Stinking Cager!!!

[DaSpyda]

Didn't they teach you to stop pointed in a "getaway" position with the bike in gear and watching the rear mirror for people not stopping???
Glad it wasn't any worse, but people get killed because they have no where to go when they hear those tires squealing.

Let me get this straight, the only words you can come up with are to blame the rider who was sitting there like a sitting duck? I'm sorry, but I really get tired of hearing people who act like a rider can always avoid an accident. I see posts like yours more than I care to. Sure, I believe in defensive driving as much as anyone, and it has saved me a lot of accidents. But I'll never blame the innocent and act like they did something wrong.

Uh, no, I wasn't blaming him...the OP's description of the incident didn't specifically talk about this (yet he clarified it later) and it was offered as a tip, not a judgment.

 

[Barabus]

Was it hit and run or did the cops respond and tow the car away? What was the outcome? Please don't tell me that you let her walk.

 

[jjsC6]

Didn't they teach you to stop pointed in a "getaway" position with the bike in gear and watching the rear mirror for people not stopping???
Glad it wasn't any worse, but people get killed because they have no where to go when they hear those tires squealing.

Let me get this straight, the only words you can come up with are to blame the rider who was sitting there like a sitting duck? I'm sorry, but I really get tired of hearing people who act like a rider can always avoid an accident. I see posts like yours more than I care to. Sure, I believe in defensive driving as much as anyone, and it has saved me a lot of accidents. But I'll never blame the innocent and act like they did something wrong.

Uh, no, I wasn't blaming him...the OP's description of the incident didn't specifically talk about this (yet he clarified it later) and it was offered as a tip, not a judgment.

Okay, I'll admit that is a hot button of mine and I was overly blunt myself. But go back and read you post and tell me you don't think it came across as blaming the innocent.

 

[Toecutter]

Didn't they teach you to stop pointed in a "getaway" position with the bike in gear and watching the rear mirror for people not stopping???

That's my M.O. whenever I start slowing down, but it's kinda tough when you're the first one to stop and the escape route is into heavy cross-traffic. If you stop short, the traffic sensors won't notice you.

A lot more people are going to two-wheeled forms of transportation these days, and collisions will increase accordingly, especially for those who weren't very good drivers in their cars. I'm seein' lots of scooters out there, with riders barely legal on the ATTGAT. It's shaping up to be a bloody summer....

 

[big ears]

When stopped I always try to check in the rear view constantly but things will happen. I hate cellfoners.

 

[slo-ride]

Was it hit and run or did the cops respond and tow the car away? What was the outcome? Please don't tell me that you let her walk.

No. It was not hit and run. I called the cops (Rookie no less, looked like Opie from the Andy Griffith show) whose name was "Cannon" (how cool is that?). Anyway, he took all the information down, and I requested an accident report to be filed. He told me that she will be getting a ticket for (1) following to close, (2) the accident, (3) failure to have proof of insurance, (4) no license. That should be around $1000.00 for her. I sure hope that cell phone call was worth it.

 

[keithaba]

Was it hit and run or did the cops respond and tow the car away? What was the outcome? Please don't tell me that you let her walk.

No. It was not hit and run. I called the cops (Rookie no less, looked like Opie from the Andy Griffith show) whose name was "Cannon" (how cool is that?). Anyway, he took all the information down, and I requested an accident report to be filed. He told me that she will be getting a ticket for (1) following to close, (2) the accident, (3) failure to have proof of insurance, (4) no license. That should be around $1000.00 for her. I sure hope that cell phone call was worth it.

If they catch you with no insurance in KY, you go directly to jail.

Too bad it wasn't in Kentucky....

 

[ctfjr]

Just a couple of comments -

First (and most important) congratulations on really what was a near miss. If dumbo had hit you dead on, even at low speed, you guys would have been sore puppies, at the least.

There was a thread here yesterday about cheap insurance and the op's comment when I said no underinsured or uninsured coverage was included was simply that he didn't need it. Well lets say your dumbo really put a hurt on you. . .

Two years ago I was at a stop sign in a cage. Another dumbo on a cell phone made a left turn into the street I was stopped at. She hit me head on while I was stopped. A little crappy accident, my arm just hurt - I was able to drive my car home. But wait - the short story is she ruptured two discs in my neck, out over 3 months after cervical fusion, permanant damage to the nerves in my arm. She only had $100K liability - not enough

You dodged a close one - good for you!

 

[Kaelaria]

Get the lights.Get the reflective material.

Get seen.

You forgot:

Get hit (still).

 

[SacramentoMike]

Boy, here goes. I'm thinking I can't write what I'm thinking without pissing somebody off, maybe lots of folks so I'll shoot for maximum diplomacy. First, of course you should try to leave yourself an out at a stop. Of course you should have all the lights and reflectors, front, back, and sides, your bike and gear can carry. Naturally you should wear ALL your gear, ALL the time. Will some bonehead hit you anyway? It's damn possible, sooner or later. Will you get hurt anyway if he does? Pretty likely. Will you get hurt as badly if you're wearing the gear as you would if you're not? Probably not, usually. Do you improve your chances of avoiding getting hit if you leave yourself that escape route? Damn right, some of the time.

It's all about giving yourself whatever edge you can get and stacking the odds just a little bit better in your favor. We all hear the rules and the advice; some of us follow them, or some of them, some, most, or all of the time. If you can improve your chances at all, sooner or later you might save yourself some trouble, expense, or pain. That's the best we can do. It sure doesn't help anybody to say "this won't help" or "that doesn't work." If it EVER helps or works, then why the hell would you not do it?

 

[double_entendre]

Boy, here goes. I'm thinking I can't write what I'm thinking without pissing somebody off, maybe lots of folks so I'll shoot for maximum diplomacy. First, of course you should try to leave yourself an out at a stop. Of course you should have all the lights and reflectors, front, back, and sides, your bike and gear can carry. Naturally you should wear ALL your gear, ALL the time. Will some bonehead hit you anyway? It's damn possible, sooner or later. Will you get hurt anyway if he does? Pretty likely. Will you get hurt as badly if you're wearing the gear as you would if you're not? Probably not, usually. Do you improve your chances of avoiding getting hit if you leave yourself that escape route? Damn right, some of the time.
It's all about giving yourself whatever edge you can get and stacking the odds just a little bit better in your favor. We all hear the rules and the advice; some of us follow them, or some of them, some, most, or all of the time. If you can improve your chances at all, sooner or later you might save yourself some trouble, expense, or pain. That's the best we can do. It sure doesn't help anybody to say "this won't help" or "that doesn't work." If it EVER helps or works, then why the hell would you not do it?

FWIW, in addition to watching the mirrors when I'm sitting (i.e., a sitting duck) at a light, I like to flash the brake lights at people approaching from behind at varying intervals just to draw attention. Some quick taps of the lever, long holds, vary it up. I like to think that it catches the eye, though I could be fooling myself. Maybe it just catches the eye of the folks who are paying some degree of attention anyway. The willfully blind and blind drunks it probably does nothing for.

Rancho

 

[slowpoke]

You were lucky. I know a guy who was seriously injured and another was killed.

 

[Radical]

BackOff Lighting.

 

[Spook]

BackOff Lighting.

The muzzle flash of my 9MM Sig or the laser sight.

 

[slo-ride]

BackOff Lighting.

The muzzle flash of my 9MM Sig or the laser sight.

Trust me, I had my 40 cal Springfield on my hip and had to restrain myself from shooting holes in her tires and leaving her on the side of the road. :angry:

 

[Fred W]

All this before I took my wife out for her first ride and a dang cager, who was talking on the phone, nicked my left saddle bag as she failed to stop behind me at a yield sign. She had no license or insurance. I only have a small scratch below my reflector. We were lucky!

OK, I don't get it. She didn't go to jail for driving without a license?

Or do you mean she has one, but did not have it with her?

Was it the same thing with the insurance?

 

[slo-ride]

All this before I took my wife out for her first ride and a dang cager, who was talking on the phone, nicked my left saddle bag as she failed to stop behind me at a yield sign. She had no license or insurance. I only have a small scratch below my reflector. We were lucky!

OK, I don't get it. She didn't go to jail for driving without a license?

Or do you mean she has one, but did not have it with her?

Was it the same thing with the insurance?

The deputy told me I could leave the scene of the accident since I and my wife were ok and the bike was only scratched. Before I left, he told me that the cager driver would be getting a ticket for following too close. However, at this time she had been searching for her insurance papers for about 10 minutes and had yet produced a license. I left the scene but if she did not have a license then she definitely was in a world of sh&t and likely had her car towed.

 

[James Burleigh]

Sorry to hear about your accident.

These days when I'm commuting in slow-and-go traffic, sharing lanes, I take pleasure in reminding drivers on the phone with their windows down to pay attention by giving them a little [SIZE=36pt]BLAST[/SIZE] of the ol' Fiamm Freeway Blasters....

 

[slo-ride]

I just received the police report in the mail today. It looks as though she does have insurance so I might actually be able to get this repaired without any money coming out of my pocket. Hopefully... :clapping:

 

[SacramentoMike]

I just open up my face shield at every intersection and sing a few bars of the Gotterdammerung from Der Ring des Nibelungen just as loud as I can, myself. It sounds so bad everybody stays as far away as possible. Slo, you had your m/c license for one day, you're riding two up, and you're already on about "stinking cagers?" How did you feel about them the previous day? Wow, you must have been assimilated super fast. I don't like to see any m/c get hit or go down, but I think you need to do just a tiny bit of introspection here, my friend.