Forced off the road

This is a very common accident for motorcyclists and should be noted. Alot of car drivers aren't looking for a motorcycle and as we are aware of this and need to excercise extra caution not only passing traffic as this biker was doing but in all we do when riding. The main mistakes as I see it in the video is the biker should have used more time before utilizing the passing manouver by giving a signal and giving the car driver time to see him and that he was in fact going to make a pass. If you notice on the dash of the bike, no signal was given. Clearly the car in front of him was not trying to run the biker off the road as the car was in fact passing the car in front of it and did not utilize their mirror for a safe lane change. Also notice the car only gave a signal of their intended lane change slightly after the car started to change lanes. Add these things together and the biker loses everytime. This accident could have been avoided and clearly both were at fault. The anger here is IMO not justified. PM. <><

Exactly the reason I had white paint on my side bags at WFO-5.

Interaction with an E350

Lucky enough to save it, haul on the anchors and tuck back in.

And +1 to Painman's analysis, it was my fault.

Chris

I saw that coming as soon as he started to pass - let's see - you are behind aggressive driver(s) who are probably thinking the same thing you are - pass the slow ass up there...hmmm.

And he should have hit the brakes rather than tried to swerve.

Kaelaria said:

I saw that coming as soon as he started to pass - let's see - you are behind aggressive driver(s) who are probably thinking the same thing you are - pass the slow ass up there...hmmm.
And he should have hit the brakes rather than tried to swerve.

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+1

JW

Dumb move on the riders part. If you are in a hurry....stay home.

I had a similar incident on the Long Island Expressway coming back from EOM in September. The guy never bothered to check his side view mirror and pulled out into me to pass the car in front of him. I ended up in the broken glass, car parts, and gravel lining the median wall to avoid him. Couple more inches and I would have been fucked.... <_<

The "two seconds behind" rule and some patience are always in order.

This scenario also reinforces why I have never been a lane splitter.

h34r:

V GER said:

The "two seconds behind" rule and some patience are always in order.
This scenario also reinforces why I have never been a lane splitter.

h34r:

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Properly done, lane sharing can be safer than sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, waiting to get tagged from behind. With the right amounts of concentration, paranoia, and discipline, it's actually quite safe.

V GER said:

The "two seconds behind" rule and some patience are always in order. h34r:

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Unfortunately on a road like the LIE where 3 lanes of intense traffic are moving at 70 mph (or not at all) there is no such thing as a 2 second rule. The 2 second gap you leave gets instantly filled by another opportunistic driver.

If you watch carefully at the end, it *looks* like he/she got up so that's a good sign.

But +3 to others, you could see it coming a mile away...

A similar thing happened to me on the way to work this morning. As others have pointed out, I could see it coming and got a head start and avoided being hit. I was passing a slower vehicle, I was in the fast left lane, the slower cage in the right lane, (4 lane median divided state hwy) we were approaching an intersection. I saw a car to the right/intersecting road performing one of those............I ain't slowing down for sh!t merges, which in turn forced the car which I was starting to pass over into my lane. Fortunately, I saw it all coming together before it happened and had already rolled off the throttle and had gotten on the breaks, moved over to the left side of the lane as far as possible and squeezed in just behind the rear bumper of the car w/a couple feet to spare. 3 kids sitting in the back seat turned around and looked at me......guess momma was taking them to school, all I could see was 3 sets of wide eyeballs looking back at me from the rear seat. Momma got back over in the right lane as soon as she was clear again, I passed her and caught up w/the car that caused it all, pulled up along side, stayed along side staring a hole through the driver's window, the coward would not even look over at me........what a pri#k

V GER said:

The "two seconds behind" rule and some patience are always in order.
This scenario also reinforces why I have never been a lane splitter.

h34r:

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Lane splitting is illegal in AZ.

That rider should have EXPECTED that car to do just what he did. All vehicles out there are trying to kill me and I stay as far away from them all as I can. When I'm near another vehicle I expect them to try to run me over....It's all part of the game. Smith System rule #4, Leave Yourself An Out.

LC :dribble: Oh, I do lane split, but I do it verrrrry carefully and slowly.

Before retiring from my sales job, I put on 40 to 50,000 miles a year, covering Maine and northeastern NH. What used to piss me off was all the drivers who didn't signal before pulling out to pass, or to change lanes. If everyone would give a signal for 2-3 seconds before pulling out, many events such as this wouldn't happen.

I still laugh........on the way to EOM last year, we were cruising along with the traffic on a NY interstate, a guy on my right in a Mercedes....ya know how ya just have a feeling he's half asleep?

I had my horn button and front brake covered...sure as hell, he decides he wants my lane. When he got within a foot of the center line I gave him a full blast of my Magnum Blasters. I thought he was going to lose control of his car and bowels as he swerved back in his lane.....the look on his face.....PRICELESS. :yahoo:

Clearly the riders fault. I had something similar happen to me though (not my fault of course). I was following a tractor trailer that was behind a slow moving car. We came up on a long passing zone. I was in the trucks mirrors, and waited 5-10 seconds for him to pass. When he didn't I passed him. About the time I was at the rear wheels of the tractor he pulled into my lane. Thanks to the shoulder and the excellent acceleration of the v65 I made it. I suspect the trucker was pretty darned scared too after he saw me.

On the other hand the magnas anemic horns did nothing over the noise of the truck. The FJR has magnum blasters.

Another case for LOUD horns. The more ways we can signal our intentions, the better.

If i was able to walk after that,and the guy stopped. I would be going to Jail... Need not to say any more .. :vinsent:

+4

around these parts nobody seems to know what a turn signal is nor do they even look in the side mirrors.

I also think being thrust junkies we want to pass as quickly as possible and seems that cager underestimates the roll on speed. - ridin in heavy traffic tires me out. watching the cagers eyeballs in the rearview/side to make sure they see me. I always ride with high beams during the day can't say it has saved me from an accident but makes me feel better. number rule I learned while living in Europe - let the idiot aggressive driver go, you'll be passing them soon enough cause they tasted the guard rail or just went off the road-cagers and bikes!

+100 on all stated about rider error. He was basically asking for it. You can blame the cager until you are blue in the face, but the reality is that it doesn't matter whose fault it is if you are killed in the accident.

I am glad when I see these things (as long as no rider was hurt), because it pads the numbers, and it makes the sport statistically safer for those of us who follow the safety rules of riding. Not to mention the rules of physics!

-BD