| Author | Message | ||
     Josh_ |
Not a good week for bikers. All of this is in my local paper. The last one is from a guy my wife works with. ST LOUIS COUNTY Motorcyclist is killed after crashing into fence A man from Glen Carbon was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a chain-link fence in St. Louis on Sunday night, police said. Matthew Brandebert, 20, who was not wearing a helmet, crashed in the 600 block of South Seventh Street about 10:43 p.m., officials said. He suffered head injuries and died at St. Louis University Hospital. The cause of the crash remained under investigation. ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY Motorcyclist from De Soto dies from crash injuries A motorcyclist was fatally injured Sunday when he collided with another motorcyclist on a rural road near Bonne Terre, Mo., authorities said. The Highway Patrol said Steve Masey, 52, of De Soto, died of his injuries Monday at a St. Louis hospital. The other motorcyclist was not injured. The patrol said Masey, who was operating a Harley-Davidson, was headed east on Berry Road near Highway 67 about 6:25 p.m. Sunday when he pulled alongside Gary Cage, 52, of Hillsboro, who also was operating a Harley. The two vehicles then collided. | ||
| Josh_ |
2nd vehicle may have hit motorcyclists, witnesses say By JEREMY KOHLER Post-Dispatch 09/08/2003 Witnesses told the Missouri Highway Patrol on Monday that a second vehicle may have struck a German couple who were killed after they crashed their motorcycle Saturday on Interstate 44 in Fenton. Troopers initially sought the driver of a white pickup that left the scene. But some witnesses said a car also hit the victims; they could not describe it. The patrol pleaded for the drivers - or other witnesses - to come forward. It's possible the drivers didn't realize they had struck people, even though it happened in broad daylight, said Cpl. Al Nothum. But they "would have to know they hit something," he noted. The victims were Herbert Thorman, 49, and his wife, Gabriele, 53, from Milow, Germany. Police gave this description of the circumstances: A construction warning barrel was loose on I-44, possibly having been bumped by a vehicle. Missouri Department of Transportation workers were on the way in response to calls about it when two motorcycles carrying German tourists came along about 3:10 p.m. It appeared that an air blast from a passing truck blew the barrel into the westbound lanes. The Thormans' friends, on the first motorcycle, missed it. But the Thormans hit it, spilling them into traffic in the center lane. [They were then hit by a white pickup and possibly another vehicle. Neither stopped. This was in an earlier story.] Nothum said the two couples had been among an estimated 150,000 Harley-Davidson enthusiasts attending the motorcycle brand's 100th anniversary celebration and rock concert in Milwaukee on Aug. 30. Their plan was to make a several-thousand-mile loop through the United States and Canada. Officials said the victims' travel partners headed to the German consulate in Chicago instead to arrange for the bodies to be returned home. [Story from my wife's co-worker] I have decided to e-mail everyone from now on to inform you about my brother. I appreciate all of your concern, however, it is pretty difficult on me to try to explain his condition multiple times throughout the day. I know, talking about it helps, but, it is still pretty difficult. I prefer to try and stay busy to pass the time. My brothers Accident My brother is a doctor. Two weeks ago, he had just left the hospital (~2:00am) when a deer jumped out in front of him on his motorcycle. He hit the deer with his front wheel and was thrown from the motorcycle. He skidded 90 feet on the pavement. His helmet definitely saved his life. The helmet hit the pavement and skidded along the road scraping it as it went. The shell was completely scraped off on one side as well as all the foam (except 1/8" next to his head). Believe it or not, my brother has very few road rashes on his body. Luckily, a police officer witnessed the accident or my brother would not have survived due to his lung injuries. The police officer (a motorcycle cop) no longer works for the police, he retired immediately after this incident. Oh, by the way, my brothers motorcycle still runs and can be driven. My brothers Condition My brother is still in the Surgical ICU at the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia. If you want to know more about his condition please read below (it may be a little too descriptive for the faint at heart). As many of you know, he broke his clavicle and scapula on his left shoulder This means that his left shoulder and arm are currently not attached to his skeleton. It may fuse together on it's own, however, he will probably require surgery to repair. Once he becomes stable, they may perform the surgery to wire and pin the joints back together. He broke almost all of his ribs. He even broke the top rib. My day (also a doctor) has never seen anyone in his whole career break the top rib (because it is under the scapula) . The broken ribs punctured his lungs which caused one lung to collapse immediately. The second lung collapsed in the emergency room. The lungs were reinflated (and have been kept reinflated) by using a ventilator. The lungs are the biggest concern at this point. Both lungs were punctured many times by the broken ribs and they will require a long time to recover. There is still a good chance that they may re-collapse. The lungs must be drained continuously, however, the amount of fluids have been slowly decreasing. His breathing has also become easier (they require less pressure to fully inflate his lungs). He continues to be on a ventilator. This is for several reasons- to keep the lungs expanded, to force his broken ribs to heal properly, and to allow fluids to be drained from the lungs. It is estimated that he could be on the ventilator for another 3 weeks, we aren't really sure. Unfortunately, the ventilator tubes currently down his throat are causing a lot of pain. The broken ribs are also very painful (it is like wearing a very tight corset and trying to breath deep). He also had a stroke. This was caused because his head was jerked from side to side during the accident. The jerking damaged the inner lining of his cartorid artery. My dad said that this type of injury is very rare (he has only seen it three times in his whole career). His body tried to repair the damage by scaring. About 48 hours after the accident the scar tissue broke free and went into his brain. It affected a golf ball size area of his brain. This caused paralysis to his left arm and leg. It does not seem to affect his face muscles. He also appears to have some feeling in his leg but cannot move it. We won't know anything for sure until they fully wake him up. Sometime today (9/8) they will be giving him a tracheotomy and a stomach feeding tube. This will allow the tubes to be removed and allow him to be wakened without too much pain. They plan on waking him up 24 hours later (tomorrow) to see how much of his memory or motor skills were affected by his stroke. The one great thing that happened this weekend was he moved his left leg. It was only about half an inch, but that is great news for a stroke victim. This means he is already restructuring his brain to recover. I was with him most of the weekend, along with other family members. The waiting room was full of family, a great thing for our mom. Our mom has kept a constant vigil ever since this first happened and it is really wearing her out. He is under very good care and has some really great doctors taking care of him. He is expected to recover eventually, however, it will be a long, slow process. I am currently planning on continuing my normal work schedule, however, I am keeping my schedule open. If they decide to wake him up for any extended time then I will want to go to support him. He will need allot of family and friend support when he finds out he is paralyzed on his left side. | ||
| Dave |
Josh, I was heading north on hwy 159 around Kohl's and south of the mall last Wed and saw a woman make a left hand turn in front of a biker. I can say with certainty that I saw it coming but there was nothing I could do. Witnessing it all from my Tiger and stopped to give assistance. Some wanted to remove his helmet but I told them no and asked a couple guys to direct traffic. Anyhow...I went over him (Ken) and he looked to have a dislocated/broken shoulder, maybe internal injuries, and perhaps both legs broken. I clearly saw him land on his head/upper back. Thank goodness he had a helmet on. He had gloves, jeans and boots. Some road rash as well. He was in a loot of pain but all I could do was attempt to talk to him and reassure him he was gonna be fine. He was on his back and otherwise...didn't need to be moved. The bike was in sad shape with the fuel tank crushed...guzzling fuel that was running under the car. Both air bags deployed and the horn was blaring. Some quick thinking person was under the hood of it to disconnect the battery which made me happier. I couldn't tell if I was seeing smoke or powder from the air bags. The woman driving was ok and milling about. When the cops got there they kinda jumped in without even asking what we had found with the guy. Almost...dare I say... acted like an asshole. He was the professional though so we all kind of faded back. After the ambulance got there and a cop took some of my information, I thanked a couple of the others that stopped and went on my way. Odd... I can't even remember what type of bike it was other than red. But I can tell ya the ignition key in the tree was bent at a 45 degree angle, the fairing, and bars were crumpled from slamming the car at maybe 30 mph or more. It gave me time to reflect on my own riding skills. Do I scan enough? Would I have locked the rear brake? Would I have laid it down versus slamming into the car? Allot of "what if's". Hope the guy is doing well. DAve | ||
| Darthane |
I know that's kind of an extreme example (anyone but the most callous would stop for an accident), but I recently stopped to help a biker on the side of the road (I was on my Firebolt) and he was very surprised that I would bother. His Duc Monster's rear brakes had locked up. He was from a city near where I was going, so I offered to go back, get my truck and give him and his bike a lift, but he'd already called someone to pick him up, again professing amazement that anyone would stop for him. Quote, "Well, I'll definitely stop the next time I see a bike on the side of the road now." I always just figured it was a courtesy thing, perhaps I was wrong. I always carry a cell phone, so if I see a bike on the side of the road and I'm able to, I always stop, if even just to let them call someone. On the other hand, the very day before that I was on my way to work in the morning and saw out of the corner of my eye a green Ninja laying in the middle of Van Born. By the time I got turned around the guy'd already picked the bike up and gotten off the road, and was calling for help (obviously he wasn't hurt badly). He then proceeded to completely ignore me when I pulled up and asked if I could give him a hand in some way. Takes all kinds... | ||
| Spiderman |
Thats when you kick his bike back on it's side an take off  | ||
| Darthane |
LOL...I'm not sure what happened (I didn't see him go down, just the bike lying there out of the corner of my eye...I suppose that hideous green color is good for something), but he sure seemed pissed, so I'm kind of assuming it was his own damned fault he went down (there were no stopped cars anywhere). | ||
| Swampy |
Labor day I was headed south with the southbound holiday traffic, I was in the left lane with my son on the back when the holiday traveler pulling a bunch of canoes on a trailer moved into my lane I was about midway with the canoes, so I was able to brake hard and let him in. I only had a few miles to go so I wasn't able to pull up next to him and throw my kid at him or something. Then to top it off some silly trooper decides to pull a southbound traveler over causing everybody in the right lane to move into the left lane, and wouldn't you know it the clod with the canoe doesn't have any lights on his trailer, so off to the median I go. All's well, it was a great lesson for my kid. What I got out of it was that no matter what the clod does, you can't get even, keep cool, get safer, ride tommorrow. The Ninja dude was probably just coming to grips with that. Some people just have to be pulled in kicking and screaming. | ||
| Josh_ |
DAve, Ouch. Hope he turns out ok. Yeah, most cops will do that since 99% of the people they encounter are idiots (which is reinforced by training but I digress). | ||
| S1joel |
Over the summer here we have had a large number of motorcycle accidents, unfortunately only two that I can think of were not the fault of the motorcyclist. Three different drunks flung their bikes off the interstate, one died after falling 38 feet and traveling about 200 feet off the interstate. The other broke everything but was saved by his helmet (still crushed his jaw and eye-socket) The third didn't fall that far and his buddies got him the the ER before we arrived. The two that I can think of that were not the fault of the motor were where cars turned left in front of the motor. In one fatal they 18yoa with no license, shorts and birkenstocks, ran a red light and broadsided a Bronco II. The most memorable was the guy who was mad at his girlfriend and took off at about 70 in a 25 and planted his head between two phone poles. No helmet, but wouldn't have done anything anyway. He had been issued a noise ticket just before the acceleration for revving his motor on Market street. All accidents involved large quantities of alcohol. See a pattern developing? DON'T DRINK AND RIDE!!!!!!!! On a lighter note I high-sided my Electra-Glide chasing after a punk on a stolen XR-70S. (note to self; stay on the pavement until you get knobbys on that Harley) I recovered the XR (see profile) but it's damn hard to sprint in full boots and a helmet!!! No damage to the bike, but another chip off the old pride. Ride Safe, Joel |
