Crazy moto incident

[choke]

at today's Brabantse Pijl. I've watched this a few times and I still can't figure out why the moto rider did what he did....

https://twitter.com/lucasaganronald/status/1118527079186882567

[CSKeller]

HOLY MOLY! That was crazy close and had an impact on the potential breakaway!

I don't know what the hell the Moto driver was thinking...
Oh wait, he/she wasn't!!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Hellgate]

After almost hitting the racer, he almost rearends the photomoto!
1697977786

[echappist]

at today's Brabantse Pijl. I've watched this a few times and I still can't figure out why the moto rider did what he did....

https://twitter.com/lucasaganronald/status/1118527079186882567

she's got cat-like reflexes; holy crap that could have gone badly...

bummer that her attack got neutralized like that. Btw, crazy how she can keep cranking the watts out of saddle.

[charliedid]

Stuff happens, I doubt the moto driver was trying to murder anyone.

[MattTuck]

Stuff happens, I doubt the moto driver was trying to murder anyone.

Is this a serious comment, or should I interpret with sarcasm?

[charliedid]

Is this a serious comment, or should I interpret with sarcasm?

Dead serious

[Veloo]

Wasn't paying attention and swerved last second and too much to avoid the truck?

[djg21]

Wasn't paying attention and swerved last second and too much to avoid the truck?

That was my initial sense too. Maybe he/she was watching the race and not where he was going, and was forced to swerve erratically to avoid the parked truck. BuT it looks like the motor pulled out from a driveway behind the truck.

[unterhausen]

yeah, I think the moto was stopped 90 degrees to the road and mis-timed when he started up

[seanile]

Stuff happens, I doubt the moto driver was trying to murder anyone.

that comment is completely irrelevant to this situation, this wasn't some random traffic incident...

[charliedid]

that comment is completely irrelevant to this situation, this wasn't some random traffic incident...

What was it? Are you implying that the driver of the moto was acting with intent? That's a hell of an accusation if so.

[sipmeister]

yeah, I think the moto was stopped 90 degrees to the road and mis-timed when he started up

Good point.
Maybe, since he saw the camera go by he thought he had time to jump out before the peloton came by. Didn't help there was that truck on the side blocking the view from his side of the road.

[seanile]

What was it? Are you implying that the driver of the moto was acting with intent? That's a hell of an accusation if so.

I’m saying he was an idiot who acted negligently, and to brush off the act as a whoopsy that people shouldn’t be upset about is dismissive of the severity of that act’s impact on the race and potentially the rider’s physical well-being

[asindc]

I’m saying he was an idiot who acted negligently, and to brush off the act as a whoopsy that people shouldn’t be upset about is dismissive of the severity of that act’s impact on the race and potentially the rider’s physical well-being

Exactly.

[nalax]

Exactly.

Worse than an idiot. From cyclingweekly

https://keyassets.timeincuk.net/inspirewp/live/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/bpwomens-1220x793.jpg

[charliedid]

I’m saying he was an idiot who acted negligently, and to brush off the act as a whoopsy that people shouldn’t be upset about is dismissive of the severity of that act’s impact on the race and potentially the rider’s physical well-being

I'm saying he probably isn't an idiot and simply made a mistake. It happens millions of times a day. And yes, thankfully it wasn't worse.

[weisan]

Charlie pal, I know where you are coming from and I am with you on this.

[82Picchio]

Then Charlie pal needs to learn to use his words better.

[Red Tornado]

IF the moto started from behind the truck with view obscured:
1) Could the moto driver have turned parallel to the riders and started out on the left hand side of the road? Once he's a little bit away from the truck check the rear view, look over shoulder and then accelerate and take more of the road.
2) Maybe just use his feet to edge out from behind the truck slowly and then take off under power once he sees what is/is not coming his way. Might be difficult going uphill, I don't know - not a motorcycle rider.
3) Did the truck show up after the moto had stopped? I would think not. If it didn't, then that was a really bad place for the moto to stop in and then re-start.

Probably no way for us to know what was going through the moto driver's head at the time. Maybe he looked and just didn't see her (his fault but understandable), maybe he was in a hurry and didn't look (his fault and not understandable). If what happened was the former, I'm not sure what anyone could do. If it was the latter, definitely some type of sanction would be in order for the moto pilot. Calling the guy names might be a little much, but I sure wouldn't be "oh shucks" about it either. Seen both types of posts on this thread. It's a serious issue and needs to be treated as such, since this seems to be happening more frequently.

[crankles]

I'm saying he probably isn't an idiot and simply made a mistake. It happens millions of times a day. And yes, thankfully it wasn't worse.

I'm leaning a bit toward the idiot side here. I've been on the back end of mavic neutral motos as well as the driver of marshalling motos. #1 rule is "keep the riders safe" followed closely by #2 "don't interfere with said riders".

We are doing the job specifically so we DON'T make these kind of errors. The only time I've broken rule #2 is because it was required to satisfy rule #1...which, at least in the video, does not appear to be the case.

[benb]

He thought he had time to stop and check Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/whatever and the pack caught him faster than expected so he was rushing to get back on the road.

Something stupid of that sort.

[MattTuck]

In a complex system with many autonomous actors making decisions, there is virtually a guarantee that "something will happen." That is the world we live in.

I think Charliedd's post is being construed as simply acknowledging that fact and suggesting we move on. I don't know for sure, but I was a bit surprised by it also.

We have accidents (near accidents in this case) at the system level but then we also must look at the individual level to determine if that is an accident we can live with.

In this case, the moto driver surely broke several rules/laws, and thus we should not absolve him of anything. He should take responsibility for his actions and face whatever punishment gets meted out to him.

Whether or not he had malicious intent is not really relevant.

[benb]

I don't know what on earth the solution is but in general these road races just seem broken.

Their dangerous. Motorcycles, cars, helicopters, fans buzzing around, unsafe road conditions, bad sprint finish setups at the end of race stages.

And they have a bad business model since the teams can't charge any ticket sales.

I don't know what the solution is... any major change would take away major things about the sport that we all love. But I am mostly thinking the sport needs a setup more like motorsports. You don't have camera cars & motorcycles out with the race cars/bikes causing accidents or affecting the race there. The finish lines can be designed to be safe. The fans can't interfere with the race and the fans are more protected in the case of an accident. (Though the accidents can have more severe consequences for the fans there) . If the bike race took place inside some place like a track a team could own a race venue and host a home race and get some revenue out of it... then they'd be less dependent on the whole sponsorship train.

[wallymann]

What was it? Are you implying that the driver of the moto was acting with intent? That's a hell of an accusation if so.

acting incompetently.

maybe this moto was the same guy that took out mini-phinney.

inexcusable.

[benb]

Yah we could start by stopping repeating the whole thing about "motor vehicle accidents".

It's always called an accident and it never is. 99% of the time it's "collision caused by negligence".

I am sure someone has studied the history and their was a PR campaign by the auto companies to get everything turned into an "accident" so drivers didn't get in trouble using their products.

[Peter P.]

For some reason I can't view Twitter video on my Mac.

Can someone provide a link to the video that works with a desktop PC?

[choke]

For some reason I can't view Twitter video on my Mac.

Can someone provide a link to the video that works with a desktop PC?

You can try here but it is a Twitter video.....https://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/6325/watch-rider-almost-floored-by-race-motorbike

[Vientomas]

Race promoter seeking to increase viewers hires moto man to cause a near accident which makes the highlight reel. People from all walks of life are intrigued, tune into the next race to witness the bicycle/moto mear misses and ratings soar. Race promoter rubs hands together gleefully and places pinkie finger on lips a la Dr. Evil. "There are no accidents" - Master Oogway

[charliedid]

Race promoter seeking to increase viewers hires moto man to cause a near accident which makes the highlight reel. People from all walks of life are intrigued, tune into the next race to witness the bicycle/moto mear misses and ratings soar. Race promoter rubs hands together gleefully and places pinkie finger on lips a la Dr. Evil. "There are no accidents" - Master Oogway

LOL seriously. :)

[charliedid]

acting incompetently.

maybe this moto was the same guy that took out mini-phinney.

inexcusable.

Or maybe he's the guy who served me breakfast yesterday? Either way let's just keep making things up and demonizing the guy to make ourselves feel better. That should fix things.

[zmalwo]

Paid off by the other team? "Here's $50k, if you see that bich from team xxxx ram her and make it look like an accident."

[e-RICHIE]

Paid off by the other team? "Here's $50k, if you see that bich from team xxxx ram her and make it look like an accident."

Oh my.
Where did we go wrong?

[fignon's barber]

Looks like the moto simply made a mistake. Off the top of my head, I can think of a couple times I've been in similar situations while racing (one involved a large John Deere combine during a road race in rural Michigan). I've learned you'll lead a longer and happier life if you forgive and move on though.