This guy's video of crossing Canada in the winter on the same tiny motorcycle was epic. Can't believe he survived.

Look Mutter, nein helmut!

“The vision vehicle will act with foresight and is able to protect the rider at any time,” says Heinrich. Driver assistance features will continually monitor the environment, the route, the speed, the angle of lean, and myriad other factors, intervening to ensure the rider can’t crash. Gyroscopes keep the bike upright when stationary, so you can’t even fall when stopped. BMW’s roughly an eternity from actually telling riders to ditch traditional safety gear, but things like traction control, hill start assist, and antilock brakes are already making it harder to kill yourself on two wheels.
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/bmws-motorcycle-tomorrow-feels/

Horses so metal you could almost mistake them for motorcycles.

@bmacs27

I wondered if that might not be the case.

Counterintuitive indeed.

All my instincts shout to do something different. Further proof, not that I needed it, that I need to stay the heck off a motorcycle.

Thanks for sharing.

IANAMD. My understanding is that contrary to intuitions, deceleration on a motor cycle is more dangerous than acceleration. Maintaining stability is your primary concern, less so velocity of impact. You also don't want to be overtaken by faster traffic, you'd rather see your threats. My friends who do ride motorcycles tell me they are taught to drive aggressively by default. I don't think braking is your first instinct in tight quarters.

Well, I did ask you to correct my observation if it was indeed wrong.

Tell me why he couldn't slow down though? Couldn't he have slowed down? Let her pass? Move to the left to protect his exposed leg and then slowed down?

Like I said, I'm not a motorcycle rider. In a car, I would have slowed down and inched left as I did so. Is that not an option on a motorcycle? At those relatively slow speeds they were driving?

I just watched it again, and I gotta say -- it sure looks to me like he could have slowed down to protect himself. AND I see this with the eyes of a car driver, not a motorcycle driver. I could be wrong.

Any motorcycle drivers out there who can chime in and correct me?

I disagree that it is victim-blaming.

He is honking his horn and yelling and neither speeding up nor slowing down in the face of a car coming for him.

Drive defensively. So every time they run that PSA, that is victim blaming?

She was totally in the wrong. You saw I said that right?

And he didn't drive defensively.

As a car driver (encased in a metal box), I don't argue with someone who is coming right for me. I try to get the heck out of the way (and curse at them the entire way).

Now, maybe I am missing something -- you can correct me if I am wrong about my observations. I"m not a motorcycle driver. Maybe he couldn't have slowed down, sped up, or done some other maneuver. Looked to me like he could have.

Please do correct me if my observations are incorrect.

(And might I inquire as to why in particular it is odd to see me "victim blame"? Not that I think I am?)

Am I the only one who wonders why he so aggressively held onto the lane when she clearly wasn't acknowledging his existence?

He's on a frigging motorcycle. Get out of her way, stay out of her way.

Had he been hurt in this particular instance, I think it would have been 100% his fault. He saw her. Saw her coming. And neither sped up nor slowed down to avoid potential physical harm to himself.

You can be 100% right while being 100% wrong sometimes.

Congratulations! Your video, Trucker helps stalled motorcycle to side of the road, has reached the #1 spot in the current Top 15 New Videos listing. This is a very difficult thing to accomplish but you managed to pull it off. For your contribution you have been awarded 2 Power Points.

This achievement has earned you your "Golden One" Level 32 Badge!

Your video, Trucker helps stalled motorcycle to side of the road, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 60 Badge!

I disagree on nearly all points.

Can't outrun the radio. That's why they have backup. They can't outrun the helicopter in town either, and there's no escape on the freeway if the cops roadblock it.
I guess you didn't notice the one they did hit. No one pulled a gun and attacked the cop, did they?
Could have trapped them all in the underpass if they were on the ball. They should have come in with 4-5 cars at once and blocked it off front and rear, then shot anyone trying to escape.
Really, you assume they're so dumb they would all commit crimes armed (making just dirty riding a violent felony) and have a shootout with the cops (which would instantly make any group riding a SWAT priority from now on). Guaranteed, the first time that happens is the last time more than 3 motorcycles ride together without being stopped and harassed anywhere in the country.
Couple of hundred?!? I only saw around 50. Cops take control of riots that have thousands -tens of thousands of actors all the time. That's no excuse or reason.
They aren't any danger to the police or public if they're wrecked on the road.
Police follow in hopes of catching them in any way, be it trapped, fallen, wrecked, given up, went home, on camera, etc.
Lots that can be done. Since they have multiple camera views of all of them, they can stop them any time they see a bike that looks like one of them on the road and try to put them in prison for wreckless endangerment (a good reason all riders should HATE these people, innocent bikers get harassed for having similar bikes all the time). I do understand that SOME of those bikes are stolen, or unregistered, but most are not and those riders may give up their compatriots.
1%ers only make up 1%.

My point is, if police take this seriously like the attack on the public that it is and aggressively go after them with the cop cars, they will think twice and not operate on YOUR assumptions that the cops won't do a thing....which is why they continue this crap, that assumption. If every single time a group goes 'riding dirty' at least one of them ends up dead or paralyzed, it will end FAST.
You know how much damage that cop car would suffer by running them over....none! ;-)

If you pause the video @9s in, you'll see a footnote, that says this car is only valid for the Indian market. It also says that this model is made in India (the law in India makes importing cars super-expensive, so any car maker that wants to sell there has to put a factory there). Renault has much higher EU safety regulations for the cars that it builds in France and Romania.
There are some cars sold in India (Tata Nano for example) where the seatbelts are even optional.
I think the reasoning is that it's marginally safer than transporting your family on a motorcycle, which is common.
Also, random cattle crossing the street have the right-of-way, even on highways.

Wilkens was awarded more than $180,000 in total damages.

Jurors additionally determined that Edwards acted with negligence when his police car rear-ended Wilkens’ motorcycle, but ruled that the veteran state trooper did not violate Wilkens’ rights by pointing a gun at him and using force to handcuff and then pull Wilkens to his feet.

Wilkens suffered a broken left clavicle, a fractured rib and other injuries in the Aug. 3, 2012, incident.

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/33955359-75/federal-jury-rules-in-favor-of-speeding-motorcyclist-against-oregon-state-police-trooper.html.csp

Some other nice bits in the article, the officer was driving an unmarked chevy camaro, was unaware that it was equipped with a dash cam, and blamed the rear ending of the bike on 'brake fade' (which a brake expert testified was rare in modern brake systems).

It's a fun read, also the cop was later promoted to captain.

Really? That broke his collar bone?! It seemed like he barely connected, but if he won in court, I'm sure there was medical evidence.
How much did the jury award him? I hope a lot. Not for the kick, but for ramming him when he clearly only noticed the cop at the light, and then he immediately put his blinker on and even gave an "oh crap" head hang right before he stops and gets rammed.
I wonder if the cop even had his lights and siren on before then, since there's no sound we cant tell. He certainly wasn't up close enough to be heard on a loud motorcycle until the end, nor was he making his presence known before then.
Even if the bike wasn't stopping, he wasn't endangering anyone, so there was no reason to hit him, possibly seriously injuring or killing him, in the first place. Speeding is not a capital offence. Intentional vehicular homicide should be, even if you wear blue pants with a racing stripe.

Weaving through traffic on a motorcycle is one thing. Dangerous, of course, but for a car to shockingly keep up in pursuit, that requires a hell of a lot more reckless and dangerous driving.