2 near misses in 2 days - partly my blame ?

Oh and I forgot on the first one

the car turned right into a farm road which I didn't see

My tuppence:

1st) I would never go at 70 mph overtaking 20mph traffic, especially at a junction. Your fault in my opinion.

2nd) I'd say pretty much the other guys fault. If you look in your mirrors, see a car miles back, and pull out, you are subconciously judging whether he can make it to your position at a reasonable speed by the time you have overtaken. Him doing 150 mph throws this out completely. But what I wanna know, is if you saw him getting larger and larger whilst you were overtaking, why didn't you blip it and overtake and pull in after the lorry rather than pull left beside the lorry?

[timwilky]

Sorry to say it but in both cases you broke the basic rule. Ride like your invisible.

Expect all traffic in front to manoeuvre without indication, if there is a junction expect traffic will use it irrespective of right of way, priority etc.

also don't just do rear observation before you manoeuvre, do it all the time. know what is behind you and the distance.

[Red ones]

Does it matter who is technically to blame?

Observation, observation, observation.


1. Slow moving line of traffic. Turning to the right (whether it be a road, a lay-by a farm track ...) Risk of someone turning. Speed differential. RISK!

2. Slower traffic ahead, car behind, wrong side of the carriageway. RISK! Car behind driven by nutter (RISK! - albeit unknown at the time!)

Further to 2. RISK! - Chasing to keep up. The man is a nutter, don't go following him, let him affect someone elses day!

Whether or not you are to blame - look at the situation and work out how to avoid it in the future, is there an escape route, could you have made yourself more visible. Speed, Lights, Position, Observation - could these have been any better and removed the near misses? Once you start analysing each every ride and near miss like this as a routine review of your ride you will find a) they don't happen so often, b) you tend to get to places quicker.

I am a great fan of the Police way of riding - they not look quick sitting upright and riding defensively, but you try following them!

[Stu]

Originally Posted by timwilky

Sorry to say it but in both cases you broke the basic rule. Ride like your invisible.

Expect all traffic in front to manoeuvre without indication, if there is a junction expect traffic will use it irrespective of right of way, priority etc.

also don't just do rear observation before you manoeuvre, do it all the time. know what is behind you and the distance.

I like what you are saying and agree with you and the all accidents are (partly) Motorcylist fault above (nobody asked you to leave your home). But how do you cope with e.g. Dual carriageway 60mph limit cars crossing from your right. If they are going to pull out because SMIDSY, how slow would you reasonably approach them in case they do pull out?

[Red ones]

Originally Posted by stu369

But how do you cope with e.g. Dual carriageway 60mph limit cars crossing from your right. If they are going to pull out because SMIDSY, how slow would you reasonably approach them in case the do pull out?

Would you be appraching them at 50+mph above their speed?

Originally Posted by The Basket

Went to a Bike Safe thingy to listen to some expert. He said that all motorcycle crashes are the fault of the motorcyclist. Even if a car pulls out on you, it's your fault.

What utter rubbish. I didn't bother staying for the rest.

I wouldn't call that rubbish, I agree with him from a certain point of view. Namely that, on a bike, you are in an inferior position of vulnerability - so you need to place yourself in a superior position of mentality.

And being superior makes everything your fault because there should have been something you could have done to avoid the situation - no matter how stupid the driver.

It's an extreme viewpoint I agree, and not entirely practical as there are situations that you simply couldn't avoid - except perhaps by not setting foot outside your bed anyway. But for the most part there is much that can be avoided by a clever, observant biker.

What's really sad is that we have to turn ourselves into these mentally arrogant, superior thinking guardians of safety because the current state of driving and roads is against us. But it's not alawys the case. Every now and then you have a perfect, unsullied ride - and those are the days we live for.

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by stu369

I like what you are saying and agree with you and the all accidents are (partly) Motorcylist fault above (nobody asked you to leave your home). But how do you cope with e.g. Dual carriageway 60mph limit cars crossing from your right. If they are going to pull out because SMIDSY, how slow would you reasonably approach them in case they do pull out?

Of course you are not going to slow down approaching every junction. But at the end of the day you should be doing a simple risk analysis.

Is there a vehicle on or approaching the junction, have they seen me, does it appear that they are going to pull out, what is my route out of this if they do etc. By riding defensively knowing what you are going to do when and why you can also ride quicker than the riders who are constantly grabbing their brakes because they are forced into panicing.

So it is not just observation, it is having a plan. even a small one is better than none at all. ooh err missus! I can't believe I just said that.

[Red ones]

Originally Posted by The Basket

Went to a Bike Safe thingy to listen to some expert. He said that all motorcycle crashes are the fault of the motorcyclist. Even if a car pulls out on you, it's your fault.

What utter rubbish. I didn't bother staying for the rest.

Originally Posted by K

I wouldn't call that rubbish, I agree with him from a certain point of view. Namely that, on a bike, you are in an inferior position of vulnerability - so you need to place yourself in a superior position of mentality.

Originally Posted by The Basket

When I ride me bike, I am seemingly in close shaves that are not my fault. Even riding within my own abilities. Make ya realise how exposed I am.

Some of the best feedback to the most critical. Take it on the chin and take it in. There is little merit in walking out of a course like Bike Safe because the instructor is a **** and feeling right when you are lying in a hospital bed working out how to upload the images of your injuries to 650.org and looking for sympathy

Do you still have these close shaves, even after walking out of Bike Safe? There is a really nice book I thoroughly recommend to you. "Roadcraft: The Police Rider's handbook to better motorcycling"

This actually happened on my IAM test ride.

I was doing below the speed limit and smack bang in the middle of the road for perfect visibility.

A car...a red Suzuki 4-wheeler just pulled out clean in front of me! He made no attempt to stop at the junction. Fortunately he turned left so was in front of me rather than pull out because I would have had no where to go.

I was being Mr IAM and still this happens! The actions of a driver cannot be my fault.