FHP caught Brevard County’s Deputy of the Year Michael Fultz riding his motorcycle 111 mph but did not arrest him under Florida’s ‘Super Speeder’ law, News 6 has learned.
Hot take: every motorcyclist who is driving fast in a responsible way should be shown this leniency, not just pigs, as motorcycles are not cars and the risk is born by the rider instead of the public.
500 pounds of bike and rider impacting another vehicle at >100mph can easily kill everyone in that other vehicle.
Maybe if the other vehicle is a tandem bicycle. Nobody is dying in a modern car or SUV due to being rear-ended by a motorcycle with a ~45mph speed differential.
You’re not going to be personally harmed under those conditions on a freeway. A side impact due to cross- or turning-traffic on a two-way road? Maybe. Even then, a modern car is going to fare phenomenally well and much of the impact energy is turned into catapulting the rider into the air.
Those are actually ridden by members of the public, you know.
Nobody is dying in a modern car or SUV due to being rear-ended by a motorcycle with a ~45mph speed differential.
Even if you were correct (you’re not), you’re ignoring that the modern car or SUV is still going to be a total loss. That property damage is another risk born by the public.
And you’re completely disregarding the head-on collision when that biker comes across the median and hits the car with a ~180mph speed differential. Or the T-bone when the car doesn’t see the >100mph biker and turns across his path.
I’ve damaged plenty of vehicles, including being rear ended by a semi at a similar speed differential. If the semi didn’t total my kia soul, a motor cycle doing it isn’t going to total an SUV. A trip to the body shop would definitely be required, though. Modern vehicles can take a staggering amount of impact force and survive.
Those are actually ridden by members of the public, you know.
Are there a lot of tandem bicycles out on the freeway, where this event occurred?
Even if you were correct (you’re not), you’re ignoring that the modern car or SUV is still going to be a total loss.
I am entirely correct and, again, where was the collision in the event being discussed?
You want to make absurd hypothetical claims (that car drivers are terribly endangered by a motorcycle speeding in a single lane) and when that’s shown to be false you want to talk about a “total loss”. This is also pretty baseless. A motorcycle rear-ending a hypothetical car at a 45mph speed differential is unlikely to be a total loss of the car.
And you’re completely disregarding the head-on collision when that biker comes across the median and hits the car with a ~180mph speed differential.
Oh, neat, more absurd hypotheticals that are phenomenally unlikely. Meanwhile, motorcyclists are killed all the time by oncoming drivers turning left across their path or simply veering into the motorcyclist’s lane because dicking around on their phone is more important than controlling a multi-ton box.
Or the T-bone when the car doesn’t see the >100mph biker and turns across his path.
Meanwhile, motorcyclists are killed all the time by oncoming drivers turning left across their path
Yeah, I’ve been involved in one of those. Driver was traveling at more than twice the speed limit. Had he been traveling only 20 over, he would have been where the driver would have reasonably been able to see him. But he was traveling more than twice the limit. The driver couldn’t foresee that he would cross his path. Couldn’t even see him before it was too late to stop his turn, or for the motorcyclist to evade.
the risk is born by the rider instead of the public.
This is some bullshit. A motorcycle may be smaller than a car comparatively but one being hurled at you at highway speeds is still lethal. Both pedestrians and people in cars die to speeding motorcycles every day.
The public pays for the cost of their injuries, either directly through a state healthcare system or in the form of increased premiums. An insurance company has no way to differentiate reckless motorcyclists who are lucky from responsible motorcyclists.
A crash on a road will close one or more lanes while emergency services attend the site of the crash, causing congestion. While the overall inconvenience per motorist is small, it happens to many hundreds to thousands of motorists and thus collectively wastes hundreds of hours of people’s time.
Normalising reckless behaviour increases its social acceptability, and I think that as soon as it becomes widely known that you won’t go to jail for operating a motorcycle at double the speed limit, the first people to try this will be teenagers
The public pays for the cost of their injuries, either directly through a state healthcare system or in the form of increased premiums. An insurance company has no way to differentiate reckless motorcyclists who are lucky from responsible motorcyclists.
The cost of the injuries is far less than the same behavior in a car.
A crash on a road will close one or more lanes while emergency services attend the site of the crash, causing congestion
I have only seen this happen once, when a guy did suicide by bike by driving directly into the back of a dump truck doing like 100 on a bridge at 4 AM about a year ago. The bike was ripped in half and the body was so messed up nobody wanted to touch it.
Every other time, someone just walks/drags the bike and rider to the side of the road and helps them get recollected.
Normalising reckless behaviour increases its social acceptability, and I think that as soon as it becomes widely known that you won’t go to jail for operating a motorcycle at double the speed limit, the first people to try this will be teenagers
So by treating the far more dangerous car behavior the same way, are we encouraging people to behave dangerously in cars?
But my point isn’t that reckless behavior should be legalized, it’s that cases where it’s much more dangerous to society should be punished accordingly.
Driving a motorcycle at double the speed limit is far more dangerous than driving a car at normal speeds. That’s why driving a car at those speeds will also get you a driving ban.
I ride my motorcycle everyday and ride strictly to the letter of traffic law. The safest way to ride is to be predictable. With that said, I am not wholly in disagreement with you, in that obviously risk levels for others are less than a rider in any circumstance on the road, even ones where it is the motorcyclist travelling with excess speed. That does not mean that consequences for an accident due to the unpredictablity of someone speeding are not shared with society. The trauma of witnessing a lethal accident and traffic delays due to cleanup have different severities but each can have lasting impacts on people. Riding and travelling on roadways in general already are filled with hazards and risks. Anecdotally, it seems as technology in cars meant to keep people safer makes gains in the industry, what it actually accomplishes is that it allows people to be less involved in driving, or even just complacent to not pay as much attention. This is not the rider’s fault, but adding the element of excess speed is a recipe for disaster. Ride and drive predictably. I rarely see accidents that are ambiguous. An all too common thread between accidents is excess speed.
The trauma of witnessing a lethal accident and traffic delays due to cleanup have different severities but each can have lasting impacts on people.
You may not have noticed, but there was no collision in the article being discussed. He was speeding in traffic that was so light that he didn’t even need to change lanes. There was no collision. He had something like a 45mph speed differential versus other traffic.
How about you stop pontificating on hypotheticals and look at the actual situation being discussed?
Also, if you’re so concerned about the trauma of seeing motorcyclists injured, then you should be focusing on driver training and PSAs about scanning the road for more vulnerable road users. Motorcyclists are injured or killed by inattentive or reckless drivers at a rate vastly higher than the reverse.
You seem so hostile to a comment I made about riding predictably and safely. You also seem to misunderstand the thread of comments. I was replying to a person who had a hot take about leniency of the law toward motorcyclists who speed, not discussing the specific situation in the article. I am aware that inattentive and reckless drivers are a much larger problem, and provide a little commentary on that as well. I didn’t intend to inflame anyone, we’re having a discussion, and as a daily rider, I encourage everyone I ride with to be as safe as possible. I also tell every car driver I’m with to pay more attention and to be more aware.
What a stupid take. Have you tried to change lanes with someone zipping by 40 mph faster than you? Now lets let everybody on a motorcycle do that. Sounds so fun!
An all too common thread between accidents is excess speed.
The influence of road conditions and traffic on what is and isn’t a safe speed is way greater on a bike than a car, so even in optimal conditions, where the speed limit was determined for motorcycles, it would have to be understood as a guide of “This is what an average bike could ride with minimal traffic and sunny road conditions, if there’s traffic or poor conditions, you should go slower”.
consequences for an accident due to the unpredictablity of someone speeding are not shared with society.
True, there aren’t zero consequences born by society, but it is far, far less than if you were speeding in a 2 ton steel box designed to protect you at the expense of anyone else, and that should be reflected in the consequences. Same reason I think it’s insane that a bicycle DUI in Japan can get you the same consequences as a car DUI, though in practice, cops understand the law is insane and only apply it to foreigners.
Hot take: every motorcyclist who is driving fast in a responsible way should be shown this leniency, not just pigs, as motorcycles are not cars and the risk is born by the rider instead of the public.
Someone still needs to pick up the pieces. Plus, organs keep better if the impact force doesn’t turn the body into mush.
The biker can only kill himself once.
500 pounds of bike and rider impacting another vehicle at >100mph can easily kill everyone in that other vehicle.
“The Public” bears much greater risk than the motorcyclist.
Maybe if the other vehicle is a tandem bicycle. Nobody is dying in a modern car or SUV due to being rear-ended by a motorcycle with a ~45mph speed differential.
You’re not going to be personally harmed under those conditions on a freeway. A side impact due to cross- or turning-traffic on a two-way road? Maybe. Even then, a modern car is going to fare phenomenally well and much of the impact energy is turned into catapulting the rider into the air.
Those are actually ridden by members of the public, you know.
Even if you were correct (you’re not), you’re ignoring that the modern car or SUV is still going to be a total loss. That property damage is another risk born by the public.
And you’re completely disregarding the head-on collision when that biker comes across the median and hits the car with a ~180mph speed differential. Or the T-bone when the car doesn’t see the >100mph biker and turns across his path.
I’ve damaged plenty of vehicles, including being rear ended by a semi at a similar speed differential. If the semi didn’t total my kia soul, a motor cycle doing it isn’t going to total an SUV. A trip to the body shop would definitely be required, though. Modern vehicles can take a staggering amount of impact force and survive.
I agree with everything else.
Are there a lot of tandem bicycles out on the freeway, where this event occurred?
I am entirely correct and, again, where was the collision in the event being discussed?
You want to make absurd hypothetical claims (that car drivers are terribly endangered by a motorcycle speeding in a single lane) and when that’s shown to be false you want to talk about a “total loss”. This is also pretty baseless. A motorcycle rear-ending a hypothetical car at a 45mph speed differential is unlikely to be a total loss of the car.
Oh, neat, more absurd hypotheticals that are phenomenally unlikely. Meanwhile, motorcyclists are killed all the time by oncoming drivers turning left across their path or simply veering into the motorcyclist’s lane because dicking around on their phone is more important than controlling a multi-ton box.
Do you make a lot of turns on freeways?
Yeah, I’ve been involved in one of those. Driver was traveling at more than twice the speed limit. Had he been traveling only 20 over, he would have been where the driver would have reasonably been able to see him. But he was traveling more than twice the limit. The driver couldn’t foresee that he would cross his path. Couldn’t even see him before it was too late to stop his turn, or for the motorcyclist to evade.
Car was totaled. Motorcyclist went to jail.
It actually sounds better than I expected, a jail is still not a cemetery
This is some bullshit. A motorcycle may be smaller than a car comparatively but one being hurled at you at highway speeds is still lethal. Both pedestrians and people in cars die to speeding motorcycles every day.
No, they fucking don’t. It’s phenomenally rare. It’s utterly unheard of in one-way, divided traffic.
which is why the personal injury law firm i consult with from time to time has absolutely no business. none.
Are you sarcastically trying to claim that “people in cars die to speeding motorcycles every day” is keeping a law firm in business?
Compared to a fucking truck or SUV at highway speeds? No shot.
How is the comparison even relevant?
Last time I checked SUVs are required to adhere to speed limits too.
I wasn’t arguing about cars vs motorcycles, I was arguing that
is complete horseshit.
It’s relevant because the truck or SUV are far far more dangerous to the public when doing the same behavior as the bike, yet are treated the same.
So, normal cars should be also allowed to speed because those are safer to everyone than SUVs
The risk is bourne by the public in three ways:
The cost of the injuries is far less than the same behavior in a car.
I have only seen this happen once, when a guy did suicide by bike by driving directly into the back of a dump truck doing like 100 on a bridge at 4 AM about a year ago. The bike was ripped in half and the body was so messed up nobody wanted to touch it.
Every other time, someone just walks/drags the bike and rider to the side of the road and helps them get recollected.
So by treating the far more dangerous car behavior the same way, are we encouraging people to behave dangerously in cars?
But my point isn’t that reckless behavior should be legalized, it’s that cases where it’s much more dangerous to society should be punished accordingly.
Driving a motorcycle at double the speed limit is far more dangerous than driving a car at normal speeds. That’s why driving a car at those speeds will also get you a driving ban.
I ride my motorcycle everyday and ride strictly to the letter of traffic law. The safest way to ride is to be predictable. With that said, I am not wholly in disagreement with you, in that obviously risk levels for others are less than a rider in any circumstance on the road, even ones where it is the motorcyclist travelling with excess speed. That does not mean that consequences for an accident due to the unpredictablity of someone speeding are not shared with society. The trauma of witnessing a lethal accident and traffic delays due to cleanup have different severities but each can have lasting impacts on people. Riding and travelling on roadways in general already are filled with hazards and risks. Anecdotally, it seems as technology in cars meant to keep people safer makes gains in the industry, what it actually accomplishes is that it allows people to be less involved in driving, or even just complacent to not pay as much attention. This is not the rider’s fault, but adding the element of excess speed is a recipe for disaster. Ride and drive predictably. I rarely see accidents that are ambiguous. An all too common thread between accidents is excess speed.
You may not have noticed, but there was no collision in the article being discussed. He was speeding in traffic that was so light that he didn’t even need to change lanes. There was no collision. He had something like a 45mph speed differential versus other traffic.
How about you stop pontificating on hypotheticals and look at the actual situation being discussed?
Also, if you’re so concerned about the trauma of seeing motorcyclists injured, then you should be focusing on driver training and PSAs about scanning the road for more vulnerable road users. Motorcyclists are injured or killed by inattentive or reckless drivers at a rate vastly higher than the reverse.
You seem so hostile to a comment I made about riding predictably and safely. You also seem to misunderstand the thread of comments. I was replying to a person who had a hot take about leniency of the law toward motorcyclists who speed, not discussing the specific situation in the article. I am aware that inattentive and reckless drivers are a much larger problem, and provide a little commentary on that as well. I didn’t intend to inflame anyone, we’re having a discussion, and as a daily rider, I encourage everyone I ride with to be as safe as possible. I also tell every car driver I’m with to pay more attention and to be more aware.
What a stupid take. Have you tried to change lanes with someone zipping by 40 mph faster than you? Now lets let everybody on a motorcycle do that. Sounds so fun!
The influence of road conditions and traffic on what is and isn’t a safe speed is way greater on a bike than a car, so even in optimal conditions, where the speed limit was determined for motorcycles, it would have to be understood as a guide of “This is what an average bike could ride with minimal traffic and sunny road conditions, if there’s traffic or poor conditions, you should go slower”.
True, there aren’t zero consequences born by society, but it is far, far less than if you were speeding in a 2 ton steel box designed to protect you at the expense of anyone else, and that should be reflected in the consequences. Same reason I think it’s insane that a bicycle DUI in Japan can get you the same consequences as a car DUI, though in practice, cops understand the law is insane and only apply it to foreigners.