A perfect late summer day. Not a cloud in the sky, very light breeze from the north. Three P.M. He was riding his bike, (bicycle) home from work. He was about 6 miles from his driveway. Out in the country, wide, smooth 2 lane straight road.
She was on her way home from grocery shopping. While she was driving, she decided to change the CD she was listening to. As she was reaching for a new CD, she swerved slightly and ran him down from behind going 55 mph.
Brian Kennedy ... a friend and fellow bike club member. We rode together often. Two kids, a girl 15 and a boy 10. A wife. He's dead. He was 42.
I'm so fucking mad I could eat railroad spikes like they were jello. Goddammit people, pay attention to what the fuck you're doing out there. Hang up those motherfucking cell phones. You want to make/take a call? Then pull over into a parking lot and do it. You are giving your phone calls higher priority than human lives. It just couldn't be that important. "Hi honey, I'll be home in a few minutes. I love you." Fucking morons. Want to find a new CD. Then STOP and do it. Don't go looking behind the visor, in the map pockets or on the floor while you're driving! What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you have the LEAST fucking clue?? You're piloting 1.5 - 2 ton vehicle, sometimes at high speeds. You can kill, maim, cripple, and otherwise injure people. And I'm not talking about just the one's you may actually hit.
I couldn't begin to count the times I've seen people reading maps, newspapers, and even books while driving at high speeds in rush hour traffic. To me, it's just beyond belief that someone would actually do that. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! There's no other word for it. Just stupid!
If you ask anyone, and I mean anyone, if they're a good driver, they're going to tell you yes. Everybody thinks they're a good driver. Everyone. Nobody will ever even say they're an average driver. No, we're all very good or excellent. This is especially true of the people who frequent this board. This is a car enthuiast site. "Damn right I'm good driver." Oh yeah? Then prove it. Act like it. You read, change CD's, or use the cell phone while driving? In my book, that makes you a poor driver. To me a good driver is one who concentrates on what they're doing. Sure, they can handle their car in all conditions, they can double clutch, power shift, drift, trail brake, stop on a dime & give you 9 cents change. But most important of all?...................they concentrate on what they're doing. They don't play ice so loudly that they can't hear sirens. They watch where they're going, what they're doing, are courteous and respectful of other road users.
And for those few of you who might be thinking something like, "Well, it's a shame, but bikes shouldn't be on a road like that anyway, they should be ridden on sidewalks. After all, bikes are toys. They're for kids. He should have known better than to be there." That's like telling the family of someone that's just been killed in a shooting, "Well, he should have known better than to go outside. BULLSHIT!
Here's a fucking news bulletin for you. Bikes have exactly the same rights and responsibilities to be on the roads that you do. And we're going to be there. So watch for us. You're a good driver? I hope to hell you're proving that every single time you get behind the wheel.
Tomorrow I'll mourn. I'm just too fucking mad right now.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
I feel so sorry for you Mr V, your lost friend and all the friends and loved ones he was taken from. What a tragedy. Anyone who thinks bikes don't have every right to be on a road is an ignorant snot, of course they do. And just like pedestrians, or other drivers have the right not to be mowed down like sitting ducks, bikers have that same very basic right.
I hope that lady feels like a jackass for a good long time. Maybe she'll think twice or three times before getting in a car again, and then once she is she'll try to keep her eyes on the damn road. Jesus, I can't even imagine that happening to me, or someone I knew, on either side of this situation. I know it Could, but who would imagine it? Damn... that's just so sad, and upsetting.
I know I think I'm a great driver, and in honest self-assesment I do think I am very good 90% of the time. I won't grab my cell while driving, I sure don't reach down and look away, if I change the radio it's with my right hand and I do it by memory not by sight. Whe you're driving your responsibility is to ensure safety of yourself and anyone else out on the road with you and too many people drive with their heads firmly inserted in their sphincters to even SEE around them. How many times have I almost seen a pedestrian Waiting by a crosswalk be blown over by a speeding car? If they're not in the walk yet it's one thing to be totally oblivious to them, but I see people who've just stepped off the curb, car on other side of the road has stopped, and some jerkoff blows past them making them wait on the yellow line in the middle of a road! And sometimes you see the slight jerk of the car in the opposite direction of the pedestrian, proof to me they didn't see the person at all. No excuse for any of it.
I'm so sorry for your loss Mr. V, you have every right to be angry and I'm sure the time for mourning will come, just do whatever you need to right now and I hope all your late friends' loved ones can somehow find comfort in the wake of such a senseless tragedy.
