12-31-2020, 03:16 AM
For me, I think it has to do with how my actions either mitigated or contributed to the situation. This year, I had my first motorcycle collision with another vehicle after years of riding. A car turned in front of me, then noticed me mid turn, panicked, and stopped dead in front of me. This removed any possibility of avoiding a collision. Running through it in my mind, I'm not perfect, but I cannot think of anything I could have done to further mitigate what became a very minor impact. I was travelling at a reasonable speed when the series of events began, I started braking as soon as I could detect that the oncoming vehicle was going to try to beat me across my path, and I utilized the woeful braking capacity of a Bonneville as best as it could have been applied. Yes, it was a collision, but I didn't walk away thinking about how I screwed up.
I'll compare that incident with my worst near miss. I had been riding for about two years, and was on a large Honda cruiser, going about 65 in the car pool lane on my freeway commute. I was behind a motorhome, which I could not see past. This diminished my ability to monitor traffic conditions in front of the large vehicle. At some point, I was momentarily distracted, probably by a weird looking car in another lane, or perhaps a pretty girl in a car, who knows. When I turned back, the motorhome was braking sharply as traffic was coming to a stop. I panicked, locked up the rear brake of the cruiser, and could feel the bike swerve, then stand up quickly. Fearing a high-side, I released the brake, and, suddenly in a trajectory toward the freeway shoulder to my left, went around the motorhome and several cars while I brought the bike to a stop. I was extremely lucky that at that spot on the freeway that the shoulder was wide enough to do so. I mulled that situation around in my head for weeks. I was in complete control of my actions at that time and I used that control poorly. I allowed a moment of inattentiveness to put myself in a bad situation, and it was only by luck or coincidence that I did not crash. What did I learn? First, if following a vehicle I can't see around, I can't react to traffic ahead of me. Either pass the large vehicle or allow more distance to react to emergencies. Second, do not allow myself to become distracted. Third, practice emergency braking. I found a quiet, abandoned street near my house and practiced my stops until I could wrangle my big cruiser down from speed without locking up the brakes. And, I moved on.
I'll compare that incident with my worst near miss. I had been riding for about two years, and was on a large Honda cruiser, going about 65 in the car pool lane on my freeway commute. I was behind a motorhome, which I could not see past. This diminished my ability to monitor traffic conditions in front of the large vehicle. At some point, I was momentarily distracted, probably by a weird looking car in another lane, or perhaps a pretty girl in a car, who knows. When I turned back, the motorhome was braking sharply as traffic was coming to a stop. I panicked, locked up the rear brake of the cruiser, and could feel the bike swerve, then stand up quickly. Fearing a high-side, I released the brake, and, suddenly in a trajectory toward the freeway shoulder to my left, went around the motorhome and several cars while I brought the bike to a stop. I was extremely lucky that at that spot on the freeway that the shoulder was wide enough to do so. I mulled that situation around in my head for weeks. I was in complete control of my actions at that time and I used that control poorly. I allowed a moment of inattentiveness to put myself in a bad situation, and it was only by luck or coincidence that I did not crash. What did I learn? First, if following a vehicle I can't see around, I can't react to traffic ahead of me. Either pass the large vehicle or allow more distance to react to emergencies. Second, do not allow myself to become distracted. Third, practice emergency braking. I found a quiet, abandoned street near my house and practiced my stops until I could wrangle my big cruiser down from speed without locking up the brakes. And, I moved on.