Motorcyclist injured; slid > 100 yds.?

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
May 4, 2010

An article in today's Northwest Herald elaborates on an earlier report of a motorcycle injury accident on Saturday, when Steven B. Radak, 23, lost control of his motorcycle near Algonquin.

Radak was traveling east on Cary-Algonquin Road in unincorporated McHenry County, when he bit the dust. According to the press release on which the article was based, "He slid more than 100 yards before coming to a stop in a ditch."

More than one hundred yards? That's more than the length of a football field. The only way I can imagine a motorcyclist sliding more than 100 yards is if he was sliding down an embankment, and that's even hard to imagine.

How fast would you have to be going to crash and slide 100 yards?

Radak was transported to Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, where the article said he was in good condition yesterday. He's lucky; very lucky.

Crotch-rockets are built for speed and often ridden in excess of posted speed limits. Drivers, remember these bikes present a small profile when coming toward you. It's easy to misjudge their approach speed and distance away, if you are pulling out at an intersection.