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Rider killed on 580, Livermore today (4/18) :-(

That was pretty rough to drive past. Covered rider in between the 2/3 lanes. Bike about 60yrds up in the No2 lane. Helmet 40yrds up between the 3/4 lanes.
 
:rip Rider

I was headed to Libmo for a meeting when I heard it on KCBS. Mentioned two big rigs, a rider and a couple vehicles and said it was a fatal. My heart sank thinking it was the motorcyclist most likely and felt some folks are going to be so sad to lose a loved one. :rose

:(
 
I passed the scene Eastbound and did predict this outcome as I went by. Lanes were closed and there was a large clear area as if scene of something bad. Sorry to hear.
 
I happened to be directly behind the rider when this happened. It really messed with my head seeing this happen about 15 feet in front of me and really made me reflect for the rest of the day.


I had been riding behind him for about 5 miles and we were doing the usual commute/traffic jam type of ride in the express lane (sometimes filtering between cars, sometimes riding normally in the lane). Everything seemed fine and I didn't see any concerns with his riding. Eventually he wanted to exit the highway and signaled to the right. There was a gap to the right of us and he successfully moved one lane over. He then tried to move another lane over to the right. There was a gap in this second lane but unfortunately there was a semi truck quickly closing that gap. My guess is that he didn't notice this semi at first. Once he started moving into the second lane, he noticed the semi and then had to move back into the first lane. During that short period of time, the traffic had come to a stop in that first lane. He ended up rear ending an SUV at a pretty good speed. I don't remember the speed we were going at that time, but this was not a slow impact.


The amount of parts immediately sent flying all over the highway was surreal. The SUV was totaled, the rider went flying a very very far distance, and the bike went under the semi in that second lane over.


We were just two guys on our way to work, we were both having a normal day, and now he's no longer with us. That really messed with me for the rest of the day yesterday. I've never seen a crash like that happen directly in front of me.
 
Man that sounds messy. So sorry you had to see that.

We have express (toll) lanes down here, and merging out of the 60+MPH lane into the dead stop regular traffic is tricky at best.

You've been traveling mostly freely for some time, at speed, and then you have this challenging merge situation, cars breathing down you neck, folks merging in and out, and looking for gaps to get out can take a bit of focus. You REALLY want to get out of the situation. My head is spinning like something out of the Exorcist.

For me, I have to cross those 4 lanes of stuck traffic as my exit is coming up. Not a nice place to be by any measure.

RIP to the rider.
 
Sounds like he did not strap his helmet on if the helmet was down the road I see so many people that don't buckle up
He might have survived if the helmet stayed on
 
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I’ve had close calls like this where I was trying to maintain speed going in and out of lanes in traffic but then one lane unexpectedly stops for whatever reason.
If I had just stayed in my lane and accepted the slower pace it wouldn’t have happened.
 
RIP rider, and sending supportive energy to all around him. Mr. nickm, so sorry for your experience as I was once directly behind a similar freeway bike incident on 880, decades ago. May this memory become more gentle as it melds into a part of your road armor.
 
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Nick...

First sorry you had to see that. It will stay with you... as it did for me. Terrible situation, but I do appreciate the info and hopefully it will remind others to be super vigilant when communting in heavy traffic.

Hang in there man.
 
Yes, it’s unfortunate that you saw that. You will never forget it though with the passage of time, it will fade a bit in your memory.

Learn what you can from your experience and continue riding.
 
This was a friend of mine Chris Corrado, we used to work together. His commute was from Discovery Bay to Apple HQ or somewhere in the South Bay. He was probably coming on 580 from Vasco and looking to hop off at the 84 down towards SJ. Saw the article in EBT, read the CHP report. Brutal way to go, hopefully he didn't suffer.
 
Sorry for your loss Shiro :rose

:rip Chris
 
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