Fastest motorcycle crash survived

Motorcycle racer Jason McVicar (Canada) was travelling at an incredible 391 km/h (243 mph) when he lost control of his bike on Bonneville Salt Flats, near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. McVicar was riding at the annual Bonneville Speed Week event, in 2008, during which drivers and riders try to break as many land speed records as possible, when the mishap occurred. It’s believed the crash was caused when a piece of debris on the track punctured his rear tyre. Paramedics attending the scene of the crash were amazed to find him alive. He was taken immediately to hospital suffering a broken kneecap and friction burns, sustained through his leathers from sliding across the salt at such speed. Remarkably, he was discharged the same day. Sadly, however, his bike – a Suzuki Hayabusa 1300, at the time the fastest production motorcycle in existence – did not fare so well, being reduced to a burning wreck by the force of the crash.

The 16-km (10-mile) straight of compacted salt crust at Bonneville has been the site of many world land speed record attempts, including Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Blue Bird car in 1935. Prior to McVicar’s crash at Speed Week 2008, he had set a record of 407.64 km/h (253.297 mph), the fastest for an open motorcycle.