(MSNBC has a close-up version, but I can’t link to it directly. As it is, the commercial is longer than the video I did link.)
Good thing he was on a sportbike, since the car flipped him upward. (Shown on MSNBC.) On a cruiser (Harley-type) he may not have been so lucky. This is one reason I think lane-splitting should be allowed everywhere. The rider could have split the lanes and escaped the crash, rather than being hit from behind.
That’s one fortunate SOB.
The driver of the car was cited for driving without a license and for not having insurance.
I saw that earlier on CNN. He was pretty hard on the brakes so I doubt he would have had the control needed to lane split (you can see the smoke come up off his wheels).
I just want to tip my hat to the black jeep following for stopping and blocking that lane.
“Cited” for no license and no insurance? He should be in jail.
As someone who has over 100,000 miles of riding in L.A. traffic, this is what I think: He was in a poor position to split lanes. When I was in L.A. I always positioned myself such that it would take very little to slip over. If lane-splitting were allowed, the rider might very well have been positioned farther to the right, and he would have been able to slide into the slot. I did see the smoke, and heavy braking was his only option at that point. Had he been better positioned and lived in a (‘the’) state where he would have had the proper experience, I think he could have avoided being hit.
I probably would have been toast. I like to ride in the left wheel track so getting right wouldn’t ahve been an option for me. Of course I probably also wouldn’t have been in the left lane, or on a freeway/highway for that matter (although at times heavily trafficked roads are unavoidable).
I have a rding buddy who thinks I’m crazy because I always want to take back roads instead of just getting on a freeway. Maybe I’ll show him this video!
That was the situation the two times I had a car totaled. The odds must not be as vanishingly small as one might think.
At least not in LA, Arizona, and parts of Texas!