5 dead in SoCal crash involving 7 motorcycles

[OneSizeFitsAll]

I will continue to play devils advocate here. I still believe something is to be learned from this. As drivers of our cars we learn that we must be patient. There is nothing important enough in our own lives to risk the lives of others. That is the obvious one.

What else can be learned? We know that it would have been almost impossible to avoid that oncoming car. No doubt. Lets rewind a bit before that part of this tragedy. Admittedly, none of us know all the facts here so lets make a fictional one that could have the same end result.

Imagine riding in a group of 10 - 15. Your sweeper has someone behind him in a car seemingly agitated and riding his rear tire. What should he do? Should he slow down move to the right of the lane and let him pass? Or should he block to keep the group together?

Maybe they never even knew someone was behind them? I know people that spend a lot of time on the track that rarely look in the rear view mirror. Should we always be watching our 6 on public roads?

Before going on a group ride could we discuss just this scenario and make sure that everyone watches their 6 and lets faster folks through? Be it car or motorcycle?

Again I have no idea what the absolute facts are I still think this is a worthwhile exercise.

Like I said, the worst that can happen is that we decide there is nothing to be learned.

Hail, I totally understand where you are coming from with the group ride mentality of large groups either going slow (usually cruisers) and spaced out. This will piss off many who just want to pass but can't due to the slow pace OR the group of sport bike riders who try to ride a spirited pace but end up making some dangerous passes to keep up with the pace of a the front riders.

It seems every time I have ridden in a group someone has crashed or weird sh*t happens. Personally I prefer not to ride in groups larger than 3 bikes total,(excluding our slow through town only Christmas ride of 1500 bikes) it is much easier to control your pace with a small number.

 

[Lonerider59]

I read about that on another forum. I learned a long time ago to keep an eye on what's behind me just as much as what's coming up ahead. If someone looks antsie about getting around me I just get over to the right and motion them around. A 500 lb motorcycle isn't much against a 5000 lb car...EVER. It's never about who's right and who's wrong, It's about me wanting to get to tomorrow.