He must of been wearing a helmet if he survived right? Chances he was if he had a cage thing... Hope it wasn't longride. Doesn't look like a Busa . It looks like a GSXR 1000 right? And longride doesn't wear a helmet. Wew...
A Rogers Park man was in critical condition after the motorcycle he was riding at a speed in excess of 100 mph on Lake Shore Drive skidded into a guardrail early Wednesday, police said.
Jon Vereen, 21, of the 1400 block of West Pratt, has been cited for negligent driving and driving under the influence in connection with the crash, which happened around 2:48 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore, said Sgt. Maurice McCaster of the Chicago Police Department's Major Accidents Unit.
Vereen's blood-alcohol level was .18, more than double the legal limit, McCaster said.
Vereen also was cited for speeding and driving on a suspended license. It was unclear if he was wearing a helmet.
Police said Vereen slammed into the guardrail while trying to clear a curve near Oak Street as he was riding southbound on his 2001 Suzuki GSX-R1000 sport bike.
He was hospitalized in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said.
Wednesday's near-fatal crash came less than a month after 23-year-old David Campos of Wheeling was killed when his motorcycle struck the back of a car in the northwest suburb while he was going 80 to 100 mph.
Campos' blood-alcohol level was two to three times the legal limit in the late-night crash, officials said.
So far this year, 60 people have died in motorcycle accidents, according to Illinois Department of Transportation statistics. Last year, 155 people died.
McCaster said almost all of the high-speed motorcycle accidents his department handles involve "crotch rockets" like the one Vereen was riding -- sport bikes with top speeds above 150 mph.
The Police Department is trying to cut down on the problem by issuing more tickets, but McCaster said: "To be honest, when they are doing in excess of 100 miles per hour, there's not a whole lot we can do.
Why does everyone always pretend that 130 is fast?
I'm by no means a dangerous rider. But on the interstate? 130?
Hell... I can't merge onto the interstate without hittin' 115. You look at the traffic in front and back.. you pick your spot... you twist your wrist... and by the time you merge and settle in... you're rolling.
I'm to old to brag about speed. i'd sooner putter around on the backroads... but I think we should be honest here.
Anyone who's ridden a modern sportbike should know that 130 is no big deal on a dry largely uncrowded interstate.
I used to do research that required reading the local papers for their police/accident reports. I soon discovered that the vast majority of fatalities and serious accidents that involved alcohol virtually always also involved a perp who was waaaaay over the .1 limit and almost always had a revoked or suspended license to boot. I don't ever recall seeing a serious accident with someone under .1. A test result of over .2 was usual. Most of these birds had several DWI convictions before they whacked some bystander.
I hope they throw the book at this @$$hole after he recovers enough to stand trial. Sure, it won't discourage the drunks. Nothing ever does. But any jail time will keep this particular clown off of the road.
That's the problem right there. If the same guy was driving a Camaro drunk @130 the story would have been about drunk driving. Because he was on a bike it becomes another "Crazy Biker On a Crotch Rocket" story.
"Itl was unclear if he was wearing a helmet"....
I guess they'll know when they dig his head out of his ass.
Trouble was, he wasn't on the interstate. The guy was doing a buck 30 on Lake Shore Drive. That is tantamount to having a death wish, and having a very good chance at fulfilling it.
IIRC, the Feds mandated .08 as part of the Highway Bill back in the '90s. But I'm not saying that your explanation of Illinois' motivation for lowering it is wrong. ;-)
We don't allow mile_eater's kind around here in Seattle
Well said. 130 mph onto I- 405 will get you smack into the rear end of a Hummer. Have to say either mile_eater has no traffic there or ... Cause around here you do 130 you are going hit something or going to jail. In WA, they will take your bike away, you will go to jail, your license will be suspended, and you will be hit with a fine. Perhaps the Land of Lincoln should toughen their laws...
Yup - non-Chicagoans probably don't know that the seasonal speed limit on LSD is 45 (40 during the winter). That's pretty low, but he went down at Oak St., which has a 90 degree left followed by a 90 right about 50 yards later (headed southbound). That's where the squids tend to go down...wouildn't you know, at the first point they're required to turn. It is likely you could carve through at 100 if you have "Dirty" skills. However, all bets are off after a 12-pack.
Not that I'm defending this drunken squid at all... But I will say that I've driven LSD hundreds perhaps thousands of times and I knew where this guy hit the guard rail after only glancing at the headline... There's a chicane that (when traveling southbound as he was) that goes 90 degrees to the left, then 90 degrees to the right in about 300 yards of linear interestate... There's no shoulder on the outside or inside of the turns and they are sharp as hell... The originally unpainted concrete is now adorned with colors ranging ford blue to porsche red and all the other colors in between. I'm also not saying we should take out all the curves in the midwest as, I think this might be the only one in Chicago and I do like it... But everyone's doing 80 on LSD during rush hour and even when the cagers come sailing through they are squealing their tyres and sliding into the outside lanes (or guardrail)... It's a pretty squirrly section of roadway in Chicago. Again, I'm not defending this guy, but there's at least one car that hits this same guardrail every couple of days and most of them aren't even drunk or piloting a vehicle with 4 lbs/HP... Which is why they never make it into the paper. Just my two cents.
One more thought... From the pictures it appears that the weld's/frame of this GSXR held together quite well... I'd say all the previous discussions that raised questions as to the weld strengths should be put to rest now.
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