Accident Analysis

[sporttour]

The following verbiage comes from a posting on LDRider. This is related to the well-publicized accident of a motorcyclist getting read-ended in commuter traffic. Nathan, the author, gave me permission to re-post.

As the sort of safety rider in my group of riders (family and friends) . I

often send out things like the accident video we have been discussing, with

my two cents. Here's what I wrote, feel free to give me your two cents as

I have much respect of my fellow IBA riders. It was an unfortunate accident and I am glad he is alright. I spent 20 + years as a Trauma nurse where we studied the Kinematics of crashes to see what injuries we might expect from various impacts and the variables. Also, in Aviation we morbidly dissect and discuss the accidents of fellow aviators, often no longer with us, to see what we can learn. So, here is my 2 cents to my group:

Nathan IBA# 26575

_http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/120670244.html_

(http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/120670244.html)

Take note that the car in front of him is tailgating and as the traffic

slows coming into the toll plaza the tailgating car has to brake harder

because he is following to close causing the MC rider to brake hard because he sees a car in a panic stop mode so he reacts by trying to put more space between him and the panic braking car, note the tire smoke coming from his bike. I think it shows improper balance of braking It looks like he was using more rear brake than front. Unfortunately, this is a mute point as the following vehicle was not paying attention and ran into the rear of the bike and it shows the rider was not guarding his rear as well.

He suffered severe injuries but to dissect it: He had a full face helmet

that looks like a good one so, no head, face or brain injury. I cant tell if

he had an armored jacket on, but, based on his injuries I don't think so.

If he had an approved armored jacket he probably wouldn't have cracked his spleen and maybe , and I say maybe, could have minimized his vertebral fractures. Just remember vertebral fractures aren't always as serious as you might think, If there is no impingement in the spinal canal and the vertebrae remain stable as in no ligamentious or disc disruption the fractures are painful and increase the risk of arthritis in the fracture areas. It also looks like he was braking well but slowed much faster than the traffic around him so the driver behind him although fully at fault was not expecting any vehicle around him to slow at a much faster rate than the others so, as a result, he didn't expect a vehicle to be close to him so he didn't see the bike and he hit him.

So what are can we take from this: (Aviation always reviews accidents to

improve pilot performance from the lessons learned) When in traffic on a

major highway often the danger is from the rear not the front so when slowing guard your mirrors. Maintain even separation with the traffic around you, or better yet, work to stay out of congested areas (don't ride with the pack of cars if possible). Cover your front brake with 2 or 3 fingers when maneuvering in congested areas as well as you rear brake to allow quicker reaction times to stop. When slowing in traffic try not to be in the middle tire track and try to have an out , again cover your rear. And most importantly, ATGATT All The Gear All The Time. Did you notice how well the bike absorbed the impact ? It probably saved him from being crushed by the car even though he did get thrown. Oh, on the picture showing his back, all the black and blue is from blood that seeped subcutaneous from the chest tube placed in his left lung, that is what the big round scab if from.

Nathan