4drviper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFvRe...eature=related


"we're not given up"

pfft yea right..

I think the police needs to scout good drivers and put them through high performance driving school...

well not all(the $$), at least have an ace or two.

chill_dog

As indicated at 3:30, Darwin solves the problem. It's unfortunate that sometimes that impacts innocent people, though.

Costco

Um, did you see how effortlessly that guy in the video got up to ~200mph?

There probably isn't a single car out there that is practical enough to keep on patrol duty every day to keep up with these guys. And even if it did, there's no guarantee that they would respect it. If there is.... WHY haven't they deployed it yet?!

There are just too many reasons, I suspect.



As far as that lady goes, one of the top comments on youtube is probably true.... she probably pulled out right in front of them due to the driver's side door being impacted. I am in no way justifying the riders actions, but she fucked up too. More often than not it's not the riders who make it more dangerous for people around them, it's people that don't notice the riders that makes it dangerous.

West6MT

FYI - the vid of the motorcycle accelerating was a turbo hyabusa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwieel03c-w

Costco

Nonetheless, most if not all sportbikes out there will outrun any run-of-the-mill cruiser. Not to say typical police coordination won't track the guy down, but if the rider either cuts through congested traffic or takes it onto the highway, say without helicopter backup there is no way the LEO will catch up. And as mentioned, there is a high risk of an accident occurring.


FFS - on some rider forums there are topics regarding killswitches to cut off all power to the lights on the motorcycle "just in case". You don't talk about crap like that for fun.

Bearcat94

You're missing an extremely important issue. Closure. Speed differential.

If you're pulling out into a zone with, say, 45 mph traffic, you might see the 4 bikes way off in the distance (IF they were visible at all), but never consider that they are closing at 100+ mph.

When closure differentials are 10 or 20 mph, it's expected and easy to deal with. When closing rates get much faster than that - of for some of these bikes 4x, 5x, 6x (or more) of that - they are taking their lives and the lives of others in their own hands.

It's not just a question of being seen, it's a question of covering far, FAR more ground in a few seconds than anyone would reasonabley expect.

Costco

In hindsight, I completely agree with you. I didn't consider that. Perhaps she didn't expect such a thing at all - I don't think the average person would, myself included. I don't suppose she would have heard four sportbikes evading the police as well as patrol car sirens going off.... though then again, there are too many associated factors that I weren't there to observe.



My point remains. I still maintain the stance that automobile drivers make it more dangerous for motorcycle riders than the other way around. Sportbikes are but a fraction of all motorcycles on the road today and only some of their riders are tools. And my best guess as to why some LEOs just "give up" is because it is too risky, and or there is very little chance of them catching up as well as finding the right guy/motorcycle.

I know of a couple people who have successfully evaded the police on a sportbike. No, I am not one of them. I have heard about another person who tried the same and ended up in the morgue. Obviously I'm not that guy either.

speedemon90

This,

I dunno why she said she could have been killed a guy on a bike can't do to much damage to the car, unless they hit at super high speeds and fly through the window into her or something

Will Y.

Most drivers will look for moving objects that are traveling around or just above the speed limit before deciding whether to turn, change lanes, etc. I try to gauge speeds of oncoming traffic-- but don't know if I could compensate for someone doing 80+ in a 45 mph zone.

Also, emergency vehicles slow at intersections, while fleeing vehicles don't slow as much, if at all, so hearing sirens may not alert one to a fleeing vehicle.
Please reconsider the damage a 500+ lb. set of objects-- metal, glass, bone, flesh and assorted biological matter-- can cause in striking another vehicle, striking the vehicle's driver, diverting the driver's attention or forcing the vehicle off the roadway or into other vehicles due to momentum of the motorcycle doing 60+ mph into another vehicle.

Costco

I'm merely going off the assumption that four sportbikes actively evading a patrol car (read: extra throttle input) going at 80+ would be anything but whisper quiet. I mentioned as well that there are too many factors that could have affected that.... were her windows all up? What volume was the radio at? Was she doing/thinking about anything else that could have possibly taken even the slightest bit of her attention?

I've never sat inside a car on the side of the road to observe while sportbikes approach from a distance and pass me going 90+ mph to judge reaction and prediction time so this is just random speculation.

What I WILL say is that there are many occasions when I hear a motorcycle before I see it - usually when I'm just cruising along the highway or stopped in gridlock traffic, thus not actively on the look out for one. I think it's safe for me to assume that at these speeds the riders aren't gunning it.

West6MT

I was simply pointing out what bike was shown in the video,.......but thanks for commenting on something no one was disputing.

oo7spy

Really cops? You can't think of a way to stop this? How about you post up 2 or more patrol cars. Put the second one, or more, a mile after the first. Give the first LIDAR and come up with a way to stop them down the road. If it really is only a select few that are the problem, put 20 of them in jail, ask the judge for the maximum punishment, and I bet you knockdown numbers pretty quickly.

Speedemon, have you ever run over something of reasonable size with just one tire at speed? You can easily lose control with no way of avoiding it. I hit a dog going probably 55 in Legend #1. It went under my front left tire. As that tire was spinning on the dog, the other was spinning on the pavement and threw me into the left lane. Had there been an oncoming car, it would have been all over. Thank God there was no one around me b/c I was fishtailing in a FWD car and couldn't do a damn thing. I even saw the dog coming so I had a moment to think about what was happening. The impact of the motorcycle to the car is not the issue. The issue is the way the impacted car handles during the crash.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Just goes to show you that a select few can ruin it for the rest. I do like that they stressed several times that most bikes were observing the speed limits, but all it takes is a couple guys on sportbikes and that's it... they're labeled permanently...

But I agree with oo7... all you need is two cops spaced out, nail a few guys and make examples of them, and guaranteed it sends a message to the others.

fsttyms1

I really hate stupid news reports like this.

1 million users take and use this drug, 3 die from overdoses. Lets ban it and take it off the shelf

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Glad those two Darwin award finalists finally got their award!

Costco

Sorry for trying to stimulate some debate. I've committed a terrible sin!

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

Inexperienced sport bike riders, riders that have too much bike for their skill level and also experienced riders that eventually loose the respect for their bikes (and others) because of their confidence account for most of the sport bike accidents and fatalities. I've seen it first hand on a number of occasions. There is an occasional "accident" in every sense of the word but when you ride that aggressively on winding roads you take the risk of harm and that's not by "accident".

edit: running from the cops is dumb.

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

This thread reminds me of this.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat...-speeder_x.htm

Minnesota trooper writes 205 mph speeding ticket

WABASHA, Minn. (AP) — With a State Patrol airplane overhead, a Stillwater motorcyclist hit the throttle and possibly set the informal record for the fastest speeding ticket in Minnesota history: 205 mph.

On Saturday afternoon, State Patrol pilot Al Loney was flying near Wabasha, in southeastern Minnesota on the Wisconsin border, watching two motorcyclists racing along U.S. Highway 61.

When one of the riders shot forward, Loney was ready with his stopwatch. He clicked it once when the motorcycle reached a white marker on the road and again a quarter-mile later. The watch read 4.39 seconds, which Loney calculated to be 205 mph.

"I was in total disbelief," Loney told the St. Paul Pioneer Press for Tuesday's editions. "I had to double-check my watch because in 27 years I'd never seen anything move that fast."

Several law enforcement sources told the newspaper that, although no official records are kept, it was probably the fastest ticket ever written in the state.

After about three-quarters of a mile, the biker slowed to about 100 mph and let the other cycle catch up. By then Loney had radioed ahead to another state trooper, who pulled the two over soon afterward.

The State Patrol officer arrested the faster rider, 20-year-old Stillwater resident Samuel Armstrong Tilley, for reckless driving, driving without a motorcycle license — and driving 140 miles per hour over the posted speed limit of 65 mph.

A search of speeding tickets written by state troopers, who patrol most of the state's highways, between 1990 and February 2004 shows the next fastest ticket was for 150 mph in 1994 in Lake of the Woods County.

Tilley did not return calls from the newspaper to his home Monday. A working number for him could not immediately be found by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Only a handful of exotic sports cars can reach 200 mph, but many high-performance motorcycles can top 175 mph. With minor modifications, they can hit 200 mph. Tilley was riding a Honda 1000, Loney said.

Kathy Swanson of the state Office of Traffic Safety said unless Tilley was wearing the kind of protective gear professional motorcycle racers wear, he was courting death at 200 mph.

"I'm not entirely sure what would happen if you crashed at 200 miles per hour," Swanson said. "But it wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure."

charliemike

That assumption has been proven to be completely incorrect. And it has been proven a dozen times over just in the state of Maryland.

The Maryland State Police have tried cars, motorcycles, and helicopters to chase and interdict sport bikes and it hasn't worked.

Someone doing 153 on a two-lane back road cannot be deterred by arresting other people because they have a very ego-centric mentality of "It's not going to happen to me" ... Which is why they take such risks in the first place.

Where I live, I encounter rampant stupidity from drivers and motorcyclists so it's not just sport bikes that do this. But the risks guys on sport bikes take are more extreme because they are smaller than cars and can get into places cars can't.

You can't fix stupid. But they need to figure out how to keep the idiots off the road.

Bearcat94

This is probably true. Personally, if there is a bike in my view, I try to make sure I keep track of where it is. Being smaller, they're easier to lose track of or lose in a blind spot.

charliemike

So, those of us that aren't complete assholes on a motorcycle are supposed to just accept that's just the way it is?

That is complete horseshit.

Moog-Type-S

The mindless love sensational "journalism".

combat mediC

iTrader: (1)

I've been riding bikes since I was 16... 12 years now. I used to ride with groups because its more fun than ridin solo. When the boneheads would take off and race eachother, I'd hang back, I've never had anything under a 750cc and always had the power. I've opened a few up to 130ish, but thats it. Too scary.

oo7spy

I don't understand how a road block doesn't work. If police can't stop motorcycles, why don't all criminals drive them? If you block the road side to side, how do they get through? Spike strips come to mind. What about a speed bump? If they are driving recklessly, it is not the public's responsibility to protect these people.

phee

iTrader: (5)

I drive those mountains quarterly and it is not like that at all. Most of those clips were off the Internet. I've been overe there numerous times and there is always that one guy, but it's not like a motogp.

stogie1020

Just stop... You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

Do you have ANY idea what would happen if a bike going 150 miles an hour hit a spike strip? Since the police know what would happen in that circumstance, if they actually put a spike strip out for a sportbike, they would be sued until they were relegated to riding tricycles for patrol vehicles. They might as well just all start shooting at the guy with shotguns... That seems appropriate, right?

Sure, you COULD mount a rocket launcher on a police helicopter, but no one actually would. I mean, why don't they stretch a huge net across the road for the sport bike? Or wait, maybe dig a moat and force the rider to stop, joust with a dark knight and then if he wins he can pass?

Stop thinking that what you have seen in the movies is real. Just stop.

chill_dog

Yes, they would be, but they shouldn't be.

oo7spy

So stogie, you are telling me there is no way to stop a motorcycle and they should just give up? All I asked was questions. You answered one. Of course I know what would happen if you took the tires out from under a bike going 150. That's why I stated my last sentence. What about a speed bump?

And for the record I have seen no such thing in the movies. That's not where I get ideas from. However rockets, nets, moats, and jousting all remind me of some movies I've seen.

Rick_TL-S

I don't think anyone here is saying police have to just give up. But the fact is, unless the local county has an aerial unit that can keep an eye on the suspect, sport bikes are just too hard to catch once they get moving. You can not use the same tactics against them like a car b/c it normally creates a larger risk for the biker's safety than it would the driver of a car. I'm speaking as someone who's city has gone through this in the past. 1 of our counties (Plano) even made it a point to stop any sort of car meet that was being held in a lot where permission was not given because the attendees who came in on sport bikes, would race away from the police on the tollway. They got sick of it & for a few months afterwards, every sport bike owner was now a suspect. The cameras on the tollways were the only thing that eventually led to several dozen arrests.

The most common way seems to be just catching their plates or following them til' they've stopped at a reasonable speed to intercept. They do it almost the same way with cars traveling over 130mph as well.

Factor in the speed of something traveling over 130mph & tell us how you would stop it without creating a possible risk of serious injury to anyone involved.

stogie1020

There is no approved immobilization device OR technique that I am aware of for motorcycles UNLESS deadly force is authorized, in which case, ram them.

I am aware of bikes turning off their lights to not be seen in a pursuit and relying upon the headlights of the police cars chasing them to give them an idea of where the road is.

I am also aware of officers realizing this and killing THEIR headlights on a curve and then cleaning up the resulting mess of a rider after he plows off the side of the road unexpectedly... Not an official procedure.

You have to weigh the reward of catching someone with the risk involved in doing it. If a bike rolls a stop sign, am I going to chase him at 150 mph to write him a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign? No. I or he might crash into a bus load of nuns coming from charity work and kill them all. Not worth it for a stop sign. If, however, it's a durkah durkah who just blew up a bus load full of nuns with a bomb, chase is on and the guy will get knocked off the bike one way or another.

oo7spy

I don't know. I guess I just have a hard time believing that no one can come up with an idea. It obviously has been an issue for some time and I know there are enough intelligent capable people out there to work on it without me spending time on it too. Like I said, it's just a little disheartening to think that it can be that easy to get away. I wasn't taking a shot at officers for not doing a good enough job.

Can we send some deer to those mountains? They kill motorcyclists here every year.



J/K. I know... Bad joke. It's frustrating to know those tools don't pay for their idiocy.

Aman

I'd be interested to know why a roadblock wouldn't work. It's not like the motorcyclist can't see it and slow down.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^no!
the name of the game is to not get caught.

plus, at 150mph that road block or speed bump will come up fast, killing the rider.
and stogie wins.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Heres an idea - much stricter licensing tests. And structure it like they do overseas where you are forced to ride a detuned bike for a certain amount of time. Its too easy for any squid to go hop on the closest 1000cc bike and do 100+mph into the back of a car. And its those asshole that give the rest of the riding community a bad name. The media certainly doesnt help matters.

fsttyms1

Uhhhh what?

Costco

don't they limit them to 250s for a couple of years or something? I could be completely off. This would help stave off the stupidity for a while and it would teach people to be better riders instead of just flying in straightaways and not knowing how to properly take a corner.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Not here. No limit on CC. In fact, with your motorcycle permit the only restriction is no passengers. No time of day or size limits at all.

Personally I started on a 250cc and rode it for about 14 months... but I know of people who started on 600cc's or higher (SV's I'm fine with, Ninja's etc, not so much). Then again, none of the people I ride with ride like those shown in the news clips...

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I started on a 53hp 650cc v-twin. Still have it in fact. My current bike is a Triumph Daytona 675 that Im thinking about selling because sometimes I feel that its too much bike for me. And I refuse to ride with people like those in the clips above. There is a time and a place to test the limit of you and your bike, and a public road is never it.

stogie1020

150 MPH = 224 feet per second. Average human reaction time (to action) is about 1-1.25sec. Rider will travel approx. 280 feet before he even moves his hand to apply the brakes... then coming to a controlled complete stop from 150mph is no quick feat either.

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

Maybe manufacturers should put ft/sec. gauges on bikes. That would put things in more perspective