yes, that is correct. you may lower insurance for the car and motorcycle if you take the class. it varies with the state though.

 

- live in a decent area - having the wrong zip code can cost you big $$$
- get married
- avoid anything that even resembles a sportbike
- ride a low-displacement bike
- pay cash and carry liability insurance only
- having a good credit rating is critical
- own your home
- get old
- be a female
- take the MSF class (10% discount with some ins. companies)

 

I was actually going to post a thread about motorcycles yesterday because on the way to lunch with some coworkers a street thought this industrial park was blocked for about four blocks. Four lane street with plenty of room to drive around the accident on the far right curb.

We took the detour around and came out on the far side of the accident to see a motorcycle under a car and a greasy splotch of a person on the ground. No lie. Could not tell who was at fault or what actually happened but it was only a 30 mph zone, but this guy was torn up like a deer that had been run over several times. poor guy but not much left of him. We were a block away but it looked nasty.

 

Here it is, head on at 80mph!!!!!

The accident was the second fatal crash of the day in St. Paul.

An 18-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash with a vehicle in the North End about 10 a.m. Monday. Speed may have been a factor, Walsh said.

The motorcyclist was eastbound on Como Avenue and the vehicle was heading westbound on Como when the crash happened at Topping Street, Walsh said. A witness estimated the motorcyclist was traveling 80 mph, Walsh said.

The motorcyclist was dead at the scene. The vehicle's driver, a 56-year-old man, was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul in serious condition, Walsh said.

Police, who didn't release the name of either man, continue to investigate the accident.


Sorry to pee on your parade, just take motorcycles VERY seriously.

 

80mph in a 30mph zone? I can take a wild guess at who was at fault...

Even if the car turned in front of the bike (common cause of motorcycle/automobile collisions), the bike is still at fault due to excessive speed. You simply cannot predict that an oncoming motorcycle is traveling at 3X the speed limit.

-Bob

 

Unless the witness is a cop, chances are they don't have a clue about how fast the bike was going. If he was in 2nd gear, he'd be revving at about 8K (if it was a sportbike) which makes people think he's flying...and he'd only be doing 40-60 mph, at most.

Bottom line - they'll blame the bike for no better reason than because most guys do drive them quickly.

How many times have I read on here that an S2000 owner was yelled at because he was driving in 2nd gear at 4500 rpm in his neighbourhood and they said he was going 70mph or some ridiculous speed.

 

Might not be the sound that determined witnesses estimate. Most people do 40 in that zone and if he flys by you like you are standing still it could be a decent estimate.

Regardless, 18yr old on crotch rocket, witness estimates speed at 80, in oncoming traffic (given my view of the bike on the road and description of the accident in the article) vs 56 year old in I think it was a Taurus, I think the safe money is on the fact that the kid on the bike caused the accident.


It was bad, seriously. I thought from a block away that I could see what looked like a head in the helmet laying in the center of the road. My friends said I was imagining it. Nedless to say, there was plenty of room to route traffic around this accident but they would not let anyone near it. Maybe becuase there was a fatality and they need to do lots of investigation, and maybe because from a block away it looked as gruesome as it gets. Lots of blood.

 

18 yrs old + anything greater than a 250cc motorcycle = MAJOR TROUBLE.

 

The investigators can get a pretty good idea of which car was doing what based on physical evidence at the accident scene. Skid marks and damage characterists are diagnostic; the investogators aren't solely dependant on eyewitnesses.

As you said, an eyewitness account might or might not be accurate. From the front or rear it's very difficult to determine the speed of a motorcycle due to it's narrow width. But a person looking from the side would have a pretty good idea whether or not a motorcycle was traveling significantly faster than the rest of the traffic.

-Bob

 

I have no problem with an investigator saying how fast the bike was going. However, most people are NOT a good judge of true speed. For starters, in the city, people are at all kinds of speeds - some well under the limit, others well over. Secondly, most people have a preconceived idea that sports cars and motorcycles are always going fast(er). They'll see it even if they don't see it.

I'm not saying the witness isn't right, just saying that chances are they weren't very accurate.