400 block of 1814 Road
A motorcyclist was in critical condition after a single-vehicle accident Sunday evening in the 400 block of E. 1814 Road near Douglas County Lake, according to Douglas County dispatch. An air ambulance landed at Baldwin High School to transport the patient to an area hospital after emergency crews were called to the scene at 5:09 p.m.
The life flight response team was preparing to transport the patient as of 5:50 p.m. Dispatchers were checking on the KU Medical Center's availability but had yet to receive confirmation that the patient would be taken there.
Comments
edjayhawk 2 years, 11 months ago
I am sorry but not surprised. Motorcycles are the most dangerous thing on the roads. Drive one and you might pay the piper...
bigbird11 2 years, 11 months ago
Ignorant statement.
yankeevet 2 years, 11 months ago
no its not;;;;;;;;;;motorcycles are nothing but coffins on two wheels.....
bigbird11 2 years, 11 months ago
I didn't say they weren't dangerous. If you want to consider all things dangerous, the list would go on an on forever. Granted, the stakes are higher for motorcyclists, the facts are out. That being said, as a previous rider, (not "driver") I would argue the most dangerous "thing" on the road are cagers like you painting their nails, texting, and yelling at your spoiled brats. While it's true it's easier for me to die if one of you a**holes hits me, does that mean my motorcycle and myself are more dangerous to myself? No. I'm also not speaking for the squids that wheelie and rev to 16k rpms all the way through town in flip flops.
Strong narrow mindedness is strong.
dsharkie8 2 years, 11 months ago
Why are non smokers a protected class? Why is a bicyclist a protected class? Come on get real. Do you use your blinker every time you change lanes? Do you always drive the speed limit? If you are that perfect then you must have a deep dark secret that no one else knows. Friends of mine who have been hurt or killed on a motorcycle were hit by a non-attentive driver in a motor vehicle.
flux 2 years, 11 months ago
Sorry bigbird but they are dangerous
bigmike 2 years, 11 months ago
Here we go..
5thgeneration 2 years, 11 months ago
I thought that the Corvair was the most dangerous thing on the roads.
Pywacket 2 years, 11 months ago
Ralph was right about the Corvair and he should have stuck to consumer safety issues. He did a lot of good there, then his ego went ballistic and he entered the political arena with all the finesse of a turd in the punchbowl.
Hope the cyclist makes it.
OonlyBonly 2 years, 11 months ago
Sorry Pywacket Ralph was wrong about the Corvair. It handled very well IF the driver was intelligent enough to keep the tires inflated and had the intelligence to realize they were driving a rear engined vehicle. Just as any other car handles differently with incorrectly inflated tires and front wheel drive autos handle differently than rear wheel drive. And before you even ask - Yes, I was there, drove 'em and loved 'em.
Pywacket 2 years, 11 months ago
If we measured public safety by who's intelligent or diligent enough to avoid (you name it) underinflated tires, not getting creamed on certain high-fatality-accident intersections or stretches of road, injuries or deaths on those three-wheeler ATVs that are (thankfully) no longer on the market, etc., there would be no meaningful basis on which to regulate safety issues.
Saying that the Corvair, or any of the many SUV, Suzuki, or Jeep vehicles that were redesigned after showing a strong tendency to roll in certain circumstances, was inherently "safe," and all the onus is on the driver to do everything by the book is a high expectation. Too high for auto makers to just shrug off. Ralph (for all his flaws, and I agree that he has many) did help raise public awareness and organize a demand for better overall safety in the automotive industry. Few people would disagree that passenger vehicles are safer now than in the 50s, 60s, or 70s---and the auto makers, eyeing the bottom line, have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this point.
People are going to corner faster than they should... tires may develop an unexpected slow leak (and who checks them prior to each and every excursion?)...and so on. The average Joe buying a Corvair was probably not schooled by the salesman on how crucial it was to relearn his driving techniques to compensate for the swing-axle design. (My aunt, in her early 20s, rolled a VW Beetle, which was similarly equipped. She's not dumb or reckless, but I bet she had no idea she couldn't handle that car just as she had her previous one.)
The Corvair's safety or lack thereof is still being debated by experts, and I won't pretend to be in their ranks--but, from what I've heard and read over the years, I believe Chevy could have bypassed operator error (which you just have to look at as a given) resulting in catastrophic problems by applying a few simple fixes in the design room. . I'm not dismissing your knowledge or saying that it is upstaged by the warm fuzzies of having owned the vehicle, but if you drove one, you understandably might have some bias... I am biased toward some of my early rides, knowing that by today's standards they were potential death traps.
puddleglum 2 years, 11 months ago
Ralph only attacked the 60-63 models, which were junk.
The problems with the original Corvair design were twofold:
*Swing axles that had a u-joint only at the inboard end, leading to poor rear tire contact on sharp turns and when the rear tires encountered a bump in the road.
*The need for drastically different tire pressures in the front and rear tires, as a result of both the swing axle design and the extreme difference in weight front and rear. While I can no longer swear to the exact numbers, the quoted 15 front/26 rear sounds correct.
If GM had prominently mentioned the crucial nature of the tire pressure differential in the Owner's Manual, or if--more importantly due to the very crucial nature of the inflation pressures--they had placed a prominent sticker somewhere (door jamb, trunk, glove compartment) mentioning how important it was to have the correct inflation pressures, there would not have been many accidents that resulted from the drastically oversteering nature of the car's handling when the tire pressures were not set properly.
puddleglum 2 years, 11 months ago
the difference between the corvair and the motorcycle is what happens when you get in a wreck. one has seat belts, one doesn't
Hoots 2 years, 11 months ago
And what do you say when in some weeks we have had 6 SUV rollovers in one week with people ejected and run over by their own vehicle? I see more stupid behavior of people in cars than on bikes. I can't eat a cheese burger talk on a phone, text, read a book, shave, or put on make-up on my bike. Vehicles aren't dangerous, people are. The roads would be great if it weren't for you people who find hurling down the road in 4,000 pounds of metal so boring that you think you can take on several other task at the same time. There is no such thing as multi-tasking. Research have proved we are only able to do one thing at a time effectively. Don't even get me started on people who change lanes 10 times in one block just to sit next to you at the same light or change lanes without so much as a glance to the other lane.
none2 2 years, 11 months ago
Keep in mind that there are more cars that motorcycles, so it is misleading to conclude that seeing more stupid behavior from cars than bikes means bikers don't do their fair share of stupid things. I cannot speak for bikers, but I have seen bicyclists talking AND dialing on their mobile phones while they are traveling. Maybe you cannot balance a motorcycle handle bar like you can a bicycle handle bar. My point is that inattentiveness isn't limited to those behind a steering wheel.
Also in regards to lane weavers, I've seen plenty of motorcyclists who are dangerous weavers squeezing in anywhere they can fit just to get another car ahead of where they currently are.
echarles 2 years, 11 months ago
Hoots. Good points. However, those people in the SUVs are in fact what make driving the motorcycle dangerous. 6 SUV wrecks with ejections a week? I think not. All the traffic deaths I can remember in town since I've moved here are cycle related, minus a couple US 59 wrecks. In a town where everything is 30 mphs, the only way to 'bite the big' one is to ride a small one.
Hoots 2 years, 11 months ago
Actually, we have had that happen in one week in the county before. Numerous car accidents with injuries or fatalities do happen here within short periods of time. I get sick of the people who always blame the bikers.
WHY 2 years, 11 months ago
biggunz, you my good sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. If only more people could appreciate your deep sense of respect for the life and dignity of others, we would be a much more civilized society.
WHY 2 years, 11 months ago
I'm sad that they removed your post. Mine doesn't make any sense without it. LJW could you change your policy to delete only the offensive word rather than the entire post.
Danimal 2 years, 11 months ago
Hope the rider is okay. I've seen a lot of friends and acquaintances get badly hurt or killed over the years, a lot of those who survived have life-changing injuries.
Motorcycles are a little more dangerous than cars, but that's mostly because of all the car drivers on the road. Beyond that, a lot of people have never really learned how to operate their bike with a high degree of skill. A good number of the people involved in crashes are either riding too infrequently to maintain their proficiency, or (and I know I'll probably catch some flak for this) riding too old. Seriously, if you're over 55 and you've never owned a motorcycle, or you haven't ridden one since the 1960's your "golden years" aren't the time to be taking up motorcycling. Of course, most motorcycling accidents are caused by cagers.
dsharkie8 2 years, 11 months ago
If you don't own a motorcycle, then you have no right to judge those who do. Most motorcycle accidents are caused by a non driver driving a car, or truck or SUV who is just not paying attention or intentionally trying to run the motorcycle off the road, which has happened to me on several occasions.
none2 2 years, 11 months ago
What are your claims based on? Your claims don't seem to match facts on the topic.
Here is one site with useful info (http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-Safety/crash.htm):
"... Here's a summary of NHTSA DOT HS 809 360 Single vehicle motorcycle crashes account for about 45 percent of all motorcyclist fatalities. More than 38,000 motorcyclists have died in single vehicle motorcycle crashes between 1975 and 1999. The report claims to provide data for insight into possible causes for these fatalities....
Report Conclusions: Findings from the FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) data illustrate possible reasons for motorcyclist fatalities in single vehicle motorcycle crashes:
Helmet use among fatally injured motorcyclists below 50 percent More motorcyclist fatalities are occurring on rural roads High blood alcohol levels are a major problem among motorcycle operators Half of the fatalities are related to negotiating a curve prior to the crash Over 80 percent of the fatalities occur off roadway Undivided roadways account for a majority of the fatalities Almost two thirds of the fatalities were associated with speeding as an operator contributing factor in the crash Almost 60 percent of motorcyclist fatalities occur at night Collision with a fixed object is a significant factor in over half of the fatalities Braking and steering maneuvers possibly contribute for almost 25 percent of the fatalities More riders age 40 and over are getting killed Almost one third of the fatally injured operators did not have a proper license"
Munsoned 2 years, 11 months ago
This particular accident did not involve a car.
happypill4014 2 years, 11 months ago
Any update on this? Do we know who this was or their condition?
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