The Scariest Thing...

[drgibson]

Well I have had some scary moments in my life and I guess at the time each was the scariest. When I was young and racing I had several incidents that were scary. I went in the Air Force at the age of 17 it was scary. During an exercise in Florida, due to a lap belt failure I fell out of a helicopter, well almost, I came out of the copter but was able to grab the support that held the seat, at the same time the pilot turned the chopper so that that side was elevated and I was able to crawl back in with the help of others. I had children! Daughters! Along the way there have been other scary moments just last month I had the incident with the light pole across the road.

Well today I had another Scariest moment. I was in traffic coming home and as traffic started to slow a semi truck changed lanes into the lane I was in thinking that it was moving faster. Not so we were slowing down too, the semi was speeding up. Did I mention that he was right behind me? I realized what was going to happen just about the time that the semi driver realized that traffic had stopped. I watch for about a second and realized that if he got it stopped it would be past where I was. So I did a little lane splitting I rolled up past three cars and continued to watch the show. The car that was directly in front of me before I fled did so also, moving into the emergency lane and pulling up beside the car in front of it. The truck came to a stop just behind the next car in line.

It is an imposing sight to see a 18 wheeler bearing down on you I don’t care what you are in or on. As always it pays to pay attention to what is going on around you and always leave yourself an escape route.

BTW I owe my safety to my Loud Pipes…



Wait I don’t have loud pipes.

[blackie1491]

Great move Don.

[GIXXER-Mike]

You know those truck drivers are professional drivers, don't ya ?

[Louis]

Great move Don. I would've been scared too!

[Pay_The_O]

wow nice move!

but i might need some advice (if ur willing to give) on a situation like this... when im stopped and take a glance at cars in my mirrors is it easily predictable that they're speeding up? cause i was thinking like what happens if i just sat there watching him get closer and closer and BOOM!

[GIXXER-Mike]

I think you answered your own question:

Originally Posted by Pay_The_O

... cause i was thinking like what happens if i just sat there watching him get closer and closer... --> BOOM!

[POE-BOY SAMICH]

Holy testicle tuesday!
That is a scary story.

Problem with truck drivers being professional drivers is that they sometimes take their skills for granted and let their guard down; a lot like those animal trainers you see get attacked by the animal they thought they had under control.

Glad your OK, Don. GREAT JOB!

[RampageRider]

Great use of the mirrors and checking your 6

[viper94bite]

Yikes! that would scare the ---------well you know out of me! Glad you got out ok.

[NCBoulevard]

Good defensive riding!

[Pay_The_O]

Originally Posted by GIXXER-Mike

I think you answered your own question:

yeah but i need learn how to make sure the BOOM doesnt happen

[robertc729]

Don't wait for the "BOOM", if you feel your safety is at risk move, if your right you're not injured, if your wrong you have a small amount of embarassment ans still you're not injured. The longer you ride or drive, the better you will become at assessing possible threats to your safety.

[Time4me2ride]

Pay,
Start watching those mirrors every time you are stopped and someone is coming up behind you. After a while you get a feel for what looks normal. If you are used to normal traffic flow, then a faster than normal car is going to look unusual. Then add in that a car's hood dips down when the brakes are applied and lifts slightly when accelerating. Another thing to be aware of is how close the cager behind you is following. If you have a tailgater, you need to make more room between you and the car in front of you, because if you have to stop suddenly, the tailgater won't have time to react.(I learned that one the hard way). As Don just proved, being aware of what is behind you is just as improtant as being aware of what's in front of you. Good escape Don!

ride safe

[drgibson]

Originally Posted by Pay_The_O

yeah but i need learn how to make sure the BOOM doesnt happen

When in doubt run like ****.

[Ragtop]

This morning I was waiting behind a van at a stoplight. I was watching an approaching car in my mirrors. Glancing back up I noticed that the van in front was backing up to allow a semi to turn (wide) into the lane next to us. I started honking my anemic horn to let him know I was there (although he could see me in all his mirrors. Thankfully I had left plenty of room in front of me. Point is, watch all directions. If I would have had to avoid the car behind and went into the oncoming lane, the semi would have got me (he was turning too fast for conditions).

[POE-BOY SAMICH]

Originally Posted by Ragtop

...Thankfully I had left plenty of room in front of me. Point is, watch all directions. If I would have had to avoid the car behind and went into the oncoming lane, the semi would have got me (he was turning too fast for conditions).

WOW,
you had your own scary momen Ragtop. Great job keeping enough space between you and the van in front.

Leaving plenty of space is a great habit to get into. I notice a lot of riders overlook this important safety habit on the road. I don't imagine they're all newbies either.

[bajaraider]

great move Don. And even more so a good reminder for the rest of us to not slack off on the rear view checks! Glad you were paying attention

[GIXXER-Mike]

FYI:

Both your mirrors should not be set the same.

My left mirror is angled so that when I'm at a stop, I can see what's coming up behind me. When I see it, I tap my rear brakes (2-3 times at intervals) to get their attention. On average, they leave a distance between me & them that you can almost fit a car in.

My right mirror is angled so that when I'm in the semi-squatted riding position, I'm able to monitor all traffic in my rear.

MIRRORS ARE VERY HELPFUL IF SET RIGHT!!!!

[TechJD]

I set my mirrors so there is a slight over lap of a car about 1 car lenght behind me seems to give me the widest view, I think that would be a good thread
"How are your mirrors set?" maybe some of us with not so much expericance
could get some good tips

Good scaning drgibson and Ragtop

[92Notch]

I set my mirrors so that I can see how freaking cool i look on the bike.


... j/k I set them so that I can see at a good angle behind me, and directly behind me ... they're wide angle mirrors, so that makes it easy to do.