Almost widowed the family the other day...

[Shuriken]

Yup... I guess it was my turn.

Few days ago I was riding on a road I commute 10 minutes on every day. The road has 2 northbound, 2 southbound lanes, and 1 turning lane. I was heading northbound at the 45mph posted speed. Was riding within the inside lane. To my right in the right hand lane, a vehicle caught up to me, passed and then began to make a right-hand turn at a parking lot or something. I'm looking ahead in my lane when all of the sudden a blazer appears from the same driveway where the vehicle was turning into.

You know what this means. Split second in my head I am thinking there is going to be a collision because to my horror the vehicle that is making a left hand turn is turning directly into my path without seeing me.

I am already on both brakes and I am rising off the seat (I don't know, instinct good or bad - perhaps my body was getting ready to jump off the bike at the last second). Bike is compressing the front shock for sure because I lose traction on the rear... it is skidding and I am countersteering at the same time so I hold it together while it is mildly fishtailing.

THEN....

At the last possible microsecond the driver of the vehicle sees me and brakes before fully entering my lane. I am able to swerve slightly into the turning lane and go past the vehicle without a collision. I look back in disbelief as I pass and the other driver had a strange look on his face like he almost killed a person.

No time to honk the horn and wouldn't have made any difference. I am alive.

I was wearing my full face helmet, secured with the shield down. I was observing the speed limit. Unfortunately, I was not wearing leathers. I had a backpack and a striped shirt.

It may have been my striped shirt that the driver finally saw... who knows. Only took about 3 seconds maybe.

....

In looking back and trying to analyze what happened (because I sure as heck don't want to do that twice), I can't really see what I was doing wrong. The reason I'm posting is to get everyone's input on it....

The only thing I can come up with is that the vehicle that began to make a left hand turn into traffic should have waited for the vehicle to his left to fully make the right hand turn into the parking lot/driveway before beginning the left hand turn. The guy did not wait and pulled out before he could fully see oncoming traffic. Of course that's my argument.

Either way I would have t-boned a blazer and my face probably would have hit at the roof level. Not sure if it is better to take the impact or fly over the roof of a vehicle. Either way, a helmet may or may not have saved me. Had he not seen me at the last second, someone else would be writing this.

He would have been asked during a report later what happened and probably would have said he pulled out in a left and never saw me. Whether it was his fault or not, who knows. Most likely he would have had minimum insurance (assumption made from looking at the vehicle I almost collided with) and I have only minimum insurance.

UGGGHGHGH.....

Much to be thankful for at this point.

 

[4gasem]

Nice! Glad you're OK!

 

[Thevmaxrider]

Without knowing exactly what the other traffic conditions were (ie. heavy traffic behind you or coming the opposite direction) my guess is he was in a hurry for whatever reason and made the decision to turn as soon as he saw the other car turn on its right blinker. In all probability he did not even take note of you until he was already moving. Thank goodness he did finally see you or my guess is it would not have ended well. Good job keeping your wits about you and doing what you could to avoid him!

 

[Fire-medic]

Congratulations on survival of a near-miss, now go throw-away those Hanes!

I am not riding as-much as I once did. I used to ride all the time in jeans & a t-shirt. Then, I bought an armored jacket, my 1st, to replace an elderly Belstaff which I used in cooler weather, but not so-much in warmer times. Now I have two different mesh armored jackets, an older Joe Rocket I bought when they 1st became avail., & a Fieldsheer I bought this yr. because the first one is getting older. I also treated myself to a new Tourmaster Transition jacket, best gear I ever owned.

My thought is, you never know when you are going to be a victim, so act as if you are every day you ride. Years may go by, but when it does happen, you will be ready to survive w/the max. chance of minimizing injuries. Yes, it's tempting to ride w/o a jacket when it's 90+, but I always think of my own 'incidents' as-well-as the victims I see weekly being brought into the trauma room at the local trauma center where I bring the EMS students.

You had it happen all so-suddenly all you could do was what you did, and congratulations for not high-siding. You are lucky the driver decided to stop. Probably a younger driver would have panicked & kept going w/disasterous consequences. In those types of situations, if you are able to 'launch' over the vehicle, your bike t-bones the driver's door area and often has fatal consequences for the driver. The more-likely scenario is that you break both femurs as you somersault over the vehicle when your legs hit the handlebars and your forward momentum takes you over the car, if you clear it, head-first. That alone establishes you as a highest-priority trauma patient to be transported (RED, Broward County FL Uniform Trauma Protocols http://www.broward.org/BrowardEMS/Documents/TransportProtocols.pdf). Meanwhile, the driver's car has a 12+ inches 'intrusion' into the passenger compartment courtesy of your bike's velocity and narrow point-of-impact. That one is going to be hard to survive for the driver if the impact is just forward of the doorframe. Are you 55 y.o.+? That plus a single long-bone fracture gives you a BLUE trauma priority in this jurisdiction. Either of these means that when you cross the threshold of Joe Dimaggio/MemorialRegional Hospital, the fifth-largest Level I trauma facility in the nation, you just got a bill for $10,000 because that's what it costs to bring you into the room. You have neurologists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, vascular surgeons, internal surgeons, anesthesiologists, and any other specialties you need to survive. At a price, of course. And some people don't like to wear helmets! And won't! Then again, a 'do-rag' provides containment for your fractured cranium's brain, right?

On the way home from the gym after a 24 hr. fire/rescue shift, I had a left-turning car do just what you were able to avoid-she turned left from oncoming traffic at an intersection, directly in-front of me, as we entered the intersection 3-abreast (two lanes to my right & myself) and then she stopped. Fully-across my lane, leaving me with absolutely nowhere to go. I slammed on the brakes and tried to steer behind her, because I didn't want to be sideswiped by the car in the lane to my right. I saw I was going too-fast to be able to stop, there was no place for me to go behind her (oncoming traffic) and I highsided into her Civic. My helmet bent the "A" pillar on the passenger side, I was doing a 'Superman' down the greenhouse of her car, my feet broke her rear window. I fell to the pavement and got up, and started screaming at her. The driver behind me in traffic thought they just saw a fatal accident, until I got up. I was two blocks from one of the hospitals I taught at. Ten weeks off work, a concussion, 3 broken ribs, and a body skin color that looked like the colors of the setting sun... as the bruises healed.

You are indeed a lucky guy, I hope you said your prayers. As the saying goes, "no atheists in a foxhole."

 

[gamorg02]

glalad tohear that worked out as best it could

nothing you could probably do to make yourself MORE visible, do you ride with your high beam on? i always do, might have helped

i guess the only thing to do in a situation like that is be conscious YOU can no longer see where anyone could potentially pull out of (when the driver on the right passed you), and you now need to look down 'stream' a bit further to ensure you don't see anyone about to pull out, in either direction.

 

[sarchin]

Glad you're OK! Kind of sounds like you were doing most everything right, especially by paying attention to everything going on around you. I have a tendency to think that cars don't see me easily and may pull out in front of me. One possibility is the driver of the blazer was checking for traffic as they drove out of the parking lot and you were hidden by the car that passed you. Or, they were cracking open a beer or lighting a cigarette.

 

[sdt354]

Glad you’re ok. I know what it’s like. I live in the mecca for impatient cagers that don't know where they're going but are in a hurry to get there before the ocean evaporates. Be careful out there guys.
Steve-o

 

[Fire-medic]

Glad you're OK! Kind of sounds like you were doing most everything right, especially by paying attention to everything going on around you. I have a tendency to think that cars don't see me easily and may pull out in front of me. One possibility is the driver of the blazer was checking for traffic as they drove out of the parking lot and you were hidden by the car that passed you. Or, they were cracking open a beer or lighting a cigarette.

Yes, I think you are right. How many times does someone pull out of a side street or a parking lot and fail to stay in the right-hand lane? They d-r-i-f-t across the lane(s) to their left, not caring if there is someone in that lane already doing 45 mph or maybe better! I once almost got sideswiped by a bXXXh in a junker Pinto station wagon who got onto the Palmetto Expressway (State Rd. 826, Miami) and immediately hooked a left hand turn into the fast lane directly in-front of me. I left a couple hundred miles of rubber behind in a lurid sideways slide as I braked to avoid her. There is no underestimating the stupidity of another driver!

As far as visibility, I always buy white helmets because the distance from-which one is noticeable is far-greater than a black one. That is especially-true on an overcast day, or at dusk/dawn. I see manufacturers are making jackets in that lime-green flourescent now. They help, I bet.

To verify the benefits of bright colors, here is a FEMA publication on conspicuity for emergency vehicles. http://www.firerescue1.com/data/FAvis1.pdf

Check-out "Tables 1 & 2" for an eye-opening read. The 'Executive Summary' is like the abstract in a refereed journal, it sums-up the findings.

'Recognition/Identification' and 'Action' on p. 11 are especially important to us as vulnerable motor vehicle operators w/o benefit of a steel cage to protect us.

Much credence is given to 'retroreflective' material which tends to reflect light sources striking it back along the same axis/vector as the source from which it comes, providing maximum visibility from the surface bearing the retroreflective material. This could be a panel glued to a vehicle body, or pliable patches sewn to a firefighter's bunker gear (jacket & pants, helmet) or the clothing of a motorcyclist, if so-equipped.

The lime-green color has been shown to be the most-recognizable during daylight hours, with the red-orange color closely-following it when considering popular flourescent colors. Patterns also play a part, as U.K. vehicles rely on a large 'checkerboard' pattern for emergency vehicles, and this has proven to be an easy means of i.d.'ing an emergency vehicle when combined w/the flourescent contrasting colors.

Anyone who chooses to use the tactics spelled-out here is going to increase your chances of being seen.

In summation, use of flourescent colors using retroreflective technology on surface areas large-enough to be noticed by other vehicle operators is going to provide maximum value to enhancing motorcyclists' conspicuity.

 

[twistedmax]

You probably couldnt have done anything differant,chalk it up to" shit happens" like the deer I grazed a few weeks ago. Glad to see you were able to post the story!

 

[Shuriken]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice...

 

[CaptainKyle]

Glad your ok ! I know a Husband & wife in Ft myers that both got wiped out by a Jaguar last month luckiliy they survived but there both in a lot of pain.

 

[SpecOps13]

How long did the Adrenalin Rush last???? Sure happy it's you telling this story and not someone else.... Congrats on crash avoidal....

 

[DakRatFink]

First thank goodness you are still here.
+1 on what Fire Medic posted about bright colors and retroflective gear. I have ICON's yellow Mil_spec vest and their similar backpack for when I need to haul stuff. At first I got them because I am "required" to wear them but anymore I feel naked riding without them.

 

[Rollie]

Agree w/ Jim , he was in a hurry , saw the turn signal and figured he could go ahead and make the left turn before other traffic got close. You were probably hidden to him , behind the right turning cager. No excuse for the dumb ass though. definately his fault for not waiting and double damn him , turning into your lane. Glad you were able to miss him and stay upright.

You wear your gear for the crash , not the weather. Good luck in the future. At least you have one.

 

[devine plumbing]

I have had that happen twice to me when I have been driving my truck and trailer. Make a right hand turn into a parking lot while someone happens to be driving along beside me, hidden by my trailer to someone who is waiting to turn left out of the parking lot. This resulted in two t-bone collisions for the other drivers. I like to ride in the right lane towards the far left side of the lane whenever possible and never just ride beside somebody while in the left hand lane, because sure enough, they will make a right hand turn and someone waiting to turn left will not see you.

 

[GREEN light BLITZ]

I reside in Southern California, home of traffic. Glad you're ok and glad you have good reflex.

My bike is LOUD, and I'm cautious but people will still nearly take you out all day long here so to me it's just a part of riding.

Just remember "dress for the crash,not the ride" and everytime you throw a leg over your bike be sure you're wearin you're thunderwear... That's really all you can do aside from...I dunno...wearing somthing highly visible like a striped shirt? Lol

 

[dannymax]

Sometimes the planets align and put you smack dab in the middle of a very bad situation not of your making, I think this was one of those times. You did nothing to create the situation, and had the unfortunate bad luck of being in close proximity with a couple fools who had no business driving a vehicle that day.

I congratulate you on keeping a cool head and not either laying it down and sliding under one of those fools or high siding and all the nasty consequences that go along with that.

Good Job!! unk:

 

[Fire-medic]

Last really-close call for me was in my truck on I-95. In my rear-view mirror, I saw a compact car weaving like crazy across multiple lanes of traffic, back & forth, cutting drivers off, real 'cut & thrust' tactics.

The car comes up on my right. It's a young girl, doesn't look to be more than 20 y.o., yakking on a cellphone, which she is holding, & using the other to emphasize her point to her conversation partner, waving it around so the person on the other end of the call can better understand her point. Which leaves her how-many hands on the wheel?

So now she's directly to my right, and I see her grab a handful of steering wheel and cut it to her left, she starts across the center line into my lane, she's gonna sideswipe me if I don't move! Did she bother to look to her left before she decided to change lanes? Hell NO!

Luckily, I had been paying attention and there was no one to my left in the fast lane. I said to my wife, "look-out, she's gonna hit us!" as I started to move to the left. By now the girl has both left wheels across the center line between us.

I have a FIAMM two-trumpet air horn, and I laid onto the horn, which actually reached the ears of the stupid girl. She looked to the left, saw that I was about two feet from her left door, and she screeched. Next, she grabbed a big fistful of right turn on the steering wheel, and went sliding to her right, directly towards another car in the lane to her right. She stomped on the brake, and cut the wheel left again. The compact heeled over onto its right side, the tires bit, and she hurtled back towards me!

Now, because I had been continuing my forward path, I was a bit ahead of her, maybe a half car-length. I look in my rear-view mirror and see her compact rocket across all lanes of traffic behind me, headed for the high concrete median in a big cloud of tire smoke & road dust. I see peripherally that other traffic is breaking & weaving to avoid her, and then I'm dow the road too-far to see anything else. I asked my wife to dial *347 which is the FL Highway Patrol to report a car crashed into the median, and start praying for having avoided the accident. Stupid woman, not paying attention to her driving! I wonder how-many accidents she's caused, or been in?

 

[Shuriken]

I definitely need to upgrade the riding gear and wear better gear.

Also, in my years of riding, I never encountered the situation I did. The fact that some of you have experienced it already, some more than once, means that I will be looking out for this situation again. Now it's catalogued and I will be ready for it if I see it happening again. Basically the left-turn blind spot t-bone. Before I was cautious around intersections but now it's going to have to be driveways and turn outs also... (among others)

I have seen many a "young girl on cell-phone" running stop signs, erraticly shifting lanes, speeding, tailgating, etc. I've seen others doing it as well but I have seen an abundance of the type that Fire-medic describes. Also don't forget the running of the stoplights.

I wonder if we could list a thread where people summarize accidents or near-misses into one line sentences so we could all have a refresher...

Such as:
1. near miss from cager running red light - watch out for that
2. cager makes a blind left hand turn from a parking lot, pulls out in front - near miss - watch out
3. young gal on cell phone erraticly changing lanes, watch out
4. getting rear-ended from people driving too closely and traffic quickly stops
5. etc.

Maybe it would grow into a dictionary. Maybe not effective. But I will be watching for posts like that...

 

[gamorg02]

also, the same situation but a right hand turn could be just as deadly. the person turning right, going into the left hand lane where you are, trying to avoid the person turning into the parking lot or whatever.