Lost a Fellow Commuter This Morning Riding Into San Francisco

[HIGHLANDER]

Looks like they caught one of the bastards !! :yahoo:

https://www.ktvu.com/news/11591734/detail.h...an&psp=news

 

[Last Chance]

James,I am sorry for your loss...however Keep the Faith.

Drinking water in California causes death...so freaky things do happen...in cars too.

One thing that we must appreciate about the FJR, it sure in Nimble & Fast to keep us out of most dangerous situations. I think riding a little faster ahead and out of traffic has its advantages...cruisers tend to mosy in the traffic and get into more situations regardless of how loud their pipes are.

My thoughts go out to you and give my regards to his family.

I agree, totally! However, I can attest to the fact the CHP doesn't subscribe to that theory. Well, maybe the motor officers do a little. After my "interaction" with one of the states finest, I am trying to devise a "method" of commuting home in the dark in the crazy run-up to stop and go that doesn't "irritate" the LEO's so much. I cannot afford another one like the one I got. 1st ticket in 12 years in one of my personal vehicles. I tried to explain to the D.A. babe that I just wasn't comfortable when a automobile "snuggles" up to me and then seems to pursue me at triple digits after I "scooted" through traffic to find a "quiet place". Wish he had turned on his lights a little (5 miles) earlier. I would have been subjected to a lot less stress! Hmmm #1 on the bigger mirrors and "cruise control".

LC

LC

 

[Last Chance]

I was watching this link, getting all bummed and pissed off about the rider killed, when at the end of the video the news team films a rider entering the "kill zone" where the other guy died yesterday--and I'll be damned if he doesn't almost get killed! It's all caught on tape.
BTW, that's the pavement I cross every morning. I always pick the left of those two lanes (well, the one the rider was killed in yesterday). Apparently what happened was that the car driver made a last-minute decision to bail out hard left into the parking lot. Which one of us geniuses would have seen that coming? (I know, every last man jack of you except me.) ****.

JB, maybe so maybe not. My theory is that any "opening" large enough to squeeze a vehicle through, going anywhere is highly suspect. It's been my experience that drivers in CA seem to consider such openings as "freeways" to get over, around, under anything and anybody in their way. So, if a car will fit and it intersects with the road you are on, expect someone to use it. Usually when you are there.

Be careful, JB. I'm really looking forward to my retirement to a sparsely populated state and becoming a hermit!

LC

 

[James Burleigh]

JB, maybe so maybe not. My theory is that any "opening" large enough to squeeze a vehicle through, going anywhere is highly suspect. It's been my experience that drivers in CA seem to consider such openings as "freeways" to get over, around, under anything and anybody in their way. So, if a car will fit and it intersects with the road you are on, expect someone to use it. Usually when you are there.
Be careful, JB. I'm really looking forward to my retirement to a sparsely populated state and becoming a hermit!

LC

Since the accident that is the subject of this thread, I have become much more aware of those openings you describe above. So yes, I agree. It is a corollary of the advice never to get between a car and an off-ramp. That's just one example of the general principle, in fact, which includes side streets, driveways, and exits into parking lots before going through a toll booth.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Last Chance]

JB, maybe so maybe not. My theory is that any "opening" large enough to squeeze a vehicle through, going anywhere is highly suspect. It's been my experience that drivers in CA seem to consider such openings as "freeways" to get over, around, under anything and anybody in their way. So, if a car will fit and it intersects with the road you are on, expect someone to use it. Usually when you are there.
Be careful, JB. I'm really looking forward to my retirement to a sparsely populated state and becoming a hermit!

LC

Since the accident that is the subject of this thread, I have become much more aware of those openings you describe above. So yes, I agree. It is a corollary of the advice never to get between a car and an off-ramp. That's just one example of the general principle, in fact, which includes side streets, driveways, and exits into parking lots before going through a toll booth.

Thanks for your advice.

Well, it's not always possible to anticipate everything. What scares me is I sit up above it all day/night in my big rig and see it all. Cars careening through traffic at high speeds like they are running an obstacle course. Never signaling. Plus all the normal idiots; people on cell phones, eating, reading, watching movies (the drivers), tailgaters, people jumping across several lanes to get off, merging without looking, the list goes on and on. In my big rig it doesn't bother me, because I know most likely if they choose to commit suicide by running into me, I will most likely survive relatively intact. I'm a lot more nervous driving my car and truly PARANOID on a motorcycle.

I agree that cruisers kinda "amble" through traffic and have a lot more vehicles making "near misses" from the back and sides. I've been watching them and others trying to develop a "CHP" proof technique for survival. Spent a few days over in the truck lanes and I can shield myself from the cars (to some degree) that way, but I am not comfortable riding a MC close enough to a Big Rig to provide adequate "protection". Remember the "drafting big rig" thread? I don't have a problem during the day as I can adequately "inventory" all the cars behind me and to the sides that I'm usually able to maintain a safety cushion in all directions. However, at night with these lousy mirrors it is much more difficult to do. All I know is my "If in doubt, get out." defensive driving strategy cost me $332 and 2 points. It's a conundrum!

I guess rather than "Ride Safe", I'll start saying "Ride Lucky".

Ride Safe and Lucky,

LC