Submitted by Howard Owens on June 30, 2012 - 4:54pm
A 73-year-old motorcycle rider suffered only very minor injuries Friday after losing control of his bike on a road in Le Roy that had recently been resurfaced.
William J. Smith, of Le Roy, was northbound on Route 19 and turned onto Parmalee Road when he lost control of his bike.
Smith's bike went off the west shoulder and Smith went to the ground with the bike.
He did not require transport to a hospital.
No citations were issued.
The accident was investigated by Deputy Joseph Graff.
A road sign that says: DANGER AHEAD FOR MOTORCYCLISTS would be a wonderful "heads up" for motorcycle riders who encounter sudden road maintenance that can cause those of us who enjoy "riding on two wheels" being injured or worse.
Many more people are riding "bikes" these days, and DMV, as well as those who share the road, need to help riders enjoy their sport without thoughtlessly endangering them to unnecessary risks caused by sudden "construction zones" that come out of nowhere.
I was out riding my bike tonight, and almost lost it the same way Mr. Smith did. I was traveling north on Rt. 19 out of LeRoy, and went to bear right onto Parmalee Rd. All of a sudden to my surprise, I was hanging on for dear life !! I could hardly controll the bike because of the extreme amount of loose stone. THERE IS NO WARNING SIGNS UNTILL YOUR ALREADY PARTIALLY DOWN THE ROAD. BY THEN, IT'S TO LATE. I've been riding motorcycles for over 50 years, and have never seen such a bad situation, or a total disregard for human life. Somebody is going to get killed !!!
When highway maintenance crews spread gravel on roadways and don't properly warn ALL users of the danger it's like pouring ball bearings on the road for motorcyclists. Maybe it's going to take a few lawsuits to get highway crews to wake up to the hazard that they are creating for people who enjoy riding on two wheels.
As a side note, I'm really tired of hearing about motorcyclists being killed by 4 wheel drivers who say "I didn't see him!". As far as I'm concerned, it's your responsibility to be aware and share the road with all others who have a right to be there and if you kill someone because you "didn't see them" you should be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Period.
I agree 100% with both of you. The way that road work is done around here is fine for someone in a cage but for those of us on two wheels, this is a truly dangerous situation. I have seen so many roads redone where a pile of loose gravel is left where vehicles turn and my first thought is what if myself or someone else were on a motorcycle? People don't realize that a motorcycle does not have the stability that a four wheeled vehicle does. Once you hit the gravel it's too late. One of my other complaints on a similar topic is the debris from tractors who are coming out of fields. The mud and other debris that is caught in the large tread of the tires and then left in the road can cause the same types of hazards for someone on a motorcycle and I have unfortunately had to do many motorcycle collision estimates due to both issues.
Copyright © 2008-2012 The Batavian. Some Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license.
Contact: Howard Owens, publisher (howard (at) the batavian dot com); (585) 250-4118
Glad he's not seriously hurt. This reinforces the need for local Highway Dept. supervisors to consider that there are more users than just those that utilize 4 wheels using the public roadways. They need to alert motorcyclists to the danger ahead caused by road maintenance to avoid injuries or death from their attempts to make the roads more "traveler friendly".