Road Rage.....

[Twisties]

IDK about the kick.... likely some sort of minor charges there. But the response seems like attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and more...

The Story and Video.

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Not much maturity on either side of that engagement, and rather unusual that the driver suffered the worse outcome of the two. Unfortunate for the occupants of the Avalanche that just happened to be driving by at the time.

 

A charge of attempted murder would indeed be appropriate for the driver of the car. Curious, would that require the motorcyclist to come forward and ask for such a charge to be made, or can the state apply that charge even without him coming forward?

 

No matter what the outcome, they each deserve to have "STUPID" tattooed on their foreheads to forever warn the rest of us.

[elkroeger]

Wasn't there a movie about these guys? Dumb and dumber.

 

Never kick a car. Law of superior tonnage. Plain and simple. You may be right, but you're dead right.

 

Lucky turn of events for the guy on the bike (as far as the crash goes).

[kioolt]

I wonder what kind of responses this would get on a car enthusiast site.

[Rougarou]

Attempted murder,....really!?!?! There's no pre-meditation there!!! Attempted Manslaughter would be the closest killing charge but even at that charge, I doubt that it could be proved the driver had any intention to kill the rider, just to piss him off and "love tap" him.

 

For every action there is a reaction. A kick to the car action created a bump to the bike reaction.

 

On a motorcycle forum,....of course, the majority will be defending the rider, but the ultimate root cause is likely the rider.

[Sonor]

Okay, the bike rider was wrong to kick the car. But the car driver was wrong to try and seek revenge by pushing the bike off the road. It was then that the car driver freaked out, lost control, and did all of the damage. Ultimate responsibility lies in the car driver. The car driver's actions caused the crash. The car people were not in danger so there is no legal reason for a response other than to seek out the police. If the biker was endangering their lives, then the car driver had a reason but a kick to the rear panel hardly means, "Kill to survive."

Edited June 23, 2017 by Sonor

[John in VA]

The door kick was stupid and potentially property damage but was no danger to the car driver. The car driver had to know -- and did know -- that deliberately striking a motorcycle at any speed (or no speed) with his car could result in the rider's death. Assault/attempted manslaughter/murder premeditation can occur in an instant, it doesn't have to be planned. No such thing as a love tap when a car driver takes deliberate aim to impact a motorcyclist and knocks it off its track. Lucky the rider's leg wasn't crushed.

 

That said, for the motorcyclist to then ride off was also criminal.

[kioolt]

I found the following reply to this video on another site. This is also what I do.

 

"That time the chihuahua got away with yapping at the big dog. I tend to humbly accept my position at the bottom of the food chain on the highway and scurry and hide when confronted. But to each his own."

[Paul De]

Who could say how it started. Was the car infringing on the biker's right to his lane space, or was the biker driving like an ass. We'll never know, but both have to own their part in this terrible event. As usual the totally innocent person in the pick-up got the biggest screw in the deal.

[Bill_Walker]

Who could say how it started. Was the car infringing on the biker's right to his lane space, or was the biker driving like an ass. We'll never know, but both have to own their part in this terrible event. As usual the totally innocent person in the pick-up got the biggest screw in the deal.

 

We do know, because we have the account of the witnesses who started recording video after the first incident. The car driver cut into the HOV lane and cut off the motorcycle.

[chrisolson]

IDK about the kick.... likely some sort of minor charges there. But the response seems like attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and more...

 

Interesting that there are no comments on a quote from the original story from KTLA that was shortened a bit in the Fox piece .. "The motorcyclist did not stop following the crash and authorities are investigating the incident as a possible hit-and-run."

[Groanup]

After reading the details (such as they are) on this debacle, my take on it is this...

I see this accident as the biker's fault...

The car driver made a bonehead move when he/she cut the bike off by illegally entering the diamond lane.

The guy on the bike made a completely stupid, indefensible move when he decided that the best response would be to kick the car at freeway speeds while between that car and a concrete barrier.

I've been cut-off hundreds (maybe thousands) of times riding here in L.A. and yet, I've never caused an accident because of it.

Bottom line?

The whole thing is avoided IF the biker rolls on the throttle and puts distance between himself and the offending auto. Then everybody gets to go home and bitch about the "asshats on the freeway today".

Flip the car off, or shake your head, or do whatever makes you feel better, as long as it doesn't involve physically attacking the car (or the driver).

What a mess...

 

(edit) As of now, they are still trying to locate the biker...

Edited June 23, 2017 by Groanup

[Marty Hill]

Yeah, just ride away and maybe the car driver will kill the next bike rider now that he has found a new way to have fun.

[Groanup]

Yeah, just ride away and maybe the car driver will kill the next bike rider now that he has found a new way to have fun.

Or...

Maybe the driver feels relieved and goes home thinking about checking more closely before he crosses that double yellow next time. I find that these things usually occur because of a mistake and not intentionally.

 

If the driver has found himself a new "sport", you aren't gonna stop him by becoming his first victim...

[Marty Hill]

Trust me, I wouldn't be the victim.

[Green RT]

…

Flip the car off, or shake your head, or do whatever makes you feel better, as long as it doesn't involve physically attacking the car (or the driver).

...

 

That might not have changed the car's reaction. I had a car nearly hit me once when I was on foot. I flipped the driver off, then the car came after me. Luckily he couldn't really get at me but he did scrape my knuckles as they slid along the side of the car with the near miss.

[John in VA]

IDK about the kick.... likely some sort of minor charges there. But the response seems like attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and more...

 

Interesting that there are no comments on a quote from the original story from KTLA that was shortened a bit in the Fox piece .. "The motorcyclist did not stop following the crash and authorities are investigating the incident as a possible hit-and-run."

 

I did: "That said, for the motorcyclist to then ride off was also criminal."

[Norm 88]

I see it as a dumb move on the Rider. Over 60 years riding Motorcycles I have seen numerous bone head moves by riders and cage drivers. One thing I do not do on a 400# Motorcycle is get in a pissing contest with a 4000# car. You lose, just let it go.

[lawnchairboy]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^that^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[lkraus]

L.A. Times interview with the man who made the video:

 

In an interview with The Times on Friday, Chris Traber, 47, of Santa Clarita, said both men appeared to play a role in the harrowing incident.

 

It was about 5:45 a.m. Wednesday when Traber was in the passenger seat of his coworker’s car as they drove to work at a utility company in Burbank. They were headed southbound on the 14 Freeway, and driving in the No. 1 lane, when the man on a Harley Davidson-type motorcycle passed them on the left, riding close to the double-yellow lines that separate the general traffic lanes from the HOV lanes.

 

About 150 feet ahead was a Nissan sedan driving in the HOV lane, Traber said. Just as the motorcyclist was passing the sedan on the right-hand side, the sedan tried to exit the carpool lane and enter the No. 1 lane. That’s when the car bumped the bike.

 

“I’m sure he didn’t see the motorcyclist,” Traber said of the driver. “He scared the living daylights out of the motorcyclist. He almost went down. That guy can really handle his bike.”

 

Traber said that after the motorcyclist regained control, he pulled up to the car’s passenger door and began gesturing at the driver. Traber said he appeared to be saying something too, but Traber couldn’t hear him. He said he figured the biker was “saying something like, hey, you almost hit me! Watch out!”

 

Traber said it looked as though the driver was yelling something back at the biker, and that it didn’t help matters, because that’s when the motorcyclist started kicking the passenger door.

 

“I said, ‘Wow, man, something’s going to happen. I gotta get this,’” Traber said. “So I grab my phone and started recording.”

 

The motorcyclist then swooped behind the sedan, pulled up along the driver side and kicked the car again, Traber said. In a flash, the driver of the sedan swerved hard left and sideswiped the motorcyclist, almost sending him barreling into a concrete freeway divider, he said.

 

“As you can see, he lost control after doing that,” Traber said of the driver.

 

The video captured the chaos that ensued. After bumping the motorcyclist, the car swerved right, and then left, and collided with the concrete divider in a shower of sparks and flame. The car then ricocheted off the divider, veered across the freeway and slammed into a Cadillac truck, flipping it over onto its roof.

 

I added the underlines on two details that I've not seen reported elsewhere.

 

TWO idiots.

Edited June 24, 2017 by lkraus

[Paul De]

OK, as I suspected a lot was going on between these two idiots before the video started. Both rider & driver have culpability before this terrible event ended with an innocent commuter being flipped over. Thank goodness the two goofs were putting on enough of a show that the commuters from behind were ready for something bad to happen and kept this from a chain pile up.

 

As has been said.by others, while the rider has a lagit beef with being encroached on the solution was not found in his foot or mouth. The rider had no right to endanger all around him with his becoming the aggressor. Life isn't fair, just deal with like an adult, back away from the squirrelly driver, or grab a handful of throtle and get him way behind you with other cars blocking him from catching up if he is raging. Either of these was the better response.

 

This is a great video with the off camera context for a teachable moment on what not to do.

[elkroeger]

Yes, it sounds like both individuals had ample time to make better choices here. A good example, for all of us, of how your reaction to what may have been a simple mistake can blow up in your face.

 

Both of these individuals are perhaps facing criminal charges, and will almost certainly be sued by the 3rd party who was injured.

 

Headaches that I don't need, that's for sure.