High 5 Purr.

Cabby 5 - There isn't one post that says motorcycles shouldn't be allowed on the road so why make that comment?

Curly Sue - "...purrmaid, again if you look you will see, why rely on mirrors, turn your head, look over your shoulder"

In my post I said specifically that I checked my blind spot. To do so, one must "turn their head". What's your method of checking a blind spot?

No amount of head turning is going to detect a fool traveling way beyond the speed limit to the point where the only thing that saves him is the muffler noise preceeding him. That's the point I was making. A driver can be extremely cautious, check the blind spots, check the mirrors and because of negligent high speed by the motorcylist, an accident can occur.

"Your only loking for the BIG vehicle..."

No, I'm looking for ANY vehicle.

etown - "the first thing the two of you need to do is run dont walk to motor vehicle and surrender your drivers license

And why on earth would/should I do that?

If you thought you were being clever or witty, all you succeeded in doing is undermining any credibility associated with your post. Making your point with facts would be more intelligent than stale sarcasm.

"...if people driving cars say motorcycles are invisible, then couldnt semi drivers say cars are invisible"

It is a whole lot easier to hide a motorcycle in a blind spot than a sedan. Have you never read the sign posted on practically every semi-truck on the road that reads, "If you can't see my mirror, I can't see you." Can't see you....that's pretty close to invisible. It is a given that car drivers need to be attentive, and take all the precautions before changing lanes, but the main burden still falls on the cyclist to stay out of blind spots, not speed, and take every precaution THEY can to ensure their own safety because they are much more vulnerable than those in a car.

I've not seen a single study that shows an increase in the number or severity of head injuries after the passage of helmet laws. I have seen ones that show an increase after changes in a law that functioned to weaken it by restricting the requirement to drivers under the age of 18 or 21 but even those increased numbers are lower than those prior to a helmet law existing.
Obviously helmets aren't a panacea but they do save lives and reduce the incidence and severity of head injuries. There's more data than you can shake a stick at that proves it.

Our condolences go out to our family in Beliot, WI from those of us who knew and loved Mario out here in Denver, CO. Although many of us will not be able to make it out to his services we will keep you guys lifted up in prayer. God bless you all and stay strong. With love, Michelle and family.

fldpan:
"People cannot even make their own decisions anymore?"
Then let people marry who they want, male or female, and stop the arguments over legal abortion.
Thats a better example of someone else making decisions for other people.

Just curious Ralph, but are you saying that helmets are useless?
Even though it may not have helped in this instance, I can say from personal experience that helmets do save lives.

Mario and I have been friends since the first grade. We went through school ,played sports , and got into trouble together. We have remained close friends since we graduated and have live within a few blocks from each other for the better part of 10 years. Mario was one of my best friends, this has left a hole in my life that will be hard to fill. I have spent most of the day with his family and friends at his house laughing and crying. Right now I am just numb. He was a great son, brother, father, and friend. I feel great sadness for all of the family and friends who have lost him. He was kind, loving, and funny. He loved his kids more than some will ever know. I'll miss you Mario. Scott

I have family who work for law enforcement in the area and this accident was due to unbelievably high speeds, and a helmet would've done NOTHING to save this man's life.

I am a Harley rider and would like to commend the folks who do notice and recognize myself and other riders on the road. I choose not to wear a helmet, and am a safe rider. So, if people in autos just use some vigilance while driving, I believe that I will ride on for years to come.

the speed limit there is 40 mph.the BTPD does an good job of enforcing it, however 90% of the traffic exceeds that limit by @ least 10 miles per hour or more. They need to slow down on bikes, Hwy 51 is in bad shape from County Q(newark rd.) to Poetland i wouldn' wannta ride a bike going more than 25 on their.

the truck driver seemed to be a sitting duck in this situation and couldnt do anything about it. What an awfull feeling he must be feeling right now too. Sad for family of motetcycle guy to but appears he was speeding and not paying any attention.

I was almost rearending sitting at stop light and no where to go. I saw the guy coming speeding too and looking the other way. All I could do way lay on my horn. guy in front of me wondered what the heck I was honking for but the guy not paying attention finnallly realized there was a horn blowing and looked ahead and saw he was going to run into me and went off to the side turn lane to miss me. I wasnt able to swith lanes to miss him and no time to back up the switch into the turning lane. PEOPLE NEED TO WATCH THE ROAD AND STOP guaking, cell phone, etc.

A saw a chinease guy the other day driving a primer color with some red paint on it. DVD-or game playing ON THE STEERING WHeel, AND eating chinease out of box with fork. COME ON PEOPLE WATCH THE ROAD and eat at home!!!!!

2cents i believe to you it wouldnt make sense, someone who drives a car and other things on the road are invisible , i just hope what turn s out to be small and invisible to you doesnt turn out to be someone s child

Etown what you wrote makes no sense but then again I don't think you ever do!

Who are you people to decide if someone else wears a helmet? People cannot even make their own decisions anymore? Bleeding heart liberals need to stop with this, before it's too late.
"I know what's best for everybody. Don't smoke, you MUST buckle up, Don't do drugs, wear a helmet or else. Even though the only one you're hurting is yourself."
Driving to the bar and drinking is fine, eating til you're fat is fine, unhealthy dieting is fine, being homosexual is fine. Disrespecting your elders, being racist against people, claiming THEY are the racists, popping millions of prescription drugs, aborting babies, and politically correctifying everything to the point of sickness: ALL FINE?
GO GREEN? Global Warming? E-85, Ethanol, Hope, Change - ALL PROPAGANDA.
The more decisions you allow the government, or anyone else, make for you, the WEAKER our country and YOU will get...

For the first time I cant help but comment on the stupidity of the arguements of the folks posting on this. First of all my heart goes out to the family of this fellow, I dont know him, never met him, but I can only imagine the pain they are going thru. Secondly to the driver that hit him, you will probably never get over this. I feel for you so much even though it was not your fault it will be very difficult. I know youir pain. Different kinds of vehicles but same results. It hurts bad forever....its been ten years for me so far. To those that want to argue the merits of helmets at a time like this. Shame on you. This is still the land of the free and with freedom comes responsibilty. Be responsible enough to respect the families of either party and their families as they are suffering thru this terrible tragedy, they probably will be looking on the internet or in the paper for info concerning their loved one.

I dont think not wearing a helmet should be an option. Motorists have to buckle up or get ticketed. Helmets should be required for those on bikes. I agree that people in cars need to remember to look, on the same note, I've had people on bikes doing 60-70 mph, whizzing around other drivers and even driving in the oncoming traffic lane to get ahead of everyone alse. They've almost gotten themselves toasted more times than I can count and caused accidents for others. Those who do that need to to remember to follow the laws too.

I remember Mario through wrestling. He was always fun to watch. When I was in 8th grade, I actually got his autograph after a meet.
As I got older, I was able to get to know him better. He was always respectful and fun to be around.
My thoughts and prayers are with Mario and his family. I'm just in shock right now. What a tragedy...

Go ahead and argue the point but in the final analysis what does it really matter who bares the greater responsibility to be on the lookout for the other. If a motorcycle and a automobile collide it is the motorcyclist who will lose virtually every single time. Obviously both parties have to vigilant.

oh fun is seems as if we are playing the blame game! Some people need to wake up. People who ride motor cycles have just as much right to be on the road as any one.

I dated Mario for several years and loved him and his children, Mario Jr. and Makaelyn dearly. My condolences go out to his family and especially his children, whom he greatly adored and was extremely proud of. Mario and I had several close calls while riding and we even lost two friends that were riding with us, Brandon and Andy. These deaths, to which he attributed to lack of experience, were unfortunate. Mario always expressed that he was such an experienced rider, but as we can see from this, you can never be experienced enough. From the day I met Mario, I knew that he would die on his bike; he went out doing what he loved. Please keep his children and family in your thoughts and prayers.

purmaid, 2cents , the first thing the two of you need to do is run dont walk to motor vehicle and surrender your drivers license, the second thing you need to do is get you eyes checked ,since when does a driver have to be liable for every driver around them? if you change lanes , turn , leave a stop sign it is your reponsibility to KNOW if there is someone besides you rather it be a car , motorcycle , bicycle, or a person, if you dont have the ability to comprehend this you shouldnt be driving , if people driving cars say motorcycles are invisible, then couldnt semi drivers say cars are invisible,the only things that are invisible are the things you dont turn to look at,or take the time to look for

No matter what the reason is for a persons death,it still hurts the ones that were close to that person. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

Motorcycle rider without a helemt is just an organ donor.
How sad. My thoughts go out to this family in this senseless death.

Personally I have no problems with/or without wearing a helmet. I know the dangers of hopping on my cycle and riding with or without a helmet. There are dangers in everything that a person does and it really isn't anybodies place to judge what or what not someone should do or have done in certain situations. Make it a law to wear a helmet sounds fine to me also. We ride, swim, drive, fly, eat, etc...all at our own risk. I just pray for the family of this man to have the strength to heal.

My cousin lost his life in a motorcycle accident. He was parked along the side of the road and my other cousin was goofing off on his motorcycle and came up to close and clipped him. It threw him over the bike and he had a helmet on and was killed instantly from the damage so even though he wore a helmet he still died. The helmet only protects so much. I agree that you should wear helmets, a little protection is better than none. This happened in NC where you are required to wear a helmet.

The double standard or seatbelt laws, but no helmet laws...we tell our children to wear helmets on their pedal bikes but when they get older and get a motorcycle, don't worry about it. Shame on us.

On the subject of helmets, let the finding of Newton explain it very clear. A object in motion remains in motion till stopped. The helmet only protects the skull not the brain. How it was explained to me be a neurlogist was the brain slaps against the inside of the skull. The brain is floating in the skull. Examples of death by brain injury are Dale Earnhart, Eric Medlin, and most babies that have been shaken. When at Great America next time read the warning section on your ticket stub about damages as a result of riding rides.

I wonder if wearing a helmet would've saved his life? Such a simple thing to do. You almost don't have a brain cell in your head if you don't wear one.

What all people need to realize is that everyone needs to pay attention to everyone when they drive. Yes motorcycles and now mopeds are and will always be hard to see. Other motorists just need to take extra look and be more aware of who is around them. But, motorcyclists and mopedists also need to be aware of who is around them and drive with their lights on and not drive in blind spots and such.

All of these things should be done no matter what you drive. Everyone needs to do their part to make sure they and everyone else gets home safely. Having an "it's not my fault" attitude will only continue the problem.

My husband was a friend of Mario's. He was great man. Our thoughts and prayer are extended to his family. He will be deeply missed.

Purrmaid writes: That's when I realized how foolish motorcycle riders are if they think it is someone else's responsibility to identify their presence. You're on a fast moving, extremely small vehicle which means you are even more difficult to see and can hide in a fraction of the blind spot area.
YOU need to be the one that takes the extra responsibility for your own safety.
.
EXACTLY! So why be foolish and add speed to the mix? He could have came home last night. That split second decision cost him his life.
Can you imagine how the truck driver feels that was hit? Also, there must have been a LOT of speed involved if they had to "clear debris" from the roadway.
Extremely sad!

People, now is not a time to judge. He was a father, son, and brother that now leaves an empty space for his family to try and accept right now. Don't be critical, just pass on some positive thoughts in the direction of his family.

I did not know the young man but I work with his mother and father and my heart goes out to them. I first heard of the news lastnight at work. You are in my prayers.

purrmaid, again if you look you will see, why rely on mirrors, turn your head, look over your shoulder, if you don't train your eyes to look for motorcycles you'll NEVER see them. Your only loking for the BIG vehicle, and with many people buying scooters to save on gas you'll have many more 'close calls'. Many drivers don't need a dog or a cell phone, kids whatever to distract them, they just don't pay attention, period. I came within an inch of getting sideswiped by an old man yesterday, his front bumper was equal to my passanger door, so what? He couldn't see half my car in FRONT of him? He must be a good driver and checked his 'mirrors' before moving into my lane.

From all the close calls I've had while riding, it's been from people not being aware of their surroundings. In the case at hand, I can't blame the driver of the pickup truck. The possibility of misjudging distance is high considering the rate of speed that this incident took place. I had a friend already tell me they were hanging the towel and not riding anymore due to this accident. My response was that it was not necessary, but to just ride safe. I can't tell people enough that experience and even the rider's safety course can make the difference between going home at night or not.

Wahoo_35 - As a very safe driver (only thing so far has been a speeding ticket in 1977) I can tell you motorcycles traveling faster or as fast as surrounding traffic are extremely difficult to see even by the non-lazy, non-dog owning cell phone abhorers like me. I had a close call with a motorcycle last year in rush hour traffic. Had it not been for the guy's extremely loud muffler, he would have been toast. I don't know if he knows how close he came to death, but I do and it was upsetting because I double-check blind spots and both side mirrors before changing lanes. That's when I realized how foolish motorcycle riders are if they think it is someone else's responsibility to identify their presence. You're on a fast moving, extremely small vehicle which means you are even more difficult to see and can hide in a fraction of the blind spot area. YOU need to be the one that takes the extra responsibility for your own safety. Helmet, staying out of blind spots, and probably giving a courtesy honk before you change lanes or come up beside a full-size vehicle may save your life (and your family a lot of sorrow.)

wahoo_35 You hit the nail on the head. IF YOU LOOK YOU WILL SEE

I don't know that a helmet would have made a difference or not but my first thought after reading the story was, "another dead citizen exercising his right to let the wind blow through his hair." Admittedly I'm not a motorcycle person so I just don't get it.
My sympathy to his family and friends. May they find the strength to carry on from one another and their faith.

People need to relize motorcycles are NOT invisible, they are really there. It is just that there are many bad and lazy drivers out there. Hang up the cell phone, leave the dog at home.
I ride, and I am not invisible, please if you look you will see me and many others. Remeber the Tub run is this weekend.

Another senseless death that could have been avoided. When will people who ride motorcycles realize they are invisible and NOT invincible. Now this man has left behind 2 children because of his actions. I feel terrible for the person who was following behind him and witnessed this. I am sure it is something he will never forget! Had he also been speeding, two lives could have been taken. How sad!