Never cross over into opposing traffic. There is rarely enough time to think about what's the best way to avoid impending disaster. You have to rely on learned reaction and moving to the right as the other driver approaches from your left is the learned reaction. Also, if you do something that is not what other drivers expect, even if it seems like the better alternative, it can make the situation worse by drawing other vehicles into the mess. The only time you may not want to go to he right is on a multi-lane highway.
Sorry but I still disagree. I'm well aware of that if someone is behind the out of control motorcyclist that could make the situation worse. That's really obvious.
It's also obvious what the learned reaction is. It's instinctual, to want to move away and avoid the collision. it's what anyone would normally do without thinking.
But I still say there's going to be a fraction of a second one will have to make a decision, and still be able to swerve the other way. And if in that time, you see the rider (like this one in the beginning of the turn) isn't going to make it... well... swerving to the right is simply an inevitable crash, I mean he's already leaned the bike as absolutely far as he could, he's obviously going too fast for his abilities, there's no recovery for him.
Mostly I think of this because of that guy named Mac. Quite a few years ago he did more or less the same thing this rider did (it too was at The Gap), lost control in a corner and went too wide. In his case, he side swiped a motorcyclist coming in the other direction... and cut the guys leg off.
So yeah, if the other rider had swerved left then immediately back to the right, he may have been able to avoid the entire thing...
Sorry Azitiles...You're on the wrong track with this one. You are free to argue your point all you want, but 15 years of experience trumps theories and belief every time.
In a perfect, theoretical world, your proposal may be the better reaction, but it's missing too many variables.
First, the Dragon is heavily traveled. What's the bike/car/truck behind the offending bike supposed go do when his lane is suddenly full of Corvette? The Corvette driver is experiencing tunnel vision too and is not processing much beyond the collision he's about to experience. Breaking that tunnel vision takes extensive practice and is hard to do.
That driver absolutely does not want to move left into the oncoming lane. The offending rider is in that predicament because of his mistakes, but the people behind him are most likely in their lane. Also, that crash is going to be a sideswipe collision, where moving to the left would probably result in a full face head on collision with a much higher rate of fatality.
In the depicted crash, all the responsibility lies with the MC rider. If the Corvette driver had moved left and avoided that rider, but hit another, he would hold the responsibility for crossing the center line and causing the crash.
A few years ago, I responded to a crash where a guy, illegally driving a tractor trailer, did just what you're suggesting. He was traveling south on a 4 lane road separated by a double yellow. Something happened in front of him. Don't remember what for sure, but I think the guy in front braked hard. The truck driver was going to hit the first guy and braked and swerved.
The road shoulder on the truck driver's right was sloped, so he was afraid he may roll the truck and get fired, so he swerved left, over the double yellow into oncoming traffic. He hit a plummer in his work van and crushed him between the steering column and the protective steel cage that prevented the supplies from flying forward.
The van driver died a horrible death. I sent the truck driver to prison for vehicular homicide. He shouldn't have been driving the truck, and he purposely went left because he didn't want to get yelled at. There is almost no valid excuse for moving into an oncoming lane...Read any states lane laws.
In the Dragon wreck the guy lived and the Corvette owner has to replace his car. Big deal. That's what insurance is for. The MC rider's insurance is gonna cover it anyway. Cars are easily replaced. If the Corvette driver had killed an innocent rider who was riding in his own lane, that's not so easy to recover...or if the on coming vehicle had been a semi-truck, the 'Vette guy prolly woulda bought the farm.
All scenarios suck, but moving left would have been the worst possible reaction in that instance.
