Hummer
06-12-2021, 23:38
Today I witnessed a serious motorcycle accident. We had just pulled into our driveway when a car drove off the highway onto the shoulder opposite and in front of us. It appeared the driver simply wanted faster traffic to pass, but then the driver attempted a U-turn across the highway in the middle of a curve. This is a dangerous curve and I said to Mrs. Hummer, "what the fuck"! In barely two seconds a motorcycle slammed into the side of the Ford Focus and the rider was down in the center of the highway. I thought sure the rider was a goner from a broken neck.
I didn't have my phone but my cousin heard the crash from inside his cabin and came out so I shouted to him to call 911. On the busy highway someone stopped to render aid. As the victim was laying in the middle of the road I saw the biggest threat to everyone was high speed traffic coming down through the curve so I went to stop and divert traffic. Allenspark Fire arrived in about 12 minutes, Boulder County Sheriff in about 16, and CSP in about 45 minutes. [Similar to self defense situations, it's comes down to rendering aid when possible and mop up after the incident.]
The rider hit the driver side rear door square on. Unlike so many motorcyclists here she wasn't speeding, which likely saved her life. Why she didn't swerve around the car we'll never know but she probably had no more than one to two seconds to decide. She was lucky because if she had hit the pillar between the front and rear door the outcome could have been much worse. And if she had hit the front driver side door which is more reinforced, well, both the rider and car driver might have been more seriously injured.
A split second and a few inches can make the difference between life or death. And life is so fragile.
I was surprised the find the rider was a young female, ~30. A male companion was a few minutes behind. As EMT's were treating her for possible neck and spinal injury, she was moving her arms and taking selfies of her neck collar. Whew! Off to the hospital by ambulance. We hope she'll be okay. This was a pretty traumatic experience for those of us who heard and saw it all happen.
We live off a mountain highway on a wide 180 degree curve where traffic descends into the curve, often at high speed. It's posted at 40 mph but many, especially motorcyclists rip through at 45-70 mph. Beyond the curve there's a brief straight stretch where some rip on to 120+ mph, then they hit another curve. There are multiple hidden driveways and side roads along this stretch of highway. There's been dramatically increased traffic here over the past few years so the risk is growing. Motorcycle/auto accidents now dominate fire department emergency responses in the area.
8648086482
This was the third serious motorcycle accident I've seen (besides my own close calls). The first I witnessed was a fatal in Denver where the rider failed to make a curve, hit a curb and flew head first into a metal light pole. The second was on the mountain highway by our driveway entrance in the exact same place as happened today. Two guys on Harley's with heavily loaded trailers going on their first day epic camping trip rode too fast through the curve. I saw the crash and the rider was seriously injured. In this same highway curve I have heard and come upon four auto crashes, and now two motorcycle crashes. It's likely there have been others.
Go safe out there, my friends. Life altering events can happen in one to two seconds.
I didn't have my phone but my cousin heard the crash from inside his cabin and came out so I shouted to him to call 911. On the busy highway someone stopped to render aid. As the victim was laying in the middle of the road I saw the biggest threat to everyone was high speed traffic coming down through the curve so I went to stop and divert traffic. Allenspark Fire arrived in about 12 minutes, Boulder County Sheriff in about 16, and CSP in about 45 minutes. [Similar to self defense situations, it's comes down to rendering aid when possible and mop up after the incident.]
The rider hit the driver side rear door square on. Unlike so many motorcyclists here she wasn't speeding, which likely saved her life. Why she didn't swerve around the car we'll never know but she probably had no more than one to two seconds to decide. She was lucky because if she had hit the pillar between the front and rear door the outcome could have been much worse. And if she had hit the front driver side door which is more reinforced, well, both the rider and car driver might have been more seriously injured.
A split second and a few inches can make the difference between life or death. And life is so fragile.
I was surprised the find the rider was a young female, ~30. A male companion was a few minutes behind. As EMT's were treating her for possible neck and spinal injury, she was moving her arms and taking selfies of her neck collar. Whew! Off to the hospital by ambulance. We hope she'll be okay. This was a pretty traumatic experience for those of us who heard and saw it all happen.
We live off a mountain highway on a wide 180 degree curve where traffic descends into the curve, often at high speed. It's posted at 40 mph but many, especially motorcyclists rip through at 45-70 mph. Beyond the curve there's a brief straight stretch where some rip on to 120+ mph, then they hit another curve. There are multiple hidden driveways and side roads along this stretch of highway. There's been dramatically increased traffic here over the past few years so the risk is growing. Motorcycle/auto accidents now dominate fire department emergency responses in the area.
8648086482
This was the third serious motorcycle accident I've seen (besides my own close calls). The first I witnessed was a fatal in Denver where the rider failed to make a curve, hit a curb and flew head first into a metal light pole. The second was on the mountain highway by our driveway entrance in the exact same place as happened today. Two guys on Harley's with heavily loaded trailers going on their first day epic camping trip rode too fast through the curve. I saw the crash and the rider was seriously injured. In this same highway curve I have heard and come upon four auto crashes, and now two motorcycle crashes. It's likely there have been others.
Go safe out there, my friends. Life altering events can happen in one to two seconds.