Lane "sharing" ends badly for elderly squid

[rodekyll]

The report says the SUV was pulling over so the trooper in pursuit could pass, but I think he was unhappy about being shared upon . . .


http://www.adn.com/article/20150704/motorcyclist-died-seward-highway-after-pursuit-and-collision-trooper

[Triple Jim]

Elderly?  Oh crap, I'll be elderly in one year.

[Arizona Wayne]

Well, that wasn't legal lane sharing and I'm surprised the SUV driver wasn't charged for using his SUV as a deadly weapon, even tho he had the right of way.  He knew what the outcome would be.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  The troopers dash cam knows the story but will be withheld from the public to protect the insolent.

[rocker59]

If I noticed a rapidly approaching lit-up trooper approaching from behind, I would not be looking for a speeding motorcycle on the shoulder as I moved right to let the trooper pass by.

Sure, the SUV driver could've been trying to block the speeding motorcycle, but more likely, he looked in his rearview mirror and saw the rapidly approaching trooper and simply moved right to let him by. As it The Law.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Well he will never get to tell his side of the story.

[rocker59]

  Well he will never get to tell his side of the story.

It's entirely possible that the motorcyclist didn't know he was being pursued, but was just in a hurry to get somewhere.

I say that from personal experience of being pursued for 12-miles on time in Utah.  I realized the pursuit only when I slowed and the officer was able to catch me, and only saw him when he got close enough that I saw red and blue reflections all over my bike.

You have to see the pursuing officer to know he's back there.  If you don't have great mirrors, and you don't often use them, it's easy to miss a pursuing police car hundreds or even thousands of feet behind you.

Funny thing is police always assume you're a runner if you don't immediately pull over.

But like you said, we'll never know.

[Lannis]

  This is not a well written story , let me try to understand . The rider was speeding in a "safety corridor" , the trooper either used radar or a visual to ascertain the MClist was speeding , and set off in pursuit . The rider then moved over to the shoulder between a guardrail and traffic traveling the same direction , and collided with an SUV that was yielding to an emergency vehicle , changing his path to the left and back into the traffic lane that the trooper was traveling in . Wholey shyte what a series of odd circumstances 

  Dusty
 

That's the way I read it.   As soon as the motorcycle rider started riding on the shoulder of the road to "get past" traffic (doesn't matter why, if he was in a hurry, if he didn't see the cop, if he was running from the cop, etc), he was doing something illegal and stupid and shouldn't have been surprised when the SUV appeared in front of him.   The SUV driver could have gotten a ticket for NOT pulling over ....

Don't ride on the shoulder.  Don't run from the cops.   Like Chris Rock says ... "Obey The Law" and a lot of your problems will go away.

Lannis

[donn]

I say that from personal experience of being pursued for 12-miles on time in Utah.  I realized the pursuit only when I slowed and the officer was able to catch me, and only saw him when he got close enough that I saw red and blue reflections all over my bike.

I guess at that speed (I assume somewhat excessive) you wouldn't have much obvious reason to look in your rear view mirrors.

[rocker59]

I guess at that speed (I assume somewhat excessive) you wouldn't have much obvious reason to look in your rear view mirrors.

No.  Not much reason.

[kevdog3019]

The biggest issue with people going very fast (excessively over the limit) is that they appear out of nowhere.  One second they aren't there the next they are.  As a driver we are lucky to catch someone coming up on us this rapidly.  If you hang with traffic you will likely be seen during that instance someone checks their mirrors... and will be made aware of.  Try never to surprise someone or they may just surprise you.

[sib]

Elderly?  Oh crap, I'll be elderly in one year.

I too might be a squid, but I've been elderly for 15 years by that metric.

[1Sourdough]

The linked story has a link to another story.  Here is an excerpt from that story:

"The crash and closure happened on one of the highway's busiest days of the year, with scores of people traveling for Independence Day gatherings, the Girdwood Forest Fair and Saturday's Mount Marathon race in Seward. Severe traffic congestion was reported by drivers heading southbound around the time of the crash Friday evening."

It is just past the longest day of the year, and that area would have been full daylight, and yep, very heavy traffic.  The story says traffic was severely congested southbound.  It was probably also heavy northbound, heading toward Anchorage, 15 or so miles away.  While a lot of the twists and turns have been eliminated over the years it is still a two lane highway.  Girdwood is the place name of the location of Alyeska Resort, and traffic would not be much heavier anywhere in Alaska on Independence Day weekend. 

On Google's aerial pictures the roadway does look wide.  Good chance the motorcyclist had grown impatient with the slow traffic and decided the shoulder was wide enough to ride.  The trooper was most likely on the highway centerline, with traffic crawling in both directions scrambling for the shoulder to get out of his way.  Even if the SUV driver looked in his mirror it'd be really hard to gauge a motorcycle's speed in that circumstance.  Tough night for everyone involved.

[dilligaf]

Middle age squid David, not elderly.   
Matt