+ Why we crash +

[Salos Dafee]

If you're approaching an intersection and opposing traffic might turn left in front of you

please

accompany a car through the intersection so that the left turn guy has to take out the car too.

Slow down, speed up do whatever it takes to make sure you're not going through the intersection all by yourself.

Thank you.

johnp, that is excellent advice. I follow it wherever I am and whatever vehicle I am using. But even in GTA, there are times when you face the oncoming driver who is signalling left, or might turn left, and you are the only vehicle going your direction.

In that situation, I think it helps to make some sort of change to attract the attention of that driver. If you can change the part of the lane you are using, and manage to pass your headlight twice across that driver's face, that may be best. When that manoeuvre is not possible or not safe to try, perhaps you can change your apparent height, by crouching or sitting tall for a brief time. I would stay away from blinking a light or waving in any fashion - either gesture might be taken to mean "go ahead and turn in front of me" -- yes, that is stupid, but stupidity is precisely the hazard we are confronting here.

NOT BEING SEEN is probably being very costly to some biker somewhere, right now as I am typing, or right now as you are reading this. To BE SEEN, try to present an image that is not constant. If you brake just a bit, your bike's front end bobs a little, and the image of your headlight changes, but perhaps not abruptly enough to be taken as momentary use of the high beam (the false "go ahead of me" again).

If you shrug, or move your knees apart and then close, or spread your elbows a bit, or look left and right, ANY CHANGE in appearance helps to prevent the stupid drivers from failing to notice you.

[UrbanPoet]

good thread since im a noob.

[Salos Dafee]

good thread since im a noob.

UrbanPoet,

Your post is short, but it urged me to think hard about something that puzzles me. I got my first motorcycle in July 1961. It was an underpowered hunkajunk.

Within two months, somebody drove out of a side street onto Avenue Road, right in front of me, and I could not avoid the T-bone crash. Speed was low, so I was not hurt, and damage was slight.

Within another two months, someone drove out of a side street onto Dundas Street, right in front of me. I had more time to stop, but lacked the skills to stay upright. Again, there were no injuries and damage was slight.

Then in March 1965, when I had ridden about 25000 miles (or 40000 kilometers) someone turned left across my path on Bayview Avenue. The weather was awful, and the road was covered in slush, so down I went, and I slid into the right side of the car. Again no injuries and hardly any damage.

In the 44 years since then, I have ridden at least as far as from here to the moon, in Toronto and Tampa and Vancouver and St. John's and Indianapolis and Memphis and Lansing and Ottawa and Columbia and Sault Ste. Maries (both of them) and Winnipeg and Denver and Fredericton and Bangor and Kitty Hawk and other places, and nobody has come out of a side street into my path and nobody has turned left across my path.

NOT ONE DRIVER in all that time.

Why do you suppose that is? I know the topic is "Why we crash", but I am wondering why three turkeys took a shot at me when I was a beginner, but now that my beard is white the turkeys leave me alone.

I think the idea of trying hard to be seen is paying off, for me. My bike has two headlights, and I play with them, running one light sometimes, and one bright and one dim (I just turn the 3-prong plug 90 degrees CW and it puts my two filaments in series in the low-beam circuit). Then I do something to change my appearance as I approach an intersection, as discussed above.

I think an asymmetric appearance makes a bike stand out. Maybe one yellow light up front, in addition to the white headlught(s), will make other drivers wonder "What the heck is THAT?" and then they will not jump into my path.

I hope your first few years in this fascinating world are not too painful or costly, UrbanPoet. (I almost said "Grasshopper".)

[UrbanPoet]

UrbanPoet,

Your post is short, but it urged me to think hard about something that puzzles me. I got my first motorcycle in July 1961. It was an underpowered hunkajunk.

Within two months, somebody drove out of a side street onto Avenue Road, right in front of me, and I could not avoid the T-bone crash. Speed was low, so I was not hurt, and damage was slight.

Within another two months, someone drove out of a side street onto Dundas Street, right in front of me. I had more time to stop, but lacked the skills to stay upright. Again, there were no injuries and damage was slight.

Then in March 1965, when I had ridden about 25000 miles (or 40000 kilometers) someone turned left across my path on Bayview Avenue. The weather was awful, and the road was covered in slush, so down I went, and I slid into the right side of the car. Again no injuries and hardly any damage.

In the 44 years since then, I have ridden at least as far as from here to the moon, in Toronto and Tampa and Vancouver and St. John's and Indianapolis and Memphis and Lansing and Ottawa and Columbia and Sault Ste. Maries (both of them) and Winnipeg and Denver and Fredericton and Bangor and Kitty Hawk and other places, and nobody has come out of a side street into my path and nobody has turned left across my path.

NOT ONE DRIVER in all that time.

Why do you suppose that is? I know the topic is "Why we crash", but I am wondering why three turkeys took a shot at me when I was a beginner, but now that my beard is white the turkeys leave me alone.

I think the idea of trying hard to be seen is paying off, for me. My bike has two headlights, and I play with them, running one light sometimes, and one bright and one dim (I just turn the 3-prong plug 90 degrees CW and it puts my two filaments in series in the low-beam circuit). Then I do something to change my appearance as I approach an intersection, as discussed above.

I think an asymmetric appearance makes a bike stand out. Maybe one yellow light up front, in addition to the white headlught(s), will make other drivers wonder "What the heck is THAT?" and then they will not jump into my path.

I hope your first few years in this fascinating world are not too painful or costly, UrbanPoet. (I almost said "Grasshopper".)

lol thanks.


I was looking over the "Fallen" section.. and it seems like many are caused by turning vehicles. I was also trying to figure ways to avoid such a thing from happening.

I thought about riding with high beams on all the time... But that might make me seem like a ****** bag.

[tylerdurden119]

I recently crashed and 4 and 5 were definitely part of it. I learned the hard way, isn't it always human nature to do so...........

[cjones]

number nine is subjective...

[nikkimiao128]

last week, i was riding on my kawi 250r.. the ground was a bit wet from a little drizzle. i was going 80. As i was approaching a right turn at an intersection, i applied the front brakes ( not too hard).. but then my bike started to lose control and flipped b4 i even reached the corner.. my guess was because i applied too much front brake on wet surface... wt do you guys think?

[tylerdurden119]

yep, sounds about right.

[NewfieBoy]

Rule one. Avoid the rain drive the Truck instead. Have a coffee and a smoke at the same time stay warm, dry and your blood stays inside you. The big plus...you dont have to straighten the handlebars and go on ebay for new fairings.

[Poosje]

Excellent article...thanks for detailing such an important subject. Well written!

[saichaitanya88]

Pardon me if someone posted this link before... (I tried search but turned up nothing)

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcyc...statistics.htm

It's an older statistic about motorbike accidents between 1997-2003

One of comments said:
"I can tell you the answer, though. Pass a law that you cannot even obtain an automobile license without first becoming a trained and certified motorcyclist and riding for at least one thousand miles. Tell the major motorcycle manufacturers that. They'll lobby the law through, realizing that their sales will go up an hundred-fold. The insurance companies will likely help push it through, ...along with the motorcycle magazines."

I thought that was pretty awesome idea.. would that even work?

[Aslan]

One of comments said:
"I can tell you the answer, though. Pass a law that you cannot even obtain an automobile license without first becoming a trained and certified motorcyclist and riding for at least one thousand miles.

I thought that was pretty awesome idea.. would that even work?

I think everybody should be obligated to work in fast-food for one year in the middle of high-school but that is also far-fetched.

Trained and certified I can see but in this climate I think the government would have to use carrots instead of sticks. HOV lane access, dedicated lanes, limited filtering with bike boxes at the front of intersections (like those seen Here and Here.)

I'm thinking big engined scooters would be better for the masses in the GTA, we just need to introduce a few more incentives to get their usage up and the safety will follow.

[Kokla]

Pardon me if someone posted this link before... (I tried search but turned up nothing)

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcyc...statistics.htm

It's an older statistic about motorbike accidents between 1997-2003

One of comments said:
"I can tell you the answer, though. Pass a law that you cannot even obtain an automobile license without first becoming a trained and certified motorcyclist and riding for at least one thousand miles. Tell the major motorcycle manufacturers that. They'll lobby the law through, realizing that their sales will go up an hundred-fold. The insurance companies will likely help push it through, ...along with the motorcycle magazines."

I thought that was pretty awesome idea.. would that even work?

I don't see the logic in sales increasing? The hassle would be worse than the safety concern.

[timtek]

I don't remember if someone already mentioned this....but..

A LOT of bikes out there now have HORNS.... why not just use horns to let the opposite-facing-cars-turning-left that you're there? just a short simple 2 beep-beep wouldn't hurt anyone.

and it's not like my car which i have to pretty much do a FALCON PUNCH!!!! to get the sound out... it's just under your left thumb, just click twice....

now, i still don't have M2 yet. but I've done a good share of riding bicycle in downtown, urban and suburban areas to have a grasp of human psychology when i'm on my two-wheeler. and the fact that i'm G-licensed, i can relate how the drivers *could* react/think/behave/etc from my experience w/ them.

and i ride my bicycle all the time to work. and trust me, without my bell on my bicycle my commute would be way harder. Visibility is one thing but don't forget sound is with you as well (and i don't mean rev your engine or get a sound cannon exhaust)... use your horns???

happy riding ppl

[Ampallang]

We crash because we drive tired. Which feeds into the inattentive state. Don't do it. If the day at work has been far longer than you had imagined and you are beat, leave the machine and catch a ride home..... especially if it is raining or cold which requires even more concentration/focus....

cheers, Think this thread will continually be part of my beginning of each season primer.

[radek]

lol thanks.


I was looking over the "Fallen" section.. and it seems like many are caused by turning vehicles. I was also trying to figure ways to avoid such a thing from happening.

I thought about riding with high beams on all the time... But that might make me seem like a ****** bag.

I thought of altering the headlamp too, but instead of high beam I just picked up the lamp's height. Slightly less intrusive, if the headlamp on your ride is adjustable. Rubber side down

[radek]

last week, i was riding on my kawi 250r.. the ground was a bit wet from a little drizzle. i was going 80. As i was approaching a right turn at an intersection, i applied the front brakes ( not too hard).. but then my bike started to lose control and flipped b4 i even reached the corner.. my guess was because i applied too much front brake on wet surface... wt do you guys think?

I'd say you described the most slippery condition you can expect the road to be in the rain. Heavy rain will wash rubbish to the curb, but that slight drizzle just soups up the whole thing like it's greasy. I had my wipe out on a bicycle though Since then lesson learned.