almost crashed into a minivan

[alex.s]

i was driving home on the bike
its raining
go around a blind corner, see minivan waiting to make left turn from cross street
minivan looks at me, looks back the other way, GOES FOR IT
i slam the brakes, its wet so the front instantly locks, so i release and regrab with good traction this time, but its wet as **** so my rear is sliding everywhere... but this ****ing idiot is going slow as **** to get out
so i'm braking hard with my rear sliding back and forth heading STRAIGHT for the side of this minivan
i remember screaming "NO NO NO NO"
so i start trying to turn to the right (toward the back side of the van) while i'm still on the brakes hard, but the rear just keeps sliding, this time as im turning its sliding out the side quick and its about to hit the minivan
somehow, i don't know how i reacted so fast, but i managed to let it go right as my front wheel passed the bumber, the rear caught and swung around counter clockwise fast. i missed the minivan by inches
so this guy holding a sign just a bit down the road saw it and is like freaking out like 'omg that was epic'
i need to go change my underwear now
that was probably the closest to crashing i have ever been without actually crashing

[CC Cowboy]

Does the mini-van have any mirrors left?

[oblivion007]

Dayumnn.... That played a cool video in my head and then I thought of you in your avatar sitting on the van after the incident.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Does the mini-van have any mirrors left?

nah, it was turning the other way-- making a left turn from my right hand side to end up on the same road as me going the opposite direction. i went around its tail. though looking at my boot, there might be extra scuffs on it. i don't think i touched it though.

[alex.s]

i remember hearing my own advice "dont brake, just go around" but the stupid ****ing thing was blocking both lanes and decided to go extra slow once he was out in the middle so there wasn't really any room on the outside to go around and he showed no sign of recognizing my presence so inside was definitely not an option. not sure all available options but at the time i started braking, i saw no other alternatives until he got further to the left and i had room on the right.

[Ducati999]

WOW congrats on the NOT CRASHING! The near miss is way better than the slightly hit for sure. Learn from what happened and be a wiser rider from it. You deserve a BEER

[antiant]

If you just unzipped your jacket and used it as a sail, you would have slowed down faster!

[alex.s]

maybe if it was unzipped, he would have seen the flapping in the wind and would have never pulled out

[Alex]

It fits, you splits, while riding in a spritz, a minivan gives you the sh*tz. Or something like that...

[alex.s]

i approve that message

[NevadaWolf]

Wow, nice job reacting to it and not crashing!

[tfkrocks]

Minivans are the ****ing worst

[cbinker]

nice work, assholes like that need a talking to about what they are doing wrong, or they will keep doing it.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by cbinker

nice work, assholes like that need a talking to about what they are doing wrong, or they will keep doing it.

i had to force myself not to interact post-incident with people who try to kill me. if i do i get bad road rage, especially drunks who try to hit me. unfortunately it has resulted in me doing some not-so-smart things in the past so now i just dont even try to interact with them. for my own sanity.

[tooblekain]

Originally Posted by Alex

It fits, you splits, while riding in a spritz, a minivan gives you the sh*tz. Or something like that...

lol!!!!

Glad you came out of that ok the Alex

[Sirref]

I'm trying to imagine this in my head and I just don't understand how you managed to stay on, sick control in a situation that was completely ****ed.

[corksil]

It's unfortunate that operating the horn takes an extra finger in such a situation and never happens. Blasting the horn seems like it would help, if nothing else -- draw attention to you so no other drivers get in your way...

But getting that thumb down to the horn button while trying not to dump the bike never works out.

Good job bruh.

[rasta]

Oooooh "if it fits, you splits" is a reference to lane splitting.....not really what I thought it meant. God damn I really need to grow up

Time to get a CBR10000 now.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by rasta

Oooooh "if it fits, you splits" is a reference to lane splitting.....not really what I thought it meant. God damn I really need to grow up

Time to get a CBR10000 now.

but it's not cold in cali, you'll melt with all that extra heat generated from the engine!

"if it fits, you splits" definitely has more than one meaning though

[ally99]

Expect everyone out there to be a dumbass. Not only will you never be disappointed, you'll always be right.
Glad you made it through your encounter with a dumbass Alex!

[broken neck]

Originally Posted by corksil

It's unfortunate that operating the horn takes an extra finger in such a situation and never happens. Blasting the horn seems like it would help, if nothing else -- draw attention to you so no other drivers get in your way...

But getting that thumb down to the horn button while trying not to dump the bike never works out.

Good job bruh.

Sometime, using the horn is not the best thing to do, the Minivan could have stopped, giving no space for Alex to pass on the right, blocking all the road...

Nice save Mister, now go get some fresh fruits of the loom...

[jeffb502]

Originally Posted by broken neck

Sometime, using the horn is not the best thing to do, the Minivan could have stopped, giving no space for Alex to pass on the left, blocking all the road...

Nice save Mister, now go get some fresh fruits of the loom...

I agree (except Alex passed on the right, behind the rear bumper of the van that was turning from a side street across his path, from Alex's right to his left). Once the van was in the intersection, a horn honk would have been likely to cause a panic stop on the van driver's part when the driver realized he or she was violating Alex's right of way.

The place to try a honk is just before, or as, the driver started to go for it. There's a short window of opportunity there. People would probably think we were crazy if we honked at every car stopped at a cross street that could potentially pull out in front of us.

Maybe a SMIDSY weave could have helped, but weaving around on a rain slicked road approaching an intersection has its own risk/reward calculation. If it's a frequent stopping spot there could be an oil slick in the middle of the lane.

All in all, great story and great collision avoidance techniques. No options = brake hard, keep evaluating for more options, don't panic. I think many people would fixate on the side of the van and either plow into it or lock up the front and hit the road then the van.

Another tangent this brings up...are lock ups on wet pavement more forgiving than on dry pavement? For example, if this had happened on dry pavement with the rear locked up and out of alignment with the front, could that counter clockwise rotation have caused a high side? Is locking up the front more forgiving with less traction? I still haven't ridden in the rain so I don't have the experience to answer these questions, but it would seem losing traction on a rain slicked road (although easier to do) could be more forgiving as long as one stays with it/doesn't panic and tense up.

[cbinker]

Rule #1 - Never Trust anyone to make a good decision on the road.

[alex.s]

you have to have a horn on your bike, or a left side control for that matter, to be able to use the horn.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by jeffb502

Another tangent this brings up...are lock ups on wet pavement more forgiving than on dry pavement? For example, if this had happened on dry pavement with the rear locked up and out of alignment with the front, could that counter clockwise rotation have caused a high side? Is locking up the front more forgiving with less traction? I still haven't ridden in the rain so I don't have the experience to answer these questions, but it would seem losing traction on a rain slicked road (although easier to do) could be more forgiving as long as one stays with it/doesn't panic and tense up.

lockups happen sooner in the wet so theres less force to deal with when the slide happens. that said, recovering from a slide in dry seems much easier (although much rougher on your nuts)

[BlueHairSar]

Pshaw, vid or it didn't happen.

[Ducati999]

Jeffb502 it has been my experience (learned the hard way) that a slide of the rear only results in a high side if there is a sudden regaining of traction. The slide can be caused by too much throttle or the rear brake but it is the tire sticking to the pavement and suddenly stopping the slide that provides the energy to shoot you up in the air. The other result if you keep the slide going is a possible lowside crash.