Advocacy & Safety - Even famous people get left crossed

Football Steelers QB left-crossed while on motorbike (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2480830)

I gathered the part about the left cross from this bit:


Roethlisberger was between radio interviews and on his black 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa -- a large, racing-style bike -- and heading toward an intersection on the edge of downtown. A silver Chrysler New Yorker traveling in the opposite direction took a left turn and collided with the motorcycle, and Roethlisberger was thrown, police said.

and Ben, being the smart guy he is, wasn't wearing a helmet. Oops.

The article focused on the dangers of riding a motorcycle. It didn't mention much of anything about determining who was at fault. Too bad.

In May 2005, Cowher warned him about safe riding after Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. was injured in a motorcycle accident. Winslow tore knee ligaments and was lost for the season.

....

New England quarterback Tom Brady was at a charity golf event when he found out that Roethlisberger was injured riding a motorcycle.

"You try to take some of those things and put them off for a later time in your life," Brady said, "but sometimes people want to live their lives and have fun and I think sometimes things happen like that. Hopefully, he's OK."

Roethlisberger, whose mother, Ida, died in a car accident when he was 8 years old, continued to ride after Winslow's accident and that angered Terry Bradshaw, who quarterbacked the Steelers to four Super Bowl victories during the 1970s.

Visiting the Steelers' training camp last summer, Bradshaw remarked: "Ride it when you retire." Don't you find this disgusting? We hear about a lot of car accidents, you know, but nobody dreams of warning people about the danger of driving and nobody says: "Drive it when you retire". Yet when it gets to bikes (motor or no motor) - the people see you as a fool playing with a dangerous toy in a dangerous place.

Actually, I believe that was a left hook (since the driver was turning), not a left cross.
A left cross is when the driver is crossing straight across the intersection when he hits you.
At least that's how I understand it.

Bah, left hook, left cross, right jab, whatever. I thought that in fact is a "left cross" because the person turns to cross in front, whereas a right hook is when a car nearly even with a (motor)cyclist makes a right turn in front of the said (motor)cyclist. Again, it doesn't particularly matter, does it?

I admit, though, that this story gives me pause, for a peculiar reason. I, as a non-motorcyclist, see it, in fact, as an inherently dangerous toy when it reaches the power of a racing motorcycle. I've seen at least one no0b smash into a (parked, thank goodness) car trying to handle one of those. Am I being as biased as those who consider cycling OMGDANGEROUS?

I admit, though, that this story gives me pause, for a peculiar reason. I, as a non-motorcyclist, see it, in fact, as an inherently dangerous toy when it reaches the power of a racing motorcycle. I've seen at least one no0b smash into a (parked, thank goodness) car trying to handle one of those. Am I being as biased as those who consider cycling OMGDANGEROUS? Well, I think statistics shows that motorcyclists are more likely to get into accidents than any other road users. However one has to wonder whether it's because the machine is inherently dangerous or because a disproportionately large number of irresponsible and thrill-seeking users choose motorcycles over other vehicles.

There has been a discussion about motorcycles on these forums recently. I think the general consensus was that if operated properly (which may in certain circumstances mean under the speed limit) a motorcycle is not particularly dangerous. However, I am not a motorcyclist either. I know there are some around here though. Perhaps they can tell us more.

As for smashing... I've seen cyclists smash into things too. ;)

As a motorcyclist, I believe you have an advantage over cars and trucks in visibility (yours, that is), manuverability, speed and braking.

You are at a large DISadvantage in a collision. You need an even higher degree of situational awareness than you do when driving a car. Motorcycle safety classes (at least the one I took) go into this very well. USE that superior edge in visibility to take in everything and act on any potential problems.

I am not on a M/C presently, but I put in well over 100k miles in LA traffic during my daily commute. Never even had a close call.

Most M/C riders claim they have a scare every day.

Hmmmm.

I rode motorcycles for years. The vehicle, in and of itself is not inherently dangerous. However, a large percentage of motorcyclists don't have the first clue regarding the steering and braking dynamics of a single-track vehicle. They don't know how to counter-steer or how to brake hard. I can't count how many times a motorcyclist has retold the story of a crash and said...'(he/she) had to lay it down' (to avoid the collision). The translation is 'I don't know how to stop or turn in an emergency situation, I slammed on the back brake, the rear wheel skidded out and I fell down'. As any motorcycle instructor will tell you your best chance in an emergency situation is to apply full front brakes and try to steer out of danger. Hard to do when sliding on your side. Rear brake has maybe 15% of available braking power. And given the speed and acceleration potential of motorcycles, the operator must be exceptionally vigilant at intersections and around other vehicles.

I rode motorcycles for years. The vehicle, in and of itself is not inherently dangerous. However, a large percentage of motorcyclists don't have the first clue regarding the steering and braking dynamics of a single-track vehicle. They don't know how to counter-steer or how to brake hard.

Yep. Same here. Went for about 10 years and never had an incident. I stopped riding when I got into scuba diving. That meant I needed a boat. Nice days were an argument between boat and bike. Boat kept winning. Now I've taken up flying. Kinda like motorcycling, only slower. :D

Galen and vtjim, I wonder if maybe the effects of countersteer added to the crash.

Many neophyte motorcyclists have crashed INTO what they quickly tried to steer AWAY from.

Don't you find this disgusting? We hear about a lot of car accidents, you know, but nobody dreams of warning people about the danger of driving and nobody says: "Drive it when you retire". Yet when it gets to bikes (motor or no motor) - the people see you as a fool playing with a dangerous toy in a dangerous place.

Terry Bradshaw gave Big Ben good advice--shame it wasn't heeded.

The fact Roethlisberger continued to ride after Winslow's accident angered retired quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who guided the Steelers to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s.

Visiting the team's training camp last year, Bradshaw told Roethlisberger: "Ride it when you retire."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2003057553_ben13.html

unfortunatley he didn not listne and wear a helmet, but its not a law ans he had a choice i don;t feel bad for him in that respect.

however he was traveling under the speed limit and the elderly woman had not noticed him.

he has fractures on his face that were taken care of and a busted jaw he is supposed to make a recoveriy in time for the season.

oh and the woman is goin to recieve a failure to yeild to oncomoing trraffic ticket.

... oh and the woman is goin to recieve a failure to yeild to oncomoing trraffic ticket.

She needs more than that, e.g. driver's license revocation or at least a thorough re-evaluation of her fitness as a motorist. We can at least hope for a big civil suit, although Roethlisberger's failure to wear a helmet could be considered contributory negligence.

I'm not a football fan. Does he wear a helmet on the field?

No helmet? Collision? Where's the brain damage? Oh that's right, he was just lucky.

It's a good thing in every other crash where a helmet is broken, the helmet saved a life. :rolleyes:

Most of the damage went to his face. The facial bones took all of the force. If all the damage had gone to the back of his head, he'd be dead right now...or brain damaged.

I'll say he's REAL lucky.

Most of the damage went to his face.

it most often is...
http://hypnoticdesigns.com/cgi/archives/faceplant.jpg

She needs more than that, e.g. driver's license revocation or at least a thorough re-evaluation of her fitness as a motorist. We can at least hope for a big civil suit, although Roethlisberger's failure to wear a helmet could be considered contributory negligence.
Why? There was no legal requirement. He also wasn't wearing mouth protection. Do you consider that more contributory negligence? How about if he wore a standard motorcycle helmet that wouldn't have made any difference at all as to causing or preventing the accident nor made any difference at all to all the face injuries suffered.

Are you lawyer? Or just a wannabe? Or are you just doing a little internet legal conjuring about what YOU consider justice?

Do you think any bicyclist who is injured/struck by an automobiler driver is contributing to his/her accident by legally cycling? After all the cyclist could have done something else.

What truly irks me is all the media hoo-rah about high dollar jocks & high risk sports. I want to see more about high risk, elderly drivers who have not had an eye test in many years, or a driving test in many decades.

Oh, that's right, they have their own lobby group no one wants to tick off.

While I hope to become a old person someday, I do believe they should be subject to more frequent testing of their driving skills. We took away my grandmother's car (age 94) when she was no longer safe on the roads. My mother made me promise to do the same for her.

Ben apologized to his fans and the Steelers and said, "from now on I am wearing a helmet". I know the intersection where this happened, and I doubt that Ben was going very fast there at that time of day. Probably an old, tired person just turned without looking or seeing. But on another note, Ben only had a learner's permit.


http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/9373358/detail.html

Ben apologized to his fans and the Steelers and said, "from now on I am wearing a helmet".


Kinda funny considering he works in a business that leads all other businesses in head injuries even with wearing helmets, when he didn't receive a head injury while being lidless.

from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...553_ben13.html

"His brain, spine, chest and abdomen appear to be without serious injury and there are no other confirmed injuries at this time," Pituch said.

from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0114151826.htm

"...Clearly at this point, no helmet or other technology is available to prevent concussions from occurring..." said study co-author Joseph Maroon, M.D., professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

and from: http://www.scienceblog.com/community...200115468.html

“People rarely associate concussions with what they really are – traumatic brain injuries,” said Tracy K. McIntosh, PhD, the Robert A. Groff Professor and Director of the HIC.

and last week I read here http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...age-main_x.htm where it shows that shock waves from blasts are causing troops who haven't been hit in the head to deal with brain injuries. No helmet can prevent all brain damage.

It's time to wake up and realize that it's not productive to over worry about something that didn't even happen and something that couldn't have provided too much protection even if he had it on.

Now lets all dutifully put on our little styro-tops and go jauntily into the world....smug in our knowledge that we are protected from harm!

...and suffer the same fates...

ABATE (an American motorcycle advocacy membership organisation) found the motorcycle fatality rate in helmet-law states is 2.97 deaths per 100 accidents versus 2.79 in helmet-free states