More motorcycle fatalities....

[Skip]

As they used to say on Hill Street Blues;

Please folks, let's be careful out there!

http://www.citizen.com/june_2004/jun..._06.10_04a.asp

[wolfegirl]

How sad for his family...

[Skip]

Two more killed allegedly enroute to motorcycle weekend. Also reports coming in of yet another crash with very serious injuries.

http://www.theunionleader.com/articl...?article=39110

[Skip]

From the Laconia Citizen....

http://www4.fosters.com/june_2004/ju.../cit_0613c.asp

[dpg]

Speed and alcohol will get ya every time!

[Lin]

Originally Posted by Skip

Two more killed allegedly enroute to motorcycle weekend. Also reports coming in of yet another crash with very serious injuries.

http://www.theunionleader.com/articl...?article=39110

Such a sad incident. My heart goes out to all the families involved. I don't ride a bike but my brother does and I hope everyone is carefull this week.

[mr1drfl]

Has there been three deaths so far?

[RI Swamp Yankee]

So sad to read the story about the 11 year old boy and his uncle being killed. From the story it looks like 4 bikers riding as they should (I think most do.) being the victims of a careless car driver who crossed the center line. This is one sad story that can't be blamed on what some call "irresponsible bikers".

[SIKSUKR]

Where's the outrage from Madrasahs about those big oversized,gas guzzling vehicles who kill innocent bikers on their small fuel efficient mode of transportation?Oh that's right,he doesn't own or approve of them so they probably got what they deserved.Sorry,I couldn't help myself.
So sad to hear about the fatalities. SS

[B R]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

Where's the outrage from Madrasahs about those big oversized,gas guzzling vehicles who kill innocent bikers on their small fuel efficient mode of transportation?Oh that's right,he doesn't own or approve of them so they probably got what they deserved.Sorry,I couldn't help myself.
So sad to hear about the fatalities. SS

i've tried to avoid his posts for the past month. he's either trying to stir things up or he actually believes all that he writes (scary thought). either way, it's usually just a rant. maybe our webmaster can put up a rant page for him.

[Jan]

Originally Posted by B R

maybe our webmaster can put up a rant page for him.

I wish our webmaster would put up a page for those who just want to insult people instead of debating them. Then I wouldn't have to wade through all the empty insults before I get an actual opinion.

Is your position so weak that all you can do in hurl insults?

And what is up with you Skip? Why is this so personal?

As someone who reads every day but seldom posts I want to thank Skip and masadrahs for giving me lots to think about. Some of us even think that both of you make many valid points.

J

[Fat Jack]

a biker crashed in Lakeport this afternoon about 5PM. anyone know if he was killed?

[Skip]

Channel 9 is reporting a fatal motorcycle accident occuring last night on the Boulevard in Laconia. Print media will have story later on this morning (Foster's & the Citizen).

For those interested, here is the Union Leader's daily report on Motorcycle Week activities;

http://www.theunionleader.com/articl...?article=39278

[Skip]

Here is the Citizen coverage of the fatal motorcycle accident in Laconia last night....

http://www.citizen.com/news2004/June..._06.16_04b.asp

[Fat Jack]

The Citizen is really downplaying the number of accidents and deaths. The police are saying that it is the worst year ever and they have already had to medflight five times, yet the Citizen has hardly mentioned this all week. I was by the Jack Daniels tent at Funspot last night and was amazed to see how they pump drinks into these guys knowing that they are either going right out to get on a motorcycle without a helmet, or going out to stagger around the streets amongst the bikes. Then, sure enough, a biker ran into a pedestrian right outside the place, killing his passenger. Laconia should be ashamed of themselves and should be held accountable for all of this. If I ever get hit by a biker or my daughter gets raped by one during bike week, Laconia will be the entity that I sue. They make a lot of victims by hosting and promoting this event, and should be responsible for the adverse effects it brings to those of use who do not partake, to the same extent that they take benefit from the advantages.

[Skip]

Union Leader offering more details on the Laconia motorcycle fatal, including charges filed...

http://www.theunionleader.com/articl...?article=39349

[Frdxplorer]

Fat Jack,

Some of your post makes good sense. It is pretty reprehensible for a Jack Daniels tent to be pouring shots of whiskey for these riders before they get on their bikes. Do you know do they have like a 2 drink limit or some restriction. I would certainly hope so. It is your second part of the post that makes very little sense. To assume that it is more likely that your daughter would be raped by a biker than someone who has spent their entire life in Laconia is rediculous. 99.9% of the visitors to Laconia would never so much as think about raping somebody. While quite a few have made the mistake of mixing booze with bikes, this doesn't automatically make them a harderned felon. And wouldn't it be easier to actually make the case against the town if it was someone FROM town. (i.e- there is so little to do in this town the man was forced to occupy himself with violence against others) I would guess that you see a huge increase in police presence and different crowd controls during the week. This is the towns attempt to control crime and violence. I believe it would be very difficult to claim neglect against a town were something awful to happen. I point this out because we should all be cautious of assuming that someone is dangerous because they don't look like us, or dress like us, or even act like us. You have people coming from across the country, you must expect some variety.

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

The Citizen is really downplaying the number of accidents
and deaths. The police are saying that it is the worst year ever and they have already had to medflight five times, yet the Citizen has hardly mentioned this all week. I was by the Jack Daniels tent at Funspot last night and was amazed to see how they pump drinks into these guys knowing that they are either going right out to get on a motorcycle without a helmet, or going out to stagger around the streets amongst the bikes. Then, sure enough, a biker ran into a pedestrian right outside the place, killing his passenger. Laconia should be ashamed of themselves and should be held accountable for all of this. If I ever get hit by a biker or my daughter gets raped by one during bike week, Laconia will be the entity that I sue. They make a lot of victims by hosting and promoting this event, and should be responsible for the adverse effects it brings to those of use who do not partake, to the same extent that they take benefit from the advantages.

[mr1drfl]

Two drink limit? These booze tents have a two drink minimum. You think they want these people having 2 drinks, and hanging out all night long? There's no money in that! Let em' drink, till they can't drink no more! Where is the liqour commisioners? What a joke!...Anything goes this week. It's all about the almighty dollar, always was, and always will be!
p.s. how many deaths so far?

[dpg]

Yes, the count's getting up there but lets put it into perspective. Two of the people - the gentleman and his nephew were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Remember, the Cadillac crossed the yellow line into THEIR bike. And what about the guy who lost control of I believe his Buell bike. Wasn't that accident like 8:00 in the morning or something? I may be mistaken but wasn't he on his way to work? Maybe these accidents happened because of bike week or maybe not. In the case of the Buell witnesses that saw him before the crash state he was going way too fast.

[Skip]

This is today's Laconia based Citizen article with follow-up info on the fatal (passenger) motorcycle incident. It also contains some peripheral info on other motorcycle collisions occuring during bike week...

http://www.citizen.com/news2004/June...a_06.1704b.asp

[Frdxplorer]

Originally Posted by mr1drfl

Two drink limit? These booze tents have a two drink minimum. You think they want these people having 2 drinks, and hanging out all night long? There's no money in that! Let em' drink, till they can't drink no more! Where is the liqour commisioners? What a joke!...Anything goes this week. It's all about the almighty dollar, always was, and always will be!
p.s. how many deaths so far?

Fair enough. I wasn't as much taking issue with the statement that many merchants are encouraging huge consumption of alchohol. I was, however, taking exception with the generalization of the bike week crowd in general. The post I responded to suggested that this crowd is likely to be full of hardened criminals and even rapists. When we start making these kinds of generalizations we quickly descend a slippery slope.

[aquadocton]

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

The Citizen is really downplaying the number of accidents and deaths. The police are saying that it is the worst year ever and they have already had to medflight five times, yet the Citizen has hardly mentioned this all week. I was by the Jack Daniels tent at Funspot last night and was amazed to see how they pump drinks into these guys knowing that they are either going right out to get on a motorcycle without a helmet, or going out to stagger around the streets amongst the bikes. Then, sure enough, a biker ran into a pedestrian right outside the place, killing his passenger. Laconia should be ashamed of themselves and should be held accountable for all of this. If I ever get hit by a biker or my daughter gets raped by one during bike week, Laconia will be the entity that I sue. They make a lot of victims by hosting and promoting this event, and should be responsible for the adverse effects it brings to those of use who do not partake, to the same extent that they take benefit from the advantages.

Fat Jack,
Since you were not near the scene of the accident and have used the newspaper accounting of it, please allow me to tell you what happened and where. The motorcycle in question was heading from Weirs Beach toward Meredith and crashed before reaching the front of Funspot. The wording of the newspaper article would make it seem the crash happened in front of Funspot proper, but it happened in front of the Funspot billboard near Cedar Lodge, a good 2000+ feet before getting to their entrance. Also, having attended the festivities all this week, I have noticed the Jack Daniels tent closed by 8:00/8:30pm each night so it would be safe to assume there has not been a crowd of people being "pumped full" of JD.

[madrasahs]

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

The Citizen is really downplaying the number of accidents and deaths. The police are saying that it is the worst year ever...yet the Citizen has hardly mentioned this all week.

Downplaying? Anyone else read Friday's The Conway Daily Sun reporting of "a motorcyclist with Massachusetts plates" in a collision -- with serious injuries?

The cyclist reportedly passed (on the right) a Fed-Ex truck, who had stopped to allow a minivan into a parking lot.

The photograph shows an apple-sized dent in the minivan's side; however, the next day's edition reported the biker did not survive his injuries.

[KonaChick]

My family and I have avoided motorcycle week since we bought up at the lake 4 years ago. We had to go up Friday to deal with some unavoidable things at the house. What an absolute disgrace this event is. Motorcycles riding in packs taking over streets. My 9 year old son reading obscence statements printed on the t-shirt of every other person walking the docks in Meredith as we drove through. The renters next to our house coming in on their hogs at 1 A.M reving up their modified pipes or whatever you call them. These same people still partying down at the dock of the rented house at 3 A.M. The sound of pipes bursting your eardrums when you go to the store to buy milk. The complaints of several shop owners (craft/antique type stores) telling me their business is down 50 %..yes 50% during these 9 days of "motorcyle hell" as they called it. Complaining that the only ones who see any kind of profit are hotels and restaurants. It's such a shame that an event that started out as a weekend thing is now taking over this beautiful lake and holding the people who live and own vacation homes there hostage for that long a period. I'm disgusted and PRAY i never have to go up to deal with house issues again during this awful period.

[Fat Jack]

Well said.

[Old Chris Craft]

Some businesses lost more than 50% because their customers couldn't get to them. Complain as we may, it all falls on deaf ears (probably caused by unmuffled bikes). It was sad to see Meredith jump on the bike week bandwagon. They obviously did not send anyone to the Weirs to see what bike week has done for us.

[Fancy]

As a seasonal property owner, who does not own a motorcycle and must also deal with the traffic when attempting to head to or from work - I had an absolute blast. Took all the inconveniences w/a grain of salt (no tequilia) and can't wait for next year. I had to chuckle when I heard people who live in the Hamptons complaining about not being able to get around due to the golf tournament going on there. I guess no matter what it is, rebel bikers or rebel golfers, people are never happy if it's not something THEY participate in!

[Paugus Bay Resident]

While no one officially "owns" Bike 9 Days, the city, through vendor permits, does have the most control. I would love to see a binding referendum on how long it should be. Write to Judy Krahulec. I, along with most people I talk to, would be OK with it going back to it's original 4 day format.

Out of all the money claims, it would be interesting to see how much actually benefits Laconia. Contrast this, to Sturgis, a city run event, where there is both a local and state sales tax. Sturgis actually increases the local sales tax during the event. Here, we have neither, only the meals and hospitality taxes which go back to Concord. Since we have no income tax ... well, you get the pircture. Compound this with the fact that most of the vendor's are from out of state, and it's gets more challenging to see where the short term economic benefit is. And let's not forget the lost business Old Chris Craft alludes to. No one ever takes this into account when tallying things up.

I couldn't agree more that there is definetly a great opportunity (i.e., long term) cost for hosting this event.

IMHO, if Meredith wants it, Meredit can have it.

[Fat Jack]

I am hearing that they had 19 deaths over the event and had to medflight 32 times. can anyone substantiate? can anything justify this? how many of these were innocent non-participants? How much is society really paying for this? I hope somebody sues Laconia and wins a couple hundred million dollars. let's see them try to hide that expense in the figures.

[Frdxplorer]

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

I am hearing that they had 19 deaths over the event and had to medflight 32 times. can anyone substantiate? can anything justify this? how many of these were innocent non-participants? How much is society really paying for this? I hope somebody sues Laconia and wins a couple hundred million dollars. let's see them try to hide that expense in the figures.

Fat Jack,
What is your obsession with suing Laconia. I am really unsure of how you plan on establishing neglect on behalf of the city when they beef up security for this event. Are they the event organizers?? And be cautious what you wish for. Say someone would end up suing Laconia successfuly for oh say a nice 30 million dollars. Now Laconia is broke and can't afford police protection throughout the year. Now I know you assume that commissions of violent crimes are limited to those who wear leather and drive two wheeled vehicles, but with a broke town, noone would be there to protect against those violent crimes you eluded to in an earlier post during the rest of the year. Could we sue Laconia for having a public launch ramp that allows boats from differnt states to come in and pollute the lake by introducing foreign plants and dangerous animals into the ecosystem. Or maybe we could sue NH for all the lost work time spent at those awful Hampton tolls. Are you beginning to see the slippery slope that this litiguous society is leading us down?

[Grant]

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

I am hearing that they had 19 deaths over the event and had to medflight 32 times. can anyone substantiate? can anything justify this? how many of these were innocent non-participants? How much is society really paying for this? I hope somebody sues Laconia and wins a couple hundred million dollars. let's see them try to hide that expense in the figures.

Color me ignorant and naive, but *19* deaths? In one year? That sounds a bit extreme. If there had been that many, don't you think Dan Rather or tom Brokaw or some such talking head would've made passing mention of it on a national scale? I mean, that's a whole lot of people dying! Sounds more than a bit inflated...

[Grant]

This is from an article in yesterday's Union Leader...

"Three people died, at least two people had their legs amputated and about a dozen had to be transported by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon as trauma patients over the nine days."

http://www.theunionleader.com/Articl...9546&archive=1

[wolfegirl]

Two of those deaths were caused by an elderly gentleman driving his
Cadillac into an uncle and nephew on their bikes on Rt. 28 on the first Saturday
of Bike Week. It was a clear, sunny day too. I haven't seen whether he faces charges yet, but failure to keep right, reckless endangerment, and vehicular homicide might be a good start.

[Frdxplorer]

Originally Posted by wolfegirl

Two of those deaths were caused by an elderly gentleman driving his
Cadillac into an uncle and nephew on their bikes on Rt. 28 on the first Saturday
of Bike Week. It was a clear, sunny day too. I haven't seen whether he faces charges yet, but failure to keep right, reckless endangerment, and vehicular homicide might be a good start.

Wolfegirl,
Sounds much more reasonable for this man to face charges than for Laconia to face civil suit as some have supported. I couldn't agree with your post more.

[madrasahs]

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

"I am hearing that they had 19 deaths over the event and had to medflight 32 times..." and "The Citizen is really downplaying the number of accidents and deaths."

Maybe the source is counting fatalities that occur "en-route" to the event -- like Daytona does.

As to downplaying...the Granite State News reports "One biker death in Tuftonboro". (That's it -- no details -- but here it is anyway): http://www.granitestatenews.com/062404motorcycles.html

[Mr. V]

"...failure to keep right, reckless endangerment, and vehicular homicide might be a good start..."

Failure to keep right: OK.

Reckless endangerment and vehicular homicide: They're tougher. Unless gramps was drunk, or racing his Cadillac (!), that almost certainly won't fly.

I haven't read any articles about this incident (I live on the West coast), but odds are it's yet another example of an old codger learning the hard way that he should have surrendered his license long ago.

But who wants to admit they're too old?

"Live Free or Die," indeed...

Bad Grandpa!!!

[Kona Bay Girl]

This was my first year at Bike Week in general, and frankly, I enjoyed it. There were a select few bikers who had messed with their exhaust pipes and sounded a lot louder, but for the most part, they were all polite. My uncle went up on his bike and had dinner with us. He said that it was acutally a lot more toned down than past years; that the crowd was either a lot older or the wannabes who wear the logos as a status symbol.

I myself visited several business and they had no complaints of the bikers. They said the majority of them were well-behaved. I could unsderstand why businesses' profits were down 50%, but I bet that lodging areas were booked solid and were benefiting. The small businesses will get their turn July 4th.

19 deaths? If you're looking at the small picture, that seems like a lot. However, considering that hundreds of thousands of bikers were up north during Bike Week, the numbers aren't that high.

I enjoyed my experience. The traffic was brutal, but residents should definitely know the shortcuts around Meredith by now (around the Wakewaum golf course, for one).

Where are all these obscene shirts? I must have missed them all. I went to Ireland for two weeks, and in one of it's major cities it had Bob the Builder t-shirts next to ones with Eminem flipping the bird. If you don't like controversial t-shirts, don't go to Europe. It's 10 times worse than anything you'd see in Laconia.

This post is an opinion of mine, not meant to anger anyone. It's just to put the whole aspect of Bike Week into retrospect. There are a lot of cons, but there are also pros to counter against it. Anyway, the week's over, so I'll end the discussion here.

[Paugus Bay Resident]

I enjoyed my experience. The traffic was brutal, but residents should definitely know the shortcuts around Meredith by now (around the Wakewaum golf course, for one).

Kona Bay Girl,

Trust me, there aren't any, at least if you live in Laconia. I'm still trying to find one from Hilliard Road to the Weirs Beach post office

[Brendan Smith]

Originally Posted by Fat Jack

The Citizen is really downplaying the number of accidents and deaths. The police are saying that it is the worst year ever and they have already had to medflight five times, yet the Citizen has hardly mentioned this all week. I was by the Jack Daniels tent at Funspot last night and was amazed to see how they pump drinks into these guys knowing that they are either going right out to get on a motorcycle without a helmet, or going out to stagger around the streets amongst the bikes. Then, sure enough, a biker ran into a pedestrian right outside the place, killing his passenger. Laconia should be ashamed of themselves and should be held accountable for all of this. If I ever get hit by a biker or my daughter gets raped by one during bike week, Laconia will be the entity that I sue. They make a lot of victims by hosting and promoting this event, and should be responsible for the adverse effects it brings to those of use who do not partake, to the same extent that they take benefit from the advantages.

I love how the anonimity of this site provides people the opportunity to tell any kind of tale they want, knocking who or whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes behind the safety of a keyoboard. I just read this ridiculous post for the first time. I'm usually busy doing other things like having a life and trying to be something. Yes, it is awful that anyone dies, but is the writer claiming that it happened becasue they were drinking at the Jack Daniel's tent at Funspot??? I worked in that tent as a bartneder on many nights during MC. Most nights it was closed by nine, on that night it was closed by about 8:15 a full hour before that fatality occurred. And no one was "pumping" shots into anyone. It was a high-class operation with a nice crowd who came to see what it was all about. They had one, rarely two drins and were on there way. The majority of drinks sold were lynchburg lemonades and Down Home punches which were premade beverages with the alcoholic content of beer. During the week two intoxicated patrons walked intot the tent and were asked to leave, they weren't served there. The reason for closing early was to avoid contributing to the intoxication of anyone who had already had a few. It would be nice to see a forum where everyone had to post their real names and emails addresses in order to posted. If a newspaper printed such inane drivel and lies they's be sued for slander, here it's anything goes with people who have axes to grind sitting at home salivating over their keyboards as they rip apart any one or anything they wish.

[Kona Bay Girl]

Oof, Laconia must be terrible to navigate. I don't know of any shorcuts out of the area except maybe taking a boat to the Meredith docks and working from there.

Hee, I was the one in the boat Bike Week, so there was not much traffic to be had. the North side of Governor's was brutal though, especially in our little 19-footer.

I guess that's calm compared to the traffic in July and August.

[Kona Bay Girl]

Oof, Laconia must be terrible to navigate. I don't know of any shorcuts out of the area except maybe taking a boat to the Meredith docks and working from there.

Hee, I was the one in the boat Bike Week, so there was not much traffic to be had. the North side of Governor's was brutal though, especially in our little 19-footer.

I guess that's calm compared to the traffic in July and August.


Waiiit a second, If you take a boat to the Meredith Docks, then you don't have a car. I always forget that! I was telling the parentals the other day that I could just take the boat to the Weirs and go to the Drive-Ins...I'll just sit on the pavement?