Road Death. Cause and effect? (Or how we learned to blame the victim).

[ManaloEA]

sorry.. Ive buried alot of friends. Whenever this topic comes up, im pretty passionate about it. So ill try to explain my view another way.

1.   I dont think  those ADDs change anything. People will continue being assholes in cars and motorcycles.

True, but people who cause an accident should at least be made to feel remorse for their actions. They should not be exonerated or excused just because they are in a car and the other person was on a motorcycle.

2.  Unfortunately, in every case that Im familiar with the rider was speeding. We ALL KNOW someone who has riden in excess of 100 miles per hour on the higway a few times.  

If the rider in the commercial was traveling at egregiously high speeds, then they would clearly be the cause of the accident. However in the ad, the motorcyclist is only traveling ~40 mph. This is not very fast and there is no excuse for the car not seeing the moto. I wonder, would the sentiment would be the same if a car traveling 40mph hit the side of the car that pulled out...

3.  Since MY life means alot to ME, im not going to quibble about "right of way".  Its not even a consideration in my mind when i cross an intersection.  I KNOW That is the MOST common multi-vehicle accident for motorcyclists.

Same response to #1

4. I treat every intersection as a DO or DIE scenario! Where are the cars? Am i going across alone?  can I use another car as a physical barrier?  Can I use another car who is crossing in the same direction for added VISUAL PRESENCE?

In the end. The rider who is in a BOX, doesnt have a chance to debate the law, riding technique and/or ethical behaviour. Hes simply dead.  

Its your life.. protect it. Slow down, give yourself options, scan ahead. Physics supercedes the law, good luck out there.

I believe the outrage here is the seeming acquittal of the car driver. And it is this attitude that further reduces the concern and awareness that car drivers have for motorcyclists. It's like running over a squirrel... no crime, no punishment. It's the squirrel's fault for running out into the road. Therefore no worry about hitting another.

What would be a better ending is having the cops making an arrest for involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homocide. Then the commentator can say "Yes, the biker had the right of way, but he will not be going home. Drive responsibly, blah blah blah..."

[koko64]

Amen  !

[ungeheuer]

IMHO, Polvio is right on one hand and wrong on the other.

+1

1. Rider was speeding.

True (and whilst it is true, its also not the main cause of the collision IMO, yet it is presented as such).

2. As a rider, YOUR LIFE is in YOUR HANDS!  Right of way wont mean SHIT when your in a make the beast with two backsING BOX.

True.  This though is merely a fact of motorcycling and IMO nothing to do with the thrust of this ad.

3. MAKE decisions based on your DESIRE to stay on this PLANET or ELSE. NO ONE ELSE gives a SHIT ABOUT you on the ROAD, dont assume ANYTHING.

True.  This though is merely a fact of motorcycling and IMO nothing to do with the thrust of this ad.

4. I make the beast with two backsING LOVE THIS COMERCIAL. I DISAGREE about the POLITICAL ANGLE, I dont BUY it.

Nope, instead you bought the message they intended to sell.

I would say most judges would toss a 5 mph speeding ticket out as a waste of their time.

Not here in the State where the ad originated.  Here speed however minor... is speed... and is deemed (simplistically) the main reason for all road trauma.  And in order to be seen to be countering this scourge - as seen in this ad - massive emphasis is placed on this one aspect.  Its speed that does the killing, so we book you for that and whilst we're "solving" that problem there's also a windfall to State finances.  Its simplistic and its cynical.  And its in that light that there's such local outrage to this ad.

If you view the other commercial that Curmudgeon posted, I think you can see how the fault for the accident was placed differently for almost the same incident with the message that not paying attention on the road might have you kill someone. 

Exactly.

Ive buried alot of friends.

No flaming going on here mate.  I'm sure all of us are sorry to know that and understand the perspective it gives you.

[koko64]

That ad is an insult to the memory of every motorcyclist killed by a careless car driver.
I've seen too many funerals also, but understand the ad in the context of anti motorcycling policies in my state.
The ad is culpable in that it perpetrates driver disregard for riders and puts us more at risk.
Some of you that "protesteth too much" in support of the ad either don't understand the local context (fair enough), or are giving away your own pecuniary interest.

[ManaloEA]

Something that I forgot to point out in my previous post is that the posted speed limit will not save a rider from an accident. Whether the posted speed limit was 35mph or 45mph, the fact remains that the car failed to yield to the moto, and that is the cause of death. I was in a similar situation where a car pulled out in front of me and I was doing 45mph, which was the speed limit. I was going faster than the guy in the original video, yet I was able to ride home (and change my shorts).

Fortunately, I had anticipated the actions of the car and covered the brakes and clutch just in case. Good for me. Shame on the car driver for being such a bonehead.

[NorDog]

What language was that guy in the yellow vest speaking?

;-)

[Betty]

Oooohh an article in the mainstream press criticising the ad:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/giving-way-on-the-road-wont-kill-you-either-20120509-1yczr.html

[Curmudgeon]

Oooohh an article in the mainstream press criticising the ad:

  A bit of sanity! What's in the water cooler at the TAC down there?!

[koko64]

Unfortunately, a senior bureacrat has a micropenis, his mum wouldn't let him buy a motorcycle, and he had his girlfriend stolen by a biker in high school.

[NAKID]

Unfortunately, a senior bureacrat has a micropenis, his mum wouldn't let him buy a motorcycle, and he had his girlfriend stolen by a biker in high school.

[hbliam]

That ad is an insult to the memory of every motorcyclist killed by a careless car driver.

I think you are blowing this a bit out of proportion. Your opinion of the ad's meaning is just that. Your opinion. Unless you were there when they wrote the copy you can't say what the message of the ad means or doesn't mean.

I still say the rider should have had the sense to ride more defensively with the blind intersection issue. Expect a car to pull out. Know how to brake properly. Better lane position. But of course...that's just one of many opinions.

[koko64]

 
Some of you that "protesteth too much" in support of the ad either don't understand the local context (fair enough), or are giving away your own pecuniary interest.

[NAKID]

I think you are blowing this a bit out of proportion. Your opinion of the ad's meaning is just that. Your opinion. Unless you were there when they wrote the copy you can't say what the message of the ad means or doesn't mean.

I still say the rider should have had the sense to ride more defensively with the blind intersection issue. Expect a car to pull out. Know how to brake properly. Better lane position. But of course...that's just one of many opinions.

And you know what they say about opinions...

[ungeheuer]

Oooohh an article in the mainstream press criticising the ad:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/giving-way-on-the-road-wont-kill-you-either-20120509-1yczr.html

[ManaloEA]

I still say the rider should have had the sense to ride more defensively with the blind intersection issue. Expect a car to pull out. Know how to brake properly. Better lane position. But of course...that's just one of many opinions.

What you say is true, however where is the admonition for the driver of the car? Face it, professional advertisers design these commercials. Lots of CG work went into creating it. Lots of money was spent in the making. There was no mistake in the scripting, and I would argue that everything in that ad, every inclusion and every exclusion, was very intentional.