Caught on Camera: Squid gets saved in Philly

[iSteve]

Your right you can't tell from the video if he was speeding but you also can not assume he was doing 25 mph or less before the rider slid the Suzuki down the street and it burst into flames. The only point I'm trying to make is that you can't say the car is 100% the cause by the limited info in the video.

From the local newspaper "Walter Rivera, 24, of Feltonville, was speeding his Suzuki north on Wyoming, down a hill from an old railroad bridge"

 

[The Dude]

regardless of the speed? So you are saying that a U turn is more dangerous then doing 60 mph down a hill while approaching a intersection. Not to mention no helmet and only wearing a T shirt and shorts.

It didn't say how fast he was going in the article, for all we know that could be a 45 to 50 MPH area.

It's a city street and the posted limit is 25MPH. You can see the signs on Google Street View Second and Wyoming - Google Maps. I can't tell how fast he was going, but he was sliding a lot faster than the van was driving in the opposite direction. And that was after attempting an emergency brake maneuver and dropping the bike. He was probably going a good bit faster when he was upright. The hill he was coming over was pretty small and I doubt it was a factor.

U Turns are legal in Michigan except in places where prohibited such as downtown areas and places where traffic congestion is a problem. Unless there's a sign that says "No U-Turns", they're perfectly legal.

Wow, that's surprising. I would have thought that any u-turn outside of an intersection on a multi-lane boulevard would be illegal. Making one in the middle of a street blocks both lanes of traffic. In this case, it was reported to be an illegal maneuver.

 

[stevesnj]

Your right you can't tell from the video if he was speeding but you also can not assume he was doing 25 mph or less before the rider slid the Suzuki down the street and it burst into flames. The only point I'm trying to make is that you can't say the car is 100% the cause by the limited info in the video.

From the local newspaper "Walter Rivera, 24, of Feltonville, was speeding his Suzuki north on Wyoming, down a hill from an old railroad bridge"

Thats a shame he was speeding. His 2nd mistake.

I do understand your point. I just think the worst the rider would have is a speeding ticket if the car didn't make a u-turn. I'm sure the rider would too. Hope he's okay, I didn't see any update on his condition.

 

[Wh0M3]

I think from a legal and insurance point of view it's the car's fault totally. From a moral point of view I feel the blame should be shared because the motorcyclist was traveling to fast for the conditions and even if is "way out" was to pass on the left the car blocked it once it started the turn.

One way of looking at it is what if the car was just taking a left turn (without signal) the bike would have still slammed into it. I've been in that situation where I tried to pass on the left only to find the car was also trying to turn left. It didn't end pretty.

 

[heath_AU]

Clearly it was Mister Squid that was wrong done by here. I know this is one of my worst fears in built up areas. I always take it easy to avoid this same disaster. And with that in mind i think he could have been going much slower and in all honesty, if he was a better rider he should have been expecting this thing and be riding in a way that allowed him to avoid it.
Pretty sure nobody could argue his speed could be considered safe in this scenario.

 

[Crotalus]

It would not have mattered if the car was making a legal left hand turn. The biker was going too fast and could not stop. What a fool. City streets are not the time to speed.

I put the bike as 100% at fault. Because he was.

 

[FIZZER6]

After watching the video again...here is another scenario.

The rider could have been doing the speed limit, saw the car about to pull out of the parallel parking space...

Instead of braking the motorcyclist may have assumed the car was doing the obvious, pulling out into the street, NOT making a U-turn.

The motorcyclist then prepared to pass the slow moving car in the opposing lane...half way through his pass he realizes that the car is not pulling out but making a stupid U-turn in the middle of the road...TOO LATE.

If that is what happened it was an error on part of the motorcyclist but still 100% the car's fault for the illegal turn. The motorcyclist didn't do anything illegal (unless he was speeding) but we can't know whether he was from this video.

 

[Drinky]

theres no way we can put the blame on the biker for more than 50% here.
Legally the car was wrong. If the car hadn't pulled out like that, there wouldn't have been a probleem. Perhaps because he was speeding she thought she had plenty of time.
But as said in the first page of the topic, it was an illegal manouver.
The squid could have prevented the major injuries with a good helmet and full leather gear,
a must have when you ride a sports bike hard.

 

[DDS]

Playing devil's advocate I could say if he was wearing gear, i.e high polyester based textile, the burns could have been much worse!
Leathers would have helped

 

[Full Throttle]

Scary... Should have seen that car stopped. Refusing to show my fiance this video. She is always nervous that this could happen to me.