Biker down

[Ixion]

I had a very similar experience yesterday , on the motorway (except that I didn't crash).

I'm in the left hand lane of three, heading toward an off ramp some distance ahead.Little traffic in my lane cos it only leads to the off ramp.So I'm nipping along at 100.Traffic in the other two lanes is slowish, maybe 50 -60 .

I come up toward a big truck and trailer thing in lane 2 . High curtainsider. Ahead of the truck, there's a gap developed (truck is slow, can't accelerate).

Spidey wakes up and starts screaming.

Sure enough, when I'm half way down the truck, a car (hidden from me by the truck) dives out of lane three (conjecture, but it's the only place he could have come from), dives through the gap into my lane right in front of me. Doing 60 still. He couldn't see me cos of the truck, but obviously didn't give a fuck anyway. He saw a gap, and he was going through it. Come what may

Luckily I was already slowed right down . Thanks spidey. No issues. Glad I wasn't still doing 100 when he shot through in font of me, but.

Lesson. If there's a gap, some imbecile will dive through it. Never fails.

[aff-man]

That is a particularly nasty place...

Especially with people also pulling out from the gas station...
I'm just off carbine and people on and around the pak highway have started getting pretty ambitious with thier driving. Must be the weather.Be aware of muppets

Glad you came out ok.

[nudedaytona]

I can't help but feel that the motorways are safer than local roads like pakuranga highway or onewa road. At least there's no idiots pulling out of side streets. I used to live on the shore and take onewa road, now I'm in Otahuhu and it's straight on the motorway. It's such a much better ride to work and I enjoy it more because I don't have to worry people coming in from the side.

[blossoming]

who cares?

You can have an accident at 10kph if you aren't looking at what's infront of you:

1. fact is he didn't see a truck crossing his path - trucks are large, hyosung is high - must've been some very large traffic present to block view of that! Rider fail irregardless of either speed.
2. a truck driver didn't bother to check both lanes before crossing them - simple truth is nomatter what we do there are some useless drivers out there and this is a very common way for bikers to be taken down. heck what if it was a car instead of a bike? Truckie fail irregardless of either speed.

but we can save the "speeding eats babies" argument to another thread....



you mean it was "unavoidable"?



curious, isn't it?



here's what you should learn: a gap in stationary traffic means someone is going through it: every time I hear this same crash story it could have been at least minimised if the biker either slowed down enough (like to a 20kph crawl) to not be hurt if not avoid the accident altogether, or better yet had assumed there was some twit about to take that gap ahead.

So, let's say that the truck was totally obscured from view - you're cruising down the line of traffic and what are you doing? Myself, I've got the brakes covered, I'm travelling as fast as my ability to respond to the worst dictates, have an eye on the kerb/driveways for both hazards and escape routes, and i'm watching the traffic for indicators and gaps.

a gap in stationary traffic means someone is going through it - remember this is auckland we're talking, so a good 99% of the time this will always be true.
ALWAYS assume there are idiots around you - the odds that the person going through is actually looking depends on the locale and time of day but it still never looks good.

Well within 6 months of passing my scratchie I'd figured this one out - Blossoming, I hate to say it mate but perhaps you should go do some rider training as while I'm sure it isn't entirely your fault, not that many learners get taken out 3 times in traffic before getting to their full

Haha, I've only been taken out ONCE. And it was just that time. But yeah, I understand what you're coming from. From reading what you've said I understand that I should have looked further ahead than I usually do especially in traffic. Yeah, I might go and look into doing some rider training so I can be slightly more equipped at facing the dangers on the road.

I always assume that they're idiots around me regardless of situation. Personally, I have gone down Pakuranga Road time and time again without any trouble, it was only this time that got me. Guess I was slightly complacent?

The person next to me was driving a truck hence I was obscured from view.

But on a plus, I got a call from the insurance. The other party admitted liability and I should be able to go bike shopping in a week or two. Yay.

Fact is, it doesn't matter who's right, who's wrong. Part of your skill as a motorcyclist is handling other people's fuck ups... its only you thats going to go to hospital/replace your vehicle etc.

Yeah I understand. I still have to get grips on how to ride "properly" in traffic even though I've read books while on my learners on the hazards.

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll definitely take a harder look at how I ride.

[Danae]

Glad you're taking the advice. Awesome, bike shopping!

From what I understand the SMC has recieved a grant for rider training which should pay for a bit of a course like RRRS. If so I am most definitely going!