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It was a Cadillac Escalade EXT pickup truck, I believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by volosong
jteskal, I see you live in New Jersey. In California, motorcycles are indeed permitted to travel within the HOV lanes. And it is also legal to 'lane split' or 'white line', (i.e., ride between the lanes of cars; up to the legal speed limit, but no faster than 10 mph above the current traffic flow at any particular spot).
I travel this freeway often as it is the primary route between the Antelope Valley and the San Fernando Valley, (and the Los Angeles basin beyond). I'm glad the extended video was provided. It bugs me to no end when cars on the 14 frequently cross the double-double yellow lines to hop into and out of the carpool lane. There are frequent breaks in the double-double for ingress and egress. Pretty sure a double-double yellow is considered the same thing as an 'island'. If the car driver did indeed cross, that's a "no, no", and it could be seen as the cause of putting the motorcyclist in physical danger. It's going to become a 'he said, she said' thing with conflicting witness statements because they all saw something different.
This particular freeway has their carpool lane active only during rush hour. Southbound between 0500 and 0900, northbound between 1500 and 1900. Outside those hours, anybody can use the HOV lane, (I wish all SoCal HOV lanes were like this). Still, when the HOV lane is 'inactive', one is still not supposed to cross the double-double yellow.
It strikes me odd that there is so little traffic on the freeway at that hour. Rush hour should be in full force, but it appears to be lightly traveled for that hour. Makes me wonder if it was a Saturday. Sunrise these days is around 0540. The 14 is usually pretty jammed up by then. Usually slow 'stop and go' from Sand Canyon to past the 5 interchange. Video appears to be shot sometime between when the HOV was active, (i.e., after 0500), and sunrise, (i.e., no shadows, most headlights still on). The auto was not legally permitted to be in the HOV lane when the video was captured, (unless his car was a plug-in hybrid or full electric car - doesn't appear to be one).
They will find the biker. Should be pretty easy. His bike is fairly unique and there are few places in the Antelope Valley where it could be serviced.
p.s. I drive the 14 with both my auto and my scooter, (a Vespa - don't worry, it's freeway legal and powerful enough to keep up with legal freeway speeds, and beyond, if you get my drift). I understand the frustration of car drivers when they are at a standstill and watch bikes pass through on that wide 'lane' between the HOV lane and the #1 lane. Still doesn't justify swerving a car into a bike, if that is what happened. It will all be sorted out in a court of law. I'm curious about the outcome, but we'll probably never hear. Glad all are safe, especially the truck driver. (Was that an older Honda Ridgeline pick-up? If so, note to self, never purchase a Honda pick-up.)
Personally, I give any cyclist a wide berth. But I was just thinking how I see so many stickers and signs reminding cars to look out for cyclists. What about the reverse? Since they are more vulnerable, they need to be doubly cautious. To intentionally ride up to another vehicle to kick it just seems like a stupid thing to do. Yelling will help the venting. A kick...well we all saw what happened.
For starters many HOV lanes allow motorcycles because they are fuel efficient, just like hybrids are allowed as well.
Additionally, lane splitting is legal in some places, CA being one of them.
As to your bias against motorcyclists, it comes across loud and clear. While the motorcyclist is not innocent from what I can tell, the driver of the car is the one who should be arrested for attempting to run the motorcyclist over. Their actions caused the accident and resulting damage to an innocent person in the Avalanche.
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Depends what you mean by lane splitting because as defined by the revision that AB51 added to the Vehicle Code, it only defines lane splitting. It does not make it legal or illegal.
That means they still have to signal before changing lanes.
They still cannot follow too closely.
They still cannot make a turning movement until it is safe to do so..
In other words, the Vehicle Code, all of it, still applies to motorcycles and how they behave on the road.
So is lane splitting legal? Sure....if you can actually do it legally. I doubt it is actually possible to lane split AND obey the rest of the Vehicle Code.
And if they are involved in a collision whilst doing it, its still going to be their fault.
jteskal, I see you live in New Jersey. In California, motorcycles are indeed permitted to travel within the HOV lanes. And it is also legal to 'lane split' or 'white line', (i.e., ride between the lanes of cars; up to the legal speed limit, but no faster than 10 mph above the current traffic flow at any particular spot).
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That actually is not a law. You won't find any such verbiage in the Vehicle Code about speed limits or traffic flow.
All the lane splitting law does is define what lane splitting is. It does not make it legal or illegal.
It for example does NOT say you can just ride on the white line. Or go back and forth between them without signaling. It doesn't say that.
They are not going to find the motorcyclist. And the driver of the car should be cited for about 15 things including attempted murder. The car was mostly at fault for the entire incident.
Book him, and in Hillary Clinton style.... LOCK HIM UP
The link you posted is not to the specific article where the motorist who recorded speaks out. It's to a general blog and you have to scroll forever to find the right article, which is this:
Now, the man who videotaped the automotive spectacle is speaking out about who appeared to be at fault.
In an interview with The Times on Friday, Chris Traber, 47, of Santa Clarita, said both men appeared to play a role in the harrowing incident.
It was about 5:45 a.m. Wednesday when Traber was in the passenger seat of his coworker’s car as they drove to work at a utility company in Burbank. They were headed southbound on the 14 Freeway, and driving in the No. 1 lane, when the man on a Harley Davidson-type motorcycle passed them on the left, riding close to the double-yellow lines that separate the general traffic lanes from the HOV lanes.
About 150 feet ahead was a Nissan sedan driving in the HOV lane, Traber said. Just as the motorcyclist was passing the sedan on the right-hand side, the sedan tried to exit the carpool lane and enter the No. 1 lane. That’s when the car bumped the bike.
“I’m sure he didn’t see the motorcyclist,” Traber said of the driver. “He scared the living daylights out of the motorcyclist. He almost went down. That guy can really handle his bike.”
Traber said that after the motorcyclist regained control, he pulled up to the car’s passenger door and began gesturing at the driver. Traber said he appeared to be saying something too, but Traber couldn’t hear him. He said he figured the biker was “saying something like, hey, you almost hit me! Watch out!”
Traber said it looked as though the driver was yelling something back at the biker, and that it didn’t help matters, because that’s when the motorcyclist started kicking the passenger door.
“I said, ‘Wow, man, something’s going to happen. I gotta get this,’” Traber said. “So I grab my phone and started recording.”
The motorcyclist then swooped behind the sedan, pulled up along the driver side and kicked the car again, Traber said. In a flash, the driver of the sedan swerved hard left and sideswiped the motorcyclist, almost sending him barreling into a concrete freeway divider, he said.
“As you can see, he lost control after doing that,” Traber said of the driver.
I highlighted the relevant part to me. Why is the motorcyclist passing cars by riding along the yellow line? That's the first problem. But judge for yourself.
I don't really see any percent of blame attaching to the motorcyclist. He was in the carpool lane, where motorcyclists are legally allowed to be, and the Nissan Sentra driver crossed over into the carpool lane, forcing the motorcycle onto the shoulder.
As for the claim by the Nissan driver's father that the motorcyclist "flashed a knife," I don't see how he could have maintained control of his motorcycle if he was holding a knife in one hand and had only one hand on the handlebars.
I don't really see any percent of blame attaching to the motorcyclist. He was in the carpool lane, where motorcyclists are legally allowed to be, and the Nissan Sentra driver crossed over into the carpool lane, forcing the motorcycle onto the shoulder.
As for the claim by the Nissan driver's father that the motorcyclist "flashed a knife," I don't see how he could have maintained control of his motorcycle if he was holding a knife in one hand and had only one hand on the handlebars.
Read the article I just posted. The driver didn't force him over to the shoulder. The car was ahead of the motorcyclist in the HOV lane. The motorcyclist tried to pass the car on the right in the HOV lane (which is totally stupid) as the car was trying to get back to the right lane. The car hit the motorcyclist, then the motorcyclist started road raging.
What is it you think you see? I blew the first frame in that video up big and at best it shows the car with its right wheels over the white line before the double yellow. It shows no crossing of the double yellow by the car.
I saw the Nissan Sentra cross over the double yellow lines into the HOV lane, forcing the motorcyclist onto the shoulder. The motorcyclist then kicked at the Nissan, which then turned left into the median barrier -- I do not know if it was intentional or just a very bad reflex action.
I find it odd that the video has purposefully been clipped at the beginning. All they need to do is show another 10 seconds at the beginning and all questions would be answered.
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