You guys are right about the dump truck. It was one of those that has a high straight out hood and short windshield. I swear the height of the front edge of the hood to the ground was twice the height of the motorcyclist’s head to the ground.

You’re also right about not leaving a way out. The bike was dead center in the front of the truck sticking straight out and completely vertical. I remember three reasons for not stopping in the middle of a lane at an intersection. One, that’s where all the crap cars left oil. Two, making yourself more visible. Three, leaving yourself an out.

Bermont Rd is a two-lane blacktop for 40 miles. There’s this stoplight at US17, a stop sign at FL29 at the other end, and a stoplight at FL31 in the middle. Heading towards 17 it makes a slight right around the Winn-Dixie parking lot and splits into a right turn, straight, and two left turn lanes.

One question is how the dump truck driver did not see the motorcyclist? The motorcyclist was either in front of the dump truck coming down Bermont, came out of the Winn-Dixie parking lot and merged in front of the dump truck, or came around the right of the dump truck and merged in front of it. There’s several dirt mines on Bermont Rd and hundreds of dump truck go through this intersection at this time in the morning on their way to Punta Gorda or I75. I’m not exaggerating as dump trucks out number all other vehicles combined at least 2-1 at this intersection. It’s not difficult at all for me to believe the motorcyclist slipped by the dump truck without the truck driver seeing him.

I think the motorcyclist stalled it when the light went green. Everyone was stopped beforehand and the horns didn’t start blaring until the motorcycle and truck were in the intersection.

When I picked my 12 yo son up, he said, “Dad, I think the guy died” and I told him that he had. I’m glad he didn’t see the guy die. The part we saw was bad enough.

Here’s an Apple Map screen shot of the intersection (north is up):



*Edited to add news article from last night. The motorcyclist was a 27yo woman. With full riding gear and given her size relative to the bike, I assume she was a guy. The rest of the article mirrors what I saw and heard. One minute you are stopped at a light, the next you are dead.

Link

Punta Gorda motorcyclist killed in crash with dump truck

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — A 27-year-old Punta Gorda woman died in a collision with a dump truck.

The crash happened on County Road 74 (Bermont Road) and U.S. 17 around 7:20 AM.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the woman was riding a motorcycle and stopped in front of a dump truck at a red traffic signal.

The two were in the left turn lane of County Road 74 at the intersection of U.S. 17.

FHP troopers said after the signal turned green, the dump truck accelerated forward and ran into the back of her motorcycle.

The Punta Gorda woman was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the dump truck, a 48-year-old man from North Port, was not injured in the crash, according to the report.

FHP said the crash is under investigation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

Got a voice mail today. One of my best friends
was involved in a traffic accident this morning. Seems some drunk chick hit him down in FL. We know he's got all kinds of broken stuff. He's already had some plastic surgery, more sceduled for tomorrow. This aparently was her 4th one recently. And they still let her drive. We'll know more in a few days. Maybe Mike will give up riding a motorcycle now.

Or maybe he should give up FL in the winter.

I am sorry to hear that. We will keep Mike in our prayers.

I was still riding when I moved here, then all my gear was stolen, I got married, had three kids, and replacing the gear hasn’t been a priority. Looking back that was probably a blessing as traffic just keeps getting worse.

I wonder if just this once, a race exhaust system on the Hayabusa (and/or loud tunes on speaker) might have made the dump
truck driver aware of her presence ...

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I put too may riders in bags to ever ride a motorcycle in a city, suburb or urban area.

I haven’t commuted on one in 20 years. I’m in a full armored racing suit, no stop lights to the highway where I ride faster than traffic out to the country to where the twisty roads are and pull my shenanigans out there far from the city. No weekdays and no holiday weekends. I’ve told anyone that will listen, especially newbs, that I have plenty of track experience and coming up on 25 years of riding experience. I can drag a puck through every corner on the track if I want. You couldn’t pay me to fucking commute on a motorcycle. I just had this discussion yesterday, to a friend, who wants to get into it. I told him if he doesn’t have a rural area accessible to not even bother with it.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
I wonder if just this once, a race exhaust system on the Hayabusa (and/or loud tunes on speaker) might have made the dump
truck driver aware of her presence ...

Other trucks had their air horns going, cars had their horns going, and the guy didn’t stop. He went through the intersection, made the left onto the left hand southbound lane of US17, then signaled, cut across the right hand southbound lane of US17, pulled off onto the right hand shoulder. It think all the horns got his attention, so he pulled over. I don’t think he had any clue why the horns were going. The guy has to live with killing the woman.

Not knowing what was going on, he probably didn’t want to stop in the intersection. She’d be alive if he had though.

If I hadn’t taken so long to process what was happening, I could have rammed the side of the dump truck and maybe he would have stopped. By the time I thought to try something, I was looking for a way to turn around into the median, get in front of him, and cut him off. The Sheriff’s Deputy that just happened through the intersection only maybe two vehicles behind the dump truck didn’t have his lights or siren on. I don’t think he knew what was happening either.

The biggest what if is what if she had lined herself up on the left most side of the lane she was in? She would have probably been visible to the dump truck driver.

I did call the FL Highway Patrol and give a sworn statement. The trooper asked if I was in the white pickup, so he must have had other statements as well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

@trapper189 (original poster) This was a very dear friend, Kayla Cobb. There's been so many conflicting stories and the dump truck driver never got any charges pressed. We weren't even able to have a funeral for her. Nothing left. She had just bought that bike less than 2 months before that accident. She was just trying to go to work. Correction also...she was 31, not 27 as the paper or news said.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I gave a statement to the FHP about what I saw. I only saw about 1/3 of the accident, the middle part. I didn't see how it started or how it ended.