Motorcycle vs car road rage in southern CA

[Steve Carlton]

This is a good one. The video starts after something gets going between a Nissan and a (Victory?) motorcycle in Santa Clarita. The motorcyclist crosses the line by kicking the car, then the driver of the car swerves into the motorcycle. It looks deliberate to me, but good luck proving it. Looks like attempted murder to me if deliberate. This looks like the best quality video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVuQaPpHXzU

[aap1966]

Interesting how one idiot is unscathed, the other car damage only, and the innocent bystander a potential C-spine injury.
"Yeah, I put someone else in a wheelchair, but I sure showed the bike / car !".

What friggen idiots.

(Above with the proviso that the sedan may have just had an 'oh-%#@*" moment when the bike had a go, and swerved in panic. I daily rode for 10 years, if you don't assume the potential for any car to do stupid things you don't survive.)

[pwd72s]

Only one I feel sorry for is the pickup driver...

[matthewb0051]

From another video and interview with the guy that shot this video, it appears that the crazy in the car crossed the double double yellow into the HOV and nearly hit the motorcycle. But really, you are going to kick a car while going highway speed.

The other youtube also has interview with the guy in white pickup. Cuts and bruises. Lucky.

I say and try to live by this: If you F up just give an apology wave and try to take responsibility. That usually diffuses the situation. I drive in DC every day...

[flatbutt]

And the biker bails on an accident scene? That ain't right.

[Don Ro]

A NASCAResque incident. Multiples involved. The bike slips through it all. Amazing.

[Jeff Higgins]

I understand the biker's rage, as I have been in that seat all too many times. Ass hat crosses a double yellow (illegal) and damn near hits him (inattention). Prolly yammering on his cell, or texting, or watching youtube videos. In the situations I've been in, I was as hard on the horn as I was the brakes, and many times the driver still never saw me.

Kicking the door, however, was foolish. You can see how it made the bike swerve left - the car sure as hell ain't gonna move. The mere fact that the biker was even still in a position to kick it that late in the game was really, really stupid - pure ego or something. He should have been well behind the car by then and just taking a deep breath to shine it on.

So, if I had been a witness, the first thing I would do would be to see if the driver was o.k., and to help him out of his car. So I could beat the bloody hell out of him.

[recycled sixtie]

That is probably not the first time that motorbiker has kicked a car. The ability to stay on his bike would take some practice. Reminds me of trying to fend off a dog attack while riding a bicycle. It is hard to do.

And then the perp motorcyclist gets to ride off into the sunset. Cooler heads should prevail but that is not the way the script goes in many circumstances.

[Otter74]

There's a whole lot of stupid in this video, but the crash was the fault of the car driver. I understand the rider's likely rage, too. Kicking the car was a dumb ego move that was likely to only hurt the rider; he had good enough riding skills that he did so without causing himself to crash. But the (to me, obviously) deliberate move by the driver to swerve into the rider, and his poor car control, was what led to his crash, and hitting the pickup truck.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I understand the biker's rage, as I have been in that seat all too many times. Ass hat crosses a double yellow (illegal) and damn near hits him (inattention). Prolly yammering on his cell, or texting, or watching youtube videos. In the situations I've been in, I was as hard on the horn as I was the brakes, and many times the driver still never saw me.

Kicking the door, however, was foolish. You can see how it made the bike swerve left - the car sure as hell ain't gonna move. The mere fact that the biker was even still in a position to kick it that late in the game was really, really stupid - pure ego or something. He should have been well behind the car by then and just taking a deep breath to shine it on.

So, if I had been a witness, the first thing I would do would be to see if the driver was o.k., and to help him out of his car. So I could beat the bloody hell out of him.

I remember back in the '80s when I lived on the beach in Santa Monica, around bar closing time there was a huge collision within earshot of my open bedroom window. A voice yells out a window, "is anyone hurt?"

A voice yells back, "not yet!"

[GG Allin]

The biker did not cause the car to lose control. The knucklehead behind the wheel did that all on his own. I'd have fled too.

[Jims5543]

Open thread and thinks, in a Car vs. Bike road rage incident the bike will always.....

**watches video**

I'll be damned, never mind.


I was out running errands in my Mini several months ago, I was coming to an empty round about, as I was approaching, maybe 30' - 40' out, I looked out to my left and saw no one was in it nor entering from the nearest road coming in.

I start heading into the circle and I see a foot coming out towards the left front fender (I am in a right hand drive car) it is a dude on a bike putting his foot out to kick my car, I have no idea where the hell he came from. I was rattled, slammed on my brakes hard and his foot missed me as he just was able to squirt by between the curb and my car.

He just tore away after shaking his head at me.

The only thing I could come up with as to why I never saw him was that he was flying up to and into the round about. I know I looked and I know there was nothing there a second earlier.

What was nuts in my mind is he obviously saw me and decided to not give way instead push his bike in there and try to take up the same road I was on. I guess to make a point?

Seemed like some really poor decision making on his part. Even my tiny little Mini was no match for him. He was lucky I saw him and the car has a big brake kit on it.

[speeder]

As for this incident, it's one of the crazier road rage videos I've ever seen. I ride a street bike in Los Angeles, (including this highway), regularly. Kicking someone's door or even slapping their mirror is really, really dumb on a bike.

Even forgoing the aspect of losing your head, escalating something into a fight, etc., a human body on a MC is no match for a moving car or truck. All the vehicle has to do is swerve and you just lost. Normally, the car keeps going and the bike is on the pavement, that's what is unusual about this one. Everyone on another forum is raving about the MC rider's amazing skill and control, (he does seem pretty good at staying upright), but he was just lucky. A 3k lb. tumbling Honda Civic could have hit him in the face.

We recently had a case of road rage murder down in San Diego where a Ducati rider kicked someone's door on the freeway and she chased him down and ran him over. Still trying to figure out how he could not get away from a normal passenger car on the freeway, (it was a pretty long chase), usually you can lane split and lose anyone in SoCal. But anyhow, he's dead and she is in prison where she belongs. Such a waste. Over nothing, really.

30+ years ago, a guy I knew got killed on his bike in another car vs. bike road rage incident. Adrenaline and balls probably got the best of him and he decided to get into it w some guy in a lifted 4x4, the truck ran him down and was never caught, AFAIK. That was on a surface street. This was at bar closing time, we worked w him in a nightclub. My buddies and I all rode around from bar to bar in those days and I remember us having a talk after this. The gist of it was that if you ever have someone in a car trying to kill you, get the hell off the street as quickly as possible and park the bike behind a large tree or other barrier to protect from ramming. Moving cars used as weapons are no joke.

[pwd72s]

Bikers can be damned difficult to see at times. The human eye has difficulty spotting a vertical object.

[craigster59]

That's in mine and Hugh R's hood, where the 14 south connects to the 5. I drive it every day and have seen numerous near misses with cars and bikes, usually a car in the HOV lane crosses the double yellow to move way right to catch the 210 interchange.

There's a HUGE median where the 5/14 HOV lanes merge, I don't know why the CHP doesn't just hang out and write tix all day long. You could seriously generate an easy $10k an hour from 6:30-9:30 am.

[Mike80911]

Watching the video I am wondering if the car swerved into the bike on purpose after the kick or if the driver was startled by the sound and lost control. Either way the guy on the bike should have backed off . He is lucky he was able to keep the bike upright and not get crushed between the wall and the car.

[Steve Carlton]

I gotta believe they'll find that bike rider. I wouldn't say his riding skills were that special. There's a lot of gyroscopic force keeping the bike upright and stable. He just got bumped to the side and was extremely lucky. He needs to answer for escalating the incident in a big way.

I wonder if they'll be able to determine if the Nissan's swerve into the bike was intentional or not. No doubt the driver will lie about it and claim innocence. He needs to look into getting "great tires" on his next car. Hopefully it'll be a 2028 Nissan of some kind, used. Maybe a Rogue.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Bikers can be damned difficult to see at times. The human eye has difficulty spotting a vertical object.

The wife has no problem spotting my vertical object and avoiding it.

[Steve Carlton]

Hi-vis helmet?

[speeder]

Lol