Interesting perspective on MC crashes.

[Randy B]

You see that x-ray? That was due to a car in rush hour traffic not looking before he jerked over and knocked me off my bike and then took off. He saw what he thought was an empty gap that was occupied by me all because he didn't look over his shoulder. It was a hit and run in rush hour and nobody got the plate number. If you tell me that was my fault, then you can go jump in a lake. (That was being nice for Mr. Ferret)

[Rocky_imp]

Several years ago I was teaching my girlfriend how to drive a car (don't get me started on what a mistake that was ). As she would drive, I would point out what the other cars on the road were about to do, before they did it or signaled it. Years of riding defensively allowed me to pick up on the subtle clues that drivers give before they do something stupid (i.e. head movements, lane position, tire movement ). She was pretty impressed.

It's an automatic thing for me and something I know I didn't have back when I first started riding, which led to some scraped skin and metal. Nowadays I feel quite comfortable navigating crazy city traffic every day. Somebody tries to take me out at least once a week, but I always see them coming.

That being said, the notion that this situational awareness can prevent every accident is a bit much. A couple of years ago, some dufus ran into the back of me as I stopped for a stop sign. Short of levitation, I don't see how that could have been avoided. Although I feel quite comfortable on the street, I fully realize that something like a high speed red light runner, or someone crossing over from oncoming traffic could take me out in a heartbeat and there's very little that I could do to avoid it.

Your message made me smile.
I've been driving for 62 years and I too have developed a sense of what some people will do and often impressed my wife with my predictions.
I would smile smugly when she would say, "How did you know that!"
I agree with your last paragraph. You can only do so much and hope it's enough.
Be safe everyone.

[kmoney_imp]

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.

It also teaches you the actual limits of your bike (which for a lot of people are way higher than they think). I've seen several riders dangerously run wide in relatively easy turns because they took a bad line and thought they were going to lowside, despite having tons of tire and lean angle left.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

You see that x-ray? That was due to a car in rush hour traffic not looking before he jerked over and knocked me off my bike and then took off. He saw what he thought was an empty gap that was occupied by me all because he didn't look over his shoulder. It was a hit and run in rush hour and nobody got the plate number. If you tell me that was my fault, then you can go jump in a lake. (That was being nice for Mr. Ferret)

Yes, I have been following your story on this site since well before it happened. A huge bummer. Of course there are accidents which are unavoidable. A car or bike could come across the double-yellow in a blind turn, an animal could leap into the roadway (happened to me one night), a tiny bit of coolant or oil could be in that turn, and so on.

My message is just to do everything you can to be prepared, not to suggest that every rider who takes a fall is at fault or to blame.

I don't know whose post you are targeting here but I can tell that if there were a lake nearby last weekend where I was doing a track day, I would have gladly leapt into it. It was 116 degrees. I was happy to have done 15 laps before deciding enough was enough. Talk about your clam bakes...

[the Ferret]

Rush hours are particularly tough because a lot of the defensive things we do to protect ourselves ..staying out of blind spots, leaving a safety gap to the car in front, making sure no one is on your tail are negated by the sheer number of people crammed into one little space, and the speed at which the mass is moving. Reminds me of a flock of grackles roosting, or a group of those silver fish being chased by dolphins. Everything moving at the same speed, same time, in close formation. I often wonder why the birds and fish don't bump into each other? Anyhow, in rush hour if you leave a safety gap to the car in front of you, someone will stuff their car in, in front of you. Then you have to back off the gas to create clear space again, and the car behind you jams up your tail pipe and as soon as you open up some free space either in front or behind you again, someone jams another car in , and the whole process starts again. If you try and stay out of a blind side of the car beside you, it puts you too close to the car in front of you eliminating your safety gap. Maddening. I hate riding in rush hour. Glad I am retired and out of that rat race.

[LongRanger_imp]

You see that x-ray? That was due to a car in rush hour traffic not looking before he jerked over and knocked me off my bike and then took off. He saw what he thought was an empty gap that was occupied by me all because he didn't look over his shoulder. It was a hit and run in rush hour and nobody got the plate number. If you tell me that was my fault, then you can go jump in a lake. (That was being nice for Mr. Ferret)

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.

[Randy B]

You see that x-ray? That was due to a car in rush hour traffic not looking before he jerked over and knocked me off my bike and then took off. He saw what he thought was an empty gap that was occupied by me all because he didn't look over his shoulder. It was a hit and run in rush hour and nobody got the plate number. If you tell me that was my fault, then you can go jump in a lake. (That was being nice for Mr. Ferret)

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.
It was complete inattentiveness on his/her part and they bolted, leaving me for dead.

I'm not attacking anyone guys, I'm tired, not sleeping well, and this subject seems to be more of a sore spot with me that I realized.
And cool lakes are nice on a hot day...116°...YIKES!

Just everyone do your best to keep the rubber side down fellas and ladies.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

You see that x-ray? That was due to a car in rush hour traffic not looking before he jerked over and knocked me off my bike and then took off. He saw what he thought was an empty gap that was occupied by me all because he didn't look over his shoulder. It was a hit and run in rush hour and nobody got the plate number. If you tell me that was my fault, then you can go jump in a lake. (That was being nice for Mr. Ferret)

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.
It was complete inattentiveness on his/her part and they bolted, leaving me for dead.

I'm not attacking anyone guys, I'm tired, not sleeping well, and this subject seems to be more of a sore spot with me that I realized.
And cool lakes are nice on a hot day...116°...YIKES!

Just everyone do your best to keep the rubber side down fellas and ladies.

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.
It was complete inattentiveness on his/her part and they bolted, leaving me for dead.

I'm not attacking anyone guys, I'm tired, not sleeping well, and this subject seems to be more of a sore spot with me that I realized.
And cool lakes are nice on a hot day...116°...YIKES!

Just everyone do your best to keep the rubber side down fellas and ladies. Sore spot...no pun intended right lol! No, man, I fully know there are times when there is just nothing you can do. I have almost been cleaned off the road a few times. Once on the CB1100, a pickup truck came completely into my lane and pushed me right to the white line. His mirror felt like it darn near brushed my shoulder. Had I not rolled the bike hard over to the right it would have been curtains.

I am sure you have thought this over plenty and if there was something different you could do, you'da done it. IIRC you have been on this forum for years. I been lurking around since nearly the beginning myself so I remember when you got hit, reading about the whole mess.

I don't know how many of our members ride freeways regularly but as I recall, Randy B lives in the SF Bay area and that is the worst, worse than SoCal, and for some reason I think the drivers are worse, more angry. Mike Corbin (we all know who he is) was assaulted by a bad actor who deliberately ran into him while he was riding his motorcycle up there. He was banged up pretty well. This is maybe 20 years ago. They caught the guy and his explanation was that motorcyclists sometimes carry guns and he was frightened.

[ClassicVW_imp]

You see that x-ray? That was due to a car in rush hour traffic not looking before he jerked over and knocked me off my bike and then took off. He saw what he thought was an empty gap that was occupied by me all because he didn't look over his shoulder. It was a hit and run in rush hour and nobody got the plate number. If you tell me that was my fault, then you can go jump in a lake. (That was being nice for Mr. Ferret)

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise (road rage). I'm sorry you were injured.

I obviously didn't witness your unfortunately accident, but if the driver didn't see you, I'd suggest you were likely in his blind spot. Yes, he violated your right of way and should have looked before changing lanes, but if you were riding defensively and allowing yourself to be seen by him, he would have been aware of your presence and likely not swerved into you. I doubt it was intentional, unless you believe otherwise #road rage#. I'm sorry you were injured.
I guess the roads are fairly sparsely occupied in your neck of the woods, but I assume in Randy's world, and mine too in NJ, the roads are so congested that some days you could always be in somebody's blind spot and you can't do anything about it because if you drop back you'll just be in the next car's blind spot.

To suggest that he wasn't riding defensively and could be partly to blame is quite an assumption on your part without knowing the facts, and is insulting. What is your next comment, that he should have Hi-Viz gear, or, if he did, should he have had a flashing light on his helmet? The driver changing lanes without checking first is always to blame.

[emptysea]

I think that we may be missing the point of the "This could have been avoided" school. It's not about blame or fault and it's not about non-witnesses and/or non-experts providing their perspective on what could have been done in a particular situation. It's about the rider taking the attitude that his safety is 100% his own responsibility. The rider taking this attitude will be constantly evaluating and reevaluating his environment while riding. If he has a close call or an actual collision, he will critically analyze the circumstances surrounding that event. It may be that he cannot come up with a single thing he would have done differently and he may then seek input from other people who may offer some insight that could help him avoid a similar event in the future. However, it is possible that he will once again come up empty in the "what would I change" department.

The point is that too many of us assume that the other guy will know that we have the right of way and will yield it to us. This is obviously not the right way to think when in any vehicle, but especially not on a motorcycle. I don't think that RandyB rides with this attitude or ever did. I think he got hit and he cannot come up with any reasonable thing that he would have done differently, but he has done the self-analysis and THAT, to me, is the key.