A local motorcyclist was fortunate enough to walk away from a major wreck on Interstate 5 without any serious injuries this week, and he has the video footage to prove just how lucky he was. Jeffrey Chen, a 22-year-old software developer who works in South Lake Union, was in the midst of his morning commute on Tuesday in the express lanes of I-5. As it always does on weekday mornings, traffic came to a halt as he approached the Mercer Street exit. As he slowed down with the traffic ahead of him, Chen recalls hearing the screeching of tires from behind and immediately knew something bad was about to happen. “Once I hear the tires squealing, it’s already too late,” he said, explaining that the sounds came from the Subaru Outback driving behind him as it was rear-ended by another driver. That first collision caused the Subaru to crash into the back of Chen’s motorcycle. The impact ejected Chen from his bike, which continued skidding down the freeway before essentially disintegrating into small pieces.

He landed on the shoulder of the freeway and says his backpack served as a cushion between him and the road. You can see the damage done to Chen’s bike in the photo above. “I’m kind of glad the Subaru driver was there that day,” he says, explaining that he believes he could have been killed if the first vehicle had struck him directly instead of hitting the Subaru first. “In a way, she saved my life at the cost of her health.” Watch the video recorded from Chen's helmet camera below: As if the collision wasn’t already on a constant replay loop in his memory, Chen also captured a first-person account of the violent crash on a helmet camera he never thought he’d need to use. And the emotional trauma has him wondering whether or not the risks of another serious motorcycle accident outweigh the joy of riding. “I feel like I can’t get on another motorcycle without friends and family seriously worrying about me,” he says, adding that his mother was not thrilled after seeing the video.

“She said her heart stopped [after seeing the video]. best bikes in 110cc in indiaThurston sheriff not wearing helmet in life-threatening motorcycle crashThurston County Sheriff John SnazaAASANDERS COUNTY, Mont. - Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza has suffered life-threatening injuries in a motorcycle crash in Montana, officials said Wednesday.Snaza was not wearing a helmet, said Trooper Steve Gaston of the Montana Highway Patrol. classic bmw motorcycle owners of indonesiaGaston, who responded to the crash, said helmets are not required by law in Montana for adults, though they are recommended. bobber for sale western australiaHelmets are required in Washington.The crash occurred at a curve. motorcycle shop bozeman mt

Snaza was trying to pass other riders he was with on a curve and lost control of his motorcycle, Gaston said."It was a poor decision," Gaston said.He was flown to a hospital in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.Snaza was airlifted to a hospital in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where he is currently listed in critical but stable condition.The crash involved no other vehicles, and no one else was injured.Snaza reportedly was on a trip with lifelong friends and originally was expected to return home Wednesday - before the accident took place.Snaza, a U.S. Navy veteran, was hired by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office in 1993 and was first elected sheriff on Jan. 1, 2011. He was re-elected on Jan. 1, 2015.He is the current vice president of the Washington State Sheriffs’ Association and serves as a legislative representative for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.Snaza's twin brother, Robert Snaza, is the sheriff in neighboring Lewis County. He reportedly is now at his injured brother's bedside in Coeur d'Alene, along with Thurston County Undersheriff Tim Braniff.close

Watch as this helmet cam captures an Daytona 675 rider rolling on the hood of a car and then right onto his feet. A little grey sedan runs a red light to find a bright red sport bike is already in the intersection. He smacks the bike hard catapulting it off onto the adjacent sidewalk, but leaving the rider rolling on the hood and then back onto his feet facing the driver. Don't have your volume too loud in the office today (this is my favorite part) as the only audio immediately following the collision is, what it sounds like, the driver leaning out of his window to say, "pull over," to which the biker responds, "I'm already ******* pulled over you ***hole," pointing at his laid down bike on the sidewalk.  READ MORE: 10 Things I've Learned From 10 Motorcycle Accidents | Some of us have been where the rider was immediately following his crash: Dazed, dizzy, confused and feeling very lonely surrounded by tons of pedestrians who all don't seem to be concerned as they cross the cross walk while the rider stands there trying to figure out what to do.

Luckily after a few seconds, an off-duty nurse (I'm only assuming from the scrubs) and a couple other people check on the rider who appears to be ok. READ MORE:  Watch this Hilarious, Over-The-Top Nick Offerman NASCAR Commercial According to the YouTube user Legitimate Business Man, who loaded the video, his '11 Triumph Daytona 675 is heavily modified, but met its demise during the accident. He, however did not. "ATGAT [All The Gear All The Time] saved me from severe injuries as I walked away with only bumps and bruises," he wrote in the description. READ MORE: What Body Parts Will You Most Likely Injure In A Motorcycle Accident | Follow RideApart on Facebook and Twitter, along with @RideApart on Instagram.You know that a crash video has gone viral when your friends who don’t own motorcycles forward you the link on Facebook. That was the case recently, when a group of Wisconsin sport bike and supermoto riders had a bitch of a “season opener ride.” By now, you’ve almost certainly seen the video, but if you haven’t you can watch the incident here, in YouTube videos shot from two different helmet cams.

The lead camera in this video was carried by a guy named Danny. He’s a 21-year-old bartender in Appleton. He was riding a Suzuki DR-Z400SM. The second camera, a few bikes behind Danny, was carried by a woman. I don’t know her name. I think she’s riding a Ninja 300. In the now-famous video, a Yamaha YZF-R6 rider crashes after hitting (and killing) a dog that darts into the road in the midst of the group. A second rider (on another supermoto bike) crashes trying to avoid the first. The supermoto rider barely flings himself out of the path of an onrushing semi. There’s an interview online, by another motorcycle blogger, “Biker Dad.” He reached Danny and the second crasher — a 27-year-old machinist named Travis. Towards the end of the video, Biker Dad asks them what lessons they’ve taken away from the experience, and they respond by reminding us (again) to wear All The Gear, All The Time. But I think that a close analysis of the videos suggests there’s more to learn.

Things they did right: They wore all the gear. Helmets, jackets, gloves, boots (Travis was wearing Kevlar-lined jeans.) They rode in a staggered formation, separated by a second or two. Their speed was reasonable, for the conditions. The incident took place in daylight on a dry, straight, two-lane road. The dog is visible — and an obvious danger — for about four seconds before it passes in front of Danny (the guy with the first camera). Danny slows to avoid it, but turns to watch a rider following him, echelon left, who hits the dog square on. That (unidentified) rider on a red R6 is on the brakes as he makes contact with the dog. The second GoPro-equipped rider (the woman on the black Ninja) has a frankly terrifying view of the second crasher (Travis.) His momentum carries him several feet into the left lane, where the onrushing semi nearly smears him. To be clear: The analysis that follows is not a diss on these riders, who were caught out by a genuinely hairy situation.

Unlike a lot of videos that go viral, they weren’t riding like idiots. Things still went wrong. That is all the more reason to analyze the incident and see what we can learn from it. There are best practices for group rides on the street that would have greatly reduced the risk of the first crash. If the first faller had been more observant he would have avoided the dog, just as Danny did. And — even given the first crash — if Travis had better situational awareness and machine-control skills, he could have escaped with nothing more than an elevated pulse (and maybe a change of underpants.) In my decade as a hack club racer, I had guys crash in front of me many times, usually at higher speeds than this, with a lot less room to maneuver. I was almost always able to ride around those hazards without crashing — in spite of my crap reflexes and mediocre skills as a racer. I’ve isolated seven frames from the two videos, to illustrate those safety lessons. The dog is already visible, several seconds up the road.

There’s a two-up bike passing the dog without incident. At this moment, if the rider who is passing the dog flashes his brake lights and/or puts an arm up to alert the following riders, this becomes the world’s most boring GoPro video. You're riding with friends. Danny, the first videographer, spots the dog about four seconds ahead, he reduces his speed with a controlled, firm application of the front brake. Following riders should be able to see his brake light, but it wouldn’t hurt to throw an arm up or a leg out at this point for good measure. At this moment, neither video clearly shows the relative position of the first crasher, who I’ll just call "R6." But there are only two possibilities: Either R6 is nearly abreast of Danny in which case he should see the dog himself; or he’s far enough behind Danny to block his view of the dog, in which case he should have time and space to react to Danny’s brake light. Either way, the moment Danny starts to slow, R6 should be on alert and slowing, too.

By the time the dog crosses his path, Danny’s slowed enough to give it a few yards. There’s a green sport bike behind Danny, followed by a second camera-equipped bike. The green bike manages to avoid a rear-end collision. no one has to swerve, but the view from the second camera makes it clear that there’s lots of room on either side of Danny. So far, so good. Danny swivels his head to track the dog. Unfortunately for both the dog and "R6," he’s closing the gap. He’s on the brakes, but it’s too little, too late. Tens of thousands of people have commented on this video, and the consensus is that R6 “had no chance” to react as the dog appeared suddenly from behind the first camera bike. Indeed, Crash #1 is inevitable at this point. But it’s inevitable because R6 either didn’t see the dog when he should have, or didn’t react when Danny detonated his DR-Z’s brakes. The second videographer is a woman on a sport bike, with another GoPro helmet rig. Since I don’t know her name either, I’ll call her "Pink Helmet."

Pink is riding in the righthand column, behind Danny and the green sport bike. She’s reaching for her clutch, responding to brake lights in front of her, before R6’s brake light comes on. Both Pink and the green dude slow enough to avoid rear-ending Danny. While they’re slowing down, R6 catches up. At this moment, Travis is about two seconds from the first rider, who is already on the ground. There’s still space and time to apply controlled hard braking and steer around the first crasher. Unfortunately, Travis has locked up his front wheel; Crash #2 is now almost a foregone conclusion. In a slightly different world, Travis would have been looking well ahead and taking up the brake in a more controlled manner that avoided locking the front wheel. Although many commenters have said, “There were people to his right, he had nowhere to go,” and while he himself has suggested that he had no choice but to crash the bike, there’s room and time for evasive action. The key is to slow down as much as possible while simultaneously looking for your exit lane.

There’s a lot going on here. The truck driver anticipated trouble and moved to his right, he’s already on the brakes. The rider on the green sport bike has shown good presence of mind, and has moved across the white line to give Pink some "accordion" space. That anonymous rider is the only person on this video who exploits his ability to move laterally, as well as slow down, in order to avoid trouble. It’s worth noting that Crash #1 occurred behind them at the left edge of the frame from this perspective. If Travis hadn’t locked up the front, he’d have a great escape lane between the fallen rider and his motorcycle. Pink, who was alert enough to bring her bike to a controlled stop without rear-ending the guy in front of her, then provides us with a textbook example of target fixation, by riding into the first crasher, luckily at very low speed. Suffice to say that at this point, she’d be better off following the green sport bike rider’s lead and moving to the far right.

She caught the dude’s T-shirt in her drive chain. On another day, it could’ve been his fingers. That’s the last of many lucky breaks in this video. The rider ahead of Danny should have done more to alert following riders to the presence of the dog. If they’d all hit the brakes when the dog first appeared, they’d’ve been traveling at 35-40 mph when they reached it. At that speed, there would be lots of room for everyone to chart a safe course around the hazardous hound. If Danny had the bandwidth and machine control to do so, he too could have thrown up an arm or thrown out a leg, to better warn R6 of trouble ahead. R6 should have seen the dog at about the same time Danny did. By the time Danny was blocking his view of the dog, it was too late. Although it’s easy to assume that Travis — the second faller — was a helpless victim, he was a victim of poor situational awareness. Sure, the dog was a long way off at the beginning of the incident, but Travis had a clear view of three bikes ahead of him on his right, all of which had their brake lights on before R6 hit the dog.