It is most unfortunate that such fatalities occur during a special event as Bike Week. Maybe a mini bus service might be the answer to bring in the bikers to the downtown core from a parking lot dedicated to just motor cycles. Closing the downtown area to all vehicles might be the answer and reopening for a special events drive for a couple of hours each day.

The biggest problems I see in drivers is the careless disrespect for others while driving a motor vehicle. A lot of drivers are rude ,aggresive,and lack the patience to drive safely. I've been passes by cars on my scooter ( Harley Davidson ) to have the car in front of me at a traffic light 20 miles up the road. They put my life in danger to gain 20 feet in 20 miles. No ammount of law can create in these people a good heart. A good thumping will. My Dad made me living proof of this method!!!

T.J. The problem I see with your solution is, these accidents are not happening on Main Street, or Destination Daytona, or the Iron Horse. They are happening on the roads and highways in the surrounding area. What you are suggesting is that we have Bike Week with no bikes. What we would be left with is a bunch of guys and girls running around town wearing leather. That isnt Bike Week. Its a Village People concert.

The number of fatalities is realivent to the number of Bikers that participate, and although the numbers are astonishing, it is still based on the law of averages. Everyone should consciously work together, and these events go much smoother. We saw a horrible accident on Hwy 1 and felt as though to take a break off the bike. If you have had too much to drink. Park and get a Burger and take a Break, we all know our limitations! Wolfeman 181, The folks that I talked to had more instances with run ins from other Bikers almost hitting them. Not by Drivers in cars. We all are aware of the risks, and should practice driving our Bikes Safely,
But when your time and number is up. That is between you and God!
God Bless the Families of those we lost this year. I have said prayers for you all, I am truly sorry for you losses. Be safe and Happy Motoring!

I have been going to Bike Week for the past 15 years, and the biggest dangers that I've encountered have been from Car drivers being impatient and intolerant of motorcycles. In almost every case, the cars have Florida license plates, and you can see the angry looks on the faces of the drivers as they weave in and out of traffic at high speed to get around groups of bikes. I've seen bikes forced out of their lanes and sometimes off of the road by these people who seem to give no thought to the safety of the riders. Unlike the comment above, I have had no memorable close calls with other bikes, only with car drivers who use their vehicles as intimidation to force bikes out of their way. There was no excuse for the two pedestrians being run over near the Broken Spoke. This is in an area where there is a heavy police presence, and plenty of signs warning drivers to slow down and proceed with caution.

Q: What's the difference between a Harley and a Hoover?

A: The location of the dirt-bag.

Drinking and riding is asking for trouble. Distracted, careless (or impaired) car and truck drivers are also a whole other problem in themselves.
It would appear not enough people take life and death risks seriously on all sides of the equation.
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I have been riding a bike since the age of 15, I am now 59. My wife and I enjoyed bike week for the two days that we attended Daytona from Winter Springs. The only problem we had was the kids on the crouch rockets, in between cars at speed reaching 100 miles per hour from Winter Springs and Daytona. Come you guys their are other people on the highway besides you! I was doing 75 and some nut went between me and another pickup side by side inches apart. If you don,t respect other peoples driving, trust me it will hurt you more than me when we collide.

i just got back from bike week with my husband i guess riding on the riding on the bike i was able to really look around and the problem i seen was the florida residents in there cars so annoyed with people riding there bikes they cut you off just so they can get around you they have no respect for other people on the road we had a couple people blow there horns at us and we were doing nothing but sitting at a red light if i could of got off that bike quick enough i would of put that horn where it doesnt belong florida residents are rude alot of them better remember they are transplants there also and they do not own daytona i think florida during bike week should double fines if a car is involved with a biker and jail time maybe they would think twice about cutting people off

I guess most of the people commenting here have never seen a motor cyclist riding drunk, Or riding the white line to get to the front at a red light. Or skating between lanes narrowly missing a car on each side in order to pass both of them ILLEGALLY!!! Or have never been passed by a motorcycle traveling about 90 or more MPH. Im a motorcyclist as well as a life long Daytona Beach resident, as in born and raised, not a transplant. (We leave that to Palm Coast) The facts are pretty clear. If you read the reports, you will see that more than half of the bike week deaths this year did not involve a car, and one of the ones that did was a motorcycle speeding down US1 when he lost control and slid under a van. I mean, how dare that van stop at a red light. The nerve of a driver in a van obey the law so a biker could not break it. Get serious. People need to start being responsible for their own actions. Karen, you say that the residents dont own Daytona, well guess what, neither do tourists. If it is so bad here, and you hate coming for Bike Week so much, stay home next year. The rest of us will have a great time without you and we will realize, if you attend an event that is built around alcohol and motorcycles, there are going to be accidents. As for your comments about Florida Residents being rude. In the south, we consider it rude to come to our house and try to tell us what we should and shoudl not be doing. You dont make the rules here, we do. Dont come to my house and try to change the rules, and we wont do it to you. If this is the attitude you want to take with a community that chages everything about their way of life for two weeks out of the year to accomodate your vacation time, please remember this, I-95 has a north bound lane, and the south bound lane is optional. If you choose to exercise the optional south bound lane, please obey the rules. Rule number one, dont generalize the entire state because you encountered a few idiots with Florida plates on the highway.

We had a great time, it is our 4th trip in 4 years and we stay in New Smyrna Beach. For the most part, fellow bikers were responsible and rode well. I have to admit that there were many idiots on rockets doing crazy things. But I will tell you that in my 40 years of driving and riding, today people are crazier, disrespectful and go way to fast. One drives with a cushion of safety in front of them and somebody cuts in front of you. The traffic on I-4 was crazy with wild 4 wheelers and 2 wheelers. I have driven on I-75, I-4 and I-95, it doesn't matter, the majority of drivers are nuts and going to fast and yes they are Florida and out of state drivers. SLOW DOWN AMERICAN AND "ARRIVE ALIVE"! Remember that slogan years ago!

Hey Mr. BGands- 19 Bike weeks in a row and I will take your advice and Take I95 north and stay there.
Florida is a funny state- as long as you're spending money they love ya- as soon as it's gone you need to be as well.
Well my friend greed knows no limit in your fine
town and when you "locals" realize what you had
and it's all gone- then you won't be so "cocky"
about the people that keep your taxes low and your
roads rebuilt every year.
But don't take my word for it -let the numbers
speak for itself- 900,000 in 2000 and a mere
250,000 this year.
Our money can be spent and welcomed in other
places than good ole Fla..

Oh geeze. Mikee isnt coming back to Bike Week. What ever shall we do? Did I hit a nerve Mikee. As I said in my post, if you are one of the ones who wants to come here and tell us everything that is wrong with Daytona, and what we should change, then Im sure I speak for all of Daytona when I say, we would appreciate you staying home or going elsewhere. Oh, but you didnt come here and say that did you? You more than likely had a great time, partied hard, only to go home and trash Daytona on the internet. As for your claims of 900,000 in 2000,,, HA. There have never been that many bikers here. In fact, there have never been taht many people here, INCLUDING THE LOCALS, during Bike Week. To quote Motorcycle.com "In its best years, Bike Week drew in somewhere up to 500,000 riders and race fans." The decline in attendance this year is due to the economic situation. Half of "facts and figures" Mikee is FACTS. So like you said, let the numbers speak for themselves. And I stand by what I said. The unfortunate thing is, you will more than likely not stick to your promise of not coming back. You will probably come here anyway, and whine and complain next year that the locals were rude, and drivers are careless. You might even post another comment about it next year forgetting completely that you vowed not to return. Thing is Mikee. We have never complained about bikers coming here. We have in fact embraced them. Its not at all the bikers that we have a problem with. Its the posers who ride into town on motorcycles thinking the world is at your every beck and call because you came to Daytona dressed in leather on two wheels with a wad of cash to try and buy our approval. The ones thinking that when they hit the pavement, cars should pull over, drivers should exit their vehicles, and wave flags and banners to praise all who are here, keeping our taxes low, and rebuilding our roads every year. Fact is Mikee, if none of the sniveling, whiney, posers had shown up this year, the estimates would have been a bit more like 249,950. Unless you are saying that far more of these bikers are whiners? Dont expect us to sell out because you want to feel special.

Here is a link to the Motorcycle.com article so you can see for yourself. The link so you can see that quote for yourself is More ...

I just wanted to make a quick comment on loud pipes - they are annoying and should be outlawed as a public disturbance. While living in the Keys I experienced their version of bike week several times and was always happy to see the bikes ride out of town when it was over. Back in 2002 my neighbor was crossing US 1 in his wife's Saturn only to be hit by a biker doing about 90 MPH that was weaving past cars on his way down to the city at the end of the road. The biker died instantly and my friend was mentally scarred for life. Its hard to object to what people do for fun in a free country, but public safety and concern for other peoples right to peace should not be neglected in the minds of bikers.