Motorcycle accident afterthoughts

[cheetor]

Well now I've had a week and a bit to milill over my accident, I've had time to think, First of all I figued how I fucked my left leg when I struck the ground right side first

As I left the bike, my left foot was still tucked UNDER the gear lever, hence wrenching my leg sideways, teariing the tendons and sending me into a uncontrolable spin as I left the bike

second, Nev ever EVER let your mind drift from scanning for dangers, I let myself become absorbed in the euphoria of the accelleration and the 'time-warp' effect that bikes have then BLAM.. Noobies beware. :Oops:


Crashing HURTS!!!!!!!!! Hence. don't crash!!!
I was busy being so careful making sure I didn't excede my cornering limit I forgot about cars, and that NZ is full of asshole drivers


and finlay, Just because you have your lights on, AND your bike is light up like a christmas tree with neons doesn't meen a car driver looking straight at you has noticed you.....

[bgd]

and finlay, Just because you have your lights on, AND your bike is light up like a christmas tree with neons doesn't meen a car driver looking straight at you has noticed you.....

It's funny that. Don't know whether they just don't see you or totally misjudge your approach speed. Recenlty had a car pull out on me on a country road, in the dark, where the only thing visible was my headlight bearing down on the bugger. Of course the guy did notice me when my full beam ended up 2 inches from his face :D

Either you work shifts or your accident is playing havoc with your sleep patterns ;)

[Ms Piggy]

second, Nev ever EVER let your mind drift from scanning for dangers

Yes this is a lesson I have learnt through having a couple of near misses when I haven't been concentrating or scanning properly. Each incident has been "my fault" as opposed to ther driver or in one case I "didn't see" a pedestrian until the last minute b/c I was too busy scanning ahead and a little tired. Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate! :eek5:

[Dr Bob]

Yes this is a lesson I have learnt through having a couple of near misses when I haven't been concentrating or scanning properly. Each incident has been "my fault" as opposed to ther driver or in one case I "didn't see" a pedestrian until the last minute b/c I was too busy scanning ahead and a little tired. Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate! :eek5:
I hit a pedestrian once - kinda,... he was crossing Albert Street going real slow, he turned to look at me and saw that I had seen him, so didn't bother to get out of my path. I wanted to get close but didn't realise how good I got. I looked in my rear vision mirror and saw his shoe on the road. I haddn't touched him, just clipped his shoe off his foot.

This was some time ago, and I probably wouldn't do this sort of thing ever again.

[Motu]

Back in the ape hanger days I clipped a chick on the curb - the bars went out over the footpath as I went around the corner.I have to be careful on the Scenic Drive with the XLV750,if I cut the left handers too close I run my helmet through the greenery.

[vifferman]

I hit a pedestrian once - kinda,... I hit a pedestrian once - no "kinda" about it. It was a very definite hit.
I have also hit a cyclist, four cars, various inanimate objects, and a tractor (although that was not on my bike, that was my one car accident).
That still leaves animals, trucks, boats, aircraft, ....

[FROSTY]

I know I'm repeating myself but the one bit of advise about bikes my dad gave me was
"son when you're riding your bike just think everyone and everything is a homocidal maniac out to kill YOU"
I ride by that philosophy most of the time and its kept me alive so far

[Mongoose]

It's funny that. Don't know whether they just don't see you or totally misjudge your approach speed. Recenlty had a car pull out on me on a country road, in the dark, where the only thing visible was my headlight bearing down on the bugger. Of course the guy did notice me when my full beam ended up 2 inches from his face :D

Either you work shifts or your accident is playing havoc with your sleep patterns ;)

Motorists normaly look for cars, vans, utes and trucks there fore do NOT see bikes, M/bikes or pedesrtrians. Can not remember where it was but I have read a study that found these same findings that proved my theory.

[kerryg]

Motorists normaly look for cars, vans, utes and trucks there fore do NOT see bikes, M/bikes or pedesrtrians. Can not remember where it was but I have read a study that found these same findings that proved my theory.

Yeah someone once explained it to me like this. If someone's told to spot the short red-headed girl in a crowd, he doesn't pay much attention to the tall brown-haired guys etc etc (you sort of censor out the things which are not what you're looking for...). Ask him after he's looked for the girl unsuccessfully" well did you see that tall brown haired guy in the blue jacket" and chances are he won't remember. You mainly see what you expect to see.

Probably still doesn't QUITE explain why someone doesn't see a lone bike with headlights on high beam with a rider in fluoro pink.....

[erik]

Yes this is a lesson I have learnt through having a couple of near misses when I haven't been concentrating or scanning properly. Each incident has been "my fault" as opposed to ther driver or in one case I "didn't see" a pedestrian until the last minute b/c I was too busy scanning ahead and a little tired. Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate! :eek5:

That reminds me of a time I was coming up to a roundabout and focussed on the car in a side-street in front of me wondering if they'd seen me, but forgetting to pay proper attention to a car that was coming from the right. Maybe I thought he was going straight through or something (can't remember if he was indicating or not), but when I realised he was turning, I had to stop pretty quickly.

It's not good enough to just be concentrating, you've gotta be concentrating on the right things and shifting your concentration appropriately - something that's a fair bit harder to do when you're tired (I was tired in the above situation).

[Motu]

Probably still doesn't QUITE explain why someone doesn't see a lone bike with headlights on high beam with a rider in fluoro pink.....

Um...well...I once didn't see a bike while in a car - I ''thought'' the bike was a street lamp as he came down a hill at night...''look out'' screamed my wife,kinda embarrassing and I wasn't even senior back then.Lucky I drive a Pajero these days so it doesn't matter what anyone thinks.

[scumdog]

Um...well...I once didn't see a bike while in a car - I ''thought'' the bike was a street lamp as he came down a hill at night...''look out'' screamed my wife,kinda embarrassing and I wasn't even senior back then.Lucky I drive a Pajero these days so it doesn't matter what anyone thinks.

Maybe thats why the name Pajero ain't used in Spanish speaking countries, roughly translated it means wanker :whistle:

[Ms Piggy]

It's not good enough to just be concentrating, you've gotta be concentrating on the right things and shifting your concentration appropriately - something that's a fair bit harder to do when you're tired (I was tired in the above situation).
Yeah that's exactly right Erik, in the situation where I "didn't see" the pedestrian I was concentrating on the car in front. I did see the pedestrian in time but I knew that they knew I hadn't seen them straight away from the way they were glaring at me :Oops: And it's usually when I'm a bit tired or cold that I make silly little mistakes like that.

[Motu]

Maybe thats why the name Pajero ain't used in Spanish speaking countries, roughly translated it means wanker :whistle:

That's why I bought it - I wanted a car with my name one the side.

[Skyryder]

I know I'm repeating myself but the one bit of advise about bikes my dad gave me was
"son when you're riding your bike just think everyone and everything is a homocidal maniac out to kill YOU"
I ride by that philosophy most of the time and its kept me alive so far

The one I like..........You're going to get just as hurt in the right as in the wrong. That's my riding philosphy............works so far.

Skyryder

[Mongoose]

I got advice very simular to that given to some one else on the site.
My Dads advice was
Treat EVERYONE on the road as a total Nutter!
Ah hem, that includes YOU boy! :Pokey:

[Eddieb]

the one bit of advise about bikes my dad gave me was
"son when you're riding your bike just think everyone and everything is a homocidal maniac out to kill YOU"

Lucky for some, my dads was "You can have a motorcycle or live under your parents roof, but you can't have both" or words to that effect. Even though he rode a bike to work for 14 years.

I moved out about 2 months later..........

The rest as they say is history.

[Coldkiwi]

good on ya eddie! I was offered 'we'll help you buy your first car, but if you want a bike, you're going to pay for everything yourself'... so I kinda got good at washing dishes and picked up an extra shift each week :)

[bgd]

Probably still doesn't QUITE explain why someone doesn't see a lone bike with headlights on high beam with a rider in fluoro pink.....

That's the bit I don't understand. In my case country lane, no lights except my full beam and he still didn't stop. It's not about the bike vs car thing, all that was visible was a very bright light. How you miss that in the dead of night I'll never know. That's why I thought perhaps he misjudged my speed.

Just goes to illustrate that you can take all precautions possible to make yourself more visible but at the end of the day you still need to be prepared for the idiot who doesn't see you.

[dangerous]

That's the bit I don't understand. In my case country lane, no lights except my full beam and he still didn't stop. It's not about the bike vs car thing, all that was visible was a very bright light. How you miss that in the dead of night I'll never know. That's why I thought perhaps he misjudged my speed.

IMHO, high beam is worse than low beam as on high its just a bloody bright light that dosent seem to move and could be 10 bloody k's away.

My point is your light 'is' seen be it on high or low but as a bike normaly you are moving faster than a car perticulary from a stand still however as 'we' are smaller than a car our speed is a shit load harder to comparhend or judge..... so it is a misjudgement of speed that is a reason why cars pull out on us for eg: Cheeter were you not doing 100k in a 50k zone hence a or the car did not predict your correct speed even with all your lights on.

ps: I have spoken to a witness, that must of been some impressive aerobatics beetween departing teraferma and landing again 'slow down' :nono:

[James Deuce]

Right!

Two things about cars drivers and bikes.

1. Human beings judge approach speed by triangulation and relative size. A single headlight, no matter how bright, does not provide enough reference material to accurately judge it's distance from you, and it's speed of approach. That's why cars have two headlights placed on the corners at the highest point on the front of a car. A single big mother of a light mounted on the roof would illuminate the road just as well as two headlights, but experience and study have taught vehicle safety researchers that two reference points make it easier to judge the approach speed of a vehicle.

2. Human beings sort and analyse threats by size. It's helped us get to the point where we dominate the use of planetary resource. It isn't perfect, but it makes sense to dodge a charging Rhino by jumping into the path of two vicious bunny rabbits. So they just don't rate motorbikes, pedestrians and cyclists as a threat. After all the special suit designed to extend their mobility, improve their comfort, and protect them from other people's special suits will protect them from the insignificant and mostly squishy object approaching.

A third problem and this is a major one, is that there is no positive biker culture in New Zealand. Part of what helps promote the negative is the uniform aspect of a bike gang on the prowl. The all look the same, they ride bikes that look the same, and they all project a menacing attitude. A group of sport bike riders, or tourers, ride bikes from different manufacturers, that are different, and often vibrant colours, and their personal choice of safety equipment often varies widely even amongst a group of people who have ridden together for years. Just watch how a bike gang proceeds unmolested down 3 lanes of motorway, and then watch how a group of sports tourers riding in a staggered formation in one lane, one to two seconds behind each other gets cut up by other road users. There is no apparent threat in doing that, whereas a bike gang projects the image of a large cohesive organism. Threat and response.

If it was Italy whose deaths per head of capita is same as ours, but they have massively more congested urban roads and motorways than we do, bikes would be promoted positively. And people see them, and treat them with respect as road users because nearly everyone has at least owned a scooter.

[El Dopa]

If it was Italy .... people see them, and treat them with respect as road users because nearly everyone has at least owned a scooter.

Hard for me to believe someone is saying something positive about Italian roadusers, given their, uh, 'hotheaded' reputation. You're probably right about the scooters thing though. Being on the receiving end can help make people a bit more empathic when they're in a position to dish it out.

Good post but.

[Posh Tourer :P]

It isn't perfect, but it makes sense to dodge a charging Rhino by jumping into the path of two vicious bunny rabbits.

Unless of course the bunnies are friends of the monster in the cave (Holy Grail).... You'd have a better chance with the rhino then....

[vifferman]

Lucky for some, my dads was "You can have a motorcycle or live under your parents roof, but you can't have both" or words to that effect. Even though he rode a bike to work for 14 years.That's a bit harsh.
When I wanted to buy my first bike, my Mum was dead against it, but my Dad (who hadn't ridden a bike for 20 years or so) stood up for me, and they financed me into buying one. It's a bit hypocritical the stance your father took (unless of course he was such a hoon that he was worried you'd turn out the same!:yes: )

[NordieBoy]

Unless of course the bunnies are friends of the monster in the cave (Holy Grail).... You'd have a better chance with the rhino then....

You just need a Holy Handgrenade then.

A CG125 at 13:1 compression should do the trick.

:D

[James Deuce]

You just need a Holy Handgrenade then.

:D

And the count shall be 3, not 4 or 2, but.....