Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in, via e-mail:

To the readers of this magazine:

I’m a CHP motor officer. Yesterday, I had to respond to a motorcycle collision on Glendora Ridge Rd. The dispatcher said it was a motorcycle verses a sheriff’s vehicle. When I arrived, I was painfully greeted with the sight of a totaled Ford Bronco, a broken 955 Daytona, and a dead young man in his full leathers and boots.

He had been video taping himself with front and rear fairing mounted cameras. From the footage, I was able to clearly see that he had been hitting all of his apexes. He was a decent rider who knew the road quite well. He wasn’t riding overly fast and wasn’t stunting. Just out for a ride on a Sunday Morning.

Here lies the fatal mistake. The apexes that he was hitting, were on both the right and left side of the roadway. The last corner he saw was a left hander. It was a blind left hander. Unfortunately for him, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Bronco was coming up the hill in the opposite direction. The Sheriff was as far to the right as he could get before scraping the rock wall next to his right.

According to witness statements, the motorcycle rider was on the wrong side of the road and almost at the apex of this blind left hander, when he saw the Bronco appear. He was headed straight for the hood of the truck. The rider straightened the bike upright and got on the binders hard enough to go into a stoppie. Both he and the bike ended up on the roof of the Bronco and then slid back in front of it and onto the ground when the Sheriff stopped.

The two Sheriffs who were in the Bronco, tried for 15 minutes, until the life flight arrived with a paramedic. They were unsuccessful to save his life. He probably died the instant his chest hit the Bronco’s push bumper. The actual cause of death is still pending the coroner’s report.

Speed was not much of a contributing factor in this collision. The Daytona was probably traveling 40 to 50 mph and the Bronco was 20 to 25 mph. That’s a closing rate of 60 to 75 mph. With only 40 feet of visibility due to the rock wall on the inside of the corner, he did not have a chance to slow or swerve enough to avoid the collision.

It’s a very unfortunate thing that happened and a mistake that alot of us have made (me included). We are still here to talk about it though. Humans tend to learn from mistakes. Let’s learn from other’s mistakes before we have to learn the hard way! Don’t make me respond to the scene of your collision and find you on the ground as I had to yesterday. I’m not trying to tell you to quit having fun with your motorcycle. I get on my 2000 gixer 750 and ride hard too! Just think about the consequences and give yourself plenty of room to react to your mistakes and the mistakes of those you might encounter.

California Highway Patrol Motor Officer,
C. L. Gramm #15980