High Speed MC crash/rider error. WARNING: GORY PHOTOS

Rob

Ok, I received this email today and I'll say upfront that I'm highly skeptical. It sure seems to be urban legend material and if I wasn't so lazy, I'd check it out. Snopes is usually a good resource for doing those sorts of things.

But, I suppose it's never a bad idea to reinterate the helmet safety factor ... so here goes:

The cops were traveling down the highway at around 1 o'clock in the morning near Tulsa , Oklahoma . They found this on the road.
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo2/GenuineLong/Helmet1.jpg

Another patrol car stopped a truck some miles down the highway and were struck with the following image.

http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo2/GenuineLong/Helmet2.jpg

The Truck Driver said he thought he felt the impact, but it took him almost 4 miles down the road before he thought he'd better pull over and check out his rig.
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo2/GenuineLong/Helmet3.jpg

Notice the driver has no shoes on from the impact or from being drug all that distance. Ouch!
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo2/GenuineLong/Helmet4.jpg

Side view of Motorcycle Driver caught up in the trailer of the Semi.
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo2/GenuineLong/Helmet5.jpg

Witnesses and State Police say the Motorcyclist was traveling at 120 mph when he ran into the back of the moving semi-truck.

It pays to have a good quality helmet when riding a motorcycle, Now for the rest of the story! THIS GUY SURVIVED.

Rob

ache4dalake · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:10 am Post subject:

According to snopes.com this is true, but the guy was dead on the scene.

jmazza · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:13 am Post subject:

Mostly true.

Except that last part. He did not live. No helmet is going to help that.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/tulsacrash.asp

Major Redneck · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:26 am Post subject:

old news but a great reminder that "SPEED KILLS"

bigbropgo · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:46 am Post subject:

I got nothin.... for once. Shocked

TVB · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:50 am Post subject:

This is a "Don't Go Too Fast" story, not a "Wear A Helmet" story. If anything, it underscores the fact that all the right gear won't protect you if you ride like a damned idiot.

Skootz Kabootz · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 1:13 am Post subject:

OMG.

(Can you imagine being a casual driver, just cruising down the highway, minding your own business, then seeing this poor guy being dragged by his head behind a truck??? Certainly worse than any nightmare I've ever had. Worse than any episode of Night Gallery even...)

jmazza · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 1:54 am Post subject:

I guess it's a good thing that not even Kaos' Buddy will go fast enough to do this kind of damage!
Laughing

nissanman · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:52 am Post subject:

Dang it Mazza... beat me to it! Sometimes having a bike capable of 120+ mph does not mean you have the brains not to use it Exclamation

Quo Vadimus · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:58 am Post subject:

I thought this was

Wear a "Helmet-Reminder,"

which I was guessing meant one of those stickers saying "For goodness sake don't take my helmet off if I've crashed."

Anyone have one of those? I kind of figure a witness who's worked up from seeing a crash won't stop to read it. I also figure it might be dark, or I might be laying on it.

r0sa · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 5:24 am Post subject:

that is scary

Vic · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:44 pm Post subject:

Ok, if it happened, it happened, if it has been verified, it has been verified, BUT...

The shoes thing bothers me. It says that he was dragging behind that truck for 4 miles and his shoes were lost somewhere along the way. I have to assume that the shoes were some kind of slip on or were tied loosely enough to have slipped off of his feet. But, it strikes me that there is surprisingly little damage to the feet and legs, it looks like the front lower leg of the jeans got ripped a bit but that is all.

I have personal experience with short distances at far lower speeds having my skin sloughed off by asphalt. I have also been at the scene of a few too many accidents where folks had more damage than I did and of course there are the pics of Renae's foot after her accident that many of us have seen (granted her injury was different, she had the scoot on top of her foot adding to the downward force).

I am just very surprised that the feet and lower legs have a little visible damage as they did. And no, I can not imagine that anyone would have had the slightest chance of surviving that. My hope is that he snapped his neck and it was quick, the other possibilities are too awful to imagine.

Very, very dumb.

-v

ScooterTrash · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:48 pm Post subject:

Lostmycage · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:52 pm Post subject:

jijifer · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 5:39 pm Post subject:

TVB · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 6:04 pm Post subject:

Kaos · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 6:28 pm Post subject:

jmazza · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject:

chloefpuff · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:45 pm Post subject:

rajron · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:58 pm Post subject:

That is a horrible accident:
It seems like, in this accident, a helmet may have allowed pain to register before death, without helmet – no pain.

Rbuddy · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 12:50 am Post subject:

I know I might catch some grief for this, but why post these pictures here?

Is it me or does anyone else find this sort of thing unnecessary? I hop on modern buddy for info of all sorts, even accident reports, perhaps a great big *warning, extremely graphic accident photos* would be appropriate in the title?

I can read the discription of an accident and imagine the horror. Having the photographs, unsuspectingly in my opinion, shoved in my face is just wrong.

I cannot understand peoples fascination with these sorts of pictures.

LuvMyScoot · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:01 am Post subject:

digital-entropy · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:49 am Post subject:

illnoise · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:32 am Post subject:

we had a couple complaints about these gory photos, and I see their point.

I'm not sure about the relevance or benefit of this sort of post, I can see how seeing stuff like this can maybe help people make better or at least different decisons, and it's best not to couch people from the real dangers of motorcycling. On the other hand, this is a bit much, an extreme situation, and seems calculated more for shock value than education. I REALLy don't like the urban legend/incorrect storyline aspect of the original post, but that's been cleared up.

I'm torn. Other moderators or Eric might have a better idea how to handle it, for now, I added a warning to the subject line to at least spare people seeing something they don't want to see.

Bb.

Skootz Kabootz · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:35 am Post subject:

While the realism is indeed gory, personally I found good value in the post... just sayin...

gigi · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:42 am Post subject:

we had three very high speed cycle crashes in one month on that stretch of highway. three very straight miles of 6 to 8 lane highway that's not too busy late at night. this is a major north-south expressway just a couple of miles from the biggest mall in the state. now you know why alienmeatsack said he would never ride his buddy on hiway 169 in another thread. you haven't lived until you've had one of these guys go around you doing a wheelie and shooting you the bird while you're going 70 mph. fwiw that is a real picture of a tulsa squad car in one of those shots and the tulsa paper did not print pictures but gave graphic details of the events. i really did not need this just before bed--ruined a good 3 beer buzz. still i feel better than that guy did.

ericalm · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:09 pm Post subject:

This thread spent the night in the cooler while I thought about what to do with it. Smile

I've converted all of the embedded images in the OP to links for those who feel they need to see them. If you have trouble with those links, the snopes.com page contains all of the images.

If anyone need a reminder of what a helmet can do for you, you can Google crash images. There are plenty of gory, graphic pics of crash victims who were not wearing helmets.

ericalm · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:30 pm Post subject:

Silver Streak · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:20 pm Post subject:

At the risk of being pedantic and beside the point, I've got to point out that the pictures are far from gory... gruesome, yes, but not gory.

Gory means covered or stained with blood. There is almost no blood evidenced here.

Yeah, I've got a little hangup with accuracy of language.

TVB · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:26 pm Post subject:

ericalm · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:37 pm Post subject:

Silver Streak · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 4:05 pm Post subject:

xteraco · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:56 pm Post subject:

I HATE these kinds of images. I've seen these pics, and video of riders being crushed by trucks, etc. It doesn't make me want to wear safety gear (not that I dont), it makes me want to sell my scoot and thank god that wont happen to me. Just imagine what a potential motorcycle or scooter buyer would think if they saw these images before making their purchase. Sad

When I ride and there is a huge truck behind me. Memories of these images creep into my head, and take a shit on my good day. Threads like these just perpetuate it.

Its not useful. Its just a case of someone making very bad decisions and paying the price for it. Also the guy wasn't even on a scooter. Should I go dig up some graphic images of people getting killed in a warehouse and use that to make a case for why we should all wear helmets?

My 2 cents.

iwabj · Joined: 29 Apr 2009 Posts: 587

DonkeyScoot · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:06 am Post subject:

I have to agree that the message isn't to wear a helmet it's not to drive like an idiot. The most danger you should face on the road should be from other drivers... not yourself.

LuvMyScoot · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:23 am Post subject:

Lostmycage · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:29 am Post subject:

I edited the title (again). It's been bugging me that it's been even remotely related to a helmet anything. It's pretty clearly only a story about excessive speeds, so I dropped the "Helmet warning" and kept the "Gory Photos" part.

Now everyone is sufficiently warned and can click at their own risk. I'm not about to attempt to protect anyone from the internet. That's just stupid... like the internet (or what it's become, because of it's users Rolling Eyes

).