Common Motorbike Accident Scenarios

[Our Gee]

Thanks for posting David, anything which prompts us to re-think the basics at this time of year is a good thing. I found the various examples in the link interesting and all to familiar, two or three examples of which I myself do have first hand experience. The one where the driver reverses into the rider brings back unpleasant memories of an incident I was involved in a couple of years ago in Northallerton High Street. I did “escape” shaken but not stirred” and would like to think that the incident made me a better rider in that I do now leave a much greater distance between myself and the vehicle I am following. Good Post.

[gogs01]

Thanks for posting David, anything which prompts us to re-think the basics at this time of year is a good thing ..... I did “escape” shaken but not stirred” and would like to think that the incident made me a better rider in that I do now leave a much greater distance between myself and the vehicle I am following. Good Post.

That's a great example of what I was trying to say in my earlier post - better to take responsibility for avoiding an incident than to have to apportion blame afterwards. 
Hindsight often allows us to see what we might have done to mitigate an incident, but foresight is usually less painful .....

[Ganesh]

An incident when a rather dumb lorry driver decided to turn into the road I was waiting to turn right out of. The only problem was the angle of the turn would have meant going through me as the the junction was too narrow and he would have needed both sides of the road. I had to turn left to get out of his way, he never even noticed that he nearly ran me over. Looked like too many pork pies and not enough between the ears. I arrived at the junction before him by the way so pretty obvious I was there.

[David.]

I had to turn left to get out of his way, he never even noticed that he nearly ran me over.

Again, pleased to hear that you came to no harm.

A good example of having/leaving an escape/exit route, thanks for sharing a learning opportunity.

[Sprintgull]

Going back to the OP, mostly sensible stuff. A couple of things though: On a left hand bend I try to sit nearer to the crown of the road (a la IAM) which means I see the car coming, and hopefully he sees me too before cutting the corner. Staying in the gutter reduces visibility for both parties. The other thing is that some of these scenarios show bikes overtaking at a junction. The only way I'll do that is at really low speed when filtering, again I think that's what the IAM advises too. Not that I agree with EVERYTHING the IAM teaches.........

[Ganesh]

Thanks David, it came too close for comfort.
The Bikesafe day is well worth the investment as it does give some very practical life safers, particularly on filtering and junctions. Now use them when driving as well, although have to remember not to use the dotted line hash areas in a car for filtering:)

[Duggie]

The scenario with the car driver doing a u turn happened to me, no indication or warning at all with what he intended to do, as far as I was aware he was just another car parked up, next thing I was taking involuntary flying lessons over his bonnet.
No amount of training or experience would have altered the outcome on my part.

Duggie

[Maz12]

In 2009 I was stupid enough to overtake near a junction (scenario 3)
Needless to say a car did turn right and I ended up with a broken back and ankle, and my other half was severely bruised and the inevitable whiplash .
The driver that turned right was a retired traffic Sargent and knew the officers who attended (I was on a hiding to nothing there )
On a positive note..  While recovering I realised I could've avoided the incident.  So when I was well enough I started doing courses..  Bikesafe then IAM then Rospa
The downside is I neglected to tell the other half I was getting another bike... Managed to hide It for a month or so but of course she found out..  It was a costly divorce

[jackronner]

I tell new riders to beware of the inherent advantages and disadvantages of riding a bike.  One advantage is positioning yourself in the lane away from a car that may pull into your lane without signaling.  Also, do not follow directly behind a car, but to either side,  so that you can perhaps just go by them when they suddenly brake.  Also, since other drives may be a-holes, don't be a hole:  that is,  let yourself be seen by a car that may want to make a turn across your lane.  Even following directly behind a car may mask your presence, and the turner may think there's "a hole" in traffic.  When lane splitting during the day, I'll put my brights on for advance warning to drivers.  One of our advantages is acceleration, but when overtaking a car the driver may reasonably feel that no one could have caught him up and change lanes without signaling, etc. with a false sense of security.  Also, contrary to the proscription against using your high=beams in fog, during the day it's a great idea.  Anything that lets others know you're there gives you a greater margin of safety, and in daylight your brights won't bother other drivers, nor will they reflect back and blind you.  One thing I wish they would do is, when painting roadway lines, zebra crossings, etc,  before the paint dries, spray some sand or anything that counters the slickness of the paint in rain.  Sometimes, there is a big, ironic "STOP" painted on the road which prevents you from doing just that when it's wet. 

[slowvet]

Speaking of preparedness, does anybody else ride with a finger on the brake and clutch nearly all the time?

[johnesherman]

Speaking of preparedness, does anybody else ride with a finger on the brake and clutch nearly all the time?

Me. I ride always with fingers covering brake and clutch levers. Really a time saver if need to slow quickly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[slowvet]

Me. I ride always with fingers covering brake and clutch levers. Really a time saver if need to slow quickly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here. Reaction time is critical.

[jackronner]

I TRY to keep the fingers poised, most often don't, but always do so when approaching intersections or other vulnerable scenarios.  It's another of the very few countervailing safety advantages of a bike over a car:  reaction time in the latter is critically slower due to the transfer of the foot from the accelerator to the brake.  Nearly all bikers at least keep their foot right over the rear brake lever.  I also use the rear brake in very slow speed maneuvering, feeding a little clutch simultaneously then backing off the brake to produce slight acceleration, rather than feathering the clutch.  It seems go give me more control, but I'm surprised to find many bikers who don't do this.

[slowvet]

The one indisputable fact about common sense is - it's not very common !


We will reduce our chances of being involved in incidents like those portrayed if we take responsibility rather than blame the "dosy" driver. We have to expect drivers to pull out on us and take action to avoid the consequences. We have to expect the car at the front of the slow line of traffic to turn right ( in Uk, left everywhere else) and don't go overtaking at warp speed etc,etc.......
I've had some close calls in these scenarios and I know it would have been better to anticipate and take positive action to avoid them than trust to luck and someone else's actions to avoid injury and bike damage.
The police may attribute blame to someone else, but I don't think I would count lying in a hospital bed looking at photos of my wrecked bike as a success.....

This.

[Frank123]

Driving on the LEFT in this country.  Following a vehicle turning LEFT off the main road onto a side road when a 'young' car driver pulled out from the side road across my path. Thanks to this thread I decided not to overtake until I could see the road was clear ahead so narrowly avoided going over the bonnet of the car pulling out. So read, read and read again the scenarios it could save your skin some day! Regards