Dead man walking?

[hanoverphist]

Yeah, this guy flew by...if the light didn't go green, he likely wouldn't have been able to stop in time (looked like he was watching the other lanes go red and planning on the green).

Maybe I just have shitty luck.

thats the norm here in az that i see. bunch of asshats for the most part, IMO. of course the whole lane splitting thing here is relatively new, so mebbe it will settle down once they get the hang of it.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

It is legal in the OP's state. I live in the same state and have been lanesplitting for years and many tens of thousands of miles. 5k and 5 months of riding is very inexperienced so all I'm saying is that maybe that played into it some. I don't know the OP or his riding style but if he has had 2 accidents in 5 months and 5k riding then he probably should change something. Maybe get more training or slow down or not listen to music... I don't know. All I know is that I live in the same state and lane split all the time and have never been hit while doing so.

There is nothing inherently dangerous about lane splitting IMO. If done in a prudent manner it is not unsafe at all and may in fact be safer than sitting in stop and go traffic, despite all the opinions from non-riders to the contrary. :whiste:

I will admit, experience does play a role. Obviously I should be better at spotting a gap opening up and watching for the car trying to jump for it. It is simple cause and effect.

Speed wasn't a factor here, cars were near between 0-5mph and I was riding at about 15-20mph. The other car just saw the gap, didn't check her blind spot and pulled out in front of me. The best part was, when she got out of her car she said, "Didn't you see my turn signal?!!?".

Either way, the insurance company interviewed me and the witness, they already decided I'm not at fault. So that is a good thing financially.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I will admit, experience does play a role. Obviously I should be better at spotting a gap opening up and watching for the car trying to jump for it. It is simple cause and effect.

Speed wasn't a factor here, cars were near between 0-5mph and I was riding at about 15-20mph. The other car just saw the gap, didn't check her blind spot and pulled out in front of me. The best part was, when she got out of her car she said, "Didn't you see my turn signal?!!?".

Either way, the insurance company interviewed me and the witness, they already decided I'm not at fault. So that is a good thing financially.

Always watch for gaps that a car might move into. You should anticipate a car moving over into that space as you approach from behind and reduce your speed/prepare to have to stop or take evasive action. Also, look for heads checking mirrors/turning to look before they move along with scanning front wheels of cars to see if they are about to change lanes. All these things should become part of your senses.

Whenever I'm riding down a road I'm scanning ahead for possible hazards. A car waiting to pull out of a side street gets my undivided attention and I'm always planning my escape routes if they pull out. If I'm riding alone with no cars around me I'll slow down and prepare to brake if they don't see me and pull out. You really do have to be that defensive on a bike and you have to be that focused all the time. I enjoy riding a motorcycle partially because of how aware it makes you and how focused you are. If you are distracted or not feeling up to it, don't take the bike. I've had days where I just felt off and didn't get on the bike.

Maybe just reduce your speed just a little bit when splitting. And make sure you use both brakes and are capable of maximizing your braking ability without locking the wheels. ABS is really nice to have but I've ridden a number of bikes without it too.

Anyway, I'm glad you're okay. :thumbsup:

 

[Topweasel]

I will admit, experience does play a role. Obviously I should be better at spotting a gap opening up and watching for the car trying to jump for it. It is simple cause and effect.

Speed wasn't a factor here, cars were near between 0-5mph and I was riding at about 15-20mph. The other car just saw the gap, didn't check her blind spot and pulled out in front of me. The best part was, when she got out of her car she said, "Didn't you see my turn signal?!!?".

Either way, the insurance company interviewed me and the witness, they already decided I'm not at fault. So that is a good thing financially.

I love that "didn't you see my turn signal" approach. I had a similiar incident in a compact SUV (Dodge Nitro). A car was trying to get over, in middle of hard traffic while everyone is breaking. I told her that it's up to her to merge safely and that even if I saw her stupid turn signal I was already breaking hard I wasn't about to slam onto the breaks even more just to let her in. Then asked her how she missed the 4500 lb. 6 feet tall sedan length SUV.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I think the theory is that it's better to end up bumped like the OP than pancaked between two vehicles. Think of a situation where you were stopped as you normally would in a lane and another vehicle didn't stop in time and made you the meat bag middle of a metal bunned sammich.

Amazingly, all the bike has to do then is "lane split" between the two last cars in the line until the traffic picks back up. Otherwise the bike is just another thing in a line of traffic doing 0-5 mph. Pretty sure when at ultra low speeds in a line of traffic, the pancake scenario falls apart.

 

[Topweasel]

Amazingly, all the bike has to do then is "lane split" between the two last cars in the line until the traffic picks back up. Otherwise the bike is just another thing in a line of traffic doing 0-5 mph. Pretty sure when at ultra low speeds in a line of traffic, the pancake scenario falls apart.

Most heavy traffic scenarios tend to have moments of 10-20 and up points. The people ahead start shifting lanes and traffic comes to a stop. These are the points that people generally get the most distracted and in my state where you see the most swerves to the shoulder. This is when there is the most likely pancake scenario. I don't like JM's lane splitting is the only way and a vehicle in that close proximity can be unnerving, but in this case they are right.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Most heavy traffic scenarios tend to have moments of 10-20 and up points. The people ahead start shifting lanes and traffic comes to a stop. These are the points that people generally get the most distracted and in my state where you see the most swerves to the shoulder. This is when there is the most likely pancake scenario. I don't like JM's lane splitting is the only way and a vehicle in that close proximity can be unnerving, but in this case they are right.

These are the areas you really have to pay attention on a bike too. When I merge onto a freeway with heavy traffic I'll always get into the far left lane and just stay there, splitting up between the two leftmost lanes when traffic slows to a crawl. You never want to be in the right lanes where all the cars are trying to merge or exit and cut across lanes and you definitely don't want to lane split in those lanes either.