Goleta Man Breaks Leg in 101 Motorbike Accident

Traffic is bad enough but it seems that this increasing switch to motorcycles are causing too much havoc. I know it would never happen in my lifetime but it seems in civil communities these machines would be outlawed. I have no idea why they would be allowed on a public street or highway. Aside from resulting traffic jams when the motorcyclist loses it, they assault our environment with noise and pollute far too much and hurt everyones lungs.

Glad this guy pulled out of this OK. A 1989 Honda will get somewhere in the 50mpg range (remember we are talking about a 4 stroke here) and take up less parking space than a car.

That NB Fairview offramp backs up in the afternoon rush hour onto the freeway and there is often trouble from drivers unawares. If CalTrans would have re-built that bridge/intersection correctly it probably would have saved these sort of incidents from happening.

johnathansmith, what would you consider a "civil community?" Is Europe civil? Go take a look at a typical European city and see what percentage of people are commuting on motorcycles. My wife happens to know Curtis quite well and from what I've heard he is a responsible rider. Since traffic was backed up right before Fairview, I imagine this happened somewhere around 5-6 pm and if the sun had broken through yesterday the sun would have been right in Curtis' eyes. Regardless of what caused the accident, I imagine there are proportionally more auto accidents than motorcycle accidents and add up to far more congestion. Sure there are also hotshots out there that do stupid things on there motorcycles. But just within the last two weeks as I was commuting to or from work, in the fast lane, on my motorcycle, I have had two different people come up behind me driving way too fast, to the point that they scared me, then make sudden lane changes just to move up a bit in heavy traffic. And as for pollution, motorcycles are under strict emissions guidelines, use smaller engines than cars and consistantly get 50-60 mpg. The world would be a cleaner place if everyone that commutes alone rode a motorcycle.

johnathansmith,

While offroad motorcycles with 2-stroke engines ("red sticker bikes" that are regulated) are dirtier from an air quality and noise viewpoint, the kinds of MC's you see on the street have 4-stroke engines that adhere to air quality rules just like autos. And as others have pointed out, MC's are better for the environment than autos with superior fuel economy and lower motor oil requirements. My street MC gets twice the mileage my car gets and uses one fourth the motor oil.

I agree with sbhead, we would be much better off if single passenger commutes were done with motorcycles than cars. Bikes would be even better! :)

As far as traffic jams due to accidents, the last one I got stuck for 30 minutes in on the 101 was caused by a car.

Now that I've written this, some silly twit talking on a cell phone in a car will probably run me over next time I'm trying to reduce greenhouse emissions on my MC or bike. Such a nuisance I'd be :)

The attitude of jonathansmith is most unfortunate but motorcyclists, motorcycle-manufacturers and motorcycle-importers are partially to blame. The excessively loud Harley Davidsons and their bad-boy pretender riders perpetuate a negative image that sullies all motorcyclists. While there is some truth to the statement, "Loud pipes save lives," more lives are saved by extreme attentiveness and realtime problem solving while in the saddle.

Curtis Oshock ran into the back of another vehicle. The vast majority of culpability must fall on his shoulders. Whether or not he was blinded by the sun, he was simply following too closely to stop. Need we reiterate, "stuff happens."

Harley as a manufacturer caters to the bad boy crowd. The importers emulate Harley to stay in competition. The result is that the majority of motorcycles available in this country are too large to meet the needs of everyday commuters.

Eastbeach' perpetuates the myth that bicycles are better than motorcycles for commuting. There is a gap that exists between the capabilities of a bicycle and those of an automobile. If bicycles were truly able to fill this gap they would certainly have done so by now.

Medium duty motorcycles bridge the niche between Vespas with their tiny wheels ( unstable ) and the roaring Harleys. Honda did a good job with this market in the mid 1960s to mid 1970s. Small displacement, low cost, bikes with large diameter wheels and the promotion of a clean responsible image. Since that time motorcycles have followed more or less the same development path as SUVs. Read Hummer Harley.

Depending on your place in the demographic of motorcycle riders you may be at little more risk than an automobile driver of having an accident. If you do have an accident you are more likely to receive serious injuries. This alone should be adequate incentive to ride correctly. Those who love motorcycling owe it to one another to foster a positive image before sad socialist cagers like jonathansmith are able to dream their wish come true.

LasBrisas, your inference is faulty. My claiming that we'd be better off commuting with MC's and bicycles isn't the same as me proposing they be mandated for use in any particular way (for example, to the exclusion of any other mode of transportation).

That's like me saying we'd be better off with no terrorists in the world, and you taking that to mean I endorse murdering them all. Two very different things!

Secondly, you missed the context of my comment. It is related to fuel economy and environmental impact. See the setup in my first paragraph and my reference to sbhead's similar comment about MC fuel economy.

Oh, I would not want to emulate any European or any other country that have either evolved or clung to the motorcycle, motorbike, motor scooter. Regardless of the reason why some countries or communities are taken over by these machines, my point again is the air and noise pollution.

My opinion is that the engines powering the motorized bikes are really not very dissimilar to leaf blowers. Also and again there is a a safety issue and the "loud pipes save lives" is probably a myth and regardless is no excuse for such bad pouty attitudes and behaviors on public freeways and streets.

Most motorcycles do indeed pollute far greater than most transportation modes and you are most likely not reducing your carbon footprint with the use of most motorcycles. All you need to do is follow one to figure it out. The reported regulations are too lenient.

Another motorcycle myth is that you are saving the planet by riding motorcycle. Driving a smaller car or hybrid would also be easier on your wallet and make your efforts more sincere at reducing "carbon footprint." How about other modes such as ride-share, a nearby bus route or moving closer to where you travel most to.

There seems to be another myth that because there are far fewer motorcycles accidents compared to automobile accidents that motorcycles are safe when actually the motorcycle accident rate would obviously be lower because there are fewer of them.

So I do understand that we don't like it when automobile drivers don't pay attention or drive poorly but I do think it is appropriate to dislike it when people choose these inconsiderate motorcycles for transportation, on false pretenses of environmentalist and mythical attributes. Lets all try to be more considerate folks.

johnathansmith, sorry to pick on you, but leaf blowers use 2-stroke engines, see eastbeach's comment on 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke engines. Also see the word "proportionally" that I used when comparing auto and motorcycle accidents.

sbhead, I don't feel picked on. The 2-stroke, 4-stroke comment is understood. But when on the sidewalk as a pedestrian, bicyclist adjacent to the car lane or sitting on State Street having a cup of joe, it does not matter. Whether its a leaf blower or couple of Ducati racers there is still far too much pollution.

My observations are that nearly all motorcycles/motorbikes pollute far greater than should be allowed in the public space. Equally important is the pollution spilling into private property. Even children living freeway-adjacent need clean air and at least a little uninterrupted peace and quiet for homework and sleep. The safety issue is of course more important to the responsible motorcycle rider but all too often there seems to be more interest in attitude and performance rather than safety and economy.

Most automobiles are highly regulated and are now built with many advances in safety, fuel economy and pollution controls. A few autos even nearly rival your motorcycle fuel economy statistics. And while most motorcycles have really good fuel economy, there are really no safety features built into any motorcycles, with the exception of brakes of course.

Pollution is measurable and perhaps subjective but not to those who need really clean air to breath. If you need statistics on lung and pulmonary disease associated with air pollution, statistics are readily available. Damn those pesky statistics; I'd suggest that you simply hang out, on foot and without helmet, near Carrillo Street underpass for about an hour to get fully saturated in fumes and the feel the aural assault.

While Las Brisas considers my socialist agenda you might want to consider your own safety first before commuting on a motorcycle. I'll be a little opportunistic here in referring you to the sad Daily Sound Restaurant Guide (http://sbdailysound.blogspot.com/2008/05... ) Its really mysterious if not odd that an obituary ended up in the Restaurant Guide.

Really sbhead it is no mystery at all because you see, in a fully free market economy the press is allowed to not report on hazards to your well being. Too much profit potential in free market advertisements. You see you really need to look after yourself... in a free market economy!