Potential u-turn: Evasive action?

[Stella]

OK, so you see someone pull over to the left, or just hovering there, happens all the time. They may do a u-turn in front of you without indicating or noticing you are there.

What should you do?
Road positioning?
What to do if they do u-turn?

Thanks

[Lil_Byte]

Just slow down to where you can comfortably stop - centre yourself and be prepared to go either direction

[discotex]

First thing I do is check the on-coming lane for traffic etc. Generally people don't u-turn into on-coming traffic so if there is some you're pretty safe.

If there's no on-coming traffic I position myself basically on the centre line so that my headlight should be clearly visible. At the same time I'm starting to slow and have covered both brakes.

Ideally I've slowed enough that I'm not passing them while they're still moving. I'll be watching their head the whole to see if they do the half arsed mirror check which is a dead giveaway that they're about to do something.

I always make sure I pass them with as much space as I can. If that means crossing into the other lane so be it.

[Filterer]

.....Check the on-coming lane for traffic.....

.....Position myself basically on the centre line......

....Covered both brakes.....

....I'll be watching their head the whole [time]....

....Crossing into the other lane so be it.....

Nice post, yea all those things are vital, I especially make use of watching their head and also spidey sense comes into play, If you don't trust it get somewhere safe as qucikly as possible

[twinkle]

you can often see their hands moving on the steering wheel too, which is another good indicator of what they are going to do next.

[Usarka]

Not a solution by itself, but while your sorting out your positioning and speed and observing and reacting to the situation give your horn a blast might make them look twice.

[westie]

Looking at peoples faces is a great indication of what they are doing(or not doing) however I like to look at the front wheel as it tells if they are starting to move or turning.

[James Deuce]

There's a lot of assumptions in the previous posts. You can't assume anything about another road user's potential actions, nor can you model a particular set of circumstances and develop a "standard" response. Every incident is different. People do U-Turn into oncoming traffic. Don't assume they won't. You shouldn't be following so close that you can't avoid or predict the "swerve left, mighty heave to the right U-turn".

The standard course of action should be making sure you are riding in a way that anticipates as many of the bonehead moves happening in front of you as possible. That way you'll stop having "moments".

The best thing you can do is try to practise the things you can think of, get some training every couple of years to help you with the things you haven't thought of, and get to know your machine and what it is capable of. Even the most humble of motorcycles can be made to do very surprising things.

Couple the above paragraph with always making sure that your bike is as mechanically sound as possible, and you should be able to avoid most things.

Whatever you do, don't develop habitual responses to perceived threats. People are great at coming up with new and terrifying ways to surprise you.

[breakaway]

+1 for Slow down and cover brakes.

[JimO]

dont do what i did and fly through the air after slamming into the car

[Cynos]

I slow the hell down, and flash my headlight a few times and/or honk the horn to advise them of my presence. I also do the same when approaching an intersection with some numpty who looks like he wants to drive in front of me.

[beyond]

When you have done everything right and it still turns to custard, best to thrust yourself upwards from your footpegs in that split second you know nothing will prevent a crunch and hopefully clear the car before hitting it with your soft wee bod.

Unfortunately it happens so quickly that one is likely not to have time to think about leap frogging the said cuplrit and one will find themselves watching the gound and sky pass before their eyes in rapid succession, generally still clearing the car, hitting the ground reasonably hard and bouncing and rolling somewhat. Hopefully when all has come to rest, one will find all their faculties still intact and hopefully most of their muscle mass and bones will still be operative enough for one to crawl off the road and seek immediate medical attention.

[delusionz]

what i used to do is just drop my speed a little bit, swerve to the right as close to the centre line as i can get, and as im about to pass i'd pin my throttle and get out of there.

this is almost similar to how i was taken out thread here except i was turning right and the driver was going straight before deciding to suddenly pull a u turn into me.

now i think i'll try to more actively avoid getting side by side with a car, but some situations its impossible to avoid and you just have to hope for the best

[90s]

I slow the hell down, and flash my headlight a few times and/or honk the horn to advise them of my presence. I also do the same when approaching an intersection with some numpty who looks like he wants to drive in front of me.

Yeah invent your own road rules mate.

Flashing your lights generally means "I'm giving you way". Certainly any of the 400,000 (ex)Poms in the country will read it that way.

I've been in a car that flashed a 16 wheel artic to "warn them not to change lanes", which they then did instantly on invitation.

It was not fun.

[90s]

OK, so you see someone pull over to the left, or just hovering there, happens all the time. They may do a u-turn in front of you without indicating or noticing you are there.

What should you do?
Road positioning?
What to do if they do u-turn?

Thanks

When you ride keep a safe distance from cages ...





































When you ride keep a safe distance from cages ...