Dead Roman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFaA...e_gdata_player

cvall91

IBTM.



Also, ow.

coasting 

how did the motorcyclist not see the cyclists?

Biscayne05

The guy on the motorcycle is a genuine SQUID.

Dead Roman

He saw em. Its a phenomenon called "target fixation" where you lock in to what you are trying to avoid. You have to look where you want to go.

merlinextraligh

It looks like he's coming wide out of the turn with the centrifugal force carrying him to the edge of the road where the cyclists are.

Will Goes Boing

He target fixated on the cyclist, n00b move for sure. I use to ride canyons on my sport bike and felt bad for all the roadies because of how many idiot motorcyclists are out there riding over their heads.

bonz50

pretty much this

hamster

When you come out of the turn like that on a motorcycle, you are leaning sideways almost to the point of touching the pavement with a knee. This guy is barely off vertical.

merlinextraligh

Valid point. I didn't say he was a good motorcyclist.

Commodus

unless you stand the bike up under braking...maybe because you see some cyclists up ahead and are trying to avoid them. while staring at them.

Nachoman

I'm surprised the cyclist even got up and walked after that impact. It looked pretty severe.

531Aussie

Is that corner trickier than it looks?

(embedding videos is cooler )

kv501

Most of that guy's YT channel is motorcycle crashes on Mulholland. Check some of it out and you'll be amazed at the stupidity. Lot's of people with more money than brains.

rpenmanparker 

Not to say this isn't real, but am I the only one who thinks it is strange to get such a perfect video of the accident? Was the motorcyclist being intentionally films for a reason? Kind of weird.

chaadster

Ooh, that Firefly is a very nice bike!

hhnngg1

I doubt he got 'fixated' on the cyclist and just drove into him. People use that argument in commuting to sometimes advocate against using bright rear blinkies or even bright clothing but there has been zero good evidence showing that happens in real life. I think it grew out of a bad analogy from insects veering toward lighted objects - we humans don't have that uncontrollable instinct, though.

Much more likely is the above - newb or not so good motorcyclist who didn't initiate the lean early enough and then found himself in a deadline in the wrong place at the wrong time. Heck, that happens on bicycles sometimes when you find yourself riding yourself off the road for no good reason at all.

hhnngg1

Would also add that Mulholland is a perfect setup for these kind of incidents. Lots and lots of motorcyclists, especially noobs, since the dense LA traffic downtown and in suburbs pushes even the noob motorcyclists out to the mountain roads like Mulholland. Add in the lots of twists and turns in some areas that really limit speed in those sections, and its no surprise that this guy can capture a lot of motorcycle incidents on that road.

DerHoggz

Object fixation does happen, you have to look "through" the corner. If you see towards the end there he brings the bike out of the turn way too early.

merlinextraligh

Truly.
I think what saves the cyclist is that the motorcycle doesn't hit him as much as the motorcyclist hitting him.

The motorcyclist goes backward off the bike, absorbing some of the impact (i.e. extending the delta t over which the delta v occurs)

hamster

Target fixation definitely happens. It's an instinct that kicks in when you don't have time to act consciously. When you're going through a turn and you find yourself going hotter than what you're used to, the standard instruction is to look "through the turn" and your body will instinctively steer the bike in the right direction. That makes use of the same target fixation but puts it to good use.

Watch the video in slow motion. He starts out leaning and with the head turned to look through the corner (0:14). At 0:16 he's more upright, looking more forward, and he's starting to drift towards the right edge. That's probably when he notices cyclists. At 0:19 he's all the way to the right, almost vertical, and staring directly into cyclists without any attempt to avoid them. At 0:20 he finally decides to brake, straightens up completely and slows a bit, but it's too late.
The whole sequence of events from the start of the drift to the collision takes something like 1.5 seconds, it all happens completely on reflexes.

kv501

All this guy does is film motorcycles (and a small number of cars) on Mulholland Drive. Look at his YouTube account.

Just by default you're going to catch a bunch of accidents. I bet the cyclist's attorney will love that video.

kv501

I should add that anyone who bikes on Mulholland (it's your choice; I don't care if you do it or not) has a death wish. Trust fund babies on sport bikes, mid-life crises in Porsches, and blind corners do not a safe cycling environment make.

Velo Vol 

wut

WhyFi

Nuh uh. It happens and it's certainly problematic on a motorcycle, where direction can be controlled by very subtle movement (borderline instinctive - do you think about things like counter-steering on your bike?). In a car? I dunno, but I would guess that it's a much diminished problem, if it's one at all.