Graphic - don’t read this if you’re squeamish.
A day ago I posted about taking a motorcycle or convertible on Tail of the Dragon. Driving back from NC/TN to Atlanta, I saw something I never want to see again. I couldn’t sleep at all last night. First off, much respect to paramedics, police, first responders and ER docs. Don’t know how they see what they see on a daily basis and not get impacted. I’m sure they do. I could never do that day in and day out.
I’ve seen dead bodies. Funerals, my mom when she passed, grandparents, etc. but I’ve never watched someone die before my eyes. I saw it yesterday in the most horrific manner.
I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie. Loved racing ATV’s. Bought a Kawasaki Ninja 650R for “fun” back in ‘08 and had 2 kids. I remember my heart racing as I’d fly down I-95 in FL on that Ninja. As I’ve aged though, I’ve realized, I kind of like to be alive. One of the reasons I sold the ninja after a year of owning it: Motorcycles are a DEATH WISH. The statistics show it. It’s proven. The fatality rate for a motorcycle crash is 27X more than the fatality rate for a car crash.
Driving home on 74 around Balsam, NC, literally right past the entry to the Blue Ridge parkway, a guy was on his motorcycle about 1/4 mile in front of me. Three cars directly in front of me started to slow down and about 100 yards in the distance I saw a lot of “debris” in the road. As the sun was shining directly at me as I was driving west, it was hard to tell what it was. I assumed some trash flew off of a vehicle and we had to go around it.
As I got closer, the debris came into better focus. It wasn’t debris. The first thing I drove next to was an arm. Ripped completely off at the shoulder. I could see the tendons and muscle. About 20 feet further, a foot. About 20 feet past that, a body, almost unrecognizable. And about 20 feet past that, a crumpled motorcycle. Since it was around 6:00 PM, I’d guess the guy got off work and wanted to take a nice scenic cruise through the mountains. All I could think about last night was his body lying in the road, with his limbs ripped off. He had no motorcycle protective gear on, but even if he had, that wouldn’t have saved him. He was in a blind spot and someone came right over on top of him.
After seeing that yesterday I wanted to look up some recent statistics on motorcycles. Pretty mind blowing.
A day ago I posted about taking a motorcycle or convertible on Tail of the Dragon. Driving back from NC/TN to Atlanta, I saw something I never want to see again. I couldn’t sleep at all last night. First off, much respect to paramedics, police, first responders and ER docs. Don’t know how they see what they see on a daily basis and not get impacted. I’m sure they do. I could never do that day in and day out.
I’ve seen dead bodies. Funerals, my mom when she passed, grandparents, etc. but I’ve never watched someone die before my eyes. I saw it yesterday in the most horrific manner.
I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie. Loved racing ATV’s. Bought a Kawasaki Ninja 650R for “fun” back in ‘08 and had 2 kids. I remember my heart racing as I’d fly down I-95 in FL on that Ninja. As I’ve aged though, I’ve realized, I kind of like to be alive. One of the reasons I sold the ninja after a year of owning it: Motorcycles are a DEATH WISH. The statistics show it. It’s proven. The fatality rate for a motorcycle crash is 27X more than the fatality rate for a car crash.
Driving home on 74 around Balsam, NC, literally right past the entry to the Blue Ridge parkway, a guy was on his motorcycle about 1/4 mile in front of me. Three cars directly in front of me started to slow down and about 100 yards in the distance I saw a lot of “debris” in the road. As the sun was shining directly at me as I was driving west, it was hard to tell what it was. I assumed some trash flew off of a vehicle and we had to go around it.
As I got closer, the debris came into better focus. It wasn’t debris. The first thing I drove next to was an arm. Ripped completely off at the shoulder. I could see the tendons and muscle. About 20 feet further, a foot. About 20 feet past that, a body, almost unrecognizable. And about 20 feet past that, a crumpled motorcycle. Since it was around 6:00 PM, I’d guess the guy got off work and wanted to take a nice scenic cruise through the mountains. All I could think about last night was his body lying in the road, with his limbs ripped off. He had no motorcycle protective gear on, but even if he had, that wouldn’t have saved him. He was in a blind spot and someone came right over on top of him.
After seeing that yesterday I wanted to look up some recent statistics on motorcycles. Pretty mind blowing.
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