Thoughts on crashing; from a pro

[CrashTestDanny]

This post has received mixed reviews over on another forum.  Seems a small number of people have taken it personally.  It was never intended as a personal attack on anyone and I hope nobody here will take it that way.  However, the fact remains that regardless of our legal obligations, I am of the opinion that we as human beings, have a moral and ethical obligation to watch out for one another.  As a motorcyclist, I feel even more strongly about this.  If I see any other motorcyclist doing something unintentionally dangerous, I will risk nearly anything to point it out to you and help you avoid a crash.  (If you're being intentionally dangerous, you may well be on your own).  I hope you would consider the same for me.

Anyhow, here's my thoughts:

I've already made a point of letting everyone I come into contact know how much crashing sucks.  In fact, you might say I've made a name for myself doing so.  So what more can I say when someone feels the need to go and discover this fact for themselves, ignoring my good advice?  Well, nothing really.  But as a licensed preacher, I do feel the need to speak up.

Eight participants in the Busa Bash crashed in one form or another this weekend.  I came very close to making it nine with a parking lot drop of my own, but thanks to BusaWhipped and one or maybe two others, I did not.  Without any finger pointing at anyone, I would like to offer some thoughts on crashing and crashes.

Crashing sucks.  You've heard me say it before, and you'll hear me say it again - there is very little good that can come from crashing!  Now it may surprise you that I said "very little" good rather than "no" good.  That is because in my own case, God used my crash for good things in my life.  But had I been a little less hard-headed and hard-hearted, the crash would probably not have been necessary.  Anyhow, if you have a choice between crashing or not crashing, I highly recommend not crashing.

The final responsibility for keeping any vehicle out of any crash rests with the operator of that vehicle.  This applies to any vehicle from hot-air balloons to jet-liners, soap-box cars to semis, and tricycles to hayabusas.  The operator of a vehicle has all of the power and authority to make any decision necessary to avoid a crash.  Nobody else has this authority or power - only the operator.  You can't blame the guys riding too fast in front of you for your crash - that's why we say "ride your own ride" all the time.  Likewise, if there is a crash ahead of you, you are responsible for not becoming a part of it.

Crashes are preventable.  I know that sometimes it seems that they are not, especially when you are experiencing one first-hand.  However, nearly every crash that has ever happened could have been prevented by somebody at some point.  Most of the time there is more than one person who could have prevented the crash.

Now, all this sounds easy, let's just always blame the drivers of the crashed vehicles, right?

Wrong.

Legally, that's where the blame will all get assiged because nobody else had to carry insurance (unless they were drinking and then some blame might get assigned to the tavern or bartender in some states).  However, if I learned anything from the law classes for my MBA, it is that the law is not the full measure of what is right and wrong.  Our instructor - a local attorney - made everyone angry with him during our first session by proposing the following hypothetical:

As I am walking into Starbucks this morning - late as usual - I see an infant face-down in the gutter, clearly struggling.  It is clear that without my intervention right now, this infant will die.  Since I am late, I step over the infant to get my double-latte.  The infant dies.  What is my legal liability in this case?

His answer was that he had no legal obligation to the child (since he has no particular medical skills requiring him to help everyone in need).

Now, I am not ascribing blame to anyone here for any particular accident.  I am also not trying to make anyone feel bad about any situation going on here.  The situation on the Cherohala may have made me decide to post this, but that same situation has played out in many other rides hosted by many other groups - it is not unique to Hyabusa.org and it is not unique to the Cherohala.  My goal in writing this is to provoke us all to introspection about whether or not we as motorcyclists can improve our global community (i.e. all other motorcyclists) through deliberate and careful action.

Can a ride leader make a positive impact on his group by intentionally riding below his (or her) capabilities and within the capabilities of the others on his (or her) ride?  They don't leagally have to (or do they?), but would it be worth it anyway?

Could a ride leader conduct a brief safety talk before the ride starts and remind people to check their machines, to ride their own rides, and to take it a little easier with passengers?

What about other ride participants?  Is there some point at which when we see a rider in front of or behind us riding erratically or clearly being in over their heads should cause us to look for ways to defuse that situation?  And if it does, what action could we take?  If we're able to pass, could we get in front of the rider in trouble and slow down?  Or maybe even stop and flag them down?  Again, we don't really have a legal obligation to, and if we fail to take action, the person in an accident has no recourse against us, but would it be worth it anyway?

You guys all know I'm not nearly so skilled as most of you here, and I ride most of my miles with BusaWhipped - a guy who is probably easily in the top 10% of riders anywhere.  I have watched him repeatedly take the actions I've just mentioned with me and with several others and I can't help but think there are several riders around who owe him their lives just because he sets a good example for them, takes time out to teach them, and is willing to walk up to someone and say "hey - what's up?  You were riding a little erratically back there..."

You guys all ride safe.

DadOfThree, Diesel, and Naomi, I'm praying for full recoveries for all of you.

[Mac]

Quite frankly I can't see how anyone would take this out of the spirit in which it was intended to mean something derogatory to any one particular person or group.  I see it as a open plea for people to take responsibility for their actions and manage their own risks.  Hmmm...seems I've heard that somewhere before!  But, then, maybe that's the problem!  These days it's all to common for people to blame others for their own (problems, actions, in-actions, stupidity, etc).

As for me, I'll continue to preach that message myself within the confines of the BRC/ERC!

[Tom Owens]

Dan,

First off, top notch post. Secondly, and I mean this as offensively as it can be taken: Anybody that has a problem with your post is a patent village idiot.

That said, here's my two cents:
As I am walking into Starbucks this morning - late as usual - I see an infant face-down in the gutter, clearly struggling.  It is clear that without my intervention right now, this infant will die.  Since I am late, I step over the infant to get my double-latte.  The infant dies.  What is my legal liability in this case?

In the vast majority of states, that's a crime called "Failure to render aide". It can also be construed as manslaughter; which by definition is the complete and total disregard for human life...which could easily be proven in that case. It wouldn't matter that you didn't know what to do. The only thing that matters is that you didn't even care enough to try.

Crashes are preventable.  I know that sometimes it seems that they are not, especially when you are experiencing one first-hand.
Not always, my friend. Laguna Seca, 1984 into the kink at 165 mph and my back tire exploded. That's why I can't ride sport bikes anymore. The scars on my neck (5 disk replaced), lower back (4 disk replaced), right knee (plastic replacement with titanium hindges) testify that a bad wreck can and will totally destroy you. I'm VERY lucky to be alive, but at that speed when your bike slams you to the pavement in less than 1/2 second, there trully is nothing you can do. Pray if you have time, that's all you CAN do.

Now, as far as street accidents? Yes...there you'd have a good point, unless it's someone running a redlight at 100 mph that you never saw coming. How could you? So on that point alone I can see where some folks would disagree with you. But these are EXTREME cases, not the norm. In the norm, you're absolutely right. Most wrecks are caused simply because of a few things:

1) They rode beyond their limit.
2) They weren't paying a bit of attention.
3) They were drunk.

That's about it.

Can a ride leader make a positive impact on his group by intentionally riding below his (or her) capabilities and within the capabilities of the others on his (or her) ride?
ABSOLUTELY! My buddy Frank that was with me is still a very timid rider. I have to make it a point to ride slower with him in tow even though I'm on a 650 lb. Gorilla Vmax and he's on a 450 lb. SV that outhandles me three to one at least. I don't mind AT ALL! It's about the fun, the experience and most importantly to me and him: The BROTHERHOOD.

Now, lets put that shoe on the other foot and say it's Busawhipped and me at the Dragon. Well, I'm not anywhere near stupid enough to believe that I can hang with him on a Vmax. I'll simply say, "Go brother...I'll see you when I get there." and that will be that. He can have his ride and I'll have mine. When I show up at the end after he's half way through a cigar, THEN I'll invite him to go out to a dragstrip and give it a go there.

It's really about being responsible, as you say. It's not a matter of pride. That's what gets most people into trouble: They think they're playing a game. They think it's about being the fastest.

It's NOT a Playstation. You can't hit the reset button for being stupid. You can't "reload" for riding beyond your limit. You can't have a mulligan after you killed your passenger and crippled the man that was behind you.

Excellent post, Dan. Absolutely excellent. It should be required reading if not a contract that should have to be signed before ANYBODY rides a bike ANYWHERE. I've seen way too many people, especially young folks, die or get crippled or at the very least be permanently scared because of exactly that: Pride and stupidity. In my opinion, if a ride leader gives you a good butt chewing and you take exception to it, you have a problem. Big time.

All the best,
Tom

[CrashTestDanny]

The only comment I'll make is that somebody, somewhere could have prevented your crash.  Whether it was the tire manufacturer, the track sweeper, the flag man, or the loose nut holding the saddle down, somebody, somewhere missed an opportunity to prevent your crash.  In fact, probably lots of people missed opportunities to prevent your crash.

In fact, I believe this is the most important concept that I got out of the MSF BRC.  An accident is not just a single event, but rather a confluence of multiple factors and events that result in damage and/or injury.  Usually, a very small disruption in the chain of events leading up to an accident can prevent the accident.  Lots of people try to argue this point, but I think the MSF have done their homework on this one and I doubt you'll find anyone disputing it who's not really just trying to guard their own pride.  Now, that might have been a little bit of an abrassive comment, but remember how much you guys picked on me at the hotel and I just quietly took it?  I earned the right to be a little abrassive to you back there...

Consider the most recent Space Shuttle disaster.  2001 or 2002 if I recall correctly.  The Space Shuttle is re-entering the atmosphere and disintegrates somewhere over Texas, spraying debris across the country - and some down into Mexico - and some in the ocean...  A freak accident.  Remember that?  A piece of foam insulation blew off the tank on liftoff and put a small rupture in the heat shield.  We spent billions on learning what caused this disaster - the entire chain of events.  We studied every aspect of the failure, going back into the history of the shuttle program to the first crash.  We analyzed all the human factors, all the political games that were going on at Nasa, and everything we could think to study.  Why?  Because with the lives of eight Astronauts on board, nobody is willing to say that the accident could not have been prevented.  If it had been an unmanned spacecraft, there would have been a cost-benefit analysis done and the work would have stopped at the break-even point with the verdict that it's not worth it to prevent it.  But the Ford people tried that approach to the Pinto problem in the 1970s and were eviscerated for it.  In fact, it's still an MBA case study (I know, I recently got my MBA).  Because there were lives at stake, nobody is willing to trade a life for money - and they should not be.  With motorcycles and automobiles, the risk to peoples' lives is just as great.  Why shouldn't we take the attitude that every crash is preventable and then work to make that a reality?

[Tom Owens]

OHHHHHHH. I see what you're saying now, Dan'O. You mean that in the grand scheme of things, all accidents are avoidable, not that any one person can control the outcome of every given accident.

In that case, you're absolutely right. That's like all the SUV rollovers that killed folks (engineers and techs should have seen that coming) or a high speed chase ending in a fatal car crash (the guy didn't have to run, and the police didn't really have to chase him on a crowded freeway.) In that respect, one could say that all things are avoidable, it's just that we as a civilization normally only look after our small part of any given thing, and pass the buck on to the guy down the line when it comes to the big picture.

At least I THINK I'm getting your point now.

Tom

[CrashTestDanny]

Exactly.  And once we come to the conclusion that every crash is preventable, it only makes sense to start preventing them, right? 

[Tom Owens]

Absolutely. I see your point now.

Tom

[Papa]

If I can think of a crash I've had that was NOT, caused by the nut between the handlebars, I'll let you know.