Learning from near misses and reported accidents.

Even through I am in my forties and starting to get stuck in my ways. I do try my hardest to keep learning whilst riding my bike about. Having ridden for years and many miles commuting to Slough in the M4 rush our, I have remained upright. I'm not the best rider, not the fastest just a normal biker. However riding with a new biker made me think about near misses and how much you still have to learn after your test. So here are a couple of near misses that I learned from.

Near Miss 1 - I was always told to ride at a speed that you can stop in the distance you see. I remember crossing the brow of a hill on a VFR on the way to Marlborough, a sign showing that there was a right turn over the brow. I throttled off, rode over the brow and a lady who didn't take a second glance pulled across the carriageway rather late turning in front of me from the side turning on the right. No drama already braking (smugness), and in a seamless manoeuvre went to overtake as she joined my carriagway. The lady did the most odd manoeuvre as I went for the over take. The driver, swerved right straddling both lanes sideways on and stopping. Leaving me one foot from her drivers door staring at her bemused, scared face.
Lesson 1 - Car drivers will do the most random manoeuvres when you least expect it. I think she panicked having clocked me whilst entering the lane and decided to turn right across the carriageway to let me pass on her nearside (as if anyone would think of doing that).

Near miss 2 - I was always taught through annual compulsory MAC motorbike training when riding with another rider. Stay out of their blind spot, so they can see you in the mirror, keeping your bike a safe distance behind, always to the side of the bike in front. Riding in Belgium travelling at circa 80 miles an hour, the bike in front who was using sat nav did the most unexpected thing. As his sat nav updated very late for a right turn he emergency stopped his Wing. With linked brakes and ABS from 80 miles an hour to zero to make the turn. I sailed passed his left hand side on an old 1989 CBR 600F missing him.
Lesson 2 Always stay a safe distance, never ride directly behind, don't expect other riders to ride big fat wings with grace !

The new biker born again with me on a ride out.

• I had turned a corner and had to stop for a lorry on the on coming lane. The biker behind rounded the corner unable to stop in the distance he could see and had to stand it up. Riding a Blade he just missed the back of me and very nearly dropped his bike as he snaked about.
• Three high speed overtakes passing turnings on the right and driveways throughout the afternoon ride made my eyes water watching.
• Riding lead I would take an over-take into a space between two cars, to see a blade firing up like a rocket into my space and sandwiching in the same gap.

I have suggested the bike safe course, but it does worry me.

As a final note I lied about remaining upright. :cool:
1) Left my disk lock moving off from home. No damage, apart from my pride as I dropped a few inches onto my wife's car bonnet.
2) 4 mph turning on a driveway and my front wheel dropped into a patch without paving blocks, game over ! a very light scratch as I softly had to put it down.

Some interesting points made there. When i first started, a friend of mine took the lead and told me to observe what he does. His first instruction to me was to ride in his mirrors and not directly behind like you say, Just in case he had to brake quickly and also so he could see what i was doing.

Another interesting point he told me was to always have an escape plan in case of impending trouble. Sometimes i find it best to ignore the lane positioning that has been taught as have found it dangerous at times. For example, staying to the left on a right-hand bend may help you avoid an idiot that is overtaking in the other direction but will limit your chances of swerving if a car unexpectedly pulls out from a side-road.
I prefer to position myself with the option of being able to swerve left or right instead of just leaving myself with just the one option.

I can never forget when i lived in chelte'nam' a big swedish guy filtered past me in traffic to the front of the queue. I never filtered before and knowing the lights would stay red fro quite some time, i decided to join him at the front. He said to me in his booming swedish accent 'I wondered when you would decide to come up to the front, you need to show car drivers that you are the boss and the king of the road'. That mantra has stuck with me ever since.
Even though i ride a little 125, i ride aggressively/confidently and don't let other road users bully me. Any sign of weakness on a bike will give other motorists behind carte blanche to mess with you.

Too many near misses for me to mention none of which have been my fault.

I've also left a disc lock on and tried to set off :(

Some good points, I know I have a hell of a lot of learning to do. I like to think I learn from near misses, though if I'm honest at least half are my fault often stemming from losing my rag with a car making a minor transgression and doing something silly involving overtakes, their wing mirror and/or one fingered communication. I also have a bad habit with speed limits, I nearly got wiped out in Larkhill on the weekend when a car pulled out on to the main road, yeah the car shouldn't have pulled out but had I been going slower I wouldn't have to have done something dangerous to avoid it.

I think one of the biggest blocks to riders learning things is a failure to self analyse and admit any sort of fault, it's always easier to blame "the muppet in the car"........ I do it and people I talk to do it. It's often a while after before I actually think, "well I was the muppet there for allowing a minor transgression to possibly become worse" or "yeah the car shouldn't have done that but had I been abiding the rules of the road better his bad action wouldn't have mattered".

I guess I probably need to mellow out a bit when riding!

Done the disc lock thing too, also the sidestand vault when turning left :(

I don't think anyone learns it all, there are always situations that have never been encountered. I still find im constantly learning week to week.

Drivers can be so unpredictable and so can other bikers. I still get the red mist now and can't seem to train my brain out of it, i know i should calm down on every journey but it's not always the case.

"you need to show car drivers that you are the boss and the king of the road"

Personally I think that mantra is bollocks and following it and riding aggressively isn't likely to reduce the number of near misses you're experiencing but rather increase it. Ask yourself, when have you have ever reacted passively or positively to someone acting aggressively towards you?

Despite mellowing as I've got older I still struggle to turn the other cheek when someone acts aggressively towards me, my family or friends (too many years of react first, think later conditioning to overcome from my 'yoof', playing footie, etc) but hopefully if I see you out and about when I'm in my nice big, very solid car and you're intent on showing me you're King of the Road I'll manage to curtail my natural reactions and make sure you have all the freedom of the road you need ; )

Keep it safe

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Originally Posted by Trev

"you need to show car drivers that you are the boss and the king of the road"

Personally I think that mantra is bollocks and following it and riding aggressively isn't likely to reduce the number of near misses you're experiencing but rather increase it. Ask yourself, when have you have ever reacted passively or positively to someone acting aggressively towards you?

Despite mellowing as I've got older I still struggle to turn the other cheek when someone acts aggressively towards me, my family or friends (too many years of react first, think later conditioning to overcome from my 'yoof', playing footie, etc) but hopefully if I see you out and about when I'm in my nice big, very solid car and you're intent on showing me you're King of the Road I'll manage to curtail my natural reactions and make sure you have all the freedom of the road you need ; )

Keep it safe

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I dont mean flipping the bird or giving a shake of the fist. I mean defending your lane and space.

If someone is tailgating me i tend to wave my index finger in a 'naughty boy' manner. I dont seek to wind up motorists as i'll be the one who gets injured more. It's best to let people now their driving is dangerous around you by doing the simple things well.

"you need to show car drivers that you are the boss and the king of the road"

I like that.
I do my best to let drivers know I am about whether it's lights in their mirror or the sound of my exhaust when I'm filtering.

It's not about being aggressive :mad:
;)

I was "born-again" last year and only fell off twice so far, first was learning the tight turning circle when slowly lining up to park but only hurt my pride. The second was being on a washed out single track lane covered in mud/leaves - shouldn't have been there, but then neither should the mud...

Riding defensively and treating all other road users/pedestrians as complete blind muppets on the phone is a good method. Having an escape route at all times is also crucial.
A lot of my recent near misses have been seen a long way off or predicted, using thinking like "I bet he/she pulls out" or "what if he/she pulls out" also helps. The bit I hate is at a junction where you have people waiting on the left and right so you have to go through in the middle of the lane hoping neither pulls out.

I'm far from expert but accept that I will always be learning or "having a quiet word with myself" to tone it down a bit or take it easy. There have been enough accidents/deaths recently of bikers and it can be easy to say that what we do is extremely dangerous but then think of the old biker who plods along without too much haste, try's to predict muppetry, doesn't get annoyed and doesn't take risks, the oldest one I know is 90+ so i plan to out-do him.

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Originally Posted by Killer Rat

I dont mean flipping the bird or giving a shake of the fist. I mean defending your lane and space.

If someone is tailgating me i tend to wave my index finger in a 'naughty boy' manner. I dont seek to wind up motorists as i'll be the one who gets injured more. It's best to let people now their driving is dangerous around you by doing the simple things well.

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Of course, apologies if I was spouting off, I guess I misunderstood your use of the word aggressive

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Killer Rat

I dont mean flipping the bird or giving a shake of the fist. I mean defending your lane and space.

If someone is tailgating me i tend to wave my index finger in a 'naughty boy' manner. I dont seek to wind up motorists as i'll be the one who gets injured more. It's best to let people now their driving is dangerous around you by doing the simple things well.

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Yep, be dominant on the road I know what you mean

I have learnt that despite trusting other road users to be sensible they never are.

The scariest one was leaving the M6 to join the M42 and a "muppet" in a Range Rover trying to drive into the side of my bike. Blasted the horn three times to no avail. Sped up and he kept coming quicker, he lost his wing mirror and then proceeded to emergency stop on the hard shoulder. Out of courtesty I stopped and had a conversation with the gentleman, he apologised saying that he hadn't seen me in my white leathers, hi vis vest and white helmet.

I offered my insurance details and reminded him of the number of cameras on that stretch of road. He declined saying that it would probably end up costing him a fortune. I was surprised how calm I was, I felt like clocking him one as I thought he was going to turn me into dog food.

I always expect the unexpected and have found that the finger up does nothing but annoy the hell out of the driver and they become more agressive. I have had a couple of close calls whilst filtering at slow speeds and know I wouldn't be here if I was going as fast as some of the guys that I have seen filtering in the same location.

Every ride is a learning experience and I know I will never be perfect. The day I think that is the day I hang up my helmet for good!

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Originally Posted by Senna(Dan)

I have learnt that despite trusting other road users to be sensible they never are.

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Not all...some are bikers :p

Personally I've found other road users have become more considerate and seen me better the older I've got ;)

I was speaking with a 54 year old ex-biker the other day.
The reason he is an ex-biker is that when he was 34 he had a serious argument with a tree at about 60mph.
He said that he was lucky to still be alive.
The accident was completely his fault with nobody else involved (apart from the tree)
He was in a coma for 10 months and lost his right forearm in the crash.
He said that the accident happened as he got distracted for only a second.
I have always ridden with complete concentration on the road - I won't change that and the higher the speed that I travel at, the more I concentrate my full attention on the road ahead - planning, escape routes and what ifs e.t.c.

I've only been riding for 2 years but learnt a lot in that short time:

Incident 1: Within the first few weeks on owning a bike, I was on a straight road near the Ridgeway in Swindon. I wondered if I'd be able to shimmy back on my seat onto the pillion seat and still be able to steer. I struggled to maintain control over the steering and nearly rode into a ditch.
Lesson learnt: Don't be stupid.

Incident 2: This has happened a couple of times. In the right hand lane on a dual carriageway and a vehicle in front (usually a van or lorry) pulls into my lane without looking, almost taking me out.
[Lesson learnt:[/] Be wary of sudden maneuvers, car drivers probably not have seen you.

Incident 3: Riding along in the rain and went around a large roundabout (the one by Windmill Hill in Swindon) at my usual speed. The back wheel started to drift out and I almost shat my pants. Thankfully i loosened off the throttle and maintained control.
Lesson learnt: Ride to the conditions.

Incident 4: Riding along in the pouring rain (a badly timed outing!) and hit a massive pothole that had been filled with rainwater, making it practically invisible.
Lesson learnt: Pay attention to the road surfaces, especially in bad weather. Look out for large puddles, potholes and slippery surfaces such as manhole covers and paint.


Incident 5: Has happened a couple of times; Riding at night, and an animal (such as a rabbit) runs out into the road in front of you (managed not to hit any yet!)
Lesson learnt: Animals are unpredictable. Pay extra attention at night and manage your speed so that you can stop suddenly if need be.

Of course, there are other things that you learn along the way, such as to be extra careful whilst filtering and whatnot. Recently, I've learnt to pull the clutch in and idle past whilst riding near any police, as my exhaust is a little bit loud...