Just when U thought it was safe on the interstate

[HotRodZilla]

I agree that his reaction time was OK. He needed a second to assess the hazard. He did seem to be closing the gap between himself and the boat at exactly the wrong time.
Does anyone believe this was the motorcyclists fault or just that he may have been able to do a better job of avoidance? I believe it was 100 percent the fault of the boat owner who failed to properly tie his load.

Boat hauler is at fault. I was only pointing out that the rider could have done more to save his own skin. I watched it again, and he's still slow, sorry. He took too long to react to something changing in his environment.

Like you guys, I'm very wary of vehicles like that. He should have passed with authority, and if not, been ready for anything to happen. He wasn't. I'm betting if that video made it to the insurance company, they paid out quickly. Only an idiot would take that to court.

 

[Fred W]

... Sometimes I wonder why we ride in the sea of idiots that defines the rest of the denizens of the road.

... Regardless - I HATE (LOATHE) riding on the slab and will avoid it most days like the plague.

^ This. I do not like riding the slab very much when the traffic is light. In heavy traffic I'll either take a back road or a car.

 

[ericboutin]

Shoo Whee there is so much to say here and learn from it.....I gotta agree with Zilla and the "reaction time slow" folks......when something is bouncing down the road at me I don't want to be doing any kind of speed while trying to figure out where it's gonna go....I wanna be hard on the brakes so i can increase my distance to that thing and have more time to make a decision. Also shows just how important it is to be constantly scanning your environment....like said above he had a whole lane available to him but he probably didn't know it if he hadn't been constantly scanning all around him. And then I always think it doesn't much matter who's fault it is when you're on a bike, and then there is the riding attire......holy crap like I said there is a whole lot wrong with this picture! Lol and not to be morbid but I do like watching and talking about these things to learn anything you can from it. I know I've been guilty of all these things.....well maybe not riding in shorts on the highway....I can't claim that one....

 

[hppants]

Agree with A/J (a rare occasion, indeed...

) - Upon reflection, I would have passed that dude immediately.

Why do people driving/pulling/towing/hauling large loads, who understandably will be running slower than surrounding traffic, INSIST on getting in the left lane and holding up the rest of the world? Move your fat ass over to the right most lane, set your cruise control to 2 mph below the speed limit, and stay out of the f-ing way, man.

Further, we do people driving unloaded/unhitched/etc vehicles, that clearly have the power needed, switch in to the left lane to pass a slower vehicle, and then creep (CRAWL) at 1 mph faster than the vehicle they are passing, holding up dozens of vehicles behind them. When I am the first or second vehicle behind him/her, boxed in with no where to go, and people in front and behind me are getting as frustrated as I am, my palms start to sweat profusely. It's an accelerator - use it, *******!!! If you are that worried about the price of gasoline, then buy a bicycle and stay off the friggin highway!!!

Sorry... Pants gets a little snippy at times....

One thing I did learn about drivers in Europe - they know how to negotiate a highway. Talked to our cab driver in Barcelona - he said they are far more likely to get a citation for holding up the passing lane than for speeding. <<<<< we could learn a lesson from them.

 

[ionbeam]

^^^ Indeed, situational awareness helps avoid all kinds of pain. Be that pain from an accident or failure to have observed the nice police officer with the laser gun at the side of the road or the nice officer behind you with the radar gun

 

[Fred W]

Further, we do people driving unloaded/unhitched/etc vehicles, that clearly have the power needed, switch in to the left lane to pass a slower vehicle, and then creep (CRAWL) at 1 mph faster than the vehicle they are passing, holding up dozens of vehicles behind them. When I am the first or second vehicle behind him/her, boxed in with no where to go, and people in front and behind me are getting as frustrated as I am, my palms start to sweat profusely. It's an accelerator - use it, *******!!! If you are that worried about the price of gasoline, then buy a bicycle and stay off the friggin highway!!!

This happens because of speed limits and cruise controls. When average traffic is moving above the speed limit already, getting in the left lane and putting the hammer down makes you look like the rogue speeder. Also, when someone is trying to use their cruise control in traffic, they usually set it at X mph over the speed limit where they estimate they won't get a ticket. That sometimes means they are passing another vehicle going only slightly slower than they are.

Neither of which bothers me as much as the guy that passes you only to pull in too soon, (less than a second of following distance ahead of you) and promptly decelerates to below your current speed.

 

[Madmudder]

Neither of which bothers me as much as the guy that passes you only to pull in too soon, (less than a second of following distance ahead of you) and promptly decelerates to below your current speed.

So Fred, would you go to guns or missiles assuming this was an option in your next vehicle? I am personally still looking for the switch

 

[ionbeam]

I'd settle for a paint ball gun to mark the offending vehicle so the police can cull them out of the herd later. If I had heavy weapons available during my commute, by the end of the first week there would be only a few vehicles left on the road

If we had the option to mark offending vehicles there would be some completely covered in paint balls, clearly marking the vehicle to be carefully watched and avoided if not taken off the road.

I have seen several videos like the one the OP posted which should be shown to new riders.

 

[Tanker]

This happened here in the Mpls/St.Paul area in Minnesota.

It has been in the news a lot lately with interviews with the rider.

He is 20 years old and had just purchased the Yamaha R3, 2 weeks earlier. Likely his first bike.

He had just purchased the jacket less than an hour before the crash and had planned on getting pants and gloves next week with his next pay check.

He was very lucky to escape major injury and skin grafts. Hard to believe he could take a fall like that in shorts and tennis shoes and only have a little road rash.

I always avoid people hauling stuff on trailers, in the pick-up and on the roof. Too many changes for disaster for me.

 

[hppants]

Bet he is ATGATT now.....

 

[Northwoods Snowman]

Last year the sister of a high school friend was killed when a truck in front of her kicked up a chunk of wood and it went through her windshield. Sometimes things are just unavoidable, especially on a bike when they happen very fast, but all the more reason to give yourself the max reaction time possible. I agree that accident in the video could have been avoided with proper defensive driving.

 

[Fred W]

Sometimes things are just unavoidable, especially on a bike when they happen very fast, but all the more reason to give yourself the max reaction time possible avoid riding on a busy interstate highway whenever possible.

[soapbox]

Our current transportation system, relying nearly entirely on tractor trailer trucks to transport goods "over the road", is an abomination. It is far less economical in the big picture, as compared to railways or shipping, and makes life unsafe for everyone else that wants to share the highways with the behemoths. Trucks are the root cause of most daytime traffic congestion, require tons of tax money to support the infrastructure of their interstate routes, and erode the very highways they run on at an alarming rate, requiring more frequent upkeep of surfaces at the expense of taxpayers. I won't even get into the inefficiency of fuel energy having so many idling diesels clogging up our roadways.

These hidden costs to society are why they continue to be the primary means of cargo transportation in the US. If the trucks were actually paying the full expense that they cause shippers would find other ways to move things more economically, and your highway life as a driver or motorcyclist would be better.

[/soapbox]

 

[Bounce]

I'd settle for a paint ball gun to mark the offending vehicle so the police can cull them out of the herd later.

Funny. We had a discussion about this back in the Usenet days. We eventually came up with a system where everyone had paintball guns and you splat someone when they do something stupid outside the view of a cop. When a cop sees a car with sufficient splats, he stops and tickets them for being generally stupid.

According to the follow-on report, the driver of the SUV did NOT stop. He only came forward after the video was released through various local news outlets. So, only because he knew he'd eventually be caught.

https://www.twincities.com/2016/06/29/after-flying-motorcycle-goes-viral-suv-driver-steps-forward/