Crashes Reported in the Media

[pkpk]

The purpose of this thread is to post local news postings on recent crashes involving motorcycles that occur in the region.

The idea is to provide insight to the cause of crashes which occur on many roads familiar to us.  I must have read 5 or 6 accident reports on County O last year for example.  The causes of some of these accidents sometimes defy logic (a few years back, two bikes both went into the ditch when they swerved into each other while the riders were talking.)

Please refrain from posting "Hey, check this out!" videos, exhibition riding videos and gruesome photos.  Also please refrain from posting disrespectful, provocative or personal commentary about individual riders in the news postings. 

The purpose is for learning about rider or vehicle errors and how the media reports the incidents.  This is not for feeding our darker human needs.

Thanks.

[pkpk]

http://www.republican-eagle.com/event/article/id/80972/

May 1, 2012

A Hampton, Minn., man was injured Tuesday evening when his motorcycle left the road and rolled several hundred feet, the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Bryan Aegerter, 26, was northwest bound on County Road 18 in Welch Township when he lost control going around a curve. His motorcycle went off the right side of the road, crossed the intersection of 190th Street and went into the ditch, where he and the vehicle rolled.

Aegerter suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported by North Air helicopter to Regions Medical Center in St. Paul. Aegerter said he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

[Joel S]

i wounder if that was the guy on O we saw sunday. hmm

[pkpk]

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1495236

2 Kasson residents critically injured in crash

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Posted: May 02, 2012, 5:30 pm
By Ken Hanson
The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

MANTORVILLE — Two Kasson residents were critically injured in a crash involving a motorcycle and a pickup Wednesday afternoon on Minnesota Highway 57, north of Mantorville, according to a Minnesota State Patrol report.

Michael Wendt, 48, of Kasson, was driving the motorcycle with his wife, Carol Wendt, 54, riding on it when the motorcycle collided broadside with a trailer being pulled by a pickup.

Steven Stensven, 29, of Pine Island, was crossing the two-lane highway on Dodge County Road 16 when the collision occurred. Stensven suffered no apparent injury, the report says.

Michael and Carol Wendt were taken by Mayo Clinic helicopter to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester.

The crash happened at 1:48 p.m. The report states that Michael and Carol Wendt weren't wearing helmets.

Members of the Dodge County Sheriff's Office assisted the State Patrol at the scene.

[pkpk]

http://www.startribune.com/local/east/150365655.html

White Bear Lake motorcyclist critically injured in crash

    Article by: JOY POWELL , Star Tribune
    Updated: May 6, 2012 - 6:15 PM

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A White Bear Lake man was fighting for his life on Sunday after an SUV driver hit him and his motorcycle broadside on Highway 61 in Forest Lake, sending him flying into a pickup truck that had stopped across the highway.

Scott D. Ehrhardt, 54, was riding his Harley Davidson south on 61 when he was T-boned at the intersection of Highway 97 by a woman driving an SUV, according to the State Patrol.

Ehrhardt remained in critical condition Sunday evening at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

About 3 p.m. Saturday, Marni Patzer, 44, of Hugo, had stopped at a stop sign at the intersection, but then pulled out to head west on 97 and hit Erhardt, the patrol said.

"It was horrible," said Jason Tessier, who seconds before the accident had stopped his truck on Highway 97, on the east side, preparing to pull out and turn south onto 61.

It was raining, and the intersection where Hwy 97 crosses 61, with overlapping lanes, can be confusing, said Tessier, 36, who was driving with his neighbor as a passenger.

Across 61 from him, Patzer was on westbound 97 when she pulled out from a stop sign and continued west, crossing the southbound lane of 61 and hitting Ehrhardt, troopers and Tessier said.

The impact sent Erhardt, still on his motorcycle, about 20 or 30 feet through the air before he and the cycle crashed into Tessier's pickup, he said.

The woman whose SUV hit the motorcyclist stood at the scene, appearing to be in shock, as many bystanders gathered in the rain, concerned about the motorcyclist, Tessier said.

"At the time, we were happy that he was responding, that his feet were moving," he said.

Saturday evening, when a trooper took his statement, Tessier asked about the motorcyclist, only to learn that medical workers were trying to stop internal bleeding, he said. "Vehicles can be fixed," Tessier said. "I just hope he comes out of it in the condition that he continues living his life as normal."

The trooper had told him, Tessier said, that there was nothing that Ehrhardt could have done to avoid the accident. "Other than not being there, I don't know what he could have done," Tessier said.

Joy Powell • 651-925-5038

[aschendel]

Here's a good one:

http://www.kare11.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1628524511001&odyssey=mod%7Ctvideo%7Carticle

AURORA, Colo. - Police recently released unbelievable video of a car running a red light and barreling into a motorcycle - sending the rider flying through the air.

Edit:  it's on the local website but not local, and a video rather than text (sorry).  One interesting thing I think is at the end how they use the situation to support red light cameras...

[Tim...]

^ seriously, what is "good" about it?

[pkpk]

Yeah, I guess I was thinking of keeping this thread limited to local crashes reported by text (although I didn't specify that in the beginning.)  The idea is to provide a bit of food for thought about common mistakes made on roads familiar to everyone here.   

[Tim...]

Please keep them coming Paul.  Sobering, to say the least!

[aschendel]

^ seriously, what is "good" about it?

I guess I'd say "a good one to remember / watch out for" in the spirit of "learning", but also the footage was surprisingly good, and it was a pretty good outcome for being t-boned.  And a good advertisement for leg / foot protection...

Yeah, I guess I was thinking of keeping this thread limited to local crashes reported by text (although I didn't specify that in the beginning.)  The idea is to provide a bit of food for thought about common mistakes made on roads familiar to everyone here.   

You actually didn't say anything in the beginning, well, except for "Crashes Reported in the Media"...  I can remove it if you'd like no problem at all.

a.s.

[pkpk]

No problem A.S, you can keep it here.  I don't want to pass the judgement on what is acceptable and what is not, provided there is learning.  I just don't want it to wind up as sort of a N.S.F.W. where people post "Hey, check this out!" 

You are correct, it would have been proper to lay down some guidelines at the beginning.  I'll edit my first posting.

[beedawg]

Aegerter suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported by North Air helicopter to Regions Medical Center in St. Paul. Aegerter said he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

Just want to point out that it's easy to draw faulty conclusions from reports like this one, e.g., he was wearing a helmet, but he still suffered life-threatening injuries, therefore helmets don't really help.

1. There is a wide variety of helmets with widely varying coverage -- half helmets to three-quarter to full-face.

2. Some people wear helmets that are too big for their heads.  A too-large helmet won't offer the same level of protection as a properly fitted helmet.

3. A helmet can't protect the rider against all injury.  A helmet, for example, won't protect your feet and legs.  Protecting your head, however, DOES make increase the odds that you'll survive a serious injury to your feet and legs.

Brent

Brent

[pkpk]

Another point about media coverage is the lack of perspective about the injuries sustained.  A "rider was transported to Regions with serious injuries" most likely involved very damaging injuries to an appendage (hands, ankles and feet) that could potentially affect a rider for life.  The fact the injury was not in the torso or head did not make it "critical" or "life-threatening" but the medical and quality of life costs are still significant. 

I've made a deal about wearing gloves on occasion in the past (Why won't they wear gloves?)  That is because an EMT once told me that, by far, the most injured areas of riders he picked up were the hands.  But you won't see the media report "rider sustained significant injury to his/her hands".

[pkpk]

http://www.startribune.com/local/151515885.html

Collision with deer sends motorcyclist into fatal path of 2 vehicles

    Article by: PAUL WALSH , Star Tribune
    Updated: May 15, 2012 - 7:45 AM

    A collision with a deer on a central Minnesota highway sent a motorcyclist into the fatal path of two oncoming vehicles, authorities said Tuesday.

The crash with the deer happened about 9:45 p.m. Monday on Hwy. 10 near Morrison County Rd. 13, northwest of Little Falls, the State Patrol said.

The identity of the motorcyclist, a 39-year-old man from Randall, Minn., has yet to be released.

According to the patrol:

The motorcycle was heading west on Hwy. 10, when it hit a deer. The rider was thrown to the pavement and run over by a car and a minivan. He was declared dead at the scene.

One of the two drivers, Ashley A. Zimmerman, 25, of Randall, was slightly hurt.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

[carlson_mn]

It's all about looking cool to motorcyclists.  The guys that wear bandanas don't read the news or care.