No See Ums on a Harley

[XLFD]

I was on my bicycle heading for what I call my 'southern route' down the PM Highway from Sixth Street on Sunday just before noon, when I noticed some emergency vehicles heading south.  This isn't abnormal since the PM Fire Department is to the south, but some were heading past the PMFD station.  As I crested the hill on the road's shoulder, I saw the emergency vehicles coalescing around the intersection of Iris Road and the highway, a common area for accidents.  The lane that was blocked to mitigate the situation, made my progress along the shoulder a bit more dangerous before I turned off up Iris.  But I did notice one of the crash vehicles was a slightly damaged motorcycle, and the other was a small Toyota vehicle with its front grill bent inward.

 

File photo, not a scene of this accident  -->

 

Yesterday's newspaper reports the details of what actually took place, and confirmed my suspicions based on the evidence.  At about 11:34 AM, Michael Skoog of Ludington was driving south on on PM Highway on his Harley Davidson motorcycle with two female passengers when a Toyota Prius, turning left off of Iris Road onto the highway, struck them as it pulled out. 

 

The driver of the Prius, Phillip Andrew Scholp, 27, of Plainfield, Illinois, said he did not see Skoog's vehicle due to another vehicle turning right from the PM Highway onto Iris Road.  All three of the motorcyclists were transported by ambulance to Memorial Medical Center, Skoog was further transported to Spectrum, where he is listed in good condition with unspecified injuries.

 

There seems to be no indication of a ticket given out to the car driver, and that is not atypical of such situations, but shouldn't one be given out when someone steals the right of way from a motorcycle and causes serious injury or death?  This summer, we seen this happen just recently in Hart, and it seems that every other motorcycle accident you read about deals with some driver whose excuse contains the words "I didn't see them". 

 

Distractions for drivers abound in this day and age with cellphones equipped with data and text capabilities, GPS, portable video players and TVs, high-powered stereos, etc., including, in this area, the scenic natural settings and the unscenic wind turbines.  Motorcycle and bicycle riders are frequently overlooked by drivers who are not paying attention to the road, like they should. 

 

I am not a big fan of legislation, but we need new laws in the vehicle code so that no BMP (Bicyclist, motorcyclist, pedestrian) using the road lawfully can be hit by a vehicle without repercussions to the motorist even when he uses the "no see um" defense. 

[XLFD]

Sadly another no see 'um accident happened in West Michigan with a motorcyclist riding lawfully down the road and a vehicle pulls out in front of them today:  http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/ottawa_county/motorcycle-and-s...

It's really too bad we got all those distractions while we drive our SUVs that we can't take the extra time to make sure a motorcycle, or any BMP, isn't coming up the road.  Helmets don't matter in these accidents.