Nasty off *warning general essay*

[keith_d]

Yep - just work on the assumption that there are two kinds of car drivers. Some that are actively trying to kill you, and the others that haven't seen you yet.

It wont help 100% but i strongly advise that you fit a really loud pipe/can to your next bike. Mine is stupidly loud and they tend to notice a bit more. Also, when i filter, during the day, i turn my beams on. This means there is more chance of them seeing you with the light going into one of the three mirrors. It will **** some people off, but i find they notice you alot more.

Sorry to hear about the off mate. Good job you're alright. Cagers just don't remember we're around half the time. Hope you get it all sorted out soon!

So as Ralph asked, is this what happened?

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

[Balky001]

I used to commute on the A13. I'd expect a near miss every 6 to 8 weeks. Poor cagers are very tired in the morning and after work and distracted by their phones, radios, aircon and sat navs let alone eating, drinking, chatting away.

I was always wary when there was a gap available for a car to move in even if they have given no indication to their lane change intention (positioning, head movement - never expect an actual indicator ha ha).

When cars are side to side its much safer to filter IMO (you don't really see cars banging doors driving in a straight line) but give them a sniff of a 0.02 second advantage and they'll fill that gap.

Glad you are OK.

Likewise I've learnt to be very cautious whenever I see a gap And I almost never take a gap if I'm within a few dozen meters of a junction either way as thats when you get cars AND bikes shooting across lanes willy nilly.

That said I seem to spend 90% of my journey on the white lines anyway *shrug*

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Ok, so this happened?



Well that is much easier to see, anticipate and avoid I'm afraid.



Just don't pass the car on the right, when it has a gap to it's left. Flank it's rear to the near side, at the same speed and slightly behind it (where the bike is in the diagram), until either it jumps lanes in front of you or it's drawn level with another car and can't move, then twist throttle and away you go through.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.


At the end of the day fella, it wasn't your fault. Try and get back in the saddle and get riding.

I've not come off *touch wood*, but have had 2 situations in the past 8 years where someone has pulled a U-turn on me whilst I'm filtering at low speed past stationary traffic, and also some crazy bint pulled out from the opposite side of the road, to bully her way into stationary traffic whilst I was filtering - even the white van man she tried to bully her way into couldn't fathom what she was thinking!

Originally Posted by Gnome

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.


At the end of the day fella, it wasn't your fault.

No, it wasn't his fault.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

I'm not saying it's "your fault", of course the other driver was an idiot, but it's too late to worry about whose fault it was when your sliding on your ar$e, so you need to do as much as you can to be responsible for what happens to you on the bike, and to be in control of your environment. Hey, we live and learn, and you won't do that one again!

Turning today's hindsight into tomorrow's foresight is the key.

One other tip to remember is that cars tend to change lane the most when the traffic is either slowing down or speeding up. Less so when it's travelling at a constant speed, or stopped. Presumably this is because they feel the need to rush to get in quick, if the speed is changing?

[Balky001]

I had a lorry swerve into my lane on me today, twice! Ended up he was trying to take his hi-viz top off so he could drive bare chested. Very manly ha ha

Glad to hear you're ok mate.

I travel on the A13 all the time. Sometimes it just aint worth filtering. Still, give it some time and you'll be up to your old confidence once again.