Story of near misses

[littledog]

This past weekend I had a very nice long ride through and around Talladega National Forest area in AL.

A couple of things happened that left me wondering if I was riding safely enough.

1st incident: I am traveling along a 4 lane divided state highway. A group of bikers were waiting at a stop sign as I approached. The lead biker pulled out, and his caravan of 10 or 12 big cruisers slowly followed him. I slowed a bit thinking they would all enter the highway before I got to the intersection. Two of them did not pull out, but waited for me to pass which I did.

So now I am riding among with these people. It seemed fine at first, they were +5 over the speed limit which was 55, comfortable to me, so I did not drop back much past 2 seconds. The riders behind me kept a similar distance, displayed no desire to pass. I noticed the rider immediately behind me was using a headlight modulator, and the rider in front was a couple on a gold wing wearing no gear at all besides 3/4 helmets.

What happened next was the lead rider signaled a left turn, and turned into a store parking area right before an intersection. I was curious about where they were going so looked at the road sign. Next thing I notice the riders in front of me had slowed to a crawl, and I had to use my brakes a little bit more forcefully than "casual". This alarmed me because if I had lingered on that road sign for 1/2 second longer I would have had to brake seriously hard, or swerve around the couple on the gold wing, to avoid disaster.

Luckily, I only glanced at the road sign, saw that the caravan had slowed to a crawl, slowed myself in time, and went on my way.

2nd incident: I decide that since sunset is about 1 hr away that I would ride home on a divided 4 lane highway with a 65 mph limit, rather than keep to the lesser roads that I prefer. I settle into the right lane at 65-70 mph and 2 or 3 seconds behind a van that seems to be running cruise control.

Traffic is pretty light but there is some. There is a pick up truck behind me, not tailgating. There is more traffic ahead, in both lanes. I notice something on the right at first I thought it was a sign, in the shoulder area. Then I see it is an old dude riding a bicycle pulling a trailer with a sign on the back explaining how he is hungry and tired and needs food. The van in front of me brakes hard, because the car in front of him slowed and pulled off in front of the beggar, I guess to make a donation.

Again I had to use my brakes a bit more forcefully than "casual". With traffic behind me, and a closed off shoulder this time. Luckily, the truck behind me was paying attention to the situation.


I would love to retire the ninja with excessive mileage. And I for sure do not want to get hurt.

Any time I tell myself "whew that was lucky" I know deep down inside I made mistakes somewhere leading up to my lucky moment.

So what was it? I believe both incidents were basically the same mistake.

I was not looking far enough into my path of travel. I paid good money for expert advice, which was 2-4-12. That is 2 second following distance. 4 second time interval for immediate action and 12 sec is how far ahead you should be looking for potential hazards.

12 seconds at 70mph is about 1/4 of a mile. I did an experiment today. At 45mph I found it nearly impossible to pick out a landmark (sign, tree whatever) that is 12 sec ahead. And 4 seconds is MUCH farther ahead than I thought.

I did not recognize the left turn signal of the lead rider in that pack as something between "potential hazard" and "requires immediate action"

By pacing the van 2 or 3 seconds back, I did not allow myself to look for potential hazards, or even immediate dangers, further down the road.

[Cedilla]

Oh yes it is way too easy for a small distraction to end in disaster. Several months ago I was riding and I seen a scantily clad female walking, and being the young male that I am, I rubbernecked to get a better look, and while this was going on, I did not notice the truck in front of me slowing to make a left hand turn, and when I snapped my attention back to the road, I freaked out upon having the revelation that I was about to go for a very painful ride in a pickup truck. I braked hard, and somehow squeezed past the truck just as he started to exit the lane.

[Scott1620]

IMO you need to take the near misses as learning experiences. Its a good thing that you reacted and there was no incident, and maybe you will give your self more reaction time next time...

Originally Posted by Cedilla

Several months ago I was riding and I seen a scantily clad female walking,

haha, I live close to a college campus and yea Ive had to restrain my eyes a few times because of this as well my eyes tend to drift over to the girls laying out in bikinis for some reason

[tjkamper]

From what I read you have the right mind set. You want to be safe and you want to look out for hazards. This is a good thing.

In my experience and with my eyes, I know that 12 seconds is a long ways away and it is damn blurry. I think it is the same thing that I was told when first learning to drive... "AIM HIGH." it helps direct you and keeps you well balanced in your lane.

Always look ahead and always leave yourself a way out. Pay close attention to things that are dirrectly infront of you and don't get complacent on long straight roads.

Also, ride on the outside thirds of the lanes so you can see around the car in front of you. If you are in the middle of the lane all the time, you can't see everything. Switch your lane possition often; it helps to protect your lane and aids with visibility.

From what you explained it seems like you are fixating too much on road signs and other distractions. How is your periferal vision? I've learned that being able to see things to your sides without focusing on them is very helpful.

Another thing that I stress to anyone on the road, in a cage or on a bike, is Space. Leave a generous following distance. If traffic is light leave a four second gap, OR MORE. The biggest fracaiso I have have seen and I too am guilty of, is that when on a bike you are small and manuverable and you put yourself into too tight of quarters. It is very easy to tailgate on a bike and still feel safe and comfortable. Beware of this false sense of security and avoid tailgating. (I would freak if I followed that close in my car).

[utahninja]

littledog... thanks for sharing your experiences.

It appears you have given good reason not to ride in a group where you are unaware of their ride plan. It probably would have been best to slow down and let those in the back pass you, then simply follow at a distance.

Something I have been working on is dropping back from the vehicle in front of me. On a bike it is so easy to get up and close to their back bumper, but you never know what surprises are on the other side of the vehicle. Maybe a good 3 second plus distance, with an exit plan.

Just last week I was 2 seconds behind a car going about 20 through an intersection when I heard the car hit something metallic. A split second later I see a bent metal plate about 3'x3' appear from under the car, with a section of the plate sticking about 4" up from the road. I was mostly in the left wheel track of the lane, and only needed to do a slight swerve to get around the plate. However, if I had given myself more distance from the car my heart rate wouldn't have gone up as much.

[Nny]

Well, I suppose I will share my story since it is fresh in my head from last Thursday.

I was comming off the highway and onto a 6 lane (4 my direction two for the opposite) main road with a car in front getting off the highway the same time as me. We were going the speed limit and each of us had our left turn signal to get into the most left hand lanes. The car (which was 2 car lengths ahead of me and one lane over to the right) still has his turn signal on and starts to slow down. So I slow down to let him in my lane. Except he continues to slow down and eventually he is about a car length ahead of me still with his turn signal still on and we are both going 15 mph in a 45. So I rev up twice and start to pass when right when I am at his bumper he decides to make a U-turn in front of me. Keep in mind he is still in the lane to the right of me. I swerve hard to the left and speed up. I was just over the double yellow line and into oncomming traffic lane (thank god there wasnt any traffic) when it looked like he should have clipped my saddlebag. Luckily he didn't.

It was one of those situations where if I had decided to brake hard, it would have been a faceplant into his drivers side door. Not exatly how I would want to test my gear.

I have some stories of those left hand turn cagers too...and cell phones.. Had a 4 foot drill for a construction vehicle fall off the truck and directly in front of me too.

Best advice I can give is while you are riding and your spidey sence is tingling, play out the worst case scenarios in your head so if it does happen your reaction will just about be a muscle memory reaction. Its all about defensive driving against dumb drivers.

[JeffM]

play out the worst case scenarios in your head

I do that all the time. The "what if" game will keep your head in the ride and keep those eyes scanning for new threats.

Jeff

[cnichols79us]

The hardest part of riding, for me, is to not let my mind wander and stay totally focused on the task at hand, which is not crashing. Hard to do when you read signs, look at scenery, think aimless thoughts caused your relaxed out on the bike, etc.... Giving yourself the "buffer" with distance certainly helps if you happen to slip, which I think Everyone does at some point or another. Good job recognizing it and not just blowing it off.

[Momaru]

Thanks for sharing and passing out a reminder. I'm definitely guilty of following too close at times, need to stop doing that.

+1 on the 'worst case scenario' game keeping you attentive. After an hour or two of this I start getting pretty freakin paranoid though

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by Momaru

+1 on the 'worst case scenario' game keeping you attentive. After an hour or two of this I start getting pretty freakin paranoid though

It's fatiguing as hell too. This is part of the reason that I shoot out ahead and try and keep myself out in the open whenever possible. I hate lingering around cars, or even other bikers. I never relax when I'm near other vehicles....my commute home from work is usually very tiring.

But looking up as far ahead as possible and keeping track of any intersections or turns or detours and assuming that whoever is in front of you is about to stop or slow down when you approach those things is usually a good practice. I leave a huge gap in front of myself too. I stopped tailgating after I rear ended someone and wrecked my mom's car several years ago.

[Postiez]

I am surprised you miss so much while looking at signs and what not. I seem to have no problem using my peripheral vision to notice things in front of me when I look at signs or whatever. I think they do tests for that, maybe you should check it out.

[Nny]

Heh speaking of peripheral - the first real ride of this season I was able to take, was on the Ninja going around Sacandage Lake. I had the road to myself with no houses around and going down a straight portion of the road. There is an awesome veiw to the right of me but I have to take my eyes off the road. So I look for a second and out of my peripheral I see something in the road. Turns out a squirrel decided to play chicken. Unfortunately, it was too late to dodge the little guy so I braced for impact. Luckily he did a somersault out of the way at the last second but I tell you it was about a 7 on the pucker factor (yeah, a 7 mainly for the squirrel really).

Couldnt turn out of the way becauses I was afraid if I did hit him while in any kind of a lean I would have slid my tire on him and I would have gone down.

Squirrels and birds, I swear they make a game out of who can get closest without getting hit.

[Postiez]

Originally Posted by Nny

Heh speaking of peripheral - the first real ride of this season I was able to take, was on the Ninja going around Sacandage Lake. I had the road to myself with no houses around and going down a straight portion of the road. There is an awesome veiw to the right of me but I have to take my eyes off the road. So I look for a second and out of my peripheral I see something in the road. Turns out a squirrel decided to play chicken. Unfortunately, it was too late to dodge the little guy so I braced for impact. Luckily he did a somersault out of the way at the last second but I tell you it was about a 7 on the pucker factor (yeah, a 7 mainly for the squirrel really).

Couldnt turn out of the way becauses I was afraid if I did hit him while in any kind of a lean I would have slid my tire on him and I would have gone down.

Squirrels and birds, I swear they make a game out of who can get closest without getting hit.

Motorcyclists don't hit animals, animals hit motorcyclists. xD

[welcome2thedawn]

thankfully the only near miss i've had is the very first time i got on the bike...my boyfriend taught me, he's a great teacher....we "walked" the bike for awhile to get the feeling of the clutch...then put my feet up and rode around in 1st, practicing taking off and stopping...then 1st to second and back...then we rode throught the neighborhood in 2nd...this is where i learned that turning left on a motorcycle is a learned skill....he was in front...while making the turn i just kept thinking how narrow it was, and there wasn't alot of room to not turn into that parked car...we all know about target fixation...so to avoid hitting the car i straigtened up and hopped the curb and was going straight at a solid wood and metal fence...i panicked and grabed too much throttle somewhere in the process....i KNEW i was going to hit something...thankfully i let go of the clutch and stalled right before i hit the fence...i imediately broke into fits of nervous laughter, and my first thought was being glad no one was around to see it...after composing mysel,f i start the bike and ride down the sidewalk, trying to find a way off...this is where my boyfiend finds me....the look on his face made me crack up agian...he looked so confused...like wtf are you doing? it took awhile to not feel nervous turning after that....thank god for the msf class...i can't say enough about it...my confidence level and skill level went up noticably after taking it...now my turns are much better than his