For the Love of God, Ben!

The BBQ Pit
81

Like the guy on the Honda Magna who passed me on a two lane highway by going right up my lane, beside my car, as oncoming traffic whizzed by across the double yellows and then cut in front of me so closely that I had to swerve off the road to avoid hitting him?

Yeah, he was riding without a helmet. The girl with the long blond hair who rode behind him wore daisy dukes, a tank top, and no helmet.

I was behind him for about seven miles down the road, until he turned in front of an oncoming car into the parking lot of a bar.

Honda Magna… not a crotch rocket.

I see just as many jackass bikers on non-crotch-rocket types as I see on crotch-rocket types. Every one of them who’s darting in and out of traffic, or pulling out of the bar parking lot onto a busy road with a 50 mph speed limit without looking for traffic blames the ‘fucking cagers’ for all the danger.

Every biker I have ever talked to blames ‘cagers’ for being unsafe and refuses to admit that bikers routinely weave in and out of traffic, ride two or three across in a lane, drive from bar to bar on bike night consuming alcohol at every stop along the way, drive way faster than posted speed limits, and bitch at every stop about the stupid cagers.

I’m sick of hearing that it’s ‘rarely’ the biker’s fault.

82

Well, I’m glad Ben’s going to be OK, but does anyone have any information on the condition of the Super Bowl XL official that Ben was taking for a joyride? His injuries may be far more serious, being thrown from the pilon position and all.

83

:rolleyes:

84

Just some random thoughts, from a lifelong Steeler fan and a CCS amateur road racing liscence holder:
1)If Ben had a Shoei or Aria full face helmet on, he would be at home tonight, nursing a slight concussion(or maybe in observation, since he is an NFL QB)

2)Ben used to ride only a Harley, but was given the Busa by Suzuki for a series of promotional spots.

3)I’ve seen close shots of the rear tire, it’s not bald, or even close to bald. It DOES have 1 inch chicken strips, but that’s common on Busas, since all they are good for is going fast in a straight line.

4)Ben obviously had little time on the bike. He was going 25-30mph down the road. For him to hit the left front corner of the car, he would have had to not be paying attention(or very unfamiliar with his bike’s braking abilities). If the car had impacted him in the middle of the front bumper, or on the driver side of the front bumper, you could convince me it was unavoidable for a good rider. Hitting where he did, most experienced riders could have gotten out of this wreck much better off, either by missing the car entirely, or swiping it on the side(I will admit that a swipe with the side of the bike, which would mean bad knee damage, would probably be worse for Ben than this result though).

5)A tip- I used to have this problem(people pulling out on you in the day), it would occur 2-3 times if I went out riding, until I started riding with my headlight on “bright” during the day and it rarely happened after…I’ve always told people to do this.

6)I’ve personally face planted on track after high siding at 65-70mph, and except for a minor concussion, and some rash on my elbow where my racesuit was worn through from sliding, was unhurt. You cannot possibly understand how good these helmets are until you
have a seriously hard head impact and walk away. People that say they “impede vision” or “cause headaches” or can “break your neck in a high impact by hitting the vertebral column” are morons who either have helmets that are comically too large or small, or are just pushing an anti-helmet law agenda.
Get well soon Ben, I don’t want to go through a year of “bench Batch, start Jacobs” threads on the Steeler website

85

I heard Paul Allen redid all the Seahawks contracts with a “no motorcycle” clause…he was afraid they would drop the bikes anytime a defensive player happened to walk or drive within 15 yards.

I heard Ray Lewis never rides a motorcycle, anytime he needs to go anywhere he just grabs a RB that happens to be running by.(He usually can ride for over 100 yards in a couple of hours on Sunday by this method alone!!!) And it saves gas!!! If he is lucky enough to catch a Bus, he even gets better mileage!!!

I heard Carson Palmer just got HIS AMA racing liscence. He didn’t go through the normal channels, but an AMA official said that he shouldn’t have any trouble dragging his left knee through turns!!!

86

I’m surprised that he was allowed to such a high-risk, off-time thing. It is not unusual for high-stakes, high-income earners to be insured, either by themselves, or their employers, or both, against career-threatening or -ending incidents.

These policies tend to rule out wacky shit like riding motorcycles, parajumping, wrestling alligators, swimming with sharks, doing your own stunts …

Having said that, it is apocalyptically stupid to ride one’s crotch rocket sans helmet. This is puzzling, since as a football player he’s seen a multitude of injuries, and presumably understands the importance of PPE in ameliorating the effects of traumatic force on the human body.

87

Waitwait…he was riding without a helmet on a Hayabusa?

Yup, ‘organ donor’ sounds about right.

88

I can’t hear a damn thing except wind in my ears any time I’m going more than 15 mph (often the case on my bicycle). But when I’m wearing my full-face motorcycle helmet, all that wind noise gets eliminated.

89

Barbarian, turn your head ever so slightly to the left or right and you should notice a dramatic decrease. Again though, while personally I don’t think the risk is worth the reward, neither am I in favor of legislating against those whose experiences and opinions might differ.

90

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=2075432

91

Are you saying he’s a…wait for it…Mad Cowher?

[sub]Sorry.

And this 'Skins fan wishes Ben a speedy recovery, regardless of any stupidity involved in the accident.[/sub]

92

I’m sure that Cowher can spit from the South Side practice facility all the way to Mercy Hospital, so that way he can coach and bitch out Ben at the same time!

93

In what manner does anyone avoid an accidnet on a motorcycle by hearing? Do you mean you can change lanes without looking if you can actively listen to the lane beside you? Do you mean that you can hear a car pulling out in front of you before you see it? If you don’t know where EVERY car around you is the whole time you are riding, then you’re a careless rider, and definitely need a helmet anyway. Having the outside world muffled by a few db has no bearing on your ability to avoid an accident. Having a full face helmet on in now way impedes your peripheral vision. Do you honestly believe that having a helmet on would prevent you from hearing a car horn? A train whistle? Most safety consultants recommend riding with earplugs in as well too. I’m just at a loss trying to figure out what audible info can be gained by not having a helmet on. (Aside from not being able to hear your buddy on his Harley as he hollars out what bar to stop at next, as you cruise down the road in a tshirt and a pair of sunglasses)

If you want to argue that helmets should be optional because it should be your right to go without one fine…but don’t repeat that nonsensical crap that helmets are somehow more dangerous.

Find 1 (1) one…just ONE cite of a properly fitted helmet that broke someone’s neck. Find one cite of an accident where the added few pounds of the helmet was enough to torque someones head that it made their injuries worse. It’s like arguing that because one person, somewhere, in the history of automotive travel, was trapped in a burning car by a seatbelt, that it’s always safer to go without one.

94

For my money, riding a motorcycle is intrinsically stupid, helmet or no. Any little accident that would be only a fender-bender if you were in a car is potentially deadly or disabling on a bike.

95

Thank you for your useful input spoke- :rolleyes
(oh wait, I’m in the pit). Fuck off! I’ve had a fender bender on my motorcycle – some moron decided a turn lane was a great place to throw it in reverse – and both me and my passenger were fine.

Most people spend absolutely no attention to the road when they are driving. When I’m on two wheels, I absolutely have to focus on driving and nothing else. I enjoy it.

45 to 90 degrees doesn’t qualify as “slightly” in my book :wink:

It comes down to frequency attenuation. I’m still on the young side, and since I spent way too much time working in sound studios, I’ve always been very careful to wear ear plugs whenever I’m in a noisy environment (concerts, working with power tools…). Wind just happens to be a frequency I hear far too well – anything in that white noise range, really.

/hijack

96

So were you even moving? It sounds like you were sitting still. Gosh that must have been harrowing. :rolleyes:

Let’s say you collide with a stationary object while driving 20-30 mph. If you’re in a car, you walk away. If you’re on a bike…well, see the OP.

See my earlier post about Ron Gant and Jason Williams. If they are in cars, they walk away. Instead, they both faced career-threatening injury.

Like I said, intrinsically stupid. Thanks for helping prove the point.

97

Each year my area hosts the Americade motorcycle rally. Last weekend we had about 50,000 motocycles in town for the event. There are always very, very few accidents. I give the people in this area a lot of credit for being especially aware of others and on their guard. All you motorcycle people come on up here. We won’t hit you. :wink:

I hope Ben will be okay. I’d love to see him speak at some high schools about the importance of wearing a helmet.

98

Bullshit. Risky is different from intrinsically stupid, especially if there are steps that can be taken to mitigate that risk. There are lots of reasons to ride a motorcycle - it’s cheaper and gets better gas mileage than a car; you can park just about anywhere; it’s a whole lot more fun. Those reasons are balanced against the fact that it’s more dangerous than driving a car. Some people choose to ride and some don’t. Neither side has a monopoly on brains.

Or assholes.

99

Roethlesberger’s accident is another good example of the inherent risk. Have that accident in a car, and nobody’s starting threads about it.

For my money it’s stupid to take that risk.

Given some of the “loud pipes” I hear, I think I could make a good argument on that point.

100

That would be a short speech:

“Do as i say, not as i do.”