Topic: Well, I got hit by a car tonight

[narcoticrex]

My first motorcycle accident is out of the way, and thankfully, it was basically a non-event.  Im sitting there at a red light, behind some jackass in a mustang who had pulled up beside me, sped up, then cut right in front of me right before we hit this red light.  All of a sudden I hear screeching tires and I feel my bike move about 2 inches. Some inattentive moron hadnt noticed the red light - luckily he had good brakes.    If he didnt, I would be smeared all over the back of that retards mustang. He hit me just enough to make my bike move - didnt even knock me off balance.

i really hate people. so goddamn much. 

I have been riding a motorcycle for a little over a month now, and almost been in 3 other accidents, and actually been hit once - all 3 near misses were all women/girls who werent paying attention and almost pulled out in front of me, for what its worth. 

[Steve F]

Glad to hear it was a "non-event"!  You were lucky, and I have to agree about the girls and not paying attention to bikes.  Last fall some dip-$h1t girl, talking on her cell phone (of course) pulls out right in front of me.  I slam on the brakes, start skidding sideways a bit all the while laying on the horn.  If I had a hand free she would have gotten a finger or two also.  She just gives me this look like "where the hell did you come from" (I was 3 feet from hitting the drivers' door so I saw her face really good!).  Stupid B1tch!  DRIVE DEFENSIVELY!!  IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE WITH ALL THE A-HOLES ON THE ROAD.

[johnny_from_bel]

I ride MC for more than 20 years. You must (will) learn to think for others.
I have developped a 6th sence for this. If you don't you will be a statistic soon.

No use in complaining about those morons in cages. They are everywhere and there is nothing you can do about that. Learn to anticipate.

As for traffic lights. In Belgium you can drive along the queue and put yourself before the first car. That way there is no risc in being cut off. If not stay in gear and look in the rear mirror. That way you can move when some idiot tries to slam into you.

Good luck.

[Shenanigans]

Good thing your fine. It could have been a lot worse. A positive aspect of things like this are that it cements in your mind to pay attention in the future. I had pretty much the same thing happen a while back, the car failed to see me until the last second. It swerved but it scared the sh!t out of me. However I am glad it scared me the way it did because about 3 months later I was at a dead stop making a right waiting for  people in a crosswalk when I glanced back to see a car about to misshape me and my bike. Some old lady that never saw me, I don't think my bike has ever felt so slow with the clutch being let out at near redline! I wonder what the people crossing the road were thinking when I stopped to let them go and then all of a sudden shot through a small gap between them...

[tramp]

i watched a guy get hit from behind
the bike went out from underneath him and went into traffic and got maulled to death by a large truckthe guy never moved from  that spot he was in
he still say there holding a bike that wasn't there anymore
thank god he didn't have a sissy bar

[GNXFan]

I ride with the attitude that everyone's out to kill me and adjust accordingly. There are just too many gadgjets to distract drivers now... cell phones,text messaging, in dash TV's,GPS,laptops,10,000 watt sound systems..... I'm sure I missed a few. My boss totalled out his new Honda Accord two weeks ago after a guy pulled out in front of him and he T-Boned him. He said the guy told him he wasn't paying attention because he was text messaging someone. Luckily he is basically OK because of all the air bags in the Accord but he now has a partially detached retina in his left eye. All for a lousy text message..

[bill440cars]

       Yeah, I'm glad that you are alright too! You definitely have to drive as if they are out to get you. Lots of good advice in this one.

       My Dad has some photos of a friend who was hit from the rear on his Indian (vertical twin) Scout (It IS a very old incident) and broke most of the spokes in his rear wheel!

[kghost]

Glad your ok.....

A person learns to look thru the car to see the actual person.

I watch thier head and thier eyes.

Watch for the cell phone pressed to thier ear and give them a wide margin.









Nice F4 patch Bill

[333]

Enlightened Paranoia.

That's what my local riding buddies call that 6th sense you guys are talking about.  The ability to know what some a$$hole will do next.  Actually, I think the cell phoners are easier to read in this situation.  You see someone on a phone, you know he or she will do something stoopid, it's only a matter of when.

[SD750F]

And have a freaking bright "flashing" brake light....

 

Scott

[nickjtc]

Nicks solutions for moronic drivers:

Make everyone drive a standard/gear shift transmission. Then they have no choice but to interact with their vehicle.

Make the manufacturers spend a proportion of their developement budget on driver training rather than more ways that a driver can survive an accident.

Get rid of any dash mounted distractions, like GPS.

Have an attachment in the seat that gives the driver a little jolt of electricity every time they do not stop at a stop sign or speed through a controlled speed zone.

Just kidding about the last one.

[DarkRider]

I would have to say with some of the idiots here...the last one is needed...im pretty sure my riding buddies and myself are getting tired of having to do stoppies to avoild stop sign/ red light runners.

[Uncle Ernie]

I leave a good 10 feet in front of me when I stop, stay to one side or the other, and watch my mirrors to see if someone is coming up behind me too fast.
At intersections, don't think a driver sees you just because his eyes are open.
Don't be the first to pull out at a green light, either.  In cities, sometimes a car will hink if you don't gas it, but that beats getting T-boned by a car running a red light.  (I read that somewhere...)

(oh yeah- in my freakin' DIARY)

[GNXFan]

This is weird. I went riding today and almost get hit in a head on. I was coming down a two lane road and a guy was coming at me behind a car turning in front of him. He was in a hurry to get around the car turning in front of him so he pulled out around the car into the oncoming lane(My Lane) and almost hit me and my buddy on his Royal Enfield. Scared the crap out of both of us but we managed to pull towards the shoulder and get out of his way. Like I said in my prevous post... Everyone's out to KILL YOU!!!

[dustyc]

Glad you're safe.

I wonder what the people crossing the road were thinking when I stopped to let them go and then all of a sudden shot through a small gap between them...

And it makes you look like the idiot.  That's what galls me.

[azuredesign]

Those situations are the intangible and hardest to control parts of riding for me. When something effed up like that happens, the first thing the person in the car says is, but I never saw the bike. It's all on our shoulders to anticipate what other vehicles are going to do, to develop this 6th sense Johnny and others are speaking about. It's all about staying alert and watching everything. One trick that I think helps to increase reaction time is to find a way to look at vehicles that may enter your path. I watch the front wheel especially, as I think I'll be able to see it move quicker if it starts to than any other part of the the car/truck/whatever.

From behind, it's tough. It's difficult on some bikes to adjust mirrors so you're not looking at your shoulder if you look in the mirror out of the corner of your eye. Even when you set things up so you have a clear line of sight posteriorly, if you don't have enough room in front of you, you have no hope of moving laterally to get out of the way.

Glad you're OK, and keep them doggies rollin' Rawhide,
Ben

[74cb750]

Glad to hear you are ok.

peace,
michel

[andy750]

I have been riding a motorcycle for a little over a month now, and almost been in 3 other accidents, and actually been hit once - all 3 near misses were all women/girls who werent paying attention and almost pulled out in front of me, for what its worth. 

This happens to me every day....and Im sorry to say its always a women drivers.....on a cell phone, smoking a cigarette, etc etc.....the majority of women drivers are VERY dangerous!

[johnny_from_bel]

This happens to me every day....and Im sorry to say its always a women drivers.....on a cell phone, smoking a cigarette, etc etc.....the majority of women drivers are VERY dangerous!

I have avoided an accident by putting my boot in the door of a car. I made such a racket in the car the GUY finaly noticed me and stopped pushing me to the side of the road.

It was a nice dent, no I did not stop. It was in heay traffice in Brussels. I sped away thought some cars.

[nickjtc]

It's difficult on some bikes to adjust mirrors so you're not looking at your shoulder if you look in the mirror out of the corner of your eye.

Bar end mirrors work very well.

[Chris Schneiter]

I don't know about anybody else, but I've seen a definite progression in my riding safety over the years... first, I was scared, but I think the most dangerous period was when I relaxed.. and took more chances and took things too close.. too fast on curves... cutting in and out of traffic..... then, I reached a position of mutual respect, and expect people (and myself) to be stupid!
I think I learned the most from riding bicycles... I learned to MAKE people see me... even on a bike, I took a full lane and rode next to the center line to force people to pass me..On the highway, I ride next to the centerline so some bozo won't try to squeeze me onto the shoulder..  The same at stop lights.. I'd stay in the middle, so some asswipe wouldn't try to squeeze both them and me into one lane... we have a right  to our full lane, but sometimes, we have to take it for ourselves.. I also have learned to always leave a ton of room in front and behind me, and often will flash my brakes if I see some Jaggoff coming up on me too fast... space in front also give me time to react.. When I'm coming up to a corner, I also keep a close eye on their car, and if someone is turning left, I often flash my brights at them, and always pull over to the right a little, in case they do try to turn, it gives me a little more time to get out of the way... Of course, I'm also not the type to hot Rod around..

[johnny_from_bel]

Even today at the very moment I was thinking, 'if the guy next to me moves to the right I have no escape' he started to move into my lane trying to push me onto the shoulder. He woke up when I banged full fist on the passenger window.

[firecracker]

Yep, you gotta do as much in YOUR power, to "help" the idiots out there.

I'd love to have a "cool" black helmet, but I'm gonna stick with my school-bus-yellow one.  I love seeing the double-take when people notice me.  I swear, it's the helmet that does it.

[gregimotis]

I think the second month of riding is the most dangerous.  The first month on a bike, you're scared and careful, by six months or so you've (hopefully) developed some good habits / instincts.  It's that second month when you're starting to feel safe, but you haven't really got a lot of experience.


They are ALL assassins.  If they aren't actively trying to kill you, its just because they are trying to lull you into not paying attention.