WARNING: Graphic Photo - And our lucky day

[Nic in Western NYS]

Glad you are physically OK.  That will leave a toll on your spirit.  I can't figure out why one car is so much more severely damaged than the other.  They are very close on the road so I'm guessing it wasn't a rollover that caused the extra damage.  Was there a big mass difference between the cars or was one a cheap make?  Again, all the best to you for keeping it upright and living to ride another day.

[kballowe]

The bigger car is a 2002 Buick Century and the silver car is a 2007 Chevy Aveo.  In the picture, they had already cut away some of the Chevy to extricate the driver - making it look much more damaged.

As far as braking - it's hard to tell from the pic, but the first part of the skid is much darker because the front brake was heavily engaged and contributing to the skid mark.  I eased up on it, just a fuzz, when I felt the slide. 

Very closely inspected the tires - and they look normal.  No discernible flat spots.  Had a friend come over and take a look.  Same conclusion.

This bike has Bridgestone 721/722 tires with approx 6,000 miles and date codes late in 2013.  OEM factory tires on a new clearance 2014 model - purchased last year.  Possibly hard rubber - I don't know.  What I DO know is that I ordered a set of tires this morning. 

It's two days later now - and I am still shocked how something like this happens on a flat, straight rural road with virtually perfect visibility.

[kballowe]

Looks like a huge chunk of concrete in the road in your first picture.  Maybe the driver was trying to avoid it.

It's a mirror from the crash.

$hit was flying everywhere.  We were both hit with pieces, but thankfully just minor injuries.

[swooshdave]

Did you find out what happened to the occupants?

[kballowe]

Did you find out what happened to the occupants?

Driver of silver car extricated after an hour effort by two rescue crews, then airlifted.  Expected to fully recover after extended therapy.

Please say a prayer for the soul of the other driver.

[Garp]

You were there I wasn't, but in your estimation, what would have happened if you'd released the brake slightly to prevent the wheel from locking, at what speed do you think you'd have hit the car/s ?
A few will see where I'm going here...
Would ABS have stopped you sooner or resulted in a collision ?
Surely releasing the brake to regain traction would mean there was little or no retardation during the "brake off" period.
So I'm suggesting that with ABS activating, you'da crashed.

ABS doesn't shut the brakes off, it just reduces the pressure enough to get the wheel spinning again, the idea is to keep the wheel right at the edge of locking, which is where you get maximum braking. Like you, I wasn't there, but it's generally accepted that unless you're a highly skilled rider who's practiced maximum braking, you'll stop quicker with ABS than without.

[blackcat]

Driver of silver car extricated after an hour effort by two rescue crews, then airlifted.  Expected to fully recover after extended therapy.

Please say a prayer for the soul of the other driver.

Which driver was at fault?

[kballowe]

Which driver was at fault?

Gold car

[wymple]

"It's two days later now - and I am still shocked how something like this happens on a flat, straight rural road with virtually perfect visibility."

It's called stupidity, and is extremely common.

[groundhog105]

That had to be a horrific thing to witness.  Good job on avoiding the mess.

[Huzo]

It's called stupidity, and is extremely common.

Unless of course the poor bugger had a heart attack at the wheel or similar..

[Paul Brooking]

There is another, horrific, reason for this type of road crash.
A significant number of rural head on crashes, rollovers and hit roadside objects (tree) are as a result of a suicide attempt. A very scary thought when you are on the road.
How do I know?  I work in Transport Planning as an Economist and I have to use adjusted fatality rates when assessing road improvement projects.
The Australian National Road Toll is net of all known suicide deaths [emoji22][emoji22][emoji22]


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[Huzo]

That's very interesting Paul.
Are there any stats on people catching alight from following motorcycles at a seemingly safe distance..?
Now I know how John Lee Pettimore felt down on Copperhead Road..!

[Paul Brooking]

That's very interesting Paul.
Are there any stats on people catching alight from following motorcycles at a seemingly safe distance..?
Now I know how John Lee Pettimore felt down on Copperhead Road..!

If only someone had had their GoPro on   [emoji79]


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[Nic in Western NYS]

There is another, horrific, reason for this type of road crash.
A significant number of rural head on crashes, rollovers and hit roadside objects (tree) are as a result of a suicide attempt. A very scary thought when you are on the road.
How do I know?  I work in Transport Planning as an Economist and I have to use adjusted fatality rates when assessing road improvement projects.
The Australian National Road Toll is net of all known suicide deaths [emoji22][emoji22][emoji22]


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That was my thought because the OP said it was a sudden swerve.  Distracted driving would lead to more of a drift or a lack of response rather than an abrupt input.

[kballowe]

CORRECTION

I left home at 5am this morning with a 100ft reel measure and personally measured the skid.
It's 102 feet and a few inches.  Not 122 feet.

I must have mis-heard them, because I don't think they would make a mistake like that.

[twodogs]

Glad you're still with us and ok, 102 or 122 don't matter, I was thinking if that happened to me on the g5 it would be a different story. Once again glad you're ok.
Bruce

[John A]

Yeah well, first things first very glad you're ok.
And call me old fashioned, but just a little tasteless squeezing off a happy snap of a crash scene where someone died with "hair and eyeballs" all over the road...

I thought the photo was carefully selected to show the shock of the crash without gore. Well done I say.