NFL player injured in Spyder accident

[Rando]

click here for the full story

[Bob Denman]

Is this the fellow who they reported as having received a broken hand in a motorcycle accident? If that's the worst of it then he was a very lucky man!

[SpyderAnn01]

Ouch!

[Desert Spyder]

My SIL is quadriplegic from diving in a pool and this guy gets a broken hand from hot dogging? He's the luckiest man alive. Forgive me for not showing my enthusiasm for his fortune, however. And did you read the comments with the story?

[Tiny1]

WOW. Luckiest man alive right now. Had to shake my head at some of the comments after reading the story. More un/ill informed biased lip movement

[Trickie Dick]

Tire came off Wonder what caused that.

[Desert Spyder]

We got any math gurus here who can figure out how fast he was flying before he flew?

[NancysToy]

Tire came off Wonder what caused that.

It said the tire came off the pavement...not that it came off the Spyder. Sounds like he wandered onto the should and lost control...erhaps even due to a small drop-off.

[GloryRyders]

Hopefully he will learn something from this mistake.

[Bob Denman]

If they dock his pay he'll learn something... Don't a lot of these contracts have clauses that preclude payments when you bugger yourdelf up off the field?

[Raptor]

I don't know about this one. Obviously that is a pretty bad wreck there and the man is pretty lucky he wasn't seriously hurt. But to fly 80 yards through the air? There is no way a Spyder can produce enough forward velocity to propel a 300 pound mass that far. It just can't happen. I am guessing he was flat out though when he lost control. All things considered the machine looks better than I imagined it would!

[ARtraveler]

He was very lucky considering the fact he was ejected from the Spyder. Sounds like high speed was involved.

[bullant12]

WOW. Luckiest man alive right now. Had to shake my head at some of the comments after reading the story. More un/ill informed biased lip movement

I saw the comment on "Should be charged on riding a 3-wheeled vehicle (reverse trike)" He should be beat up with an hot muffler for that stupid comment!

[chris56]

The first 2-wheel spyder .. !!

[Marker]

He is LUCKY , now looks like he will be taking the ankle express for a while as he has no drivers licence

[CaptRalph]

The first 2-wheel spyder .. !!

Good One!

[daveinva]

More of the story here: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/70...torcycle-crash

Benard was driving "at a high rate of speed" and crossed four lanes before crashing his motorcycle into a guardrail, according to a police report.

Gee, ya think?

First things first: only going on the news reports, don't have all the facts, we weren't there, etc.

Based on what this says, the verdict is the usual one: rider error at excessive speed.

In my time riding the Spyder, I've lifted a front wheel exactly once: in my MSF course, at *10 mph* I took a turn too sharp while accelerating through it, and the inner wheel came off the ground a couple inches. The nanny kicked in, and brought my inside wheel down.

Since then, I've put 3,000 miles on the Spyder at highway speeds (ummmm, plus), and I've never once engaged the nanny since (at least, not that I've ever noticed). I've taken twisty turns and performed emergency swerves, in practice and for real, and again, I've never engaged the system, let alone "lost control" of my vehicle. Yeah, I'm riding the stock shocks at 5 and installed the anti-swaybar, but that can't be the ONLY explanation.

*If* I was going too fast AND swerving at that high speed, then yes, I'm sure I could engage the stability control system. And if I continued to ignore the Spyder's feedback, then I'm sure I could eventually exceed the limits of control, turn my three-wheeler into a two- or no-wheeler, and get in an accident-- just as one can push a motorcycle or automobile too hard.

Of course, this fact won't be enough to prevent some people from condemning the Spyder. They'll conveniently ignore that you could put an irresponsible on a white fluffy cloud and they'll still find a way to vault themselves over a guardrail.

Really, that 241 feet (!) deal is the most fantastic bit in the story. Somehow I suspect a little hyperbole at work. Perhaps later details will come out, but I would be very surprised if our suspended license holder was wearing a full set of gear-- which would make it unlikely he flew that far only to suffer a broken hand (he remains hospitalized... for only a broken hand??).

[NancysToy]

I think that it is more likely that the rider dropped a wheel off the pavement, which can be a substantial drop on some roads. At that point, it can take a very skilled rider to retain control at speed, as it is easy to hit something, lose control in the grass or dirt, or lose control when you try to instinctively steer back onto the pavement. As to the distance, there is no telling whether the police report meant the distance from the first excursion off road, the distance from where the Spyder came to rest, or something altogether different. Also no telling at which point the rider actually left the Spyder, as they were both still moving. I'll bet an accident reconstruction specialist would have fun with this one.

[Bob Denman]

They might have used the distance he travelled after realizing that he was gonna make the paper again for another wrong reason, rather than when he actually went ankleovereyeballs airborne...
The Spyder might very well cover a couple of hundred yards without an operator as long as most of it is still intact...
Mine still rolled with one flat tire... Hence the term "Limp Mode"...

[daveinva]

I think that it is more likely that the rider dropped a wheel off the pavement, which can be a substantial drop on some roads. At that point, it can take a very skilled rider to retain control at speed, as it is easy to hit something, lose control in the grass or dirt, or lose control when you try to instinctively steer back onto the pavement. As to the distance, there is no telling whether the police report meant the distance from the first excursion off road, the distance from where the Spyder came to rest, or something altogether different. Also no telling at which point the rider actually left the Spyder, as they were both still moving. I'll bet an accident reconstruction specialist would have fun with this one.

If that photo is more or less where the accident took place, he would have been making a nice left curve (not even a sweeper) on a highway in the right lane. Probably going so fast he either went wide and hit off the pavement, or he came up on slower traffic and lost control as he tried to maneuver. Four lanes across on a highway to hit the divider is one lonnnnnng trip.

[WingmanRT]

I think that it is more likely that the rider dropped a wheel off the pavement, which can be a substantial drop on some roads. At that point, it can take a very skilled rider to retain control at speed, as it is easy to hit something, lose control in the grass or dirt, or lose control when you try to instinctively steer back onto the pavement. As to the distance, there is no telling whether the police report meant the distance from the first excursion off road, the distance from where the Spyder came to rest, or something altogether different. Also no telling at which point the rider actually left the Spyder, as they were both still moving. I'll bet an accident reconstruction specialist would have fun with this one.

The wife and I were born and raised in that area so the article really caught my eye as we know I-71 pretty well. I Googled it and rounded up a few more details. Here's a few bullets I sent her and some of my Browns' fans buddies who know I drive a Spyder.

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/e...75988/32666793

Some additional notes:

• Police said Benard was driving north on I-71 when one of Benard’s tires came off the road, and he lost control of his three-wheeler. After slamming into the guardrail, his bike continued on for another 687 feet before stopping
• Cleveland police dispatch said the crash happened at I-71 northbound and Dennison near West 65th Street.
• Benard was charged with driving under a suspended license and reckless operation for the accident Monday afternoon on Interstate 71 North.
• He's due to appear in Parma Municipal Court on Oct. 18.
• Benard is making $525,000 this season. If the Browns place him on the non-football injury list, he'll be out for the season and the team will reserve the right to withhold the rest of Benard's 2011 salary, which works out to a little more than $30,000 per week.
• The standard player contract under the recently-expired collective bargaining agreement doesn't mention motorcycles, though a player's individual contract could. In paragraph 3, it prohibits players "from engaging in any activity other than football which may involve significant risk or personal injury."
• "If I was getting paid what they're getting paid," said Browns fan Tony Kreuter, "I wouldn't even get on a bicycle."

Thoughts:

1. Based on him coming to a stop 241 ft away and the bike another 687, he had to be flying. It's possible he had cruise control on and that's what kept the bike rolling/going, but given his driving record, it's more likely he has exceeding the 65 mph speed limit by more than a few miles per hour.
2. You can see from the photo there is no drop off (which freaks me out when I hit them). There are the warning (thump-thump-thump) treads on the side.
3. Not to go all CSI on you, but notice that the RIGHT tire is missing and he is on the LEFT side of the highway and there is no wall on the right side. How in the hell did this guy rip the tire off of the bike opposite from the wall? Except for the peg, handle bars and windshield, the left side of the bike looks untouched.
4. You can see another angle of the photo from behind at http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/210...cycle-accident

Here are some conclusions I have derived from all this:

• This guy's IQ and jersey number are identical if he was going that fast on 71 at 2pm on a Monday.
• Supporting the IQ assumption: flying as fast as needed to fly to do this; risking his $30k per week income. while under a suspended license.
• He is the luckiest SOB alive to WALK AWAY from that with only a broken hand.
• Unsupported assumption: three wheels may have saved his life. Picture that accident on two wheels. Without anything guarding those half million dollar legs.
• He should thank the Browns for suspending his pay, do his jail time like a man, and kneel in prayer in front of the wall he hit, all for being lucky enough to kiss his son good night again.
• More than likely: he will sue the Browns, the NFL, BRP and the Ohio Dept of Transportation for causing him to wreck, claim he is the victim and want treble damages for loss of pay and damage to his career, while carrying a handgun into court, cranked on meth. (Let's just say I have low esteem for most professional athletes' sense of entitlement.)
• I will concede he may be one tough SOB for bouncing off pavement after 241 feet and landing with as few injuries as he did.

[Bob Denman]

Thought number 3: My gut tells me that this bike was probably cartwheeling for a portion of this dance... Spin it on a couple of different axis... axises...axies??? ANYWAY... get it spinning and the damage will show up in the darndest of places!
I'd almost be willing to bet that he's no sorer from this than he would be from his typical Sunday afternoon in pads...

[Desert Spyder]

Judging by the video the bike hit the end, or the beginning, of the guard rail. That explains how the right wheel assembly sheared off, even the exhaust. How his freaking leg didn't get amputated is beyond me. And he's not talking very much. If nothing else, this proves the safety of the machine. But some owners have died for less.

[bruiser]

What a waste of a good ryde. I don't think the cruise control was still on after initial impact. Notice the left grip is missing, that would knock off the cruise. I do have two questions, how long has he had the , and how much ryding experience does he have?? High speed+inexperience=accident.

[SpyderLady]

It looks like he was riding an RS which does not come with cruise control