Almost had a crash today on the 401. How should I prepare? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Almost had a crash today on the 401. How should I prepare?

hymnz

hymnz

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I have started driving on the 401 recently up & down to work daily. Everything has been good. Merging, windblast, big trucks etc., all good. I have learned to anticipate traffic movement by keeping an eye on the 4th/5th vehicle ahead. This has helped avoid major crashes over the years by braking/swerving and whatnot. This was back in India, where I moved from last July. So, this is my first riding season here.

Today was the first time I encountered a real idiot on the road in Canada. Exiting 401E on Eglington Ave in Mississauga. The highway was jammed and the entire exit lane was empty and I was driving at the speed limit on the road. Out comes the front of a black sedan.. out of nowhere.. perpendicularly from that lane that branches into the exit.

Now I'm used to these types of idiots back home and luckily I was able to swerve (which my TMax REALLY REALLY helped with quick movements and recovery) into the shoulder and get away. But this got me thinking. What if it was someone on a heavy cruiser? They wouldn't be able to swerve that fast. What if it was a sports bike? They would have crashed into the railings on the edge. What if it was a novice rider or someone whose reflexes were a bit slow? What if I had a momentary distraction because something hit my helmet? There was nothing that could be done. Such a crash at an 80 irrespective of how geared up one is, is not nice. Forget a motorcycle, even a car would have had some serious damage.

I want to ask this forum members- what do you do in such situations? how should one prepare for these incidents? what should you take care of before hitting the roads? should I get a dashcam? why do car drivers drive like this? All people close to me are back in India, so I'm not even sure what would happen in case of what if.
 
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Lane position, awareness and speed control are your friends.

I don't care what the speed limit is. If I am going far faster than the lane beside me, your brain should be in code red or yellow as the odds of someone doing something stupid are very high. A few years ago a cruiser rider was killed in the hov lane by someone crossing the solid lines to try to gain some positions. I'd switch to the right wheel track in your situation. Gives you a little more visibility (ie you can see better) and space if someone comes out. I also really hate going much faster than the lane beside me. Not blasting down the ramp lane will only add a few seconds to your commute and may save your life (more time to react and a gentler crash).

Dashcam is interesting but meh. You need to avoid the crash not document your death. Depending on what it captured, it may help you avoid charges (or get you charges).
 
I'm baffled it took you a year to find a real idiot.

What can we do? Practice emergency maneuvers in a safe environment so you know how the bike will react. Then pray you never need to do it.

I wear a GoPro on my chin for such situations.
 
Situational awareness and defensive riding is your first line of defense.

But if a collision or accident is absolutely unavoidable (it rarely is, though), then your last line of defense is your gear. Make sure you're protected head-to-toe: helmet, jacket, pants, boots and gloves Make sure you've got both abrasion resistance and impact dispersion covered. And a little prayer to your deity of choice never hurt as well.
 
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GreyGhost said:
Lane position, awareness and speed control are your friends.

I don't care what the speed limit is. If I am going far faster than the lane beside me, your brain should be in code red or yellow as the odds of someone doing something stupid are very high. A few years ago a cruiser rider was killed in the hov lane by someone crossing the solid lines to try to gain some positions. I'd switch to the right wheel track in your situation. Gives you a little more visibility (ie you can see better) and space if someone comes out. I also really hate going much faster than the lane beside me. Not blasting down the ramp lane will only add a few seconds to your commute and may save your life (more time to react and a gentler crash).

Dashcam is interesting but meh. You need to avoid the crash not document your death. Depending on what it captured, it may help you avoid charges (or get you charges).
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That was a LC instructor who got hit and as I recall was before the time motorcycles had any business being there solo.

When i teach theory for HOV usage, I suggest blocking on the right side during flowing traffic but if it's bumper to bumper/rush hour then I'm in the left tire track. I lose visibility and blocking but if they mattered in this scenario you wouldn't be in this position in the first place. Left tire track gives you more space and time. You do lose "1/2" the lane, but that was space the car (pray its only a car) would take anyways, if its an SUV then at least you`re already 1/2 way out of the way. You still have the shoulder further left anyways. Need to remember we're talking reaction time when the bike could theoretically be travelling at 3-4x the speed of the car stuck in traffic.
 
Evoex said:
That was a LC instructor who got hit and as I recall was before the time motorcycles had any business being there solo.

When i teach theory, I suggest blocking on the right side during flowing traffic but if it's bumper to bumper/rush hour then I'm in the left tire track. I lose visibility and blocking but if they mattered in this scenario you wouldn't be in this position in the first place. Left tire track gives you more space and time. You do lose "1/2" the lane, but that was space the car (pray its only a car) would take anyways, if its an SUV then at least you`re already 1/2 way out of the way. You still have the shoulder further left anyways. Need to remember we're talking reaction time when the bike could theoretically be travelling at 3-4x the speed of the car stuck in traffic.
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I was saying right track as he was in a ramp lane. HOV lane I would be left (or ideally not use it in heavy traffic as it's a bleeping death alley with all the dickhead drivers out there).
 
Well, be careful and aware. Mississauga and Brampton is slowly getting there, it's all our people lol. I would say in the last couple of years the quality of driving has gone terribly bad, terribly terribly bad. So has many other things including random violence, real estate prices, so on and so forth. Canada is the 5th country that I'm staying (long term) and no country have I seen so much deterioration in such a short amount of time. It's really sad.

If you have ridden in India, just use the same principles of awareness here along with whatever defensive driving you learnt in M1 exit. And, ride with a huge margin of safety. All the best!

PS: I personally stopped commuting on motorcycle. Tires are expensive and I have put a lot of miles commuting in my life that I no longer feel the urge to ride on highways and straights, unless I need to. Too many idiots want to race, cut me off or tail gate.
 
GreyGhost said:
I'd switch to the right wheel track in your situation
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Oh yea, that's what saved my ass today.

Evoex said:
Practice emergency maneuvers in a safe environment so you know how the bike will react.
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This is an interesting point. I know during the M1 exit safety course riders are taught and tested on serving around hazards in front of them. However in real life, counting this experience as well, more hazards occur on the sides. Are there any other motorcycle courses where they teach/test on such hazards and reaction times?

I recall during my university days we had a civil engineering lab where they test us on reaction times on objects entering from the sides of your vision. I hated that lab, but this session was completely on driving & road planning so I remember very clearly. I think this should be one of the requirements for licensing, both for M & G classes- test reaction and awareness times in simulated real world scenarios.

voyageur said:
Mississauga and Brampton is slowly getting there, it's all our people lol.
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Oh. I strongly feel there should be a special test for patience for people in Brampton before they even get their G1s and M1s.
 
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Here's two different thoughts I have on it:

-Ride like everyone else on the road is trying to kill you. I don't really like phrasing it this way anymore but it's how I internalized it early on. I see dumb things on the road all the time, but it is very rarely surprising. However...

-You cannot exert full responsibility for everyone else on the road. You can do your best, but ultimately some parts of riding/driving are just outside of your control. Riding/driving is a calculated risk - there are some highway commutes I am not interested in doing on a bike, because it's they're not that fun/rewarding, and each day is another dice roll on the unavoidable encounter.
 
First thing is anticipating potential issues.
If you see a jam up ahead, roll off the throttle, then cover the brake, and clutch and begin to slow.
Like Evoex said above, but I try to never travel 3-4x the speed of the traffic in the next lane over, if I can help it.
 
You could just avoid the 401 completely. Unless this is your main mode of transportation. For me 401 or any rush hour around the GTA is bad for bikes, cars as well. Why bother with it if you can avoid it. Like today I had to be down by the exhibition grounds around 6 pm (in the car). It was a disater the whole way there. I can't imagine having to do this day in day out, never mind on a bike. It would suck the life out of me.
 
hymnz said:
Oh yea, that's what saved my ass today.



This is an interesting point. I know during the M1 exit safety course riders are taught and tested on serving around hazards in front of them. However in real life, counting this experience as well, more hazards occur on the sides. Are there any other motorcycle courses where they teach/test on such hazards and reaction times?

I recall during my university days we had a civil engineering lab where they test us on reaction times on objects entering from the sides of your vision. I hated that lab, but this session was completely on driving & road planning so I remember very clearly. I think this should be one of the requirements for licensing, both for M & G classes- test reaction and awareness times in simulated real world scenarios.



Oh. I strongly feel there should be a special test for patience for people in Brampton before they even get their G1s and M1s.
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Not that i'm aware of.

Sharp Rider Motorcycle Training - Advanced Rider Training might be worth looking at.
 
Riding on any of the 400 series highways is dreadful. The hyper-awareness required is absolutely exhausting and sucks the joy out of riding. It becomes merely commuting and there are better ways to do that.

FWIW though, if this is your chosen method I always look for that bubble of space ahead of me - if it exists. If it does, I safely get to that space bubble and ride in it while looking for that next space bubble. Once the one I am in closes, I safely go to the next one. Still exhausting.
 
Technically and legally there is maximum speed differential between adjacent lanes; if the lane beside you is doing 30km/hr you shouldn’t be doing 100km/hr for this exact reason. Treat cars like rolling boulders that can accelerate, stop, pivot and move in any direction and this will become a lot clearer. Please be safe out there, we are very vulnerable in a sea of cars and trucks.
 
Charles13 said:
Technically and legally there is maximum speed differential between adjacent lanes
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Huh? HTA reference? I agree closing speed is not your friend but I haven't seen an ontario law that references speed differential. Hell, keep right except to pass isn't even law in ontario.

"In Ontario, section 147 of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) states any "vehicle travelling upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at that time and place shall, where practicable, be driven in the right-hand lane…""
 
When I was learning to drive, my dad had a saying: "The big Pike got big by knowing his surroundings, being cautious, and being smarter than the killers."

I have 40+ years with no crashes, I think that's mostly because I'm diligent when it comes to reading and understanding the situations in front (and behind), and I'm always cautious, and I practice.

#1 is cautious - you can do this from day 1. Building confidence often reduces cautiousness -- keep that in mind and don't let that happen!.
#2 is developing situational awareness. This takes time to learn -- there are an infinite number of situations and you'll learn them as you encounter them.
#3 Practice emergency maneuvers every once and a while, learning by practice is easier than learning out of necessity.

Think like a big Pike.
 
Mad Mike said:
When I was learning to drive, my dad had a saying: "The big Pike got big by knowing his surroundings, being cautious, and being smarter than the killers."

I have 40+ years with no crashes, I think that's mostly because I'm diligent when it comes to reading and understanding the situations in front (and behind), and I'm always cautious, and I practice.

#1 is cautious - you can do this from day 1. Building confidence often reduces cautiousness -- keep that in mind and don't let that happen!.
#2 is developing situational awareness. This takes time to learn -- there are an infinite number of situations and you'll learn them as you encounter them.
#3 Practice emergency maneuvers every once and a while, learning by practice is easier than learning out of necessity.

Think like a big Pike.
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#2 Head on a Swivel at all times. An Escape route will help you immensely. Eg: Where do I go if things go bad?
 
The best way to prepare is to not use your bike to commute to work. I live in Orangeville and work in Brampton (two per week thanks to WFH). I've stopped taking my bike to the office. Hwy 10 is the warm up for the main event fury road known as 410. I want to enjoy my motorcycles and not feel like I'm going to be run over every 17 seconds.
 
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