What is (are) your biggest fear(s) as a rider...

[RJprod]

I rarely watch the news, but when I do I usually get really pissed of at what I c on the tv. For example, it's 4 o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep. I found myself channel surfing and came across a story on CNN about a "14" year old kid in Texas who killed 4 people while driving drunk, and not only was he charged with "manslaughter", he got probation and ordered to spend his time in a treatment facility in California that cost about a million bucks I believe. what more disturbing to me is the fact that this kid has been in trouble before with the law, and I just find it disgusting that he's gotten away with murder and no one is doing anything about it.

This case had me thinking about my fear when I'm riding on the street.
My biggest fear is to get hit by a drunk driver while riding. Nothing will pisses me off more than that. I used to ride late at night for relaxation, but I somewhat reduce that a lil bit especially on weekends...
I'd hate to see me becoming a vegetable because some dumb ass thought it was cool to drink and ****ing drive.

So my point is: what scares you when riding on the street???

[fast1075]

(a) Left turning idiots.
(b) Cell Phones.
(c) Texting Idiots.
(d) Cell phone/texting/distracted idiots oncoming in my lane in corners.
(e) Animals, especially at night.
(f) And finally......Idiots that purposely put fluid and debris on the road in
corners "to teech them motorsickle riderz to slow down". Yes that happens.

[rasta]

People running red lights. We've all seen countless videos of it on Youtube. As motorcyclists, we all like to be the first ones off the line when it turns green. Even though we can't/don't always make sure the coast is clear.

The thought of dying doesn't necessarily scare me, as much as the thought of how that would affect my family. Especially considering they weren't exactly thrilled when I chose to ride a bike.

[JohnnyBravo]

Dogs... I'm scared of dogs

[subxero]

that I don't look as cool as I think I do.

[rasta]

Originally Posted by subxero

that I don't look as cool as I think I do.

Awesome

[Alex]

not off-topic

/moved to general

[csmith12]

For me, it's left turners.

Originally Posted by fast1075

(f) And finally......Idiots that purposely put fluid and debris on the road in
corners "to teech them motorsickle riderz to slow down". Yes that happens.

We have a guy that hates riders. We lovingly call him "soapy water guy". He tried to dump a pale of water on one of the riders in the group as we went by. Oddly enough, the curve in front of his house is ALWAYS wet.

EDIT: Found his pic.

[DEFY]

Being hit and ran over only to be dragged for miles.

[alex.s]

people in cars are stupid and predictable most of the time. you can count on them to make a mistake. bikes are hard to predict. they do pretty random **** most of the time. trying to avoid a bike that is crashing can be a challenge.

[Alex]

Biggest fear for me relates to biggest uncontrollable risk, and the largest one of those for me there is a deer or other large animal strike. In many cases, it's as predictable as a lightning strike, and has similar opportunities to avoid it if your number comes up. Yes, you can move the risk up and down a bit by choosing riding times, choosing riding areas, and being vigilant for areas where they might show up. But there are still enough times where there will be no warning, and no opportunity to entirely avoid the problem. You think about people like Larry Grodsky, who made a nationally-recognized career about training riders to ride safely, who lost his life due to a deer strike on his bike. Going through the IBR this year, you pencil out the odds of hitting a deer over that many miles, and you can be certain that one or more of the ~100 riders will be taken out by one. This year it was 2 riders. Both survived, but one will likely have lasting aspects of his injury for the rest of this lifetime.

[csmith12]

Indeed Alex!

I've dodged so many deer, cage and bike I am numb to it, it's gunna bite me one day. I feel sometimes I got a pretty good read on them, then BAM they prove me wrong. I hit one in my jeep 2yrs ago. $1500 worth of dmg, glad I wasn't on the bike at the time. Cows on the other hand.... lol

[NevadaWolf]

I always hear how dangerous it is to ride a bike, but its just as dangerous to drive a car or go for a walk or even step out your front door. Other people you can never control and you can only guess how they are going to behave. So while I recognize the risk, none of those situations give me any fear. Between distracted drivers, emotional drivers, clueless driver, whatever, I just move around them and try to stay away from them as much as possible.

Animals on the road are another thing I can't control. Sure my awareness goes up, but should Bambi decide at that very moment that the bushes on the other side of the road are tastier, there is nothing I can do about it. Again, i know the risk but feel no fear.

I think the only thing that causes me fear is my own actions. Did I just take this corner too hot for my skill? Am i pushing beyond being mentally alert enough to be safe? Are my fingers or toes too cold to feel the controls and react quickly enough? These questions and others like them come up all the time and I am evaluating myself as much as I am evaluating the area around me. I can choose to stop, I can choose to make changes, I can choose to adjust how I am riding. Making the wrong choice is what causes me fear.

[choneofakind]

Asphalt. My biggest fear.

Crashed many times on bicycles (some more eventful than others) but that doesn't make me any fearful of the 10-grit we ride on.

[CC Cowboy]

Radar!

[MR2Aaron]

Crashing.

[Brian]

Seeing something in front of you on the road like a pothole or a wet surface when you have no way to brake or avoid it, forcing you to go over it.

[ally99]

Gravity I guess.

In reality, left turners and deer.

[greenaero]

I'm not overly concerned with it but one situation I feel vulnerable about is being struck in the back while stopped. You would most likely never see it coming until too late. Its never happened to me and it is statistically a rare collision but just like lightning strikes, it does happen. If I'm stopped at longer lights I will take the time to turn around and look back.

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by csmith12

For me, it's left turners.



We have a guy that hates riders. We lovingly call him "soapy water guy". He tried to dump a pale of water on one of the riders in the group as we went by. Oddly enough, the curve in front of his house is ALWAYS wet.

EDIT: Found his pic.

Haha one of the first stories I read on this forum was about the dreaded soapy water guy

[Soujyu]

Highsiding on a highway interchange that is really high up in the air.

[corksil]

Road rage.

Every damn time I pass someone [safely-albeit illegally], they freaking follow me honking with high-beams until I pull over and then the proceed to scream about how I should go to jail and how much of an ass I am.

What happened to the america where you could just stab someone who got in your face and continue on along your merry way?

I swear -- passing someone in traffic is like a surefire ego-trigger. It's as if people not only feel challenged, but also enraged when you somehow pilot your motor vehicle AROUND and PAST them on a public road, even when they are appearing drunk, swerving, talking on the phone, etc.

Considering developing a generic story about how I am afflicted with a rare disease which only gives me one more year of life, and riding my motorcycle is my only joy, my only happiness in life. That way I can weed out the idiots from the arseholes and know whom to attack based on their reaction to my poor pitiful plight.

[JohnnyBravo]

What not one person is afraid of a zombie outbreak, doomsday, or ghosts??? Pffffffffft

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Radar!

seriously, the thought of losing the ability to ride and or incurring fees/jailtime is far more terrifying than animals, asshats, and other direct threats to life. when riding you have an assumed risk and all of that stuff can happen, it's easier to think of an injury (death notwithstanding because you won't care if you're dead as it affects the lives those around you more) as something you can live with than losing all your money, the ability to work, and so on because you managed to get tagged by a cop having a bad day.

[JohnnyBravo]

[azian4lifz]

my biggest fear of all time is a stupid freakin deer suddenly appears in your direction on the highway...or any road.
If i hit a deer I think I would die.
Living in Virginia, there happens to be a lot of deers. and they can be stupid as hell as I've encountered several deers while driving but never on a bike.
*knock on wood*

[ally99]

Originally Posted by greenaero

I'm not overly concerned with it but one situation I feel vulnerable about is being struck in the back while stopped. You would most likely never see it coming until too late.

So there are these things called mirrors...



Oh yeah, good point above too. Not a fan of traffic cops waiting to ruin someone's day.

[Boom King]

Potholes... big ones.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Boom King

Potholes... big ones.

that is definitely more of a cager problem. looks like the weight of the car created the pothole. plus it wouldn't be too hard to swerve around that so long as you notice it (if you don't notice something like that you almost deserve to fall in)

[JohnnyBravo]

Da heck is this van doing in the road?

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Da heck is this van doing in the road?

digging a path to china.

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by Sirref

digging a path to china.

it didn't get very far, guess it was nap time

[Boom King]

Originally Posted by Sirref

that is definitely more of a cager problem. looks like the weight of the car created the pothole. plus it wouldn't be too hard to swerve around that so long as you notice it (if you don't notice something like that you almost deserve to fall in)

The good news is that no one was seriously hurt. And you're probably right about the mini van exceeding the weight limit of the road. The family smartened up and went back to 2 wheels.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Sirref

that is definitely more of a cager problem. looks like the weight of the car created the pothole. plus it wouldn't be too hard to swerve around that so long as you notice it (if you don't notice something like that you almost deserve to fall in)

no no no, that's not just the weight of the car. Look how there's no base under it. That's called a sink hole. If a truck weighs too much on a properly made road with a good base, it will crack the road from flexing it too much. You don't simply fall into an empty hole, that material would have to go somewhere. That hole was caused by water running under the road and washing out the base. Then, the car caused the unsupported road to buckle and fall. There's more to that than just the weight of the car. That's lots of rain combined with bad engineering and likely some cost cutting measures on behalf of the contractor.

Also, look how s##tty that car is. There's no way that thing weighs much. It looks like I could snap it with my bare hands.

[csmith12]

Is homie wearing a sports bra?

[NevadaWolf]

Wow, remind me not to go on any Chinese road...

http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/06/...-through-road/

I think @choneofakind has the right explanation, poor construction letting water wash away the road bed under the pavement. Just not so sure the term is also sink hole. But I could be wrong.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

no no no, that's not just the weight of the car. Look how there's no base under it. That's called a sink hole. If a truck weighs too much on a properly made road with a good base, it will crack the road from flexing it too much. You don't simply fall into an empty hole, that material would have to go somewhere. That hole was caused by water running under the road and washing out the base. Then, the car caused the unsupported road to buckle and fall. There's more to that than just the weight of the car. That's lots of rain combined with bad engineering and likely some cost cutting measures on behalf of the contractor.

Also, look how s##tty that car is. There's no way that thing weighs much. It looks like I could snap it with my bare hands.

allow me to correct my statement, the weight of the car combined with ****** engineering. I guess it would be possible for a bike to trip the sinkhole but a car is far more likely to.

[csmith12]

He is right, it's a sink hole. I am unfortunately very familiar with them. I did much research when my vacation property sank in one.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by csmith12

He is right, it's a sink hole. I am unfortunately very familiar with them. I did much research when my vacation property sank in one.

please tell me that you had sinkhole insurance, also if that picture is really yours and not a random from cnn then damn you had a nice vacation property.

[csmith12]

It's real and I was covered. Also, I didn't own the whole building, just a 2 bedroom condo on the 1st floor.