Odd accident (not me)

[Randy B]

This was posted in another forum I frequent and I thought it might be a good idea to post it up.

Quote:I was staying of the roads all weekend because i don't like the added risk of holiday traffic. Woke up and really wanted to ride. Had an internal dialogue of risk vs desire. I took off into the mountains for Conifer and then over to Morrison.

About 1/2 way in I wasn't feeling it headed home. I was riding along a straight wide open 6 lane low speed road. I was going maybe 20-25 mph as the light had just cycled. I saw pieces of wind driven debris moving onto the road and thought "I should avoid that" as it whips under my front wheel. I hit the ground before I finished the thought. Rode under the bike until we hit the curb and stopped.

A couple old dudes helped me right the bike and I picked up the item that broke my traction. - a garage sale sign.

Thankfully I have insurance on my formerly pristine yzf600r. And new helmet. My shoulder blade hurts like I've been squatting too much/bad form.

Avoidance could have been accomplished by paying more attention. Gear survived without much damage. Right boot got chewed up from being stuck under the bike.
This is the sign that he hit.



Be careful out there guys.

[veech_imp]

Honestly, don't know how he could have NOT avoided that at 20-25 mph? Definitely sounds like rider error in this case...

[Randy B]

It was due to the wind I think.

[mininsx_imp]

I'll bet it was target fixation. I'm guilty of it from time to time myself, especially when it's something that you don't see on the road every day.

[veech_imp]

It's interesting how different people perceive things. I think the term 'target fixation' is a good one. I never heard it before but it perfectly describes the problem: we go where we look. I am always looking for the clear, safe path. Others fixate on the obstacles and I believe have a more difficult time avoiding them as a result. There have been rides where one guy would say "That was a huge rock in the road!" and I wouldn't even remember it because I was looking at the safe route around it.

[HikerToo_imp]

sounds like it flew into him (under his tire) with no warning, like a deer can at times.
That's why they call them accidents.

noun
1.
an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.
synonyms: mishap, misadventure, unfortunate incident, mischance, misfortune, disaster, tragedy, catastrophe, calamity; technicalcasualty

synonyms: crash, collision, smash, bump, car crash; More
wreck;

2.
an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause.
synonyms: (mere) chance, coincidence, twist of fate, freak; More

[veech_imp]

I have no idea what happened as I was not there. I do know that 20 mph is a pretty slow speed that allows a lot of reaction time for a skilled rider, nevertheless accidents can still happen. I think that the important point here is that there are skills and techniques we can all learn and develop that will improve our chances of having a safe riding experience. We need to continuously be active and vigilant in our riding skills and not complacent or else it is an 'accident' just waiting to happen. Even the original poster said he could have avoided it if he had been paying attention.

[the Ferret]

Ever be riding down the road and there is one of those grocery store plastic bags blowing around the cars in front of you, going right,going up, going left going down all over the road and suddenly its your turn to deal with it, and no matter which direction you decide to dodge is the way that dang plastic bag decides to blow... I hate that.

[veech_imp]

I've had that happen. I've also had a low flying bird fly directly across my path with me just barely missing it, and as soon as it cleared my bike it doubled back and flew right into my leg! It must have had a death wish...Darwin's theory at work right there.

[flynrider]

Dodged a similar bullet about a week ago. While rounding a sweeping curve at about 55 mph I noticed a license plate laying flat on the road, right along my line. I had just enough time to increase my lean and it passed about a foot to the outside of my tire.