[gfloyd2002]

Originally Posted by wayanlam

i thought and still think that i have a reasonably good understanding of bikes and handling them, been driving since over 12 years, but... there are just too many factors that can and will be totally unexpected, which could easily cause an accident.

obviously practice is the best way to learn, driving cautiously (such as taking an intersection at no more than 30mph) definitely helps im certain of it. but no matter how cautious and how much experience one has... accidents can still happen.

I love your posts, and the honesty of them. Not just in this thread but others. So I don't want to be critical, but most of the accidents you have been in were totally avoidable with more caution. The type of accidents (for the most part) cut against what you are saying in this quoted portion about there being nothing you can do. Knowingly riding on a bad tire, drinking and driving, driving too fast on unfamiliar unlit road at night, riding in wet without prepping the newb on back, etc. You could have avoided these.

A couple of yours seemed truly unavoidable, which is maybe what you were saying. If so, then I think we're on the same page. We can really reduce the risks of riding by taking a few simple steps, but we can't eliminate the risks completely. You never know when an unseeable kite string is going to clothesline you ( Crazy that happened to you! Twice!). Even if you are going 30 into an intersection - the car make pull into your side instead of in front of you and leave you less than the required 37 feet to stop.

But why not eliminate the easy accidents to avoid? My goal in this thread is to target the most common accident where the fault, theoretically, lies with the car. Even in those cases, we can make a big impact in our own safety by slowing down heading into an intersection and being more vigilant. Doing 30mph through an intersection with cars potentially pulling out seems like a good safety technique.