Second Near Crash Event Today!

[Lotsokids]

Alright, this is rediculous. About a year ago was one of my scariest moments riding a motorcycle. I was accellerating on a road leaving work, and a truck came to a complete stop in my lane (2-lane road) to pick up some passengers standing on the right side of the road. I admit, I was pushing it rather hard, so the problem was mine mostly. There was a car approaching on the left, so I couldn't pass. I had no other option than to hit the dirt on the right. Fortunately the passengers moved and I slid my FJ between the people and the truck and stopped about 15 feet in front of the truck without dropping it.

As I was leaving work today, I was again riding my FJ. There were a couple slow cars in front of me, so I passed them (not really pushing it hard - maybe 50 or 60 MPH). No sooner than I merged back right, I saw a bus move out into the road in front of me from my left at the EXACT location of near crash #1 above. He was just a few feet in front of me and I had nowhere to go but AGAIN into the dirt on the right. I slid the FJ between the bus and a road sign as the handlebars flicked back and forth violently. I'll admit I was very calm at the time, like everything went into slow motion. I was convinced this would end badly. The "pucker factor" meter was pegged. I eased it back onto the pavement and then my visor instantly fogged and my heart rate went through the roof. It's a rather nice defence mechanism the body has. I glanced back at the bus driver, and he flashed his lights at me. I felt like finding a rock to connect with his windshield.

Almost 27 years of riding, and only dropped a bike once - at about 3 MPH after installing new tires (slippery!). I want to keep that record, but after today, I'm pretty nervous.

[racerman_27410]

i believe i would start taking it extremely easy on that particular section of road in the future.

obviously it has some bad drivers using it.

i know all about the "adrenlin rush"   i had a close call this past spring on my DRZ400sm cutting a corner on a mountain road... my front tire was half off the side of the road , no guard rail and HUGE penalty for going off the side of the mountain.


my boot contacted the truck right behind the drivers door  and went all the way down the side of the truck.

i had to pull over and take my helmet off as i couldnt catch my breath just by opening the visor.

the driver of the pickup didnt even slow down .....if i had gone off the mountain there it would have been a long time before anyone found me... if ever.

you just have to ride like everyone is going to do the dumbest thing they possibly can right in front of you.


KOokaloo!

[tmkaos]

you just have to ride like everyone is going to do the dumbest thing they possibly can right in front of you.

You said it right there... Best bit of advice my old man gave me when he taught me to ride was "Ride like everybody else, pedestrians, vehicles, cyclists, EVERYONE, is there to kill you." He's a smart guy, my old man.

So far, 17 years of riding and only 1 major off, caused by a car not seeing me. 

Fingers crossed... For all of us..

Safe riding over Xmas you fellas,

James

[grannyknot]

The quote I remember from bike training is "Ride like everyone else on the road is blind, drunk and stupid.
You are invisible!" 36 years of riding and I've only dumped it once and it was all my fault, I was late for work and blasted through a stop sign.

[craigo]

The quote I remember from bike training is "Ride like You are invisible!"

+1 on that advise. Also, always anticipate what everyone around you is going to do. The initial action and reactions by other drivers around them. It'll always fall like dominoes and the pinball game begins, if you catch my drift.

My one bad fall was my fault.  I have never been involved in a multi vehicle accident with the bike.  Alot has to do with the fact that I will not commute on the bike.  All my riding is out in the mountains with very little traffic.

Be safe and have a Great Christmas,

CraigO

Arrive Alive, your family depends on it.

[bcguide]

Don't take this as finding fault with your riding skills but for me after every close call I try to find what I did wrong or what I could have done to advoid the incident
I read once that in Japan if you cause an acident you go to jail and if you were in a wreck that you did not cause but could have advoided you go to jail
I have tried to apply that to my riding

Scott

[FJmonkey]

Don't take this as finding fault with your riding skills but for me after every close call I try to find what I did wrong or what I could have done to advoid the incident
I read once that in Japan if you cause an acident you go to jail and if you were in a wreck that you did not cause but could have advoided you go to jail
I have tried to apply that to my riding
Scott

Wow! a new member with some interesting experience. Tell us more please. We are an inquiring bunch of FJ owners...Maybe even introduce your self...

[axiom-r]

Wow! a new member with some interesting experience. Tell us more please. We are an inquiring bunch of FJ owners...Maybe even introduce your self...

Intro 1: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3313.msg27579#msg27579

And again: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=4531.msg39963#msg39963


Scott has been here awhile.....  He has said hello before....

[Pat Conlon]

Yea, I agree with Scott..... You can be dead right.

[andyb]

I've never seen or heard of any wreck that wasn't the rider's fault.  Don't ride like you're invisible, that assumes that folks around you simply don't see you... which means you're assuming (read: guessing) on their actions.  If you are in a position where someone can hurt you while riding and you lack a usable escape or other plan, you're just rolling dice.

Right up there with people who insist on riding with their main beams on (I refuse to ride with those folks), which does nothing to a driver good or bad if they're not paying attention, annoys the good drivers who are paying attention, and gives bad drivers who pay attention something to target fixate on....  Magnificent.

Sorry, touchy subject for me   I've fallen off definitely more than once, and it's always fundamentally been my own fault for not reacting appropriately to a potential situation.

Glad you're okay, maybe take a different way to work, eh?

[Lotsokids]

I've never seen or heard of any wreck that wasn't the rider's fault.

I have actually seen and heard of many. In fact, at the end of my sport bike instructor training, a fellow classmate was hit by a Chevy truck after class. The driver was unlicensed and ran a stop sign, T-boning the bike. My buddy had absolutely no time to react and nowhere to go. He was riding a red bike and wearing red full leathers and obviously a good helmet. The crash put him in a coma for 30 days and left him with brain damage and paralyzed from basically the shoulders down with only limited use of his arms. Shortly after, he was discharged from the Air Force and never able to ride again (or do much of anything). The good news is that his new bride was able to take care of him and remained faithful and supportive. He told his wife, "That lady killed me when she hit me, didn't she?"

I have many other examples of riders being hit from behind at an intersection, cars turning into them, etc. None of these are the riders' fault.

It's a risk we all take.

[moparman70]

AndyB - I think most are all saying the same thing just interpretation -- riding like you invisible really just means you have to watch out for everyone -- My version is ride like you are being HUNTED -- I move through traffic and if I need to; lane split to get away from cages that have me boxed in ..I do blast by if necessary just in case they are a--holes ... I always used my mirror to see if any one is coming up fast behind ( helps see the law enforcement too) ... be aware of your surroundings and keep a safe cushion..etc etc...

I think the worst thing you can do is Drive a bike -- in other words drive it like a car -- staying behind folks .. just cruising in a lane without paying attention etc etc.

I make sure people see me and make sure I have an out ... SMITH system training for those who work and drive for big company ... mind you only part of that training works for bikes.

I am not sure where a sit with the high beams on during the day -- I used to but changed because I dont want my indicator light to burn out ... in may help or not ... I think the only thing keeping you from an accident is you ... you can't avoid it all but you can avoid 95 pct just by developing good safe techniques ... thats not saying you don't ride like you need to just saying you ride like your Hunted.

stevecc

stevecc

[andyb]

Lotsokids, when I say it's the rider's fault, I mean that I don't think I've ever heard of a single example that couldn't have been avoided or at least minimized by the rider's actions.

Getting hit by a truck?  Sad, but how do  you fail to notice well over two tons of metal coming your way?  

For example, I'm sitting at a stoplight.  i'm watching the light, of course, but I'm also watching behind me.  I'm in gear, holding the clutch, and watching the car closing the gap.  If his bumper doesn't drop a little bit from braking forces, I'm looking ahead quick and seeing where i can get to for safety.  Those are the actions that we take  to prevent accidents.  Watch the eyes of the drivers around you, see what they're doing, take note of what they're driving, maybe even their age and gender.  Stereotype a bit, it's not likely to make you less safe.  Watch where their wheels are pointed, watch the bumpers rise and fall as they hit the gas and brakes or watch the gap between the fender and tire change from the same forces.  It's a little draining, particularly in mild traffic in a city, but it beats ass over being in a massive wreck.

I can tell you exactly the last time that I was surprised while on the road (couple of deer jumped out on the way to work).  i cannot tell you the last time that I was surprised and unprepared for it (the deer were in a lightly forested section of town, it was night, aand I was going all of 25mph because I knew it was possible).

Rather than look back and say nothing could be done, look back and think if only the rider had <xxxx>.  When you're riding, prepare to do those things.  Safer that way.  If you're not paying absolute attention to your surroundings, you're begging for trouble.

[flips]

Hey there every one.

I thank my lucky stars....23 years riding on various bikes and haven't come off yet..(knock on wood  ).I love riding but hate riding in rain and traffic and avoid both situations if possible.I have had my fare share of close calls,the worst was on my very first bike (82 honda cb250n)going around a slight bend on a cement road ( old canterbury rd in summer hill for the Sydneysiders)just after some light rain going about 30k's/hr and hit some tar on the road that joins the slabs and I assume some oil, when the front tyre slid a bit then got traction,the rear slid worse then got traction,I held it together only to find myself on the wrong side of the road with a very large truck bearing down on me.Without really thinking I steered the bike towards the closest driveway and luckily made it.The truck took out my rear blinker and tail light lense as it went by.If I had dropped it I would have been road kill under that truck for sure.Just goes to show that even with the most careful defensive attitude bad shit still happens....SO BE CAREFULL OUT THERE!!!

Cheers and merry christmas all!

Jeff P

[bcguide]

Maybe we should start a thread about near misses acidents spelling and what you learned or would do differnt next time
I had a buddy drop in one day he told me he had been cut off 3 times that day We went for a ride and I watched a car pull out from an intersection  and almost hit him for the 4th time that day  Guess what it was his own dam fault he was tail gating the car he was fallowing this gave him 2 strikes against him
1 he could not see the car at the intersection and 2 the car could not see him In the end I told him it was his fault

My wreck
came up to an intersection a little hot turning right quick scan car coming hell I can beat him I'm on a bike right start to go for it then think noo i'm riding like a goof best stop and let the car go by next thing I know I am flying through the air over the bars I land on my feet slide a bit
my bike is lying on its side in the middle of the road The car behind me had  hit me The insurance found him at fault and payed for the repairs but I felt it was my own fault 1 I was not watching the trafic behind me 2 I gave the car behind me a false signal he thought I was not going to stop 3 suddenly changing your mind will often bite you in the ass

near miss
Wife and I were headed out to my aunts house we were going in to a blind corner I see a group of bikes coming at me I wave and check them out
I look back now all see is back end of a white van stopped in my lane oh  shit grab the brakes fear and adrenalin pumping crap I am not going to get stopped move over to the ditch it's got to be better than hitting the van oh oh the ditch is full of big jagged rocks I found room to ride by on the right and I put up to the front shaking and really to scared to stop some dumb ass is trying to turn off the highway across a double
solid line and there must have been 30 cars behind him
We were only minuits from my aunts house but I stopped at the first pull out and had a coffe until I quite shaking
what I did wrong not watch were I was going that 1/2 a second was crucial
What I did right was that I practice stopping as quickly as I can to keep that skill sharp


When I am riding I try to watch the trafic flow and be ahead of what the driver in front of me is going to do
Is he drifting in his lane most drivers drift over in there lane a bit before they signel and change lanes Watch ahead is the guy in front of you going to have to change lanes better not be in his blind spot or were you will get forced to make way for him.
Never go through an intersection with out checking for trafic right of way don't mean shit if you are hit


Scott