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Flyn, you are so right. Optimise your chances by whatever means that are available and within your ability. But getting run down, or whatever, can happen with no means at your disposal to prevent that happening. Additionally, in all honestly, surely there is not one amongst us who can say they have never, ever, had a ride where a little bit of post ride self assessment came up with the conclusion, "Mmmmmm, I could have done that better" or "Mmmmmm, I should have seen that. I got lucky" or "Wow, that was a lapse in my attention. I won't do that again", or maybe just a knowing feeling that all was not as it should have been. Over the years I guess I've had a few. Hopefully I've learnt from those occasions. Darling says that at my age I shouldn't really be riding a motorbike, but I'm comfortable with the level of risk.
But back to my assertions that we are all too human. "Things" will happen. We chose to ride in an uncertain environment. If something goes wrong then we have to share the blame. Otherwise trade the bike in on a large truck.
Cheers
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All this lead me to re-read the original post Pterodactyl referred to. It was a good rant, Ptero and worth revisiting.
I'd forgotten EmptySea's point:
(08-18-2014, 12:23 AM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: LOL @ "The Man"
I feel like he is saying "S#%t happens, just don't go blaming others for s#%t that you made happen." Then again, I could be wrong.
It reminded me of a philosophical bumper sticker I saw once. "S#%t doesn't just happen! Some a#%ehole always creates it" it read.
So, don't give me all this it-must-be-my-fault BFM*; unless I do it deliberately, it must be someone else's fault. 
BFM = bovine fæcal matter
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Once again, good point. We do "do it deliberately". That is, ride a motorcycle in an environment over which we have far from total control.
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(06-04-2016, 07:39 PM)Pterodactyl_imp Wrote: Once again, good point. We do "do it deliberately". That is, ride a motorcycle in an environment over which we have far from total control.
Cheers
I wouldn't know anything about that.
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Ouch
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I keep saying this but riding at the racetrack will teach you several things above learning how to ride better. It helps with the panic. If you don't panic, you're way ahead of the game. Keep your head and give yourself distance and you'll be fine.
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(06-05-2016, 08:20 AM)Pauley_imp Wrote: Ouch
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Yeah.....that was a rough day. The week in the hospital wasn't all that much fun either.
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There's no way you can blame the motorcyclist in every instance. Just this past Saturday I'm in the right lane of a four lane interstate highway. I'm doing 65. Two vehicles are playing tag at 85MPH. This is unknown to me, as neither was in my lane behind me, so I can't be expected to see them behind me, they're swerving from the far left lane across 4 lanes. The first I notice them was when one of the vehicles swerved sideways into and out of my lane from my left, missing me by a couple of inches. Whoosh. There and gone, I didn't even have any time to react. I'm sure if he hit me, he'd keep right on going, chasing his prey.
The fact that half of motorcyclists involved in crashes don't have either a MC endorsement or insurance, people doing studies can put the blame on them because they shouldn't have been out riding at all.
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"Blame" has the same polarizing qualities as "Fault".
Most of the preachers of the "Crashes are avoidable" gospel allow for a small percentage of unavoidable crash situations. Perhaps yours would have fallen into that percentage. Of course, you didn't crash and we don't have all the details to analyze the situation fully.
Those preachers are not blaming you, though. And until a rider gets past the "fault" and "blame" game, they may have a block on how to work toward an avoidance strategy.
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(06-06-2016, 12:53 AM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: "Blame" has the same polarizing qualities as "Fault".
Most of the preachers of the "Crashes are avoidable" gospel allow for a small percentage of unavoidable crash situations. Perhaps yours would have fallen into that percentage. Of course, you didn't crash and we don't have all the details to analyze the situation fully.
Those preachers are not blaming you, though. And until a rider gets past the "fault" and "blame" game, they may have a block on how to work toward an avoidance strategy.  I know many motorcyclists as well as road cyclists who spend a lot of time discussing what they will do and how they will respond if anyone hits them or runs them off the road, etcetera. I know very few of these folks who actually take the responsibility upon themselves to do everything possible to avoid an accident, such as riding uber-defensively, being visible, realizing that others often don't see you or anticipate your actions, and last but not least, training, training, training.
The culture, for example, with road cyclists is to reject any lighting on the bike at all. More riders now than ever are using lights but there is still a stigma associated with them, like having a bell or basket. Pretty stupid, since the new LED lights are super-bright and hardly add any weight to the bicycle at all.
Speaking of crashes, I don't know a single motorcyclist who was involved in an accident who was not completely at fault, including my own three crashes. The rider was completely at fault, I'll say it again. No other vehicles around, no other riders involved. The list is too long, many of the riders are deceased. Single-bike accidents, guys and gals just overcooking it somehow. I am talking 34 years of riding here, not one incident where another vehicle or condition was to blame. So that CHP statement is very consistent with my personal experience.
Learn to use those brakes, they are much harder to master than opening the throttle.
(06-04-2016, 07:08 AM)LongRanger_imp Wrote: I attended a presentation from the CHP several years ago and their underlying message was that all motorcycle accidents are avoidable and are always the fault of the motorcyclist, even when another vehicle violates their right of way. I agree. It's a matter of understanding the risks, even those you can't control, and taking measures to manage or avoid them. +1, as I explained above. 34 years riding, over 500,000 miles, plus road racing and lots and lots of track days, this has been exactly my experience. I crashed thrice myself, and each time it was my own dork move.
Actually this assessment should be good news to us as riders, because it means we have much more control over what happens to us than we might have thought. That's how it's worked out for me, at any rate.
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