Car crushes motorcycle on Alki Ave, rider survives

That was the scene in the 2100 block of Alki SW (map) earlier this evening – and though it looks bad, nobody was badly hurt. This happened in the northbound lane — according to police and a witness, the motorcycle had stopped to let a woman walk across the street, in the crosswalk, when the red car came up from behind and plowed right into the stopped motorcycle. Its rider, a man, was hurt, but not seriously, and was taken to the hospital in a private ambulance; the woman driving the car wasn’t hurt but was clearly badly shaken up. The woman walking across the street wasn’t hurt at all – she’s the witness who talked with us. Traffic was being allowed around the scene.

bgh October 22, 2008 (9:12 pm)

probably young and on the cell phone.

wtf October 22, 2008 (9:16 pm)

SLOW DOWN! I have seen so many people drive down Alki like it’s an Indy race track. Next time, someone won’t be so lucky. Learn from the mistake that took the life of Matthew Nakata, who was only 29.

WSB October 22, 2008 (9:17 pm)

Couldn’t tell the driver’s age — she was on the other side of the street from where we were. As for the circumstances, police were still sorting it out.

Aim October 22, 2008 (9:22 pm)

OMG that is a terrifying picture.

I nearly witnessed a ped-vehicle accident today on Roxbury. A pedestrian chose to cross a bit late, and the light turned green when he was halfway across Roxbury. The driver in the inside lane saw him and stopped, and he jogged out in front of the car. The driver in the outside lane kept going and only saw the pedestrian at the very last second. The driver slammed on his brakes and missed the pedestrian by inches. The pedestrian looked terrified, and both drivers involved did as well. I was behind the first car that stopped, and saw the whole thing as if in slow motion. I was paralyzed with terror as I thought he was going to be hit.

It doesn’t matter in the end whose fault one of these accidents is. Legally, what will be will be. What REALLY matters is that regardless of cause, regardless of fault, peoples’ lives are profoundly affected. A driver who has hit someone will never be the same, whether or not they are at fault. A person who’s been hit by a car will also never be the same. Life changes in the blink of an eye.

My best wishes to everyone involved for a speedy and full recovery, both mental and physical.

JanS October 22, 2008 (9:28 pm)

how does one NOT see a motorcycle stopped in front of you? That cyclist is one lucky guy, for sure.

MAS October 22, 2008 (9:38 pm)

JanS – same way someone did this to me on 35th ave a while back under the same circumstances, except I was driving a station wagon. In my case, she wasn’t speeding at all, just not paying attention.

chas redmond October 22, 2008 (10:10 pm)

I’ve often wondered what would be the result if I sneezed right at the exact moment that someone darted out in front of me or the car/motorcycle in front of me just suddenly stopped – what would be my excuse – I sneezed? That would be true and my senses would actually be completely distracted at that moment but would anyone – this crowd or a judge or anyone – really accept that someone was hit/injured/killed because of a sneeze? Even if it were true? Sometimes there really are accidents – quarks of fate which are inexplicable. Not saying this is what the deal was here but just proposing that we begin to figure out what IS preventable and what might actually be an accident. Guy has heart attack and jams on accelerator and runs over someone – accident? Preventable? Maybe – maybe not. I’ve been rear-ended three times now so I’m constantly looking in front, on all sides and to my rear – when driving, when walking, when biking and when stopped.

toddinwestwood October 22, 2008 (10:30 pm)

This happened to me down in Los Angeles on Hyperion Ave, making a left turn, I was rear ended by an elderly, and drunk older man who refused to get out of the car. Probably thought I was going to pummel him. I got off lucky once I hit the ground, sliding on my left arm and my stomach. Bruises and now a constant need to watch people in my rear view mirror with bike in gear and clutch at the ready, just in case.

alistairg October 22, 2008 (11:29 pm)

What the hell speed was that woman doing that she didn’t see a motorcyclist with his lights on (you can’t turn them off) and a pedestrian on a crosswalk, then managing to mount the entire bike?!?!

As a motorcyclist, drivers who don’t pay attention drive me utterly crazy. I hope this woman at least learns from this mess.

Thankfully the rider and pedestrian weren’t hurt, even though that bike is likely totalled. The rider likely saved the pedestrian’s life – if he hadn’t been there, it would have been the pedestrian…. :(

remindlessness October 23, 2008 (1:49 am)

Yeah, what kinda speed was involved here? To “mount” the bike as depicted in the picture seems a bit strange to me? Looks to me like the motorcyclist saved the life of the pedestrian.

SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!

changingtimes October 23, 2008 (6:12 am)

omg! redmond! ive pondered that same question as well!!!

Creighton October 23, 2008 (8:17 am)

It’d be interesting to know what the motorcycle rider was wearing for visibility. Not blaming him, he was being a cautious and courteous rider apparently, but he’s got a black bike, and highly visible rider gear (ATGATT) might have helped 1. keep him visible out of the corner of the drivers eye and 2. spend less time at the hospital.

Blargh October 23, 2008 (8:59 am)

Wow, that frightens me as a motorcyclist and is a reason that every time I ride, I watch my rear and sides from someone trying to inadvertently take me out. In many conversations with friends, I agree that all new riders should ride on the back of a bike a few times when they just get their license to show them how perilous it can be when people in cars are not paying attention to the road and those around them. Riding on the back during this last summer has really opened my girlfriends eyes and she looks for Motorcycles and tries to anticipate more than the average driver. I hope a speedy recovery for the rider and that this is a lesson learned for the cager.

Al October 23, 2008 (9:54 am)

Creighton, as a motorcyclist and bicyclist I can wear the brighest colors, blinkies, flashies, reflective gear and arm signals and motorists still won’t see me if they aren’t looking for anything but another car.

“Get Horizontal”
by B. Jan Hoffman
( editor’s update – please follow this link to read what was originally posted – cutting and pasting entire articles is a copyright violation, please limit quotes to a line and then point to the link – thanks:
http://www.helmets.org/invisibl.htm )

cakeitseasy October 23, 2008 (10:37 am)

I’m not a big fan of street level pedestrian crosswalks on major arterials (without a light) for this very reason. Especially with more than one lane (one lane stops, the other lane doesn’t see the pedestrian crossing…recipe for disaster). My out of town guests (from other large, metro areas) always comment on the danger of this when they visit Seattle.

And that rider would be dead if it had been a larger vehicle that hit him.

Furthermore, people just won’t slow down or change their driving habits unless there are obstacles that force them to do so. This town needs to put some serious coin and ingenuity into DOT planning and implementation.

alistairg October 23, 2008 (11:17 am)

Creighton – as another motorcyclist, I wear a bright vest, always ride with my high-beam on during the day, have a bright helmet, reflective backpack, and chose a coloured bike versus the (cooler) black one, so morons (on their phones, drinking their coffee etc etc) in cars will see me.

This is a two-way issue though, drivers have a duty to pay attention. The response to “sorry, I didn’t see him/her” should be “that’s fine, you shouldn’t be driving any more on public roads though”.

I personally believe that drivers cut motorcyclists up because of the “big versus small” thing. I avoid the high west seattle bridge in the morning for that exact reason. Someone in an SUV ramming in front of me is obviously going to make me move, when I probably wouldn’t in my car, and they know that.

Pretty much all bike gear has reflective strips, and the bike itself has some pretty decent lights on it. Blaming the biker for riding a bike isn’t on.

As for the crosswalks – I just headed from my office (on 5th) over to Nordstrom. As always, people fly through the red light “mid street” crosswalk, as it’s hard to pick out. Seattle does need to raise these things up, so people react to them.

angie October 23, 2008 (12:29 pm)

Whoa People!!! Why do so many judge without having all the facts?

SS October 23, 2008 (12:42 pm)

This actually happened to my husband a couple years ago. Exact same scenario. He was stopped behind a car to let pedestrians pass, mind you a car in front of him had already stopped then he stopped, so some time had passed and he was run into by a young woman who was attending to her baby in the back seat. His motorcycle was totalled. The young woman had no insurance, and the cops didn’t even give her a ticket for anything. Our insurance tried to get at least the deductible from her for over a year and they ended up just giving up. Amazing. I don’t think speed matters in these cases it’s people thinking that they can multi task. Driving should be the only task at hand.

indaknow October 23, 2008 (12:54 pm)

I have been rear-ended once…by a motorcycle. I had signaled to turn right into a driveway and he wasn’t paying attention to my slowing down and turning and instead accelerated right into me. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt beyond bruising and the only damage to my car was paint damage from his broken fuel-line spraying gas. The bike, however, was pretty messed-up. He had just sold the bike to his buddy (so it was no longer his), and no longer had insurance on it (nor did his buddy).

judgesneeze October 23, 2008 (1:55 pm)

well chaz, I knew someone who sneezed while driving and crashed head on into another car killing the driver and wasnot charged due to the sneeze. On the other hand I have never sneeze so much that my car has moved even an inch, and I sneeze a lot.

Heather October 23, 2008 (8:27 pm)

I am the woman who the motorcycle stopped for I was waiting at a cross walk he was kind enough to stop for me and my dog. The woman behind him just drove right into him. I narrowly missed being him by both vehicles. I then assisted him as much as I could, called 911 etc. There were many people who helped him including a fire fighter who happen to be in the area. I tracked down some information about him and he was released from Harborview today and is doing well. I felt so bad and also responsible I really wanted to make sure he was okay.
This is the second time in less than a year that I have been invloved in accidents just like this on Alki Ave! The first time I stopped to let a woman cross the street and the car behind me drove into me. I was the only one injured thank god. I was just so thankful that the woman wasn’t in front of my car when it happened then last night I am the one who narrowly misses being hit.
This happens far to often on Alki Ave and I really wish something could be done.

Heather October 23, 2008 (8:36 pm)

I just read all the other posts and would like to comment. The man on the bike was wearing an ORANGE coat had all his light on and was stopped before she drove into him. I was crossing the street and waving to him and she came up behind him then hit him. She claimed she looked down and then looked up as she was hitting him. If I had to assume (which is seems most do) I would guess she was texting. Yes she was young but according to the police she lives in the area. She should know you have to be especially careful on Alki Ave because of all the pedestrians and the people who are looking at the water the sunset whatever else other than paying attention to the road.

I was there and he did everything right, lights, reflective clothing etc he was stopped and she drove into him. He didn’t do one single thing wrong. In fact he was trying to do something right by letting me cross the street.

Watch Out For Mustang October 24, 2008 (8:40 pm)

There is a crazy guy with a pony tail and usually a baseball cap on backwards that drives a black mustang with looks to be a convertible going nut fast. He sits in his driveway and just revs the motor and then backs out burning rubber and tears down the street. Does it every single night. Saw him almost hit a couple one night as they jumped out of the way.

Sorry, comment time is over.