Ticabus hits, kills man

Was on a Ticabus yesterday and somewhere maybe 30 minutes from Choluteca (heading towards Tegu) and everything was smooth... untill the bus sounded it's horn a couple of times (cruising along at a good pace) and then all of a sudden skidded to a halt. The driver's helper jumped out and ran back and checked on the what apparently was a guy. Completely without a doubt Dead.. sin duda. We were on our way literally within 20 seconds...
I could say more but not now. That is a shity, sad experience. You know, they didn't even move the guy's body off the road.... road kill.
Makes you think... value of life???

On the bus South to Panama from San Jose, our driver killed a bicyclist. Night time and the biker had no lights and was weaving across the road. Police arrested our driver and held the bus for evidence. A replacement bus fetched us an hour later. The reaction of my fellow passengers seemed much the same as in England - shocked and silent.
I got hit by a truck from behind while riding my Honda 125 in Tierra del Fuego. My fault, the road was sheet ice.I shouldn't have been riding. I had to argue with the cops to have them release the truck driver. A doctor set the leg in the kitchen of the Hotel Argentino in Rio Grande. For anyone interested there is a description on my website http://www.simongandolfi.com

May have been suicide. In that case, "Man hits bus" would be correct phrasing. Motion is relative.

Happens all the time. The Pan Am Hwy going from Mexico to Panama is a 2 lane road, with all the commerce for 6 countries going in each direction, cargo trucks, busses, farm equipment, crazy drivers, drunks, people, old jalopy's, and add to this no shoulder, speeding, mountains, steep turns, fog and mist, and you have a recipe for death.

The #1 cause of death in Costa Rica is car accidents. When I see a poster say they want to bicycle in CA, I cringe, on the secondary roads fine, but the main hwy is a zoo, even in a 4x4 is no easy task, being alert on defense is a must.

I have seen 3 people killed in CR, one a moto hit a pot hole and swerved in front of a bus, bus had no where to go, he was killed. I saw a guy pass a bus and get hit by a cargo truck that knocked the car down a ravine like a train hit it, guy was a goner, and the nuttiest was a truck passing a bus, and car pulled out, all three smashed into the mountain side, and closed the highway for 4 hours outside San Jose. The truck driver and cars passenger was killed.

Its hard to witness, you feel like a soul has just left earth, and I usually have to head to a church for a prayer and some reflection on life. Stays in your mind a long time, and its a tragedy for all.

The worst I have seen was a motorcyclist in Italy, on a Ducatti flying about 200KM on the hwy between Rome and Naples, they are in full leather and swerve in out of and between cars, as a motorcyclist myself, i was amazed at the risk they took in Italy on both mopeds and motos, but anyway, this guy went into a off ramp and braked to avoid a slow car that had no idea he was coming behind him so fast, and the moto hit the guardrail and sent the driver at least 200 feet thru the air back onto the highway where 3 cars hit him, the moto was in a million pieces, and the driver looked like a noodle, every limb broken. The police got there and just put a sheet over him, it happens all the time there I am told...

Man, that shook me up big, as I have a fast bike that easily gets to 200KMH in less than 10 seconds...and I am only in 4th gear...with 2 more to go!

I was in BA a while back and the front of a bus clipped a woman as she crossed a busy main road. It dragged her forward a few feet and then as she started to go under the front wheels she let out this most painful cry of shock and resignation. I think that sound stayed with me with greater clarity that the vision of seeing someone being killed....

Man, exactly, I'm always incredulous when people talk about biking in CA, I've seen a lot of dead bodies in the road in Honduras and other countries, too many

Incredulous? I rode 60000 Ks through the Americas, north to south and back. Venezuela was the one country that scared me - city thru-ways. The police were running a TV warning: 35,000 deaths on the roads.
http://www.simongandolfi.com

Hey Simon....

How is life? Long time no hear Amigo.

Tim

Got hit by a car two years ago. Young woman driver walked over crying. Told her to quit crying, that at my age I should be dead. Got on my Yamaha and took off. Hurt for about ten months but eventually stopped.

Simon--did you write your book yet?

I am certain the only reason they stopped was to see if he had any change in his pocket.

value of life? Isn't that some liberal western value?

Have been shocked at this issue in many countries worldwide. Was on a bus in china in 2002 that slowed down to watch a woman have an epileptic fit in the middle of the highway ..... and then just kept going. Happy to be where i am .....

The only time I ever gone down on the moto, get this, was in a National Park, early morning, fog and mist, sun was just coming up, and a Moose charged me, it was cliff on my right and shear rock on my left, chose the gully between the road and rock wall face, and put her down on its side at 45 degrees, only scraped the under side, but it took me 45 minutes to get it up and out of the 1ft deep gully, by building a rock ramp.....that was real fun! No sooner I got it out and was resting and checking all the underside for damage a ranger came by, he got a real kick out of my story and said a deer jumped out on a guy a week earlier and they airlift him to hospital....

Well although there seems to be so many of us who have seen someone getting killed.... it sucks none the less. This time I did not actually SEE the death. It's a weird thing anyway. Last time was in Cali, Colombia where I saw someone cowering on the ground putting his hands up as if to sheild..... the bullet that killed him. He was trying to car jack the wife of the man holding the gun, but it ABSOLUTELY sucked to see anyway.

And as for, "value of life? Isn't that some liberal western value?"

Well, as it seems, in Ticobus "land", at least in Honduras, there IS a dollar value of a life. So explained the driver's helper who by chance took an open seat on the bus that came by and picked many of us up. And from what he said, that value depends on wheather someone has family or not. Guy said the man looked to be 50 to 55 years old. If he was a lonely (or at least an alone) campasino then that value would probably be $0. If he had a wife and kids than he said that they would probably get somewhere between US$5,000. to 6,000. I kind of believed him as as many of you alluded to, this probably happens from time to time.

re: 17
"it took me 45 minutes to get it up"

Solo, is this really the proper forum for such a topic?

re: 5

Boomer, where be "BA"? Typoland?

For once i agree with EddyVonSchnitzel. I really don't think this is the proper forum for Hobo to discuss his abilities to remove chrome when going down on his moto.

Gosh, I may get banned again!

..get with it Snr Keeper....BA is how us traveller dudes refer to Buenos Aires....tchoh!.....