bagwell

A motorcyclist got more than he bargained for while making a pass on a two-lane road on Saturday when a driver swerved and hit the bike, sending both passengers to the ground. The driver’s response to the whole thing? “I don’t care.”

The rider, Eric Sanders — who posted the video taken by a fellow traveller to Facebook shortly after it happened — said in the comments section that he suffered road rash and his girlfriend went to an intensive care unit in Texas after the incident.

Sanders begins to pass the car at about 1:40 in the video, only to have the driver swerve and knock both the rider and his passenger off of the motorcycle. As the video shows, the scene after the wreck is pretty urgent — fellow drivers pulling over to check on the couple as the two lay down on the side of the road, while the person filming approaches the man who hit the bike.

The driver initially blames his swerving on the fact that the rider tried to pass him over double-yellow lines, which Sanders later admitted to in a clarification post on Facebook. Then he turns around to say that he was “stung by a wasp,” intertwined with several more “I don’t care” statements while the filming motorcyclist snaps a picture of his license plate.

Sanders added in the clarification post that his reason for passing the car was its slowing down to around 20 mph under the speed limit for that particular area. Police did not arrest the man, according to Sanders’ comments, but he is “gonna be prosecuted.”

While Sanders wasn’t completely in the right by passing the car in a zone with double-yellow lines, that certainly doesn’t justify the driver hitting him for any reason.

Around three hours ago, Sanders’ latest update on the situation stated that his girlfriend was headed into surgery for an arm injury sustained during the crash. http://lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/dri...%28Jalopnik%29

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

stung by wasp huh, like that bugatti veyron that was swerving to avoid a pelican

mmarshall

I agree. One dumb or questionable act doesn't deserve another. Not only that, but, all else equal, a person on a bike usually has much less protection than someone in a car...drivers are well-advised to remember that.

If the driver can be identified (and, apparently, police already know who it is), IMO he should not only be responsible for medical bills and bike repair/replacement as needed, but should also have his license suspended for a significant length of time (he's probably going to lose his insurance policy, once that company gets done paying the bills).

chikoo

truth to be told, a driver cannot expect somebody to be passing his/her vehicle on a no passing zone. As long as the incoming lane was clear, his actions are not at fault.

mmarshall

No, IMO, that's not a valid excuse. Those two no-cross/double-yellow lines apply to cars as well as motorcycles. The driver was just as much at fault for swerving and crossing those lines as the bike-rider was.

EZZ

I agree with you that both drivers were at fault for their relative infractions. The motorcycle rider definitely deserves a traffic infraction while the person who INTENTIONALLY hit the rider deserves attempted murder or the very least assault with a deadly weapon. So the motorcycle rider gets hit with a $200-300 fine while the driver should get 5-10 yrs.

Also, i would sue the driver to the point he goes completely bankrupt...easy to do in Cali and a ton of lawyers who would only get paid on a contingent basis I would ruin his life and my only response would be "I don't care."

pman6

double yellow line trumps all.

the driver swerved out early, but the biker couldn't react quick enough.

go with traffic, and don't act like an azzhole trying to pass a whole string of cars.
Even if he did pass that white car, there's a whole bunch of cars not too far ahead.

sometimes owning a bike makes people feel like they have a right to disobey traffic laws.

I wouldn't swerve my car like that, but I hope the biker learns from this.

bagwell

Agree 100% of all points

mmarshall

Simple vengeance or vindictiveness is not necessarily the way to go, either. (Karma has a way sometimes of ultimately bringing that right back to the source). But, as far as litigation and bankruptcy go, if the driver has insurance, once the insurance has gotten done paying all the bills and replacement costs (which you can believe is going to cost a LOT of money), that driver is going to suffer enough as it is.....no need to just keep piling it on with more lawsuits. His insurance policy will probably be history; he may not be able to get one with any other company short of high-risk/sky-high rates, and he could lose his license for some time, if not permanently. Plus, as you noted, if the cops write him up on a criminal charge, he might be looking at some jail time as well.

My prayers, BTW, are for the successful recovery and recuperation of the two cyclists...even if they did something dumb, they can at least learn from it.

SW17LS

There is no excuse for taking the law into someone's own hands. It was not the driver's place to enforce the rules of the road in such a way. He should be prosecuted and punished.

However...this is an example of behavior from motorcyclists and drivers for that matter I see a lot. A disregard for the rules of the road that puts everyone at risk. I do not feel bad for the operator of the motorcycle. I do feel bad for the passenger. Personally? I think its unfortunate the motorcyclist survived so that he could continue to put others in danger by operating his vehicle in such an unsafe way. Thats what I always say when I see someone do something stupid like this "hopefully he'll wipe out or hit a tree or something and kill himself before he hurts anybody else". And I mean it.

bagwell

sorry but the the motorcycle crossing the double yellow line is no excuse for a driver to swerve and hit the motorcycle, period!

Sometimes owning a car makes people feel like they have a right to disobey traffic laws and be an enforcer....they have no right and they'll be sued until the sun don't shine!

pman6

karma's a bish.

let's rewind a bit.
If the motorcycle rider just breathed and chilled a bit, it wouldn't have snowballed into this.
But nope. the itchy need for speed is too great.

biker disrupted the equilibrium by introducing chaos into the picture.

bikers..... just stop it.

chikoo

INTENTIONALLY? Are you a mind reader?

SW17LS

I think its pretty obvious it was intentional. I doubt he intended to hit him, but his goal was to stop him or scare him from passing in the oncoming lane.

pman6

the driver was swerving around an invisible motorcycle on his right.

innocent!