OT: This could be you

from the article: "when an oncoming SUV crossed the center line and struck his bike."

I was not aware that automomous, and in this case; rogue SUVs, were being manufactured.

Does the author of the article mean to say that the driver of the SUV drove the SUV across the center-line and struck the bike? Then why is it not written that way?

Not to make light of the death of your friend -- I am sorry your friend died and wish you comfort in your grief.

Tom Pounds

Sad.

The average 5000 pound SUV come equipped with a nav system display, a zillion watt sound system, nearly opaque tinted windows, and a moron drinking coffee and talking on his cell phone, who thinks that stop signs and red lights and turn signals are all optional. I don't ride motorcycles on the street any more; it's just too dangerous.

John

Yes.

Cowardice, I suppose. People, today, are afraid to speak plainly, to lay blame on the blameful, to judge those who should be judged.

Thanks.

James Arthur

Indeed. I used to ride a motorcycle. Fun, but I got tired of people trying to kill me.

This was a man among men, now reduced to three sentences in a far away newspaper.

I never did like SUVs.

James Arthur

same in the UK , except most are driven by women taking their kids to school.....( not the red lights, we're good at obeying those , generally) but phone, lipstick, coffee, hairbrush, makeup are all fair game. Watching them try to park is just a hoot :)

No, they want to blame the *evil* SUV.

Seconded.

I don't think anything has changed in 40 years. A two ton car can kill you just as dead as a two-ton SUV. Cyclists aren't exactly the sanest among drivers, either.

My wife wouldn't let me have a motorcycle when I could have really used one (in college - *NO* student parking anywhere near campus).

Nothing at home?

They do taste a bit on the tinny side.

ople

you

It's not necessarily the SUV per se, but their appeal to people who shouldn't be driving them. An oncoming Toyota gives you more clearance, more room to escape than an Expedition.

ne

A grieving widow, some carefully collected treasures, now chattels to be cataloged and sold, to strangers, etc. The usual.

He was an economist who worked for the BLS in D.C., except he kept telling them their numbers didn't add up, and that various expensive programs could be done cheaply or killed. They didn't like that. They offered him a "copper" parachute instead and he bailed, off to better things.

The worst thing about people dying is that they rob us, the living, of their spirit and leave us behind. Damned inconsiderate of them.

James Arthur

Some where along the way the LA Times changed from "John Q. Doe swerved out of lanes into a telephone pole, ejected through his windshield and collided with a tree" to the passive voice "...was killed when his car ". Something to do with "everyone's a victim, nothing is anyone's fault."

It's annoying.

Appreciated.

James Arthur

SUVs come in all sizes, as did '60s boats.

I meant the home paper.

Accidents far less so than suicide. My son was hurt very badly by a teacher (the one who really got through to him) doing the most selfish act possible.

OTOH a small Toyota Supra can accelerate from 0 to 60mph in about five seconds and can literally come out of nowhere. A heavy SUV can't do that. Mine needs at least 13 seconds, and with the loads I often have in there it's more like 20 seconds.

The fiercests crash I had (on a bicycle) was with a smallish car. I literally T-boned it with my body. So bad that I had to pull hard on the bent door so the somewhat panicked driver could get out.

Probably because more efficiency would have cost some others their plum jobs.

But we still have the gifts and teachings they gave us. I still remember things from my grandpa who passed away in the 70's as if it was yesterday. And then, for Christians, there's a whole lot more to look forward to.

Yes, since I posted, they've updated their website. Quite a spread, actually. He earned it.

acher

le.

The best among us are often the most sensitive, the most passionate, the most pained.

James Arthur.

e:

Was he in any of the new political groups along those lines? The circumstances of his retirement would have interested them!

people

ll you

ong

one

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ?

I got the road rash out of my system VERY YOUNG. Remember the quality old school 70's Honda 50 Mini Trails? Exact replica of larger motorcycles in miniature. Not like the junky open frame Honda's later on.

As a cage driver I always give bikers a big following distance, etc.

Condolences.

ote:

Yes. He was a Libertarian, a Tea Partier years before there were Tea Parties, and a constant woe to loathsome bureaucrats and functionaries. He knocked down walls that others wouldn't have to, preserving liberty for all.

Besides all of that he was a really great, fun, funny, smart guy. But no match for a Canyonero.

ay

Yes.

Me too. I think it a matter of manners to not approach strangers too closely with deadly force.

Thanks.

James Arthur

te:

people

ill you

mong

d one

That's exactly the case. He kept exposing entire undertakings, agencies, and 100M grants as useless exercises with zero return.

That annoys people in the useless exercise business, but it was government. They couldn't fire him, so they walled him off and forbade anyone talking to him. For years. True story.

But he didn't give up--he kept doing it anyhow, getting around the firewalls. Government firings being impossible, and he too young to retire, they bought him off with a retirement anyhow. And why the heck not?--it's not like they were spending their own money.

Yes. You're blessed.

James Arthur

I wouldn't judge people, not even after they committed suicide. The last one I know of that happened around here was a guy with excruciating abdominal pains that doctors couldn't find the source of, and couldn't help him. Pain pills did not help either. One day he just could not take it anymore.

That's a little different situation than a guy in his 40s leaving a wife and a couple of rug-rats. ...or teens. Sorry, I do judge such; selfish beyond words.

te:

teacher

sible.

and a

yond

Selfish? What is his gain?

Did he give any reason? A letter maybe? Any known issues such as financial?

It's easy to judge. Sometimes even fully healthy people with no major personal issues just "snap". Not surprisingly, the suicide rate among religious folks is much lower than among non-theists. For example, in the widely Catholic Philippines the suicide rate is around 2 per 100k whereas I have read it is well above 12 per 100k in secular Sweden. These numbers came from some major research institution, not out of thin air. All that despite the fact that Swedes are economically rather better off.