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Multi-Bike crash on 9, 01/05/24

Enchanter

Ghost in The Machine
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Location
SC Mtns Area
Moto(s)
Attack™-ed R1, hybrid S1000rr, XR1200 Q-Ship
BARF perks
AMA #: 2815246
From the Santa Cruz CHP Facebook page:


Holy shit!

TL;DR
Southbound Kawasaki sideswipes northbound BMW S1000rr, Kawasaki then hits northbound KTM, KTM then hits southbound BMW R9T.

Edit: text for non-FB readers.
Santa Cruz County, CA – Yesterday afternoon, at approximately 2:47 p.m., CHP officers responded to a crash on State Route 9, north of Shingle Mill Road. A 29-year-old man from Santa Clara was driving a white 2025 Kawasaki Ninja 500 southbound on State Route 9 at an undetermined speed. A 39-year-old man from Sunnyvale was driving a gray 2020 BMW S1000RR northbound on State Route 9, south of the Kawasaki, also at an undetermined speed. For reasons still under investigation, the Kawasaki began to travel southbound in the northbound lane of State Route 9 and collided with the left side of the BMW. After the initial crash, the Kawasaki continued southbound in the northbound lane and collided head-on with a black and orange 2020 KTM Duke 250, driven by a 25-year-old man from Royal Oaks. Following the second crash, the KTM traveled in a northwesterly direction, entered the southbound lane, and collided with a black 2014 BMW R Nine T, driven by a 47-year-old man from Mountain View, who was traveling southbound on State Route 9. As a result of the crash, the drivers of the Kawasaki and the KTM sustained major injuries and were transported to Valley Medical Center. The driver of the 2014 BMW R Nine T sustained minor injuries and was also transported to the same hospital. All three injured drivers were taken by ambulance. The driver of the 2020 BMW S1000RR was uninjured. All involved vehicles were motorcycles, and all riders were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Alcohol and/or drugs are not believed to be factors in this crash.
 
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Wow! Just wow!!
Hope the injured riders heal quickly.
 
:wow

A lot of supposition on that one with zero clues of what happened to make the bike drift into the on coming lane.
Then dominos. Cripes!

Only 1 walked away. Wish the others the best in fully healing up.
 
sheesh. what a literal moto clusterfuck.

i hope everyone heals up quickly.
 
It's not hard to figure this one out.

The Kawasaki ran wide in this left turn. The approach is straight (fast) and downhill.


This is the exit of the turn, facing south on 9. The large tree in the center of this image, is seen in the second image.
1736264328324.png

1736264826580.png
 
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I thought maybe Buell as the front brake rotors looks huge.
 
It's not hard to figure this one out.

The Kawasaki ran wide in this left turn. The approach is straight (fast) and downhill.


This is the exit of the turn, facing south on 9. The large tree in the center of this image, is seen in the second image.
View attachment 571255

View attachment 571256

Well... it could be rider error... Going to fast for skill level... or loss of traction.. or perhaps a missed gear.. Supposition done. :teeth
 
You left out 'medical condition'. Riding too fast for their skill level is pretty much the definition of rider error.

There is a convergence of Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor here.

The crash took place in the afternoon 2:45pm. First sunny day in a week or two. Roads were relatively dry. How many other motorcycles had been through that turn previously, and what are the chances that many of them were hauling ass? What's the most common reason for motorcyclists entering the oncoming lane?
 
@Enchanter
Pretty much going to fast for conditions or basic road way configuration with a side of lack of skill set.

The first two are why I have blown a DY twice in my life (that I remember). One road did not have the DY but I was for sure too wide. The other I wrote up here and it has affected my riding since.
 
Given our previous face-to-face discussions, and the recent discussion in the Admin forum, I'm going to push my point a bit here...

Lack of judgement is the primary cause factor here. Lack of mental skill.

It's the lack of mental skill that caused the rider to be going too fast for conditions (road configuration is part of 'conditions'). The rider may have a lack of physical too, or the physical skills just went to shit once he went into panic mode. He failed to accurately analyze the road and its relationship to their skill. He failed to use superior judgement to avoid the need for superior skill.
 
@Enchanter
Pretty much going to fast for conditions or basic road way configuration with a side of lack of skill set.

The first two are why I have blown a DY twice in my life (that I remember). One road did not have the DY but I was for sure too wide. The other I wrote up here and it has affected my riding since.
Now that I'm closing in on 70 and have had a couple of riding moments of being stupid in the last year I'm finally checking myself before a questionable move and say to myself "Don't be stupid". Guess my extended adolescence is finally giving way to old age semi-wisdom. Sometimes...
 
I thought maybe Buell as the front brake rotors looks huge.
There is a resemblance, but note that there are two rotors and they are still attached to the hub, while the rim is broken off. Buells have one rotor, and it’s attached to the rim.
 
Hardly a tricky "corner" so speeds were likely reasonably high for all.

An "oh shit" moment all around that hopefully all fully recover from.
 
There was another crush on 9 near DT Saratoga on Sunday.
I passed in a car around 4 pm and saw a bike under the guardrail and EMTs attending to a rider.
Roads a slick in the Mtns be careful everyone.
 
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