Michelle Obama's van involved in Iowa crash

Oh boy...wait till the freaks who got their panties in a bunch over the flag pin get a hold of this.

This title seems pretty sensational given that, as the article mentions, it was the motorcycle that hit the van. It certainly leaves the impression that Michelle Obama is at fault for this tragedy, which isn't the case.

OK... you deleted John D and REFUSED! to run my post, agreeing with him whole-heartedly...

NOW I see why this is the LIBune...

I am shaking my fist in anger.

A couple of months ago, the Swamp had an item about a police officer being killed while with the Bush motorcade and strongly implied the officer would be alive if it weren't for the motorcade, that it was Bush's fault.

Sooooo, I guess this motorcyclist would be OK if it weren't for Michelle and Barack???

And this was posted here because... ?

WAS THE BIKER PASSING LEGALLY ON THE LEFT? MAYBE THE BIKER'S SPEED SEEMED HIGH BUT THE VAN'S SPEED WAS SLOW? THE VAN WAS TOTALED....YEAH, RIGHT. DID THE 22 YEAR OLD DRIVER GIVE A TURN SIGNAL PRIOR TOTHE LEFT TURN? PROBABLY NOT. YUP....LETS BLAME IT ON THE BIKER....AS ALWAYS!!!!

Well....just think, if the [mother] of Timothy Emerson ,41, of Iowa Falls,Iowa had aborted him (with approved democRAT and Barack's values of the right to choose) 41 years ago...this never would of happened.
Our [real] prayers go out to him and his family.

Paulo

The title does not appear to be sensationalized, just mentions the most famous person present during the accident. Turning left while crossing into traffic is a very typical situation that could lead to an accident. Not sure why previous poster is so quick to assess blame on the motorcycle driver. I do not believe that the author implicates anyone with what is reported.

A frequent cause of motorcycle accidents is auto drivers not seeing them and turning in front of them.

Yes, the author implicates the motorcyclist. The author states the "van was struck". Author clearly in bed with Obama and should be fired.

A couple of months ago, the Swamp had an item about a police officer being killed while with the Bush motorcade and strongly implied the officer would be alive if it weren't for the motorcade, that it was Bush's fault.
Posted by: John D | October 9, 2007 9:09 PM

Patently untrue. Your sense of paranoia is treatable with medication.

If anything it sounds like the article goes out of its way to not blame the campaign van for the accident.

It is entirely plausible that the van driver turned across traffic while the motorcycle had the right of way and causing the motorcyclist to not have enough time to react.

It sounds to me like they are suggesting the motorcyclist, driving straight somehow wasn't paying attention to the van in their way. Seems less likely to me.

Sometimes a duck is just a duck.

Yes - this is news-worthy but is it debate-worthy?

Better yet - is it left/right/wing-conspiracy-theory worthy? Get real, America!

Thank God everyone's ok.

I think people are missing the point here,
shouldn't they have been driving a hybrid vehicle instead of a gas guzzling van?

Nobody appears to be asking the real question here: was the mini-van black enough?

As the van prepared to make a left turn into the driveway of the lodge, the unidentified motorcyclist, also traveling north, attempted to pass the van. When the van turned, the vehicles collided, Vietor said.
From the globegazette.com

Did half of you even take english class growing up?

If the motorcycle struck the van, it's because the motorcycle was moving towards the van. How hard is that to comprehend?

That doesn't state at all who's at fault, the van could very easily have pulled right in front of the motorcycle, causing him to t-bone the van. It's just proper english.

Regardless however, this is not her fault. She's just a passanger, just like if your taxi driver slammed into someone, it wouldn't be your fault.

Since this is the first time reported in the news, the driver probably has a clean record, and there is no way to test a random freak accident.

The tragedy is this crap happens all the time, people slam into motorcycles because they are moronic and glance instead of actually looking down the road.

I hope this motorcycle driver recovers quickly and gets a nice settlement out of this.

You could keep opining and assuming. Or you could actually read the Post article that's linked.

Key quotes:

As the van, driven by a campaign aide, started to make a left turn, a motorcycle that had been traveling in the same direction and rapidly passing cars on the left crashed into the van's left side.
....
"He got in a little bit of a hurry and tried to go around everybody," said Mark Kellar, a friend of Emerson's riding another motorcycle. "I didn't believe he was going that way at an intersection. He went around two other cars that he shouldn't have."

I'm a biker, and lord knows I've seen folks turn left in front of me a number of times. It's been scary. That isn't what happened this time. As much as folks on bikes love to blame the cagers (cars), sometimes the biker makes the error.

"A report from the Hampton Police Department said the van carrying Michelle Obama was trying to make a left turn when it was struck. The motorcycle, which was three vehicles behind the campaign van, attempted to pass and struck the left side of the van, the report said, while traveling on the wrong side of the road."

I agree the article did seem to go out of it's way not to implicate the van driver.

Just another "I didn't see him" accident.

Also the story's title is misleading Michelle Obama was merely a passenger.

Ah I see, I just read the summary, not the incident report. I stand corrected.

The Washington Post article said that the motorcycle was passing the van and several other cars carelessly. It even quoted the rider's friend as saying that the rider shouldn't have been doing it. He was riding carelessly, and it was his fault.

At least she didn't kill anyone like Laura Bush.

The motorcycle and the van collided. This item/article seems a bit "spun" in favor of no-fault on the Obama van driver.

I mean the van was making a left turn. I learned 40 years ago in drivers ed that a vehicle making a left turn yields to all traffic. Also, where I learned to drive the left hand lane IS the passing lane.So how was the van in the way of the motorcycle.

THe kid driving the van needs to learn to use his side view mirror before turn or moving out of a parking space on a street or I forsee him taking out another cyclist again.

But I predict the fall out of this event will be minor compared to the ammo the other side has to use to discredit Obama--from Rezko deals to supporting Stroger as a reformer to endorsing the local dictator DALEY etc. etc.

Rofl only in politics can a car collision turn into a stinking battlefield. Thank God nobody died. I'm happy everyone is okay.

Let's get to the real issue at hand; what was served at the luncheon?

You guys are all complete morons. This was a car accident, no more no less. If any of you have been in a real car accident, which I doubt, it's never clear who is in the right or in the wrong, especially when you're getting info from a third party source. So shut up with your whining and pandering about Obama and trying to make it political like a typical bible -belt lobbyist.

Left hand lane is the passing lane? Its a 2 lane highway so there is no passing lane. And we do not know if there was a solid line or a dotted white. Whoever taught you that the driver turning left must yield to passing traffic needs to go back to school themselves. I have never seen an intersection that was not marked with a solid line prohibiting passing.

From the Washington Post article:
"He got in a little bit of a hurry and tried to go around everybody," said Mark Kellar, a friend of Emerson's riding another motorcycle. "I didn't believe he was going that way at an intersection. He went around two other cars that he shouldn't have."

It would seem that the motorcyclist got careless. The article also states that the van was "undriveable". My best guess is that the fender was bent into the tire, not that the van was 'totalled".

This isn't even worth a comment

Let's stop debating the "important" non-related issues and get to what everyone wants to know. Who in the van was wearing their flag pins? Was anyone cited for failure to properly wear their flag pins while en route to a campaign stop?! Let's stick to what's important here :)

...this is a better top to the story. the headline is a little inflamatory. this would clear it up quickly.

"Neither Michelle Obama nor any members of her husband's campaign staff were injured when their minivan was involved in a serious collision with a motorcyclist this afternoon in northern Iowa.

"The motorcyclist was injured in the collision. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where, a nursing supervisor said, he was treated and released.The van was seriously damaged and towed away."

Once again the media is representing this accident of a case where "the van is hit by a motorcycle." Guess what, people, when a vehicle makes a left turn and is struck by another oncoming vehocle, IT IS THE FAULT OF THE PERSON MAKING THE LEFT TURN!!! This happens all the time to motorcycle riders because people in cars are only looking for other large objects and dont notice motorcyclists. Obviously Michelle Obama is not responsible for this crash but the driver of her van probably is. The reason it matters to me is, how would you like to be driving down the road minding your own business when a car makes a left turn right in front of you and you slam into the car! The people in the car are unhurt, you are badly injured, and the media blames you for the crash!!! Talk about literally adding insult to injury!!! It happened to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and it has happened to this poor guy in Iowa. I know this country hates motorcyclists, but come on.

Remember, headlines are designed to get your attention with only a hint of the truth. There are a lot of assumptions being made about what happened. So I will make my own. As a biker I have my own experiences and perspective on which to base my assumptions. Probably what happened was there was a string of cars following, and possibly in from of, the campaign van, all going to the same place. If that assumption is correct, the speed of all these vehicles, the convoy, was probably a lot slower than the posted speed. As they approached their destination, they began looking for the turn, and slowing even more. As a biker, I can understand the rider's frustration in this situation. The urge go pass and get around them is strong, and in this case, it looks like the biker judged wrong. What would be nice to know is: Were turn signals used? Was there a solid line violation? The information is sketchy at best. What I can say is that this was not an accident. It was a crash and was avoidable. If the biker would not have passed; if the driver of the van would have checked his rear/side view mirrors before making the turn; if a change in any of several other factors would have been made, this crash could have been prevented. What it all boils down to Ms. Obama was not at fault. Was the biker acting irresponsibly? This does seem to be the case to some extent. He took the risk, but this time it didn’t pay off. The bottom line is, watch out for motorcyclists, we are dying to be seen.

Headline reads:
" OBAMA CAMPAIGN VAN TURNS INTO PASSING MOTORCYCLE "

MACK and Trent: The van was in the left lane, and the motorcycle was passing it illegally from behind at an intersection, *left* of the left lane. You can yield to traffic you see, but not to traffic you don't. Sounds pretty clearly the motorcyclist's fault, even a friend who was riding nearby said so.

Hadn't heard about the Bush incident, but a quick search shows it was a police officer who was with the motorcade, and his speed may have been an issue. Wouldn't call it Bush's fault, by any means, but if the motorcade had been smaller, or moving more slowly, who knows...

Of course the headline is "sensational."

The phrase "Michelle Obama's Van" was chosen because it connotes ownership and suggests Obama was driving. AOL would have added, "Was she Hurt?" An alternate - and more honest - headline might have been: "Van Carrying Obama's Wife in Iowa Crash." Sensation is about selling papers, boosting circulation and baiting Web site clicks, folks. There IS no honest journalism anymore.

The majority of motorcycle accidents are caused by cars turning left in front of motorcycles without regard for the bike. If this accident was caused by careless driving on the part of the van's driver, that fact should be reported and charges should definitely be filed in order to make an example made of this kind of carelessness.

Why did I know that John D would not be able to resist making a dumb comment.

Okay, I'll be praying for the 41-year old motor cyclist who hit the side of the Obama van. But, how is this newsworthy info from the Obama campaign? What has this to do with anything beyond validating the dangers of wild and crazy middle aged men clumsily muddling through the crises of despression and anxiety born pathetically from their fighting every minute of the human aging process by carelessly abusing some form of high speed vehicle on our public thoroughfares? I don't mean to be insensitive, but I'm not seeing a clear campaign news connection here.

Was the guy a Republican on some failed MK-Ultra mission to assure "THEM" that Shillary will get the Democratic nomination for 2008? At least the subtly hinted conspiracy of Manchurian Candidacy would have been captivating. But, this ridiculous ploy of allowing the gullible public to draw its own ludicrous conclusions from this much pitifully twisted information is outrageous, and should be benath you people. Shame on you people. That was so Fox News. You're better than this, much better than this.

I used to ride a bike with a little sign that said "Everyone's Drunk" on the tank... reminded me that if I was stupid enough to pass people they would probably turn in front of me... between dialing the phone, making text talk, having a cup of coffee...the last thing anyone's doing is looking out for some stoopid biker...and damm sho nuff...a lot of em are DRunK!

Sincerely
Al

OMG it was a car accident I sure don't see any arguments as to who was at fault for the other million accidents that happened that same day!

Why is it when someone "famous" is involved everyone turns into a CSI? Where is your copy of the police report? Were u on the scene?

I would love to see where some of u get your statistics as well "A majority of motorcycle drivers are struck by people making left turns" "most of em are drunk" Where does this come from? I love homemade statistics!

U are all worse than paparazzi!

Buncha sausage brained morons!

I ride all the time and people screwing up just comes with the territory.

FTW. Forever Two Wheels!!!

Look, I've been riding a motorcycle for years. Regardless of fault, someone who chooses to ride a motorcycle needs to pay attention to everything around them. Passing three cars on the left hand side that are going slow (with a driveway to the left) at one time is NOT a smart thing to do.

Yes, everyone should've been paying attention but the motorcycle rider should've known better. Hence, it's why most people should never ride a bike...if you can't pay attention to everything around you, you're bound to get in a serious accident.

Jordan Whichard is a horrible driver. I know this for a fact. It was without a doubt his fault. He was probably trying to change to that Pat Green song he really likes on his "has not been updated in over 2 years" IPod. Gosh, I can just see Whichnasty pacing and biting his fingernails right now -- sweating in those weird places.

Mr. Obama needs to get a new driver for him and his wife. That was a very dangerous accident his wife got into due to the driver.

Adam
www.Nawlist.com