Nearly got taken out...

[Sentox]

...by my own assumptions, as much as anything else. Was riding along this stretch of road (http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Manawatu+Gorge,+Manawatu-wanganui+4983&sll=-47.872144,-169.453125&sspn=39.724294,87.626953&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FfDLmP0dMnd6Cg&split=0&hq=&hnear=Manawatu+Gorge&layer=c&cbll=-40.336243,175.818419&panoid=5Vq679wAL6LK3ESc5bLPQQ&cbp=12,148.21,,0,5.09&ll=-40.336167,175.818361&spn=0.005496,0.010697&z=17), and the car in front of me indicates and slows to turn right. There's just enough room on the shoulder to slip by, so I head up the left side of the car. At the same time, there's oncoming traffic, and the guy turning decides he's going to swerve left and get off the road to avoid blocking traffic behind him until he can make the turn. His courtesy came very, very close to connecting with my back wheel. All this while he's still indicating right, of course.

You can draw your own opinions about his choice of actions. For my part, I was a little too eager to take the gap on offer.

[Punchy]

The exact same thing almost happened to me, on the very same corner. Was a hippy van, probably on their way to get blazed up or something.

[BMWST?]

is this the correct behaviour on the cagers part??It used to be stated in the road code when turning right on the open road .Ie when trying to turn right and oncoming traffic prevents it to pull over to the left.

[Blackflagged]

The exact same thing almost happened to me, on the very same corner. Was a hippy van, probably on their way to get blazed up or something.

Never trust a Hippy!

[Smifffy]

Glad you made it thru. It is a tricky one, if you had stopped to wait, you could just as easily been hit by one of the following cages too.

[Little Miss Trouble]

is this the correct behaviour on the cagers part??It used to be stated in the road code when turning right on the open road .Ie when trying to turn right and oncoming traffic prevents it to pull over to the left.

Yep, it was part of the driving test when I sat my restricted car license, but things may have changed since then, I've just realised how long ago that was :mellow:

[FJRider]

Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups ... take longer to be sure it's safe, and you'll LIVE longer ...

[Sentox]

Glad you made it thru. It is a tricky one, if you had stopped to wait, you could just as easily been hit by one of the following cages too.

Indeed. And looking back, if I had merely hesitated instead of pulling right up, I wouldn't have cleared him in time. The problem arose because there was no warning of his sudden swerve. If you're going to pull over to the left and wait for a clear turn, an indicator and at least a shoulder check might help.

[Sentox]

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/about-driving/turning.html


Making a right turn from the left-hand side of the road

If there are other vehicles moving fast or following too closely, or if the road is narrow, it may be best to wait on the left-hand side of the road to make the turn, rather than stopping in the middle of the road and holding up traffic.

In this situation:

* signal left for at least three seconds
* move across to the left-hand side of the road
* wait there until it is safe to turn
* signal right for at least three seconds before you turn
* move when it is safe.

If a vehicle in front of you has also stopped to turn right, it's best to wait behind them and then use the same position to turn from.

Take extra care on roads where traffic is moving quickly.

[Smifffy]

What would Katman do?

[Little Miss Trouble]

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/about-driving/turning.html

It is all very well and good to know what they should do, but it is up to you to as the person likely to come off worst out of the situation to anticipaint what they might do.


There's just enough room on the shoulder to slip by...

Just enough room for you, or just enough room for the average car?

[Sentox]

What would Katman do?

Inform me of my failings, probably.


It is all very well and good to know what they should do, but it is up to you to as the person likely to come off worst out of the situation to anticipaint what they might do.

Just enough room for you, or just enough room for the average car?

Oh, absolutely, I'm not trying to take the self-righteous path. I assumed, based on his indication, that he would wait in his lane. That assumption nearly got me into serious trouble. No point blaming him, since I can't control his actions. Just pointing out the road code as matter of interest.

And indeed, no car would have fit down the space available (well, unless they wanted to go offroad), which was undoubtedly why he didn't check his blind spot before moving. (That being said, I had spent the last 4 km in his mirrors.)

[Little Miss Trouble]

Inform me of my failings, probably.



Make no mistake, I'm not taking the self-righteous path. I assumed, based on his indication, that he would wait in his lane. That assumption nearly got me into serious trouble. No point blaming him, since I can't control his actions. Just pointing out the road code as matter of interest.

And indeed, no car would have fit down the space available, which was undoubtedly why he didn't check his blind spot before moving. (That being said, I had spent the last 4 km in his mirrors.)

Imagine you are invisible to everyone, because unless they are a motorcyclist themselves (and even then, sometimes this exception fails) you ARE

[p.dath]

Alas I think this is just one of those "every day" occurrences you get used to being a public road user. You survived un-injured, so whatever you did seems like it was right. Probably wasn't much more that you could have done - you observed the danger and had placed yourself in a position to avoid an accident. Sure the other driver should have indicated left, but they didn't. End of story.

[FJRider]

And indeed, no car would have fit down the space available (well, unless they wanted to go offroad), which was undoubtedly why he didn't check his blind spot before moving. (That being said, I had spent the last 4 km in his mirrors.)

Just because cars have mirrors does NOT mean the driver LOOKS at them. THEY make assumptions too ... (there is nobody else on the road)

[Smifffy]

Just because cars have mirrors does NOT mean the driver LOOKS at them. THEY make assumptions too ... (there is nobody else on the road)

Anyone that drives that piece of road and assumes that there is nobody behind them doesn't deserve to hold a licence.

I'd also like to ask in which universe it is considered logical to move in the exact opposite direction to the one you have indicated?

[Maha]

Is that just out of the Gorge by the Balance Bridge turn off?

[FJRider]

Anyone that drives that piece of road and assumes that there is nobody behind them doesn't deserve to hold a licence.

I'd also like to ask in which universe it is considered logical to move in the exact opposite direction to the one you have indicated?

Those that expect "logic" from all other motorists ... are indeed living in their own little universe ...

[Smifffy]

Those that expect "logic" from all other motorists ... are indeed living in their own little universe ...

I don't expect anything but a hard time from anyone, anywhere, and some call me cynical and paranoid for that, but let's remember Sentox did everything right and still nearly got taken out. what would you have done differently?

Stopped and got run over by the cage behind you?
Passed on the left and risked getting cleaned out by a cage that was indicating that way?
Passed on the left and risked being taken out as the cage did the exact opposite to what his signalled intention was?

[FJRider]

Probably the same thing ... maybe get lucky too ... and live. Maybe not ...

Been there done that a few times before.

[Smifffy]

So it was more about luck than:

take longer to be sure it's safe, and you'll LIVE longer ...

?

[FJRider]

So it was more about luck than:

take longer to be sure it's safe, and you'll LIVE longer ...

?

Even the lucky die too ...

hindsight is a wonderful thing ...

[Smifffy]

Even the lucky die too ...

hindsight is a wonderful thing ...

Yup, and it's always easy to know what someone else should have done when one is comfortably at home behind the keyboard, rather than on the road faced with a split second decision.

Well done to Sentox for getting out of the situation, and for reminding everyone else about this particular danger.

I for one am still keen to hear from those that maintain that 'every accident is avoidable' as to what they would have done in this situation.

Hell I may be faced with an identical situation tomorrow. What will I do? Rely on luck?

[monkeymcbean]

Owe bugger, close situation indeed, lucky for you nothing worse happened.

I seem to be sounding my horn alot lately.
I have odd patches of paranoia when I observe and think people are operating there vehicle erracticly or seem in a hurry and have not looked properly when indicating to turn out form parking. I give a toot, (not all the time) but its a LOUD aftermarket horn sounds like a truck.

Definetly makes them stop and look, time enough for me to access and carry on my way.

[FJRider]

Good luck with that then ... :lol:

[bogan]

good to hear you didn't get knocked off. One thing you could do in future is flash your headlight a few seconds before passing, or any other time. Or just adjust it to face up a bit more :shifty:

[Sentox]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. After thinking over it some more this evening, I have a few thoughts.

I guess the main issue was the initial decision to go past on the left. This is the part I've been questioning more in my mind, anyway. If I had hesitated for a moment, I would have been beside the back door instead of the front door of the car when he began his swerve, meaning I would have needed to brake hard and hope the difference in deceleration was enough for me to get clear.

Because I immediately headed for the gap, I was around the area of the front passenger door when I saw the space in front of me begin to close, but the speed differential was enough to get me clear. My policy when passing any vehicle's blind spot is to accelerate instead of maintaining a constant speed, and that helped here.

I don't think there's a perfect option here; the timing is very specific if a car takes an unexpected action like this. Hesitating to try and confirm a driver's action might just put you further in the danger zone, or it might save you. It could have been avoided entirely by stopping, but as Smifffy says, you're out on the open road (with limited visibility in both directions in this case), putting you in danger from behind. So risk being rear-ended or run off the road? Which is more likely to happen? Assuming there's room on the roadside, easy choice for me.

One thing this does confirm in my mind: when passing through a blind spot (and particularly the danger zone of being parallel to a car), it's worth being a little more aggressive with the throttle. Minimise your exposure. Using the horn makes sense... it just makes me feel like a bit of an tool, if I'm honest.


Is that just out of the Gorge by the Balance Bridge turn off?

Yep.

[Bad Gixxer]

I've said it several times on a few posts - always ride with the "persecution complex" theory. That theory assumes that every motorist on the road got out of bed today with the specific intention of killing YOU.

Applying the theory, you would have automatically assumed that the Fucker in the tin can indicated to go right with the intention of luring you to pass him on the inside so that he could nail you, or waited till you tried to pass him on the outside and nailed you that way (they're evil bastards!) So I would probably have hauled on tons of brakes and stayed as well back as posible till I was sure he's missed his opportunity to kill me, while making sure that the Fucktard in the car behind me wasn't trying to get me from behind.

Had a near escape last weekend - was about to pass a car, noticed a vehicle coming down a rural driveway on the right hand side of the road. Applied my theory and assumed that the bastard was on his way with the sole intention of killing me, and sure enough, the dickhead turns left while looking towards the right without slowing or stopping. If I'd been passing I'd have been toast.

I know it sounds a little crazy, but it works!!

[CookMySock]

No eye contact?


Steve