automobile traffic had stopped, then just crossed the road and accelerated, not bothering to look for traffic in the bike lane. People really do need to pay attention and slow down. Luckily, everyone appeared to be okay. However, the front rim on the bike was not.

By Stone

July 27, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this

Geez someone needs a waaaambulance! All I said was that, after you called motorcyclists, bicyclists, walkers and soccer Moms “Confederate trash”, you were starting to get a little stale with the same put-down and could use a different one. Sorry that I hurt your tender feelings.

By Ty Cobb

July 28, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this

I know, maybe I do ramble on about no good confederate trailer trash scum. I’ve tried to forget, to move on, but there’s something in my makeup that just aint fergittin. Look, I’ve been treated by teams of psychiatrists working around the clock at the university level in Vienna, but to no avail. I just cant forgive no good confederate trash for the battle of Shiloh. They had it won! But no, they wouldn’t bypass the hornet’s nest. they wasted the whole day on a small pod of yankees who didn’t matter and let the others regroup so that when they finally did attack the main body, it was too late.

That’s why I hate no good, lyin, lazy, thievin dirty confederate trash. Attack on the right. Attack on the left. Set up some reserve cannon to hold down the hornet’s nest, but bypass it. BYPASS THE HORNETS NEST!

I SAID BYPASS THE HORNET’S NEST!!!