Be aware behind you too!

He came in too hot and had to brake too much but then you have to watch behind you!!!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...pe.KTVT?hpt=C2

[CC Cowboy]

This is a why you don't ride down the center of the lane. You need to be able to have that "escape path" incase either you can't stop or the person behind you can't stop.

[Live2ride]

um....ow.

[Misti]

Ouch. Just shows how vulnerable we can be on bikes and how important it is to keep a heads up, lots of following distance and to keep an eye on what is going on behind you.

Notice how he locks the rear brake though, I think had he been looking a little farther ahead and been a little more prepared for the cars to slow he may not have panicked on the brakes so much, plus If it were me I'd be riding on the left side of the lane so I could use the shoulder to get out of the way in a situation like this.

Misti

[DaBlue1]

The guy had no place to go, truck on the right, wall on the left (2 ft of shoulder maybe). Look how fast the driver behind him closes and never slows down and runs over the bike. Sad part is the driver that hit him and the other vehicle had no driver’s license or insurance and despite receiving three tickets, he wasn’t arrested.

[Alex]

Plenty of space between the car in front of him and the truck on the right; slipping into the open space between lanes is *the* solution for when traffic in front and behind gets dodgy at the same time.

[rockNroll]

More than enough space to escape. +1 for riding the sides of the lanes , I've been in almost the same spot as this rider. I went between the cars in front of me as the car behind me plowed into the car that was in front of me. I've also had the car behind me almost plow the car in front of me... there wasn't enough space there for me by the time she stopped.

[phr3ek]

panic braking coupled with inattentive, no license, no insurance carrying retard driver that never even stepped on the brakes even after the collision.........

and the fiancee dictates he wont be getting another bike.....

sucks to be him

[Cazper]

Just like they teach in all the courses if you eliminate the problems this could have been avoided... not following as close... paying closer attention... riding to the side of the lane... if he would have done even 1 or 2 of those things he would have never gotten crushed.

[Live2ride]

I almost got rear ended about 20 minutes ago at a red light in the right turning lane. I stopped and was waiting for the right of way folks to pass the intersection and I hear "SCREEEEECH!!!" behind me as I watch headlights closing like a jet, slam on the throttle and made it just in time. The driver stopped about 4 ft. in front of where I stopped at the light.

[bdavison]

Its also important to be aware that our bikes can slow down QUITE quickly...much faster than cars and trucks. Being sportbikes, they are designed to dump speed, just like they are designed to accelerate.

I agree with the other posters. He could have avoided the whole thing by better lane position, and lane splitting if he ran out of room.

Ive had a similar incident happen on the interstate. We were riding in a group, and a stupid semi driver decided to change lanes in front of the group, and hammer his brakes to catch a exit ramp. I had enough stopping distance in front of me along with the rest of the group, Since we were staggered, we all went single file, and dove for the lane split real quick to avoid anyone running us down from the rear, and it all worked out great. There wasnt anyone behind us, but its good to know we all had a plan.

The point of all this is ALWAYS have an exit strategy. You should always know where you are going to go, should something obstruct your path.

[Alex]

I don't know if bikes can generally stop quicker than cars, but it does seem that motorcyclists are more comfortable using more of the capabilities of their machines to stop quickly than a typical un-interested car driver. In terms of how long it takes to bring a bike from 70-0 or car from 70-0, things are pretty close. The car has much more mass, but it also has much more traction along with no worry of falling over when you stomp on the brakes. Both types of vehicle have enough braking power to stop the wheels themselves up to and past the limit of traction between the tire and the road.

I agree with the plan to never jam on the brakes on a bike with traffic right behind that may or may not crunch you right into that upcoming traffic. Only brake as hard as you are confident the following traffic is paying attention and braking as well. If not, find another escape route quickly.

[Jinx250]

Watching behind is not what would have saved the guy. Keeping options open is. Had he been riding on either side of the lane instead of the middle, or looking beyond that a$$ end of the car in front, or more aware of the open space around him on each side, he could have gotten clear no problem. But once that rear locked up, he was committed, and totally screwed.

[DaBlue1]

This what the biker said, "he'd passed the car earlier and saw its occupants dancing in their seats, acting like fools". "...I passed this car, the car that actually rear ended me... As I passed them, the people in front of me started slowing down." Now I wonder how fast everyone was going.

[JeffM]

Originally Posted by Alex

I don't know if bikes can generally stop quicker than cars, but it does seem that motorcyclists are more comfortable using more of the capabilities of their machines to stop quickly than a typical un-interested car driver. In terms of how long it takes to bring a bike from 70-0 or car from 70-0, things are pretty close. The car has much more mass, but it also has much more traction along with no worry of falling over when you stomp on the brakes. Both types of vehicle have enough braking power to stop the wheels themselves up to and past the limit of traction between the tire and the road.

I agree with the plan to never jam on the brakes on a bike with traffic right behind that may or may not crunch you right into that upcoming traffic. Only brake as hard as you are confident the following traffic is paying attention and braking as well. If not, find another escape route quickly.

What I've noticed is that we have a tone of engine braking which slows us rapidly when approaching stops. Of course our brake light does not come on with this deceleration and can surprise a driver behind us. A good habit to get into is lightly holding a bit of either brake when slowing.

Jeff

[FrugalNinja250]

Originally Posted by Alex

Plenty of space between the car in front of him and the truck on the right; slipping into the open space between lanes is *the* solution for when traffic in front and behind gets dodgy at the same time.

The entire event only lasted a second or two. It's easy in hindsight to plan out an escape route and be ready to take it, and often times planning one out in advance and practicing swerves (not in traffic!) can help, but in this case I think the split second he was focused on the dumbasses ahead who were tailgating/brakechecking was when the silver car crossed the threshold and became unavoidable.

It's easy to try and blame the rider in every case, but that overlooks the fact that the car that hit him is 100% at fault for the wreck. That, and the two in front that were playing braking games.

I've been thinking about this wreck and came to the conclusion that if I'd lived in my mirrors enough to be able to tell the silver car was going to hit me I'd probably have run into the cars ahead of me because I didn't realize they were braking so hard.

In other words, the scene from the 50 yard line is a lot clearer than from the line of scrimmage, and even more clear when watched on instant replay in slow motion.

[FrugalNinja250]

Originally Posted by Live2ride

I almost got rear ended about 20 minutes ago at a red light in the right turning lane. I stopped and was waiting for the right of way folks to pass the intersection and I hear "SCREEEEECH!!!" behind me as I watch headlights closing like a jet, slam on the throttle and made it just in time. The driver stopped about 4 ft. in front of where I stopped at the light.

It would have sucked if there'd been cross traffic there at that moment. Heck, you would have been charged at fault in the collision for running the red light. Or worse, got T-boned by something big and fast.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by FrugalNinja250

It's easy to try and blame the rider in every case, but that overlooks the fact that the car that hit him is 100% at fault for the wreck. That, and the two in front that were playing braking games.

We've had this discussion before. It's not about fault. It's about not hitting the ground. What happened here isn't a terribly rare occurrence, there are cars bumping into eachother just about every day in stop and go traffic in just my area, it has to be similar elsewhere. I've avoided countless instances that could have turned out this same way, as have millions of other motorcyclists. Knowing potential escape routes should be at the top of the queue between our ears 100% of the time. Braking to a halt because the car in front chooses to, and hoping that the traffic behind responds in kind, may be OK in car. Not so OK on a bike; more thought and preparation needs to go into making the right decision quickly. This wasn't a no-win situation, if he made a different decision (not locking rear brake, not aiming smack at the middle of the car in front, not taking into account following traffic), there's every likelihood this would have been a non-event.

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by JeffM

What I've noticed is that we have a tone of engine braking which slows us rapidly when approaching stops. Of course our brake light does not come on with this deceleration and can surprise a driver behind us. A good habit to get into is lightly holding a bit of either brake when slowing.

Jeff

One habit I've found myself starting to do now is when engine braking for stop lights, as I'm downshifting, I'll tap the brake lever repeatedly to flash the tail light but not actually applying any real front brake pressure until I actually need to start using the brakes. Once I get around to buying a no-cut brake modulator I'll just stop doing this.

After having been rear-ended pretty badly - me in a Ford Focus ZX3, by a woman in a lifted Expedition w/a brush bar @ about 20mph - I quickly got in the habit that any time I have to urgently apply the brakes I check my mirrors immediately and that habit has carried over to riding my bike now as well. I've only had a few times that I've had to get on the brakes rapidly - traffic light turning yellow - and I'll get on the brakes, start downshifting and look in my mirrors simultaneously. Even when I'm completely stopped at traffic lights I'll literally turn my head all the way around and watch the car behind me come to an almost complete stop before turning back around to watch the light.

[zilaniz]

I would say cars, especially sports cars can stop way quicker than bikes, even sportbikes. My STI stops on a dime...way faster than my R6

[GeorgiaHooligan]

I was riding down a two lane rd once approaching a red light. I was in the left lane behind a car with a turning lane to my left, a car in the right lane decided he was going to jump in front of the car infront of me to get into the turning lane at the last minute. The car infront of me slammed on their brakes, I did the same locking the rear in the Middle greasy part of the lane. The rear started to fish tail and all I could see were brake lights geting closer, I was able to go to the left and come to a stop between my lane and the turning lane. You dont want to have to do an emergency stop in the center of the lane, but unfortunatley it happens so quickly. You live and learn but it helps to form good habbits and muscle memory.