• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

Got a full face helmet? or Killer Balls of Murfreesboro!!!

furyfrog

furyfrog

Member
Member
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/29/errant-golf-ball-knocks-out-tn-motorcyclists-teeth/
Text copied below:

Motorcycling has its hazards. Otherwise inoffensive everyday objects from small stones to birds and cut grass can turn your day from a pleasant ride in the countryside to a quick skid across the pavement. Just ask an unnamed husband and wife who were recently cruising along in Tennessee. The couple were riding down South Church Street in Murfreesboro when a golf ball from a nearby golf course came sailing through the air and busted out the woman's teeth. According to police, the man reported seeing the ball bounce across the road and into his wife's face.

Surprisingly enough, she kept her machine upright and was soon transported to a local hospital for treatment. Officers located the wayward golfer, who admits he saw his ball fly toward the road, at which point he heard screams. The police also searched for the ball in question and found several, though none had any evidence of dental work.
Click to expand...

The ironic part is that after reading posts from all the east coasters on here about riding through there I was looking at it and some other rides in the SE area for future planning purposes. I'm gonna go ahead and cross Murfreesboro of the list...
 
... or avoid hooks and slices... and wear a full face helmet.  Personally, I've been lucky and like to joke that you should always carry someone else's business cards when you play (maybe all those business cards people push on you when you least want them).
 
Patrick said:
admits he saw his ball fly toward the road, at which point he heard screams
Click to expand...

Yet did nothing about it? Could have been far worse, someone could have been dying on the side of the road all alone, but after hearing screams, what did the golfer do... go back to playing? This woman is maimed, scarred for life, and the golfer was only hoping nobody noticed.
 
the golfer yelled the required "fore!" when he saw the ball going towards the road, but the bikers pipes were too loud to hear him.
 
I don't think yelling fore relieves you of any responsibility for for your negligent actions. If you run over a pedestrian with your car, should you continue on you way without stopping, just because you blew your horn before hitting them?
 
I used to play A LOT of golf until a certain Kawasaki interviened on my behalf.  I hate playing courses where long par 4s or 5s were lined by a street or, worse yet, houses / condos.  You tee it up and you just know in the back of your head that the %*^& ball is destined to go anywhere but straight down the fairway.  Don't know if it's true or not but I was taught that the player was legally responsible, not the course, for any damage caused by errant golf balls or thrown clubs.  On the other hand, I am always amazed at homeowners who think that their property somehow has ans invisa-shield surrounding it.  And apparently, the planning boards, zoning commissions, developers and realitors bear no responsibility for putting folks lives at risk of serious harm.  (Where's those damn regulations when you really need them?)  I've yet to meet a golfer who, at one time or another, never hit a ball 150 yards sideways.  It's gonna happen.  Like Ranger Jim said, watch out around courses.  A golf ball headed your way as you drive past is probably more likely than a deer crossing your path anywhere else.

All that said, just as a frickin' member of the human race, that golfer had a responsibility to see what havoc he'd created the same as if he'd hit someone with his car.  In Waterbury CT, someone's trying to open up a gun range 135 feet from an elementary school.  Stupid and irresponsible happens all the time.  Really? Seriously?
 
apparently my joke didn't work. oh well... :)

I fully agree that the golfer should have checked out the situation.

I grew up behind a golf course. Par 5 ran along our back yard. One of our neighbors got hit in the head with a bad hook. It travelled at least 100 yards off the centerline of the fairway to hit her where she was in her yard, and that included coming thru a treeline that was probably 50' wide with fairly old, large trees.

One of our favorite pasttimes as kids was to run out and grab the golf balls after the golfers hit them. They were 150+ yards away, we could dash out, grab the ball, and be gone before these old guys in their carts could make it halfway to us. Most of the time we'd pick them up and throw them back towards them. One time a guy came chasing us, golf club at the ready, beet red from having to actually exert himself. It was pretty funny back then, not so much now.
 
wow, they had the manpower to devote to locate an errant golfball? If they had found it, would they have tested it for dna? or put it on the witness stand? I can picture it now, golfball's attorney- " sorry your honor, but my client's deviation was caused by a bad swing on the golfer's part"
 
Its the riders responsibility to protect their face . I bet she will ride again without proper protection and if she is hurt again it will be nobodys fault but hers .
 
Nonsense. That's like saying it's a girl's own fault for getting raped because she was wearing a short skirt.

What if it had been a pedestrian walking by? What if it had been a car with an open window?
 
Well we are not talking about that now are we . This is about being protected on your own bike.....with a proper helmet . It could have just as easily been a bird or a kids ball that hit her....gonna sue kids and birds for being kids and birds ?

There's all kinds of stuff flying around out there ready to hit us as we go down the road wihout the cage around us . Its pure common sense to be protected .....but common sense ain't too common .
 
That's right- it's much more important to look cool when you ride. Anything that happens to you is always someone else's fault.
 
cra-z1000 said:
Well we are not talking about that now are we . This is about being protected on your own bike.....with a proper helmet . It could have just as easily been a bird or a kids ball that hit her....gonna sue kids and birds for being kids and birds ?

There's all kinds of stuff flying around out there ready to hit us as we go down the road wihout the cage around us . Its pure common sense to be protected .....but common sense ain't too common .
Click to expand...

No, we are talking about a golfer who hit a woman in the face with a golf ball then tried to act as if nothing happened. If a golfer had thrown a bird or kid in the woman's face, he would still be liable for damages and it would be the golfer's responsibility to pay for damages, not the bird or kid.

You did not address my question... Are you saying pedestrians should wear full face helmets and body armor all the time now? There's no cage around them.

The golfer heard screaming, and didn't go investigate. That is purely irresponsible, in the extreme. Even if he had not been the one to hit the ball... If you hear someone screaming for help, common sense says you need to go see what's going on.

And it has nothing to do with looking cool. How the heck can you say it's not the golfer's fault? If I am walking down the sidewalk and get run over by a truck is it my fault because I was looking cool?

And I am not arguing about whether or not you should wear a face shield when riding... that is really another topic altogether.

We could go through dozens of what if scenarios... but really, it really boils down to a golfer who accidentally hit a woman in the face with a golf ball. The fact that she was on a motorcycle is irrelevant, she was doing something perfectly legal. There are two parts to this issue, hitting the woman, and not coming to her aid. For the first part, there are two facts we know. One that the golfer hit the ball. He caused the motion of the ball, therefore he is responsible for the damage done by the ball. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous. And two, the ball hit a person and caused damage to her.

If the woman had been riding on the golf course, where she should not have been, then sure, it would have been her own fault. And yes there are people who believe "Anything that happens to you is always someone else's fault" but that isn't the case here. That anyone would suggest the woman is at fault for not wearing enough gear is just mind boggling. You are really saying it was her fault because she is on a motorcycle, because you certainty would not blame her if she had been walking, would you? You might as well be arguing for the banning of bikes altogether.

DanL said:
That's right- it's much more important to look cool when you ride. Anything that happens to you is always someone else's fault.
Click to expand...

Danl, turn that around... and you could say "Anything that you do to someone else is always the fault of someone else". That would be more applicable in this case. That is your argument in this case.
 
Actually I still would say its about personal responsibility . Pedestrians need to be wary also around dangerous areas like golf courses , public hunting areas....everywhere . Yes if the golfer knew he hit her he should havee helped but he definately should not be held liable for making a crappy golf shot unless he was aiming at her .
 
I am just floored you would say that. Unbelievable.  :-[

Of course it is about personal responsibility. The fact that it was an accident doesn't make the person who caused it any less responsible. It only makes it non-criminal. Hopefully, he has personal liability insurance, if not he should reimburse the woman for her medical expenses out of his own pocket.

And to say that a golfer shouldn't take responsibility for hitting a pedestrian, because the pedestrian should have been more wary? I can't even respond to that it is so far out there.
 
Whatever....we live in different worlds I guess . Its sue happy folks like that who have driven the cost of medical care through the roof . A friend of mine was hit with a baseball at a game recently and the thought of sueing the ballpark or player never crossed his mind . Those are the type of people I hang around with . All he had to say was....damn I should have been watching .so good luck with all that .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top