My Close Call For The Year.....

Well, I just had my closest call of the year today.....
I was riding down a double lane, one way, road today.
I was in the left lane and a van was to my right.
All of a sudden the lady driving the van made a left turn from the right lane. I was heading directly for the side of her van (we are talking feet).
I had to slam on the brakes which caused me to fishtail.
Thank goodness I have been riding for some 35 years because I think it was my experience that kept me from not only hitting the van but also to recover from the fishtail. I was also able to lay on the horn and lift my arm up as to say "what the hell lady" as she looked at me in her rear-view mirror after she completed her illegal turn. Man, there are some real idiots out there. I wish people would pay attention to what they are doing when they are driving a vehicle.

 

amen, brother. glad to hear you are okay. i had a similar incident happen to me last week where a mini van in front of me decided to go from fifty to a total stop completely out of nowhere because he missed his turn and decided to do an illegal u turn in the middle of the road. no turn signal or anything. all i can say is im i grateful i spent some time over winter rebuilding my front and rear brakes because i had to lock both of em up to avoid becoming a bumper sticker. please be safe out there everyone. sadly, there are LOTS of stupid people on the road that are not paying attention to where they are going and are in waaay too big of a hurry to get there. ride safe and ride often, my friends. cheers

 

glad you avoided it, so many times its others that make motorcycles so dangerous statistic wise.

ride on!

 

My close one was day before yesterday, and I was the cage driver. I had come to a stop at a T intersection, and a motorcycle was traveing slowly my direction on the left. There was no traffic coming south, but I chose to stay put and wait for the bike to pass by me. There was a white mini van following behind the guy. As I mentioned earlier, the motorcycle was traveling very slowly, and when he was about 30 feet from the intersection, he raised his left hand and was motioning for me to pull out. I realized at that time he was a new and or nervous rider. I started to negotiate my turn to the left to give him a bit more room, and all of a sudden, the van bolted trying to pass the motorcycle and headed straight for me.

On this one, I would have to scold the rider, and myself as I should have stayed put. He used no turn signal, if they worked. And if they didn't, he certainly did not use the proper (and legal) hand signals as to his intention. I can see the van easily mistaking his gestures for ok, pass me if I am going to slow.

My point, is it is not always the cage drivers fault. We as riders know the dangers and limitations on a bike, and should be even more conscientious drivers than cage drivers. This guy seemed to me to be one that likely got a motorcycle license by default, and was not well educated to actually ride.

Ba safe brothers, but lets make sure we look in the mirror once in awhile as well.

 

Glad to hear you are all right. I always say you have to watch out for everyone else because you know what you are going to do. Some people just don't even look for bikes.

 

Dont forget there is no point in worrying about who's at fault,cause in the end we are the ones that pay the highest price, so keep alert and and make no assumptions about anything.
Ride safe,make sure you get home to the ones who love you!

 

I read this early today before taking a ride.

Low and behold I got stopped at a light. Light goes green...

The cars I would have been behind decided to turn into each other. Pushed the car on the left into oncoming traffic. Thankfully no one was hurt. And Thank God for that red light I got stuck at.

 

Glad to read that they missed you Old Man<lol>! And they tell us that you don't have those cat-like reflexes....obviously, you still got 'em!! Doubt you would be typing had you only used the rear brake.....your face probably would have been imprinted into the side of the dang van....good piece of riding brother!

Left turn from the right lane....sounds like a Wash DC driver....see it all the time in the city.....jeesh!

jeff