Barely avoided an accident.

[Brackstone]

Here's a picture of the incident (Sorry I'm not an artist so everything might not be to scale)



I was ensuring I was NOT in the Light Blue cars blind spot.

The light blue car starts to signal he is going to turn into the parking lot.

I honk my horn a few times and let off on the throttle because I had a bad feeling the offender would not see because they start going forward a bit. After I do this they stop in the lane that was previously occupying the light blue car so I figured hey she sees me. Then as soon as the Light Blue car is starting to pull into the shopping center the offender car just GUNS it out infront of me. I slam on my horn and begin decelrating rapidly the rear tire starts getting very squirrly on me but the car doesn't notice me until it is RIGHT in the center of the road and finally stops.

I never panicked I just kept saying to myself "This sucks I'm going to get into an accident". I kept my cool and when the car finally stopped I managed to let go when the rear wheel was in just the right position to help me skirt around the car without flipping me over.

I missed this car by INCHES.

I turned around to have some "words" with the driver but they found their way to the nearest interstate instead of stopping.

I'm sure there is a book somewhere that probably illustrates this diagram as well but I just thought it was a great tip for shopping center entrances or streets that do not have traffic lights.

[blues2cruise]

It's good that a collision was avoided.
I have a question for you......you said you honked your horn...you saw the car....you had a feeling they were going to pull out....

Did you slow down until you were sure it would be safe to keep going? If you knew they didn't see you, it would have been a good idea to slow down until you and the driver had visual contact with each other.

[storysunfolding]

Did you slow down until you were sure it would be safe to keep going? If you knew they didn't see you, it would have been a good idea to slow down until you and the driver had visual contact with each other.

Great point blues...2...cruise (I always make that longer in my mind, gives me reassurance that I'm in control of my own though process... then again... I always do it... going to call you 2 cruise on and off... nonsequiror about to be aborted).

When I ride I assume that the cages are out to kill me. You wouldn't believe the amount of foul things I've done in my life and while I'm astutely proud of it, I have lots of enemies. Whenever you see on of those sons of guns getting ready to "have an accident" resulting in your loss of limb life, or even worse, bike you should begin to assess the situation. MSF has an acronym. SEE which either stands for seethe energize and explode with anger or search evaluate execute. I prefer the former. Regardless as a former adulterer (not sure how that happened, yet to be married) You should be anticipating the clever plots to kill you and make changes to your speed, cover your controls to get ready for a spectacular evasive manuever and do anything to prevent an incident.

I believe the rule of thumb is that you can hit anything that will fit on a dinner plate sans an armadillo. Cars may be another exception. If you have two seconds, best thing to do is swerve. If you have four or more seconds then you have plenty of time for a quick stop. Want to be more of a road warrior? Sign up for a police skills class. I personally try to hit those mothers every day. They've perfected vehicular avoidance and have a cool brake THEN swerve technique. If you ever don't like a guy- tell him to armor all his seat then do a brake AND swerve technique.

In some places a couple beeps on the horn means "go ahead". Communication is fickle even with the spoken language. Have you heard these brits? Torch, boot, junction... I mean wtf^^ Even better- apparently at the "we rarely speak english" Mcdonalds near me (bless their hearts), ordering a double quarter pounder with cheese meal large sized with an unsweet tea is code for coffee. Language is a truly fickle thing

Anyway- long story short- I hope you learned a lesson, screw that other guy and consider taking a riding course to keep you sharp. Doesn't have to be MSF (unless you've never taken it), there are track days, police weekend long riding clinics, on road courses, lee parks advanced riding clinic and probably more that I've never heard of.

Pardon me- I hear lunch calling. Yes BLT I'm coming

[Skier]

As blues mentioned, did you shed speed when you realized the situation could pan out poorly for you? One of the first things to do in a scenario like this is like flash the brake light to get the attention of those behind you and drop speed. This way, if they do cut you off, you've already signalled to those behind you and are already on the brakes: apply more and you can safely keep your space cushion.

Then lay on your Stebel air horn.

[Brackstone]

It's good that a collision was avoided.
I have a question for you......you said you honked your horn...you saw the car....you had a feeling they were going to pull out....

Did you slow down until you were sure it would be safe to keep going? If you knew they didn't see you, it would have been a good idea to slow down until you and the driver had visual contact with each other.

Yes I let off the throttle and down shifted to start limiting my speed.

She pulled out into the intersection then STOPPED briefly so I thought she saw me then she hit the gas AGAIN and then came to a screeching halt in front of me.

That's what had me so flabbergasted :\

Sorry I typed when I was tired I'll edit the story

Thank you for the tips everyone! I am going to make my local dealer install the Stebel I really don't care about the "risk to the electrical system" it's just not worth getting hurt.

I'd rather my bike stall one day because some bad fuse didn't work then end up flat on my back with broken bones.

[Brackstone]

Anyway- long story short- I hope you learned a lesson, screw that other guy and consider taking a riding course to keep you sharp. Doesn't have to be MSF (unless you've never taken it), there are track days, police weekend long riding clinics, on road courses, lee parks advanced riding clinic and probably more that I've never heard of.

Pardon me- I hear lunch calling. Yes BLT I'm coming

MMMmmm BLT.

I didn't know about the police weekend riding clinics that sounds cool. I'll have to see if they offer that sort of thing here is New Jersey!

I want to take the Advanced MSF course after I get my first service done to my motorcycle.

Oh and everyone is correct in retrospect I should have slowed down A LOT more. I just thought since this person STOPPED they saw me and it was OK. I guess I just should've kept bringing my speed down and assumed they saw a squirrel or something :\

[Skier]

As long as no contact was made and you have an idea on how to avoid the situation next time, you're doing fine.

[Brackstone]

As long as no contact was made and you have an idea on how to avoid the situation next time, you're doing fine.

But what about the BLT!!! I'm hungry now!

[camthepyro]

I never panicked I just kept saying to myself "This sucks I'm going to get into an accident".

That's funny, that's what went through my mind when I got in my accident a couple of years ago. The car pulled out in front of me, and I wasn't screaming or going "I'm gonna die!" in my head or anything. I just though ""poo poo". I'm going to hit that car. My parents and girlfriend are going to give me such flack for this." Then BAM! and I'm on the pavement.

Funny how that goes. Before that happened I would have expected my life to flash before my eyes or something. [/quote]

[Captain Pete]

I simply assume that every one else but me on the road is mentally challenged, and drunk or asleep at the wheel.

I have long advocated that everyone should take a motorcycle safety course, get their motorcycle license, ride for a year; and only then would they be allowed to drive a car. Hell, I'd be happy if driver's education was still mandatory in schools.