Modern Vespa

Stumbled on this by accident (pardon the pun) on another forum. This was released by TMZ and is reported to be taken by the woman who was blamed for causing the crash that nearly took out Leno and clearly shows she did nothing wrong. Of course this is from TMZ so who knows.

This guy slows it down and you can see how close the bike that gets hit from the rear gets to Leno's bike. Also, the bike that did the hitting had two people on it.

It starts at 1:47 if you don't want to hear this kid's opening monologue.

I'd blame that on lane splitting and weaving,
Something we aren't allowed to do in Canada because it's too dangerous.

Lane splitting and weaving doesn't cause inattention to what is in front of you. This is simply a case of failure to control your vehicle.

I will never, ever, NOT-EVER participate in these kinds of rides for exactly the reason shown in the video. It's just not worth it.

I hope the video goes viral so this woman can clear her name.

-Craig

Not sure about blaming lane splitting, more like speeding. The two on the (offending) bike were going much much faster than all the other traffic, even after they applied the brakes.

Just not sure why Leno is the main subject, what about the guy who WAS taken down!

Hard to argue with that tape.

Kinda says it all.

Clearly, the rider with the camera had nothing to do with the crash.

Early on, look for the riders who are passing on the right - in one case going on to the shoulder around the right side of a car. Dangerous and stupid. This is not 'lane splitting' and is illegal even in California.

I hadn't heard about this. How badly hurt were the guys who went down? Yeah the offending bike was definitely going way faster than everyone else. I wonder if they were rushing to catch up with Jay Leno just to gawk... Stinks.

-Dan

I think the "herd" formation they were riding in was a big factor. The bike that gets hit should have been staggered on the left side. It was also right on the ass of the bike in front and appeared to be braking hard. The girl videoing moved toward the center because she probably didn't start slowing early enough when Leno and the bike staggered to the right started slowing for traffic. I am thinking that the bike that did the hitting was probably right behind the girl videoing and either not paying attention or visually overstimulating. They were all way too close to each other.

Group rides can be safe and fun but everyone in the ride needs to be following the same rules. And if someone is causing an unsafe condition they need to be told to leave.

I participate by paying whatever entrance there is for the fundraiser hanging out with friends before they start. Then taking an alternate route to the ending location if I want to participate in whatever activities are after the ride. I may do that for Sunday's annual Pawdrophenia animal shelter fundraiser which is the final event in the Rocker v Mods (scooters, bikes and classic cars) event this weekend.

Evidently they had serious injuries but the account I read did not go into details. Also there were two fatalities in the same area later when a bike hit a truck but it was not part of the Love Ride. http://www.blackmanlegal.com/2011/10/los-angeles-2-killed-2-hurt-in-love-ride-motorcycle-crashes-on-i-5/

Lots of shitty riding in that video. How do you blame just one individual?

For me group ride = ride in the back

Best,
SDG

I agree with Johnnyspade, there is so much bad riding that almost everyone can be blamed for part of this crash. Did anyone catch the near miss on the left of the screen at the very end?

+1

you can kinda see how fast they were coming up on the riders/camera person's right mirror.

I rode with a biker gang for 10 years and most of us were either drunk or drugged but we never rode as dangerous or pathetic as this lot.

Well, not that you noticed at the time

this seems to happen when you have a large rides and the riders fail to stagger formation. when the traffic slows down you always have someone on your tail.
most seem to try and ride side by side at most events that is not safe at any speed.

my 2 cents

all the weekend riders dust of the Harley and putt around with Jay Leno, most of the 5k or so bikes that show up to LOVE RIDE only ride part time at best. I did it once never again with the group its way to big.

I can't see, at least from the camera viewpoint, how the woman who was blamed for the accident could be at fault, either.

A lot of open group rides will, by nature, include some people who are not prepared to ride in a group. I don't necessarily mean inexperienced riders...We're all inexperienced riders at some point...

I'm referring to riders who just won't do their homework. They don't even try to understand that a safe group ride means learning and following a set of common safety protocols and paying attention. To them, it's just a hoot 'n holler situation where everyone is going the same direction on the same road, (Well, hopefully ) and that's all they need to know.

On one of my earliest group rides, when I was worried about me being the newbie, I was absolutely floored by the behavior of some of the "experienced" participants. Sad to say, it was at a scooter event, too. It put me off group rides for quite a while.

I find going for a ride with a few mates is a whole lot safer, and fun than going on a large club ride with a group.

No matter how much you drum into club riders the protocols to enjoy a safe ride, there is always one with a short memory..................or too much testosterone.

If you look on the left side of the screen you can see riders passing at the same time as the accident and they are probably going about the same speed as the bike that ran into the back of the other one. Much faster than everybody else.

Safety tip:
Real estate folks. Put as much of it around you as possible.

Survivability is in direct proportion to the amount of real estate around you at any given time.

It's not rocket surgery.

Rocket surgery ???.........it just might be.

Just the Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen school of mixed metaphors (funny to us Aussies who can remember Sir Joh)

Like 'They have cooked their own goose and will have to sit in it', and 'You're sailing a bit close to the bone'.

My take on convoy riding is it takes a lot of discipline. Be it single file or staggered formation, there should be no overtaking by any member except the marshals who sweep up and down the convoy. If possible, convoy should only occupy one lane so as not to inconvenience other road users. Members should also learn to keep their distance whilst in formation to ensure safe distance and run off in case of emergency.

I feel for the ones that went down but I wouldn't want to ride with any of them. Too many riding like jerks.

Absolutely! I will not participate in a group ride with riders I don't know unless I am in the back. There is too much chance for error when surrounded by those riding beyond their abilities.

The root cause of the accident is pretty clear. The rider on the white Harley slowed considerably and the guy following did not notice or was incapable of slowing in time. Group rides should stick to a single staggered lane.

Incredibly bad riding all around!  A guy splits between the white Harley and a white Ford pickup at 0:20, and then he passes another car on the outside right!  For you non-Californians splitting on the outside is illegal.
Also note to camera left at 0:30 the rider to the left gets brushed by another rider clearly closing too fast and close.  Amazing this did not cause a more serious collision as well.    

I will add to this

1. I'll bet that some of the riders felt the need to be cool and tried to keep up with Jay Leno.

2. Traffic is not controlled like in a funeral so Auto traffic is getting on and off freeway at will.

3. Cars and trucks can give a rats ass about how cool we think we look in 3000 bike parade on the I5 in SoCal they just want to get to Wally World.

4. With that said Support your local rides they do a good job raising money for the cause.

I might have been mistaken, but it seems like everyone who came off was wearing just t shirts... WTF??

who goes on a group ride wearing no safety gear!!?? Wowsers - a whole lot of skin left on that freeway

Some were wearing leathers but you are correct, t shirts and some sweatshirts. That is pretty typical for S. Cal.

As this thread started, people commented on who was at fault (lady with the vid) pointed out by the riders who ran into the other bike. The person taking the video accelerates quickly, then hits the brakes sharply, I'll bet the biker behind her had to pull around her and then hit the other biker.

As in another thread, a contributing factor, but not her fault.

On large group rides, I'm most comfortable with:

Staggered Lines...but keep an eye out for the signal to move into a single file.

If someone drops out, keep your position.

If you don't like where you are at in line, stay there and try for a better position next year. On most large rides, participants are lined up in the order of their arrival at the staging area and are moved out as directed. Unless you can make sure you're the last person to show up, you're gonna ride where they put you.

Riders who move out of formation to catch up with their buddies or push into the ride-out lines are accidents waiting to happen. They aren't making any friends.

As for me, I'd personally prefer to ride near the back too, but I've become comfortable by now with any location I end up at.

Another thing that's often announced: If a rider drops out because of a breakdown, the organizers plead for riders not to stop, but to keep the ride safely moving. They will have people to deal with it.

And, please make sure you have a tank full of gas when you get there.

At the gatherings we have we ride staggered through towns and on straight highways but as soon as it gets twisty we space out and single file. Considering where we ride we are single file most of the time.

+1

The jerk factor is multiplied by the power of these bikes, allowing for speed bursts. Riding in a scooter group would be safer from that aspect alone.

I used to love group riding. But the more I do it, the less organization I see as far as rules and general safety. I also see a lot more waivers to sign. Less safety and less accountability for it. Riding staggered is really not that hard. I figured it out pretty damn fast on the first group ride I ever did, and nobody even told me about it.

Interestingly, I see way better group riding techniques when associating with clubs that have mostly vintage bikes... which a GTV 250 is not always welcome at, even with a pretty tame rider.

Some day I'm gonna have to learn to wrench and shift.

I would say i have meet just as many jerks in the scooter world as well cc size is not a governor on attitude.

I see a big differnce in ride styles as soon as the group gets bigger than, say, 15 riders...

It's difficult to stay together with traffic lights, the slingshot effect increases, and the experience level gets broader.

+1

No disagreement there at all, and that is not a contradiction either.