The Stuff Biker Nightmares are made of...

[RhadamYgg]

Hit From Behind

Some of the people at work doubt me when I say I get tailgated all the time. Oddly enough, it happens much more frequently on the highway than on local streets. The last time I was on local streets for say 10 miles to the Yamaha dealer - I had no problems with people up my butt.

I am a big proponent of highly visible motorcycle clothing - but this person didn't see the motorcycle - or the car that was stopped in front of him! Maybe I should get a set of flares to run off the sides of my blinkers to make sure I'm seen!

[HYPERR]

I ride pretty fast so I never really have a problem with tailgaters.

When I'm stopped at a light, I always have the bike in first gear, always leave plenty of room from the car in front of me, and always have an escape route.

I also look at the rear view mirror and if I see a car approaching me faster than they should, I always flash the brakelight. 999 out of 1000 times, they slow down drastically.

This accident was not the rider's fault per se, but it could have been prevented.

RIP fellow rider.

[ceemes]

This is unfortunately the most common cause of "accidents" (can they really be called accidents?) caused by inattentive drivers. When I was commuting to work by bike, I swear I would see at least 3 to 5 of these rear ender accidents per week. Luckily very few involved bikes and riders, although I did have one impatient lady drive into the back of my Sabre while at a stop and propelled me forward about five feet. No damage done and the poor lass's ears must of been ringing a good couple of hours from the tongue lashing I administered to her, and probably was blushing beet red for as long due to the rather blue language I used.

Personally I believe it is long past time to remove all the distractions modern cars have built in them, ultra loud stereo's, CD and DVD players, gaming consoles and yes even A/C. Plus we should remove most of the innovations that make car driving too easy, and get drivers back to actually paying attention to the art of actually driving their cars. I learned to drive on the huge North American "boats" that dominated our roads back in the 70's and they demanded your absolute attention. Sure they had automatic transmissions, power assisted brakes and steering, but you had to watch what they were doing otherwise they would get away from you. Today's drivers have it far too easy and because of that zone out to the point where when something unusual happens in front of them, they cannot react in time. Time to make driving a little be less easy and comfortable.

[RhadamYgg]

I ride pretty fast so I never really have a problem with tailgaters.

Well, I'm no slow poke - I ride 80 - 85 mph on the open road. The problem is when I'm in traffic and I leave 2 seconds in front of me. What I do then (on the highways) is try to give the driver behind me sight of the car in front of me.

When I'm stopped at a light, I always have the bike in first gear, always leave plenty of room from the car in front of me, and always have an escape route.

I've been pretty bad with this in the FZ6 - it has been the first time that I could easily pop a bike in neutral. The Suzuki was brutal - I had to keep the clutch gripped and it would actually make my hand ache. I leave a bit of space, but I don't know that I look behind me all that frequently.

I do tap my brake, but not all the time. I might be doing this more often though.

RIP fellow rider.

Yep, RIP fellow rider.

This is unfortunately the most common cause of "accidents" (can they really be called accidents?) caused by inattentive drivers.

I remember (in my car) exiting from the sawmill parkway I stopped at the stop sign, the car next to me (double lane exit) stopped and then they were promptly hit from behind. I hate stopping at that sign. There is so little traffic coming from the left that frequently people roll through the sign, and when they infrequently need to stop, the person behind them may or may not have any idea.

Personally I believe it is long past time to remove all the distractions modern cars have built in them,

One of the visions at the New York Auto Show was a system that did the opposite. Organized cars in to "trains" on the highway - computer controlled short distance between high speed "trains" of cars that cars would join and depart as they entered and exited the highway. I'm not sure how much I trust computers (or rather the software that developers write, myself being a developer) to control cars safely. Then I think that people will get too used to doing their hair and having no responsibility driving that when they transfer and get control back - who knows what their driving discipline will be.

RhadamYgg

[Gunslinger]

How many times have you guys seen those shows where someone runs in to the back of a patrol car that's lit up like a christmas tree? You know, the cruisers you can see from over a mile away? You can wear all the neon green in the world and rest assured some moron will still manage to run you down. I don't know how this guy could have prevented this "accident". I would need more info to make that assumption.

I've been driving for 22 years. Driven probably 350,000 miles during that time. I hit a fence back in 1988 but I damn sure never killed anybody. Why should I give up my CD, power steering and A/C because of someone else's mistake?

Sometimes you can do all the right things and still lose the battle. I feel bad for this guy's family and to a lesser extent the driver. How do you live with yourself after something like that. Yet another reminder for us all to stay vigilant.

[sapaul]

After going through the K53 test here, we re educate riders. the K53 advocates that bikes stop in the middle of the lane effectively cutting off any escape route and also giving the impression that the bike's rear light could be a rear window car light.

We teach that the bike should be off centre and far enough back to allow an escape route, also, ALWAYS in first gear and check your rear mirrors before you stop and while you are stopped.

The latest stats we have are that in 80% of rear enders, the brakes were not applied at all. Cellphones being the biggest culprit

[jaskc78]

i honestly think you could take away every distraction possible in a car and it still wouldn't matter. the lady that caused the accident was 73 years old. here in tucson, that's a very common sight--the grey-maned silverback. there are a few of them that seem to still be aware of the fact that there are other drivers on the road, but many more of them seem oblivious to their surroundings. i don't think that 73 year old was blaring rap music through her aftermarket stereo or watching a DVD or probably doing anything other than staring directly ahead at her dashboard because she was, in all likelihood, too short to see over it.

yes, it's tragic and yes it's horrible, but no, i don't think any amount of bright clothing or brake-light flashing would have made any difference in this case. the only thing that would have saved that man's life was either him not being on the road or him breaking the law and passing on the right to get around the minivan. either way, that old lady was gonna cream that minivan just for making a perfectly legal left-hand turn.

[havegunjoe]

Not enough information to judge anyone but as jaskc78 said the lady was 73 so there probably weren’t many things distracting her attention. I too try to leave an escape route and I keep it in first so I can just hit the throttle if I feel I need to. My helmet is bright red and white so at least that should be easy to see. I have said for a long time that they give out licenses to the brain dead. It seems that as long as you are breathing you get a license. That should not be.

I had a woman with a cell phone glued to her ear coming out of a parking lot I was turning into almost hit me the other day. I blew the horn and she slammed on the breaks. My bike is not quiet so how she did not see me or hear the bike is only due to her distraction on the phone. They never look in the direction that the phone is which is where I was coming from.

[jstark47]

My problem is I come to a full stop at stop signs, and a lot of impatient jacka$$ drivers around here assume I'll roll through just like they do. They end up stopping inches from my back wheel.

I come to a full stop because my 54-year old eyes need a second to scan the street onto which I'm going to pull out -- too many times I've been about to roll through and at the last split-second I see a car coming I didn't notice at first glance. There's some nice drab colored cars that blend in with the road (and don't use daylight running lights.... or even worse, don't use any lights at all at dusk.)

[koji52]

How many times have you guys seen those shows where someone runs in to the back of a patrol car that's lit up like a christmas tree? You know, the cruisers you can see from over a mile away? You can wear all the neon green in the world and rest assured some moron will still manage to run you down. I don't know how this guy could have prevented this "accident". I would need more info to make that assumption.

Definitely agree with you on this. Half the people out there can't drive to save their a$$ to begin with and the rest driving on autopilot don't notice anything until it's too late.