I did something really stupid today...

road_rascal · June 20th, 2011, 03:48 PM

...I pulled in front of a car at an intersection. (Sorry- long story

) Here's a map of where it happened:
I've been through this intersection regularly for the past 12 years going to and from work. I honestly thought I knew how the traffic lights were timed. I was going eastbound on Burnsville Parkway (BVP) then turning south on County Road 11 (CR11). When I approached the intersection I noticed a car waiting to turn left from northbound CR11 to westbound BVP, a car waiting to turn left from northbound CR11 to eastbound BVP, a car across the street either wanting to go west or turn north (was in the right westbound lane) and a car approaching from the north heading south on CR11 (a blue Saturn Ion).

I came to a complete stop and watched the northbound CR11 lights change from yellow to red. At that point I made my right turn to head south thinking I was getting the green like it has for so many years. About 2 seconds later I noticed the blue Saturn right on my tail (I have no idea why I looked in the mirrors). Since I was in no real hurry to get home I didn't accelerate that hard after I made the turn. So now I have a car flying up my rear so I downshifted and pinned the throttle to get moving. I thought to myself, geeze, did that car just completely blow the red light? Then I realized that after watching the northbound CR11 lights change I didn't wait to see if I got the green.

All the years I've been through that intersection whenever there are cars waiting at the turn lights going east or west on BVP and cars waiting to turn left from CR11 to go east or west on BVP when the lights change going north or south the lights going east or west change to green. So what I think happened was that the northbound CR11 lights went to red to give the car going north the green left turn arrow to go east on BVP. Which I have never seen before.

So I learned a huge lesson, or re-learned since I should have known better: never assume the light will change in your favor and when it does, make sure the cross traffic stops. It's pretty common in MN for people to blow through red lights and I make it habit (at least I thought I did) to make sure I'm 100% clear when going through an intersection.

After I sped up quite a bit I waved, made a fist and did a banging motion on my helmet in an attempt to say "I'm sorry- I'm a real dumba$$". And to make things worse it's national Ride to Work Day. So hopefully the lady I cut off didn't take it personally. I felt really bad and severely stupid.

After riding for 14+ years and having a Class A Commercials I figured I would have more common sense that this. Ride safe people!

theredsox · June 20th, 2011, 04:01 PM

Glad it was just a close call and not anything more serious. People running red lights in MA is so bad, switching to green certainly doesn't mean go. I treat it as if I just came to an all-way stop. People run the lights 2-3 sec. late in my area.

Last month I actually got beeped at while sitting at a red light. Two vehicles in a row to my left went straight through the red light having seen a green left turn arrow...which was not for their lane...and the person behind me must have been assuming the light was green. I did a double take that the light was still red before flipping off the nice driver behind me. <3 the massholes.

LazinCajun · June 20th, 2011, 04:01 PM

Glad everything turned out ok. This is a sobering reminder not to get complacent on roads you're familiar with, and brings to mind the statistic about the surprising % of crashes that occur within a few miles of home.

Thanks for sharing, stay safe out there!

SSR · June 20th, 2011, 04:07 PM

We all have momentary lapses of judgement, it's called being human.

I remember one tim I was merging onto a busy 2 lane 60kph ('bout 37mph) road. Having slowed right down to see if there were any gaps in the traffic (there were no yield lanes), I saw a gap, gunned the engine and got right in there...but I had TOTALLY miscalculated the speed of the oncoming car and cut him off...pretty badly. He laid on the horn for a good minute and I don't blame him.

I'm normally VERY good about such things, but for some reason...same thing as you.

It happens.

road_rascal · June 20th, 2011, 04:12 PM

Yup- I got complacent on a familiar road. Plus I was daydreaming about what a good day I had at work and the fact I was going to have the whole house to myself this evening. The daughter works until 9PM and the wife had a company outing to attend to. I'm riding along thinking what I'm going to do with all my free time- wash and wax the bike (to get all the bug crud off from my weekend trip up north in WI), mow the lawn, space out in front of the TV and knock back a few cold ones.

What really surprised me the most was that the lady I cut off didn't lay on the horn or flash the high beams, which what I would have done (I admit I do stupid things sometimes).

Linuss · June 20th, 2011, 04:17 PM

Shoulda thrown a brick at her face! That woulda learned her!

Quote:

Originally Posted by road_rascal

What really surprised me the most was that the lady I cut off didn't lay on the horn or flash the high beams, which what I would have done (I admit I do stupid things sometimes).

Maybe because she WAS in the wrong, after all? Then again, I had a lady blow through a yield last week almost hitting me, and she looked at me like I was the idiot.

Glad nothing bad happened, though!

oroboros · June 20th, 2011, 04:33 PM

No, the appropriate reaction is to go absolutely bananas, yank off your helmet and throw it at their windshield then ride the rest of the way with out it.

I'm pretty sure that I read that somewhere around here.

Glad to hear your safe. Thanks for the reminder.

Snake · June 20th, 2011, 04:42 PM

Good lesson learned.
When I am about to go through an intersection and I have the green light I always cover my brakes and clutch in case someone runns the red light. I always ride like I am invisible to everyone.

Jerkson · June 20th, 2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snake

Good lesson learned.
When I am about to go through an intersection and I have the green light I always cover my brakes and clutch in case someone runns the red light. I always ride like I am invisible to everyone.

That's very well put. For the first while when I started riding I honestly thought I WAS invisible to everyone. People cutting a newbie off left right and center!

LazinCajun · June 20th, 2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oroboros

No, the appropriate reaction is to go absolutely bananas, yank off your helmet and throw it at their windshield then ride the rest of the way with out it.

I'm pretty sure that I read that somewhere around here.

Glad to hear your safe. Thanks for the reminder.

Why stop with the helmet? Throw the pants to let her know you mean business!

Linuss · June 20th, 2011, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LazinCajun

Why stop with the helmet? Throw the pants to let her know you mean business!

Naked motorcycle riders are much easier to notice. Tell the officer it's all about safety.

Mizono · June 20th, 2011, 08:55 PM

My Grandfather gave some of the best advice to me about driving in general and it applies to riding. If possible he never takes the same route back home or to his office every day. he changes it up as often as possible. This is to make sure he never goes into that automatic pilot mode and possibly misses something.

glad to hear your ok and nothing except some embarrassment came from it.

JeffM · June 20th, 2011, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mizono

My Grandfather gave some of the best advice to me about driving in general and it applies to riding. If possible he never takes the same route back home or to his office every day. he changes it up as often as possible. This is to make sure he never goes into that automatic pilot mode and possibly misses something.

Good advice

gfloyd2002 · June 21st, 2011, 10:26 AM

Totally true that you can't take for granted what conditions were like on yesterday's ride.

On a similar note, I'm very careful rounding corners that I've taken many, many times. Even if you know it is a safe 45 mph curve based on ninjette traction, you never know what new surprise may be waiting for you . . . a new pothole, a fallen tree, a dog running into the road. I try to never ride faster than my ability to see. If I can only see 15 feet ahead, I'll ride only fast enough that I can stop in 15 feet, regardless of how familar I am with what is usually 20-30 feet ahead.

JeffM · June 21st, 2011, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gfloyd2002

Totally true that you can't take for granted what conditions were like on yesterday's ride.

On a similar note, I'm very careful rounding corners that I've taken many, many times. Even if you know it is a safe 45 mph curve based on ninjette traction, you never know what new surprise may be waiting for you . . . a new pothole, a fallen tree, a dog running into the road. I try to never outdrive my brakes and my ability to see. If I can only see 15 feet ahead, I'll drive only fast enough that I can stop in 15 feet, regardless of how familar I am with what is usually 20-30 feet ahead.

Yep, I had frost take me out due to running at the same speed I usually do on a very familiar street with cold tires, etc, etc, etc.........

jeff

peachdiddy · June 21st, 2011, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snake

Good lesson learned.
When I am about to go through an intersection and I have the green light I always cover my brakes and clutch in case someone runns the red light. I always ride like I am invisible to everyone.

+1
I do this ritualistically.

June 20th, 2011, 03:48 PM	#1
road_rascal ninjette.org member Name: ___ Location: ___ Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): ___ Posts: 160	I did something really stupid today... ...I pulled in front of a car at an intersection. (Sorry- long story ) Here's a map of where it happened: I've been through this intersection regularly for the past 12 years going to and from work. I honestly thought I knew how the traffic lights were timed. I was going eastbound on Burnsville Parkway (BVP) then turning south on County Road 11 (CR11). When I approached the intersection I noticed a car waiting to turn left from northbound CR11 to westbound BVP, a car waiting to turn left from northbound CR11 to eastbound BVP, a car across the street either wanting to go west or turn north (was in the right westbound lane) and a car approaching from the north heading south on CR11 (a blue Saturn Ion). I came to a complete stop and watched the northbound CR11 lights change from yellow to red. At that point I made my right turn to head south thinking I was getting the green like it has for so many years. About 2 seconds later I noticed the blue Saturn right on my tail (I have no idea why I looked in the mirrors). Since I was in no real hurry to get home I didn't accelerate that hard after I made the turn. So now I have a car flying up my rear so I downshifted and pinned the throttle to get moving. I thought to myself, geeze, did that car just completely blow the red light? Then I realized that after watching the northbound CR11 lights change I didn't wait to see if I got the green. All the years I've been through that intersection whenever there are cars waiting at the turn lights going east or west on BVP and cars waiting to turn left from CR11 to go east or west on BVP when the lights change going north or south the lights going east or west change to green. So what I think happened was that the northbound CR11 lights went to red to give the car going north the green left turn arrow to go east on BVP. Which I have never seen before. So I learned a huge lesson, or re-learned since I should have known better: never assume the light will change in your favor and when it does, make sure the cross traffic stops. It's pretty common in MN for people to blow through red lights and I make it habit (at least I thought I did) to make sure I'm 100% clear when going through an intersection. After I sped up quite a bit I waved, made a fist and did a banging motion on my helmet in an attempt to say "I'm sorry- I'm a real dumba$$". And to make things worse it's national Ride to Work Day. So hopefully the lady I cut off didn't take it personally. I felt really bad and severely stupid. After riding for 14+ years and having a Class A Commercials I figured I would have more common sense that this. Ride safe people!

June 20th, 2011, 04:07 PM	#4
SSR ninjette.org guru Name: Jonathan Location: Ottawa, Ontario Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250 Posts: 398	We all have momentary lapses of judgement, it's called being human. I remember one tim I was merging onto a busy 2 lane 60kph ('bout 37mph) road. Having slowed right down to see if there were any gaps in the traffic (there were no yield lanes), I saw a gap, gunned the engine and got right in there...but I had TOTALLY miscalculated the speed of the oncoming car and cut him off...pretty badly. He laid on the horn for a good minute and I don't blame him. I'm normally VERY good about such things, but for some reason...same thing as you. It happens. __________________________________________________ From here...to everywhere!

June 20th, 2011, 04:33 PM	#7
oroboros GDTRFB Name: Drew Location: SE PA Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250 - sold 2005 EX500R project Posts: 496	No, the appropriate reaction is to go absolutely bananas, yank off your helmet and throw it at their windshield then ride the rest of the way with out it. I'm pretty sure that I read that somewhere around here. Glad to hear your safe. Thanks for the reminder. __________________________________________________ I don't want a pickle Just want to ride on my motorsickle -Arlo Guthrie

June 21st, 2011, 10:26 AM	#14
gfloyd2002 User Title Free Since '12 Name: Floyd Location: Barbados Join Date: Dec 2010 Motorcycle(s): '10 Ninja 250R Special Edition Green Posts: A lot. Blog Entries: 13 MOTM - Feb '12	Totally true that you can't take for granted what conditions were like on yesterday's ride. On a similar note, I'm very careful rounding corners that I've taken many, many times. Even if you know it is a safe 45 mph curve based on ninjette traction, you never know what new surprise may be waiting for you . . . a new pothole, a fallen tree, a dog running into the road. I try to never ride faster than my ability to see. If I can only see 15 feet ahead, I'll ride only fast enough that I can stop in 15 feet, regardless of how familar I am with what is usually 20-30 feet ahead. __________________________________________________ "Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement, are roads of genius." — William Blake

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June 20th, 2011, 04:01 PM	#2
theredsox ninjette.org user Name: Brandon Location: Quincy, Ma Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250r (Blue) Posts: 24	Glad it was just a close call and not anything more serious. People running red lights in MA is so bad, switching to green certainly doesn't mean go. I treat it as if I just came to an all-way stop. People run the lights 2-3 sec. late in my area. Last month I actually got beeped at while sitting at a red light. Two vehicles in a row to my left went straight through the red light having seen a green left turn arrow...which was not for their lane...and the person behind me must have been assuming the light was green. I did a double take that the light was still red before flipping off the nice driver behind me. <3 the massholes.

June 20th, 2011, 04:01 PM	#3
LazinCajun ninjette.org guru Name: Anon Location: Atlanta, GA Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250 (Blue!) Posts: 488	Glad everything turned out ok. This is a sobering reminder not to get complacent on roads you're familiar with, and brings to mind the statistic about the surprising % of crashes that occur within a few miles of home. Thanks for sharing, stay safe out there!

June 20th, 2011, 04:12 PM	#5
road_rascal ninjette.org member Name: ___ Location: ___ Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): ___ Posts: 160	Yup- I got complacent on a familiar road. Plus I was daydreaming about what a good day I had at work and the fact I was going to have the whole house to myself this evening. The daughter works until 9PM and the wife had a company outing to attend to. I'm riding along thinking what I'm going to do with all my free time- wash and wax the bike (to get all the bug crud off from my weekend trip up north in WI), mow the lawn, space out in front of the TV and knock back a few cold ones. What really surprised me the most was that the lady I cut off didn't lay on the horn or flash the high beams, which what I would have done (I admit I do stupid things sometimes).

June 20th, 2011, 04:42 PM	#8
Snake ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Rick Location: Alexandria, Louisiana Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 05 Blue Ninja 250 Posts: Too much. MOTY - 2017, MOTM - Jan '19, Oct '16, May '14	Good lesson learned. When I am about to go through an intersection and I have the green light I always cover my brakes and clutch in case someone runns the red light. I always ride like I am invisible to everyone.

June 20th, 2011, 08:55 PM	#12
Mizono ninjette.org member Name: David Location: DFW Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Red Ninja 250R Posts: 167	My Grandfather gave some of the best advice to me about driving in general and it applies to riding. If possible he never takes the same route back home or to his office every day. he changes it up as often as possible. This is to make sure he never goes into that automatic pilot mode and possibly misses something. glad to hear your ok and nothing except some embarrassment came from it.