Safety Article
January 2009 Safety Article (By Tony Catrambone, Safety Officer)
Happy New Year!
We survived the Christmas Party in early December, but the ride before the party was unfortunately marred by a couple of mishaps that need to be
reviewed. No doubt, those involved have run the event over and over through their minds, trying to determine why it happened and how they might have
avoided it. For the sake of the rest of us, many of whom may not even know about what I’m talking, I will try to describe what happened.
This was second hand to me, so forgive me if I miss anything. The first mishap occurred at a stop sign, which had a great deal of dry sand washed over
the T-intersection left over from one of our previous rain storms. The leader of the group had slowed down almost to a stop. The rider behind the leader
slowed, as well. The second rider, now looking to his right, anticipated the leader was going to proceed after slowing at the stop. However, much to his
surprise, the leader stopped, putting down his feet. The second rider bumped into the leader, breaking one of his taillights, and caused slight damage to
his own bike, as well. He told me afterwards, he generally doesn’t completely stop to the point that he has to put his feet down in slippery sandy
conditions. This makes logical sense, not wanting to put himself into a hazardous situation, but it didn’t turn out helping him in this situation.
With the luxury of hind sight, I’m sure he may have done it differently, if given the chance. I’m sure he would agree, he should not have assumed the leader
was going to handle the sand the same way he does. And, even though it may be hazardous, the law insists that we place a foot down at a stop.
Otherwise, you could be cited for a rolling stop. The best advice, look for a place you can place a foot safely. I’m not going to go so far as to say do it when
it’s not safe, but you’ll need to make that decision for yourselves.
The second incident occurred at the party location and I was an eye witness to this one. So, these are my observations of what happened. A rider and his
passenger were attempting to pull into the host’s driveway, but didn’t realize there was a substantially deep drain channel at the edge of the driveway.
When his front tire hit this channel, his bike slowed considerably. Acting accordingly, he gave it gas to prevent stalling, but then his rear tire hit this same
deep channel. This caused his passenger to bounce out of her seat and then abruptly back and down, again. This jerking action may have contributed to
a loss of control, which caused the bike to steer into a set of concrete steps.
While, it may have been impossible to predict, you must be prepared for unexpected road conditions. Be sure your passenger is ready, as well. Their
position in the seat can have a profound effect on the handling of your motorcycle. You can feel them when they shift, even a little bit. Imagine what would
happen when they are bounced out of their seat. I can’t think of way that this rider could have had any idea of the outcome of this accident. But, in the
future, he may elect to have his passenger dismount before entering this same driveway again.
Both incidents caused minor to moderate damage to the bikes, and probably a good amount of bruising to a couple of egos. Luckily, there were no
serious injuries in either incident. The overall lesson…slow down and leave room to maneuver. Obey traffic laws. If you find yourself in a situation where
your ability to control your bike may be compromised, you may want to have a passenger get off the bike before proceeding. Again, hind sight is a
wonderful thing. We are not pointing fingers or laying blame. Let’s all try to learn from it!
Ride Safe!
January 2009 Safety Article (By Tony Catrambone, Safety Officer)
Happy New Year!
We survived the Christmas Party in early December, but the ride before the party was unfortunately marred by a couple of mishaps that need to be
reviewed. No doubt, those involved have run the event over and over through their minds, trying to determine why it happened and how they might have
avoided it. For the sake of the rest of us, many of whom may not even know about what I’m talking, I will try to describe what happened.
This was second hand to me, so forgive me if I miss anything. The first mishap occurred at a stop sign, which had a great deal of dry sand washed over
the T-intersection left over from one of our previous rain storms. The leader of the group had slowed down almost to a stop. The rider behind the leader
slowed, as well. The second rider, now looking to his right, anticipated the leader was going to proceed after slowing at the stop. However, much to his
surprise, the leader stopped, putting down his feet. The second rider bumped into the leader, breaking one of his taillights, and caused slight damage to
his own bike, as well. He told me afterwards, he generally doesn’t completely stop to the point that he has to put his feet down in slippery sandy
conditions. This makes logical sense, not wanting to put himself into a hazardous situation, but it didn’t turn out helping him in this situation.
With the luxury of hind sight, I’m sure he may have done it differently, if given the chance. I’m sure he would agree, he should not have assumed the leader
was going to handle the sand the same way he does. And, even though it may be hazardous, the law insists that we place a foot down at a stop.
Otherwise, you could be cited for a rolling stop. The best advice, look for a place you can place a foot safely. I’m not going to go so far as to say do it when
it’s not safe, but you’ll need to make that decision for yourselves.
The second incident occurred at the party location and I was an eye witness to this one. So, these are my observations of what happened. A rider and his
passenger were attempting to pull into the host’s driveway, but didn’t realize there was a substantially deep drain channel at the edge of the driveway.
When his front tire hit this channel, his bike slowed considerably. Acting accordingly, he gave it gas to prevent stalling, but then his rear tire hit this same
deep channel. This caused his passenger to bounce out of her seat and then abruptly back and down, again. This jerking action may have contributed to
a loss of control, which caused the bike to steer into a set of concrete steps.
While, it may have been impossible to predict, you must be prepared for unexpected road conditions. Be sure your passenger is ready, as well. Their
position in the seat can have a profound effect on the handling of your motorcycle. You can feel them when they shift, even a little bit. Imagine what would
happen when they are bounced out of their seat. I can’t think of way that this rider could have had any idea of the outcome of this accident. But, in the
future, he may elect to have his passenger dismount before entering this same driveway again.
Both incidents caused minor to moderate damage to the bikes, and probably a good amount of bruising to a couple of egos. Luckily, there were no
serious injuries in either incident. The overall lesson…slow down and leave room to maneuver. Obey traffic laws. If you find yourself in a situation where
your ability to control your bike may be compromised, you may want to have a passenger get off the bike before proceeding. Again, hind sight is a
wonderful thing. We are not pointing fingers or laying blame. Let’s all try to learn from it!
Ride Safe!
| Chaparral Riders Newsletter |
December Edition 2008
Page 2
President : Ron Judge
Vice President: Eddie Hopper
Secretary: Bonnie Judge
Treasurer: Earlene Hopper
Saftey Officer Tony Catrambone
50/50 Game: Eddie Hopper
Loma Linda Funds: Michelle Hernandez
Newsletter/Web Site: Charlie Flack
Vice President: Eddie Hopper
Secretary: Bonnie Judge
Treasurer: Earlene Hopper
Saftey Officer Tony Catrambone
50/50 Game: Eddie Hopper
Loma Linda Funds: Michelle Hernandez
Newsletter/Web Site: Charlie Flack