Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Bad news from Daytona Bike Week

This is sad

http://www.wftv.com/news/7881054/detail.html?subid=22105266&qs=1;bp=t

Sad but true.. Bike week has become a zoo and it's amazing that there aren't more accidents. Too many bikes, too much booze, too many people. And to top it off, I'll bet you a good chunk of them bikers have less than 5000 miles of riding under their belts and are riding way more machine than they can handle (and spend most of their life either in the garage or on the trailer).

I'll be going this weekend, and I'll ride like I always do.. as if they are ALL out to get you, and will if given any possible chance to do so

Cheers,
Brad

Gotta be careful out there!
Be safe everyone.

Quote:

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In both accidents Friday, charges are pending against the drivers who ran into the motorcyclists.

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That's the sad part too, and the drivers will probably only get a slap on the wrist.

I was there Monday to Thursday as we opted not to be there over a weekend. No doubt, there is more bike traffic in one place than I've ever been exposed to, but I didn't see an accident while there. Most of the car drivers were more aware of bikers than in my hometown. They would slow down when seeing one or two of a group changing lanes to give room for partners to stay together. Still, I'm not sure if I'll go back - just too crowded for me in addition to all the traffic. I enjoyed the ride to Daytona and back (about 430 miles each way) as much as I enjoyed Daytona. Of the 12 deaths, only one so far was the biker's error. 12 out of 500,000 may be a low percentage, but it's 12 too many. My preference would be to go to a smaller rally. There were over 6 major venue areas there spread out with many additional smaller vendor/display areas. A smaller event would be concentrated to one main area and require much less driving all over town to see stuff. Bike Week will just get bigger and more spread out with everyone trying to check out all the major venue areas. OK, I've definitely talked myself out of it now.

There were four motorcycle accidents here in Albuquerque last week. One rider took a curve too fast, lost it, hit the curb and his bike exploded into flame on top of him. He died. On the same day, not far from the first accident, one rider turned into another and they are both in the hospital. A few days ago a good friend ran a red light and T-Boned an SUV. He has a broken leg, broken arm and has been in an induced coma last Wednesday due to his brain swelling. It does not look good for him. The last accident: Rider on a sport bike, no helmet, went sliding 300 feet and his head is pretty messed up.

We put on about 800 miles this week at Daytona. My group didn't see any accidents but we heard about plenty of them. We thought we were used to heavy traffic because of Laconia bike week. Daytona must have several times the bike traffic of Laconia and many times more autos and trucks. With all those bikers and cagers you're bound to have more incidents. One thing I did notice was how fast some of the cars and bikers were going down these congested roads. Also, tailgating, passing on the right, no signals, no helmets, cars pulling between groups of riders, etc. It's a wonder more people arn't killed. I was also amazed that they let cars go down Main St in Daytona during bike week. During Laconia bike week cars are band from the Weirs Beach area completely. However, we did have a great time and I'd go back in a second.

Death toll now to 18 as of Saturday evening