I saw first hand how quickyl an accident can happen

[zmeiaspas]

So I went for a little ride today and at one point there was a pretty long stretch of straight road ahead of me and no cars on either side. At first I got a little tempted to just open her up a little but I decided that my slow ride is more enjoyable and just kept on going at the speed limit (or 5-10 over).

The long stretch ended up in a right corner that wasn't all that sharp but still had an extremely limited visibility. So I was approaching the corner, got myself positioned closer (but not too close of course) to the double yellow and all of a sudden I see how a soccer mom in an SUV just pulls out from a street on my right side and makes a left turn right infront of me. She then sees me and proceeds to stop in the middle of my lane blocking my way. I get hard on the brakes and slow down to about 10-15mph and just go around her.

At this point I realized that this is exactly what it takes for one of those ugly accidents to happen - someone on a sport bike doing 130 on the straight, slowing down and taking the corner @ 80-90mph and just hitting the side of the SUV head-on.

When I was doing the speedlimit (50ish) I didn't even feel rush or anything like that as I was in perfect control and knew I could stop but had I gone 80+ it could have turned out pretty ugly.

Anyway, just thought I'd share I learned a valuable lesson today - if you don't see ahead always assume someone is waiting for you to take you out!

Peace :rockon:

 

[ELIZABETH]

I'm glad things turned out well for you. Stay safe!

 

[jmerch44]

I think you could have took the van straight up. :thumbup:

 

[FZ1inNH]

I have those thoughts of coming around a corner and meeting an unmovable object all the time. It keeps me riding sensibly.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

This would have been a perfect opportunity to you use your horn, assuming you have a 140db Stebel Nautilus horn. Her ears would still be ringing!

My mouth was just watering reading your story. I dream about these type of moments, but they haven't been developing for me lately.

 

[wrightme43]

You kill me Kenny!!! You need two air horns man!!


I like how they stop in the road to make sure they get you too. Stooooppiiidddd cagers.

 

[chuckfz6ryder]

I'm glad you were riding in control and it wasn't a big problem. I hate when people do stupid things like that, but I don't understand why they just stop and look like a deer in the headlights instead of completing their maneuver. I was on my bicycle coming slightly downhill around 30 MPH on a wet road when an asshat coming the other way decides to take a left in front of me, then he stops once he's completely blocked the lane with his car! I wanted to reach into his car and wipe that stupid look off his face. People always say "I didn't see you", but you can't see if you don't even look!

In Massachusetts, probably like everywhere else, we have alot of older people that shouldn't be driving and they have been causing lots of accidents lately. One elderly driver was driving with 3/4 mile unobstructed view and hit a kid on a bicycle that was crossing in a crosswalk with an adult, reason for accident.... "I didn't see them"

I was out for a ride today, got onto the highway, accelerating hard to avoid getting run over by the people approaching the exit ramp which was about 600-800 feet past where I was getting on. Meanwhile someone had pulled over and was stopped in the brakedown lane and was attempting to get back into the travel lane, the cager in front of me decides to STOP and let the person in the brakedown lane enter the travel lane (remember I'm accelerating hard and watching over my shoulder to make sure the lane is clear to enter). WTF is wrong with people. On the brakes hard and looking behind me to make sure I'm not going to get run over!

Sorry to complain, but this is my first week back on the bike this year and I'm always surprised how much more you notice this crap when you're on a bike, guess it's because you're life depends on it.

 

[lonesoldier84]

Had almost the exact same thing happen to me on my trip thru BC.

i was approaching a town, and had slowed down because of that fact. i had been cornering quite aggressively and using the rather short straight sections to pick up speed before trail-braking into the corners. it was great fun. but im glad i slowed down for the towns because on one blind corner i came around a corner to find a lady backing her truck out of her driveway. Now she could have done this differently, she had AMPLE room to make a U-turn without getting on the road and then merging in properly.

Instead she drove backwards onto the road thinking "oh its a slow day for traffic anyway". So here i come around the corner and brake hard and go around her. If I hadnt slowed down for the town and outskirts of town with its many driveways....I would no doubt have plowed right into her.

lesson: if there is ever the slightest possibility of danger....play it safe. That has been my riding motto: if you have slightly less fun that day...it is outweighed by the fun you will have over the many years of riding you will have gained in your future.

 

[zmeiaspas]

VEGASRIDER: :rof:

chuckfz6ryder: what really amazes me is that if that happened to me while I was in my car I would have gone bananas. I don't know why but all the dumb **** that cagers do don't actually piss me off when I'm on the bike. For example, about 30 minutes later I was approaching an intersection and the green had just lit up so I kept steady 25-30mph. For some reason, however, the people doing left turns didn't care about the red light and 3 cars just continued with their left turn maneuvers even though I was approaching and they had a red light. To top it off, they went out of space and simply parked in the middle of the intersection and blocked both of the lanes on my side of the road. That thing would have made me go ballistic had I been in my car but on my bike I just slowed down, went behind the bumper of the guy blocking the intersection, ignored his completely blank stare and went on my way. I guess I get angry out of boredom and those cagers are doing their best to keep me entertained at all times

lonesoldier84: glad you made it out in one piece too man! And that's a great motto you've got there :thumbup:

 

[lonesoldier84]

I like how they stop in the road to make sure they get you too. Stooooppiiidddd cagers.

ya thats how that lady in the car picked off wavex isnt it? she pulled out and stopped not once but twice i think lol.

RIP Black Naked Ninja 2.0.....you were a beautiful machine. One of the best ive seen.

 

[cv_rider]

I remember reading/hearing how it seems some people are always having close calls, and some people never seem to have any issues. Of course it's not luck - it's a matter of riding slow enough that you can compensate for whatever happens in front of you without drama. As you did. Smart riding.

Most of the time, we are only a second or two away from a really bad accident - car in the next lane lunges over, deep pops out, whatever. Must be alert every moment.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

This a great example of how Riding Strategy works. Combine that strategy with knowing how and where to look just makes you even a better rider.

Just get use to using that horn!

 

[Tailgate]

On one---and I'm sure this applies to EVERYWHERE---CA mountain highway there are many side road (some dirt) where entering the roadway can be risky given that the line of sight might be very limited due to a curve. Several times, I have entered the highway and gone the "wrong direction" just so I could find a safe spot to turn around and go the direction I wanted to. Sounds like this lady in the minivan should have done the same thing, huh?

 

[Kriswithak]

The only reliable thing on the road is the stupidity of practically every other road user. If your able to think of the stupidest thing they could possibly do, and how it would go wrong then your a step ahead, because thats what they'll do time and again!