[Psycho1]

This might be my noob showing, but even with not knowing the bike, wouldn't an attempt to stop/slow down still have been a better choice? Preferably sooner than he started to react to the taxi pulling out. It just seems counter-intuitive. He took himself from behind an obstacle and placed himself between it and an area of no escape!

Exactly. He immediately discounted the safest quickest option and selected the most risky dangerous one. The video is most likely his way of trying to rationalize his stupidity to his friends that are giving him a tough time about the crash. Heck if he actually thought about everything as he claims in the video, he wasted 3-4 seconds before committing to the shoot the narrow gap between the van and curb with no escape zone option. He could have simply slowed down to equalize the speed in 1-2 seconds, completely stopped in 3-4 seconds from that speed, or glanced over his left shoulder to see where the other van was and gone left where there was a lot more room.

[Sickle]

Found a nice video of a terrible situation to be in, luckily no crash happened but ironically the rider did what I expected to see in the last video posted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA6Nha9gGKo

[rschlegel]

Exactly. He immediately discounted the safest quickest option and selected the most risky dangerous one. The video is most likely his way of trying to rationalize his stupidity to his friends that are giving him a tough time about the crash. Heck if he actually thought about everything as he claims in the video, he wasted 3-4 seconds before committing to the shoot the narrow gap between the van and curb with no escape zone option. He could have simply slowed down to equalize the speed in 1-2 seconds, completely stopped in 3-4 seconds from that speed, or glanced over his left shoulder to see where the other van was and gone left where there was a lot more room.

The guy is talking about a weekly blog to show his encounters. I can see why he has enough encounters to do a blog weekly. If he keeps assuming that best for his outcome we will not see his last footage because he wont be around to post it.
As I have mentioned in other posts, he should not have been traveling faster than the flow of traffic in with intersections coming up. Here is my thinking, all with my thought of making cagers your friends through intersections,
1) Knowing an intersection is coming up just as he was ahead of the white van on his left he should have slowed to be next to it positioned and ready for it to make a right hand turn.
2) When he noticed a vehicle near the intersection he should have slowly weaved left and right in his lane to make his movement stand out. Even a red bike blends in with the traffic movement. Making your bike do something different than the rest of traffic makes it easier to see you.
3) He should have been covering the brake and been ready to stop. He mentioned not wanting to be rear ended if he stopped too hard. If he was traveling with the flow of traffic the taxi would have pulled out earlier and this would have been a non issue.
4) He mentioned the 35mph limit and was doing over 40. He was still doing 32mph when his handle bar came in contact with the taxi. Even if what he was thinking was sound, his speed at that point should have been slower. His intention was to get around the taxi, not to stay alive. A stay alive reaction in his situation would have at least been to get slowed down.
5) He ends up blaming his unfamiliarity with the bike. If he was that unfamiliar with the bike he should have been riding it with that in mind.


IMO too many people think they can move around quickly in traffic because they are on a bike. I believe you can move around and get through city traffic better than a car but it is not by riding faster, it is by using the spaces in a safe manner that allows you to move forward while the cages get jammed in.
I use a 5mph over the posted limit on average but not in the city. City riding is a battle ground and you have to keep your head and give yourself the time to react to EVERYTHING ahead, behind, and next to you.


OK, dismounting my soapbox,
Ride On.

[rschlegel]

Found a nice video of a terrible situation to be in, luckily no crash happened but ironically the rider did what I expected to see in the last video posted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA6Nha9gGKo

Great video of what WILL happen to you. Another example of how excessive speed in traffic will get you in trouble. It seems the rider was riding a reasonable speed and was able to react well. Granted, timing of this one other than giving a pucker moment was on the riders side. Going the same speed but 2 or 3 seconds ahead of where she was could have ended much worse.
Looking at it from how I ride, the only thing I would have been doing differently is that I would have been off the throttle and covering the brake as I approached the intersection. I talk about using cages as friends at intersections and this rider did not have one so she was on her own. It seemed to be close to the perfect storm,
1) she could not see the car preparing to turn in front of her
2) the driver wanting to turn could not see the bike
The only thing the rider had was a reasonable speed and a lot of luck with the timing.
Thanks for sharing this because it has brought to mind how things can go wrong even when you are prepared. This is why I mostly avoid riding on city streets. My job provides a vehicle for me that I work out of. I go to a monthly rider club meeting each month that I drive my pickup to because it is held at the later part of rush hour and most traffic is coming towards me. It is part of the Risk vs Reward for me.
As riders, our brains need to work overtime to stay safe when everything is going our way. City driving multiplies that significantly and even more at certain times of the day.
Be safe, get home and ride on.

[Ravelife]

there was an old van right infront of me at a red light. 10 seconds into the the redlight and the van launches forward. luckily they slammed the breaks inches away from the car infront of them. it was like they completely forgot that brakes need to be applied constantly at a stop. had i felt the need for speed that day right before that moment, then i would have been infront of the van.

One reason why lane-splitting can be good, ofc alot of us can't do that illegally. honest to god though, if i think im near a drunk driver or someone that could potentially accidentally harm me then i have no problem doing something illegal like lane-splitting(thats not harming others).. if a cop doesn't understand that then just write me the ticket cause its a minor fee to keep my body above the ground.... but to try to answer your question: just being aware as possible, without overloading your brain by looking for too many things, is the key i think though. keep some good fortune on you as well. we don't need to be making any bad karma for ourselves.. i keep a st Christopher necklace in my jacket that was passed down to me.

there's some things as a motorcyclist you just cannot avoid. all you can do is practice safe and controlled riding to the best of your ability. but, with that said, hopefully someone can enlighten us on what they do to practice safety for such an event.

The other day in moderate traffic I had to make a choice whether to blow thru between two cars splitting the lane or let a car pull over on top of me. Cop saw whole thing happen, it was not legal at all and when I made eye contact with the cop he just waved me on. Got luck?

[rschlegel]

I grew up riding in California. I am a firm believer in lane splitting (safely). Now I live in Colorado. It is illegal to lane split here and I hate how vulnerable it makes bikers. I do line up at stops ready to go up the middle if it looks like someone is not going to stop in time behind me.

[Kreylyn]

I grew up riding in California. I am a firm believer in lane splitting (safely). Now I live in Colorado. It is illegal to lane split here and I hate how vulnerable it makes bikers. I do line up at stops ready to go up the middle if it looks like someone is not going to stop in time behind me.

Made me think of this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=b4qpZdP_sX8#t=509

Krey

[rschlegel]

Exactly why you should position yourself correctly and watch your mirrors.

[miketony25]

Only after laying down my bike down for the 2nd time, did i start watching crashes. i agree with them being instructional, i always think what did they do wrong for that to happen. The ones i dont like are the rear ending ones, bc there is no avoiding a car from hitting you. YIKES

[rschlegel]

I agree. You train yourself to keep an eye on your mirrors for that car that doesn't seem to be able to stop and to have an out. In an emergency stop it is harder to keep that much attention to your backside. Those are usually the only videos that really make me cringe.