Last Friday my step-daughter witnessed a rider T-bone a van. Killed the biker when he broke his neck. My daughter stopped to help but nothing could be done. Now before you start feeling too sorry for the biker I found out he was passing at least 7 cars on a single lane. The van he hit was making a left turn and he plowed right into her. His license had been revoked and he had had other driving violations in the past. The guy was 38 with children. He didn’t deserve to die but he was obviously making some bad choices.

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DEMOCRACY IS 2 WOLVES AND A LAMB VOTING ON WHAT TO HAVE FOR DINNER.
LIBERTY IS A WELL ARMED LAMB CONTESTING THE VOTE.

Darwin one, fool zero....sorry your step-daughter had to witness such a thing, and I feel sorry to the person driving the van.

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Always ask why.

I'm with you 100%

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Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
Current bike - 2005 Kawasaki Z750S
MMI Graduation date January 9th, 2009. Factory Certifications in Suzuki and Yamaha

how can you make the assumption that the van driver was not at any fault?

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2008 Ducati Hypermotard 1100
2006 Kawasaki KLX250S
2004 Honda CBR600RR
2002 BMW R1150R
1996 Ducati 900SS

I suppose you can't, but from the limited information available, passing 7 cars at a time, with a revoked license, on a single lane road sounds like the guy was lucky he lived this long.

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Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
Current bike - 2005 Kawasaki Z750S
MMI Graduation date January 9th, 2009. Factory Certifications in Suzuki and Yamaha

Sorry to hear your daughter had to go through that trauma.

It makes me wonder what kind of little hell the guy must have been living in to ride like that

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I spent my therapy money an a K1200S
The therapy worked, I got a GS now
A touch of insanity crept back in the shape of an R1200R

This is all pretty normal around me. A couple years ago a state study showed that over 30% of people riding didn't have a license in my state. A few miles from me there are a few bikes that have been driven into a small river and you can see then when it has not rained for a while. Thats what you do when the powers that be get onto your stolen bike...... Of the past 7 riders that I worked with only 2 had a motorcycle endorsement. There was only 1 that had a bike for more than a few months. The others went through bikes as fast as they could FIND them. What I want to know is how they get away with the stuff they do such as no tags or expired tags from another bike ect... I have been pulled over 3 x in the past few years on my VLX doing the speed limit, to see if i had proper registration and insurance info and license. I no longer have any contact with these people and thank heavens my neighbor moved away.(he was the same type) It seems funny to me that I have ridden so much and am still waiting for my accident to come and I was always the one that couldn't ride.......... from 20-30 year old guys that had totaled or blew up every machine they ever owned. It's no wonder they thought that a trip to ocean city was such a long trip (2hrs with traffic). I have no sympathy for these people at all and in all honesty, the faster they take themselves out the better. My only related concern is that they do no harm to others as they take themselves out. This includes the damages done to witnesses.

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1984 Honda Magna 700, 1987 CBR1000F, 1991 Nighthawk 750, 1994 FZR600, and for the dirt 1995 KTM 300 EXC and finally a 1986 KX500

Sorry that your daughter and others had to witness the death of someone. It changes their lives while the person who caused the situation never took the time to think about the effects of his actions - on innocent bystanders OR his family. I don't mean to sound heartless but I don't feel sorry for the guy because to me he represents those self important/self involved people that don't give a sh!t about anyone else but themselves.

Being a witness to a tragic event at any age can be life changing.

A day does not go by that I don't think about the person I found dead from suicide. Both the person and the event is part of me forever.

In my opinion, how it effects people depends on the individual person. I know a person that witnessed a death that turned out to be a great motivator in that persons life. I also know another that is stuck in that terrible moment of discovery and in thier own hell on earth. Two similar moments but two very different outcomes from being there.

My two cents.

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Goldwing 1500se '98
VN500 LTD '07 Sold

@flw...well said my friend...

My 23 year old son (then 19) had to bury one of his best friends who committed suicide a few years back. He seems to be handling it as well as we could expect, but it was one of the toughest things he (or mom and dad) has had to endure.