A crash in Metro Vancouver that left a motorcycle hanging from a traffic light has gone viral online, with its baffling images sparking widespread discussion in the riding community. It has also renewed reminders about road safety as motorcycle season gets underway. “Oftentimes when something like this does happen, everybody’s thinking, ‘Oh, is this rider okay? Do we know him?’” said Mike MacDonald, instructor at V-Twin Motorcycle Riding School. Police said the rider has serious injuries but is expected to survive. The collision happened Saturday afternoon at Scott Road and 71st Avenue, and sent the bike airborne onto a traffic signal standard. “The kind of car it was, the way the fender was shaped, and of course the front tire of a motorcycle being rounded as it is, it’s just a perfect storm,” added MacDonald. “Geometry just kind of launched it up,” he said. Retired police sergeant Ryan Austin, who is an instructor at Advanced Rider Training, said investigators will likely be working to reconstruct the crash, including speed and angles of impact. While there is CCTV footage of the collision, he cautioned police won’t be able to rely on it alone. “From a legal perspective, officers doing the investigation still need to put all the pieces together to show that video is actually valid,” he said. Austin agrees that speed appears to be a factor, but he warned it’s likely not the only reason for the crash, and that can lead people to brush it off. “It’s like, ‘Okay, well then, all you need to do is slow down and that’s fine,’” he argued. “But the reality is, you can get hurt going much slower if you don’t have the skills and you can’t avoid hitting things.” Both instructors agree the incident and its viral footage have highlighted the importance of defensive motorcycle training.
