Near Misses, Accidents. How do you avoid them?

[Guest]

How about we share our experiences so that we can learn from each other how to avoid dangerous situations etc.

There are a lot of new riders who are going to make the same mistakes we did and of course no-one ever stops learning and improving their riding.

Enjoy the tips and enjoy the riding, stay aware and keep safe.

To get the thread started i'll just say watch out for pedestrians when overtaking that bus in a queue of traffic because they are not going to look to their right are they? Nothing is coming because all the traffic has stopped

[Guest]

I avoid them by swerving .

Seriously, as soon as something seems strange (somekind of biker sense.... or just a car starting to hover closer to your lane or w.e) back off slightly, move over slightly, try to get out of his blind spot (don't go in it in the first place is best, but sometimes its near impossible not to) if you have a loud can, change down a gear... just be prepared for them to cut you up, stay a safe distance so you can move/swerve if need to and also try to become noticeable, make your self known! BUT remember to always keep an eye on other hazards/ where you are going as well.

If you go to over take, always keep an eye out for cars in front wanting to do the same, or if they want to turn off etc.

When going past cars at junctions, keep an eye on their front tyre..... that will tell you if they are moving or not!

And when filtering past cars WATCH OUT FOR PEOPLE PULLING OUT, sometimes the car you are filtering past may flash to let them out!! Yes.... I learnt that one from experience... claim is still on going btw from last June...

[illvibetip]

dont know if this is the right tactic but i always practice trying to ride into an empty space if i think im going to have break hard (eg in heavy traffic).

I also practice hitting 'sleeping policemen' standing a little with my arms loose so that i do that out of instinct should the need arrise. Ive got the habit of sometimes swerving out of the way and sometimes going over potholes etc now and being in control.

and finally, i never ever sit in blind spots .I gun it that 1/2 metres just to make sure im not in one.

So far, this has kept me out of trouble and the roads here are a bag of $$#@%

[PhatDad]

Don't presume that the vehicle in front with an open road in front of them isn't going to do something completely and utterly illegal/stupid/stupid and illegal/mind boggling irresponsible/etc etc etc once the lights have changed.

I was caught unawares when doing a mirror check after just leaving the lights to find the car that had gunned it from the lights in front of me had suddenly slammed their brakes on so they could do an illegal right hand turn, through three lanes of oncoming traffic into a business parks slip road which was obviously designed for cars in the oncoming direction.

So, even if you're on a roman road, clear in both directions with no turns etc always keep at least 200 yards distance between you and car in front to give you enough time to react when they do something stupid.

[Throttled]

I try and ride/drive in spaces in the traffic. I hate it when cars start to bunch together. I like to have a safety bubble about me. Finding that extra space also helps with general observations as to where other vehicles are, and are likely to be.

[techno]

Unfortunatly theres no short cut to experiance, eventually as we all do new riders will start to get a feeling for certain situations.

Just keep your eyes open and give yourself as much time to react as possible.

[wannars125]

I tend to keep an eye out at junctions on the wheels of cars as it seems that sometimes you are invisible! As soon as those wheels start moving, even a touch, I'll roll off the throttle, move to the right hand side of the lane and cover the horn and the brake.

I've only had one incident where I've actually had to slam on the anchors but if I hadn't been through that process I'm sure there would have more than likely been a collision.

[rennie]

my tip would be to master the evil death stare!

seriously! make eye contact, look mean, dare him to pull out on you

[wannars125]

Haha! I've used that one on people following too close! Slow down, make eye contact and just stare for a second or two! They soon back off!

[Guest]

my tip would be to master the evil death stare!

seriously! make eye contact, look mean, dare him to pull out on you

Is it called the evil death stare because you die if they don't see you?

[jabcrosshook]

By locking myself in a padded room in a bubble-wrap suit!

[Guest]

Me and Stuno1 were fitering through standstill traffic, people standing out of their cars on the m25 it was that bad.

Then we saw what could have been us. A gxsr was cut in half on the sharp edge of a transit door.

A spine tingling moment, just a reminder that drivers don't know we exist.

The main event was about 500 yards further on, someone having their car roof cut off and being lifted out.

The biker was on his back but talking to the paramedic so best wishes to him.

Have a safe summer everyone...........

[Guest akey]

Good observation and experience.

My one tip is get some decent advanced training, it will help. Learn how to scan your environment properly and put yourself in the correct position for the best view without compromising your safety.

[Bertie]

just because someone actually looks you in the eye, doesnt mean they have seen you. if anything, it normally means they are going to try to aim for you

[Stuno1]

Me and Stuno1 were fitering through standstill traffic, people standing out of their cars on the m25 it was that bad.

Then we saw what could have been us. A gxsr was cut in half on the sharp edge of a transit door.

A spine tingling moment, just a reminder that drivers don't know we exist.

The main event was about 500 yards further on, someone having their car roof cut off and being lifted out.

The biker was on his back but talking to the paramedic so best wishes to him.

Have a safe summer everyone...........

 

Bit mental. Tip from this is that if traffic is stopped filter slowly as people are likely to get out of their cars!!!!

As always look as far ahead as possible so you can see any incidents starting to develop, stay far enough behind vans, trucks etc (that you cant see past) as you dont want to have to rely on their reactions to tell you what is happening ahead. etc etc etc

Stu

[XmisterIS]

A few tips that I've picked up from driving experience, also from my instructor when I was training for test, also from riding experience! (the third one there is always the harshest way to learn!):

1) Read the road ahead, adjust your speed appropriate to the hazards that you can see or may emerge. Learn to spot emerging hazards! The appropriate speed is the one that gives you enough time and space to take evasive action in a controlled fashion.

2) When filtering past high-sided vehicles, do so with extreme caution ... your view of what is in front of a vehicle is completely blocked - there could be a car pulling out, or a pedestrian about to walk out without looking, or a cyclist about to come flying out into the road without looking.

3) Car drivers are not actually out to deliberately kill us, they just don't look for us! If you draw their attention to you, then 99.9% of them will take care round you. The odd 0.1% are psychopaths who will try to run you down. But they'd do that anyway, no matter how you were travelling, so just give them a wide berth!

4) Almost without exception, don't filter down the left-hand side of the road, near the kerb. This is because, you don't know if a driver is about to pull left, drivers can't see you on the left nearly as well as on the right, you can't be seen by traffic emerging from the left, people pulling out from parked on the left are going to struggle to see you, and people stepping off the pavement are not going to expect a bike hurtling down the inside of the traffic! My instructor would say, "never pass on the left, that's the dead man's road".

5) When filtering near a junction, look well ahead for traffic pulling out from a side road, or anyone about to turn right/left across your path. For me the golden rule is that if a car has stopped to let someone out, never ever ever proceed - wait for the manoeuvre to be completed before proceeding, or you risk cutting across the front of a very confused driver. He/she will be confused because he is not sure if he should pull out - he/she sees two vehicles - the car that has stopped and you on your bike. Next time you encounter that situation, take a look at the driver's face. Usually, they look anxious and a little confused! More often than not, you will get a wave of thanks if you hang back with the car that has stopped to let them out.

6) If there is traffic waiting to join a roundabout and you're on the roundabout, slow down to the speed that a car would take the roundabout at - the drivers waiting to enter the roundabout won't expect you to be moving faster than that - we all know it's easy to take a roundabout without slowing down, but it's definitely not safe if there's other traffic around.

There's other tips, but that little lot serves me well for urban riding.

[Guest]

I hate it when cars tailgate you when you're on a single carriage way behind a lorry/car in front of you. So what I do is slow down to a "suitable" distance so that if I was to fall off, they'd be able to stop in time, and when we pull up to the lights and they start telling me off, I explain this and hopefully this is one more person who MIGHT not tail gate a motorcyclist? never know!