Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: Have Blue on June 06, 2008, 09:56:30 PM
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I was on the B12 on a straight section of two lane blacktop with a speed limit of 55 mph.
There was little traffic and I was cruising along at 60-65 mph. Up ahead, I see a small pickup truck closely following a black SUV. I estimate their speed at about 55-60 since I am slowly catching up to them. I close the distance to my usual 10-12 car lengths and reduced my speed to match theirs since I'm in no big hurry and plan to turn off this road in another 1/2 mile or so.
Abruptly, the SUV jumps on his brakes, chopping a quick 30 mph off his speed, causing the pickup truck to lock up his brakes. The SUV pulls off the road onto the right shoulder still travelling about 30 mph. The pick up driver then gets off his brakes and swerves into the clear oncoming lane to go around the SUV. The moment the pick up truck's rear bumper passes the SUV, the SUV driver does an Immediate U-turn, turning left, which blocks the right shoulder and my lane. When the SUV first pulled off the highway, I had reduced throttle, but even so, I had no exit to the right, no path straight ahead, insufficient space to stop and was left with having to pass in front of the SUV on the left shoulder as he is in the process of T-boning me. It was another one of those instances of time stopping.
I knew his front bumper was close because I could see the whole front grill of the car while still looking where I wanted to go. At the point I expected impact, I knew I still wasnt clear. I dont know why, curosity maybe, but at that instant, I looked under my right arm, and down towards my rear wheel. We were suspended in time and I clearly saw I had 18 inches between me and the bumper. At this point, I was already ten feet off the road and on the left shoulder grass. That was all the shoulder there was. I watched the bumper complete the U-turn, missing my rear wheel by 3 inches. I figure a 3" perpendicular miss at 55 mph is about a .0028 sec safety margin. Thats way too damn close. After clearing the SUV, my run off was through an orange orchard, but 55 mph through the sand and dodging trees was downright relaxing in comparison. I didnt drop the bike and rode back onto the road. The cager was long gone, but I expected that.
I could have followed farther back, but not having any idea the SUV was going to instantly do a U-turn or when, I do not think it would have helped and may have resulted in my not having been able to get around on the shoulder, or it could have resulted in my having the right shoulder open. I dont know. I'm still thinking about a better solution for this situation.
I know I dont like having to race them to the impact point.
I continued on with my errand and a half hour later, while stopped at an intersection stop sign (two lane intersection), another cager turned left diagonally through the intersection, headed my way in my lane and I had to pull off on the right to get out of his way. He came through right where I had been stopped, never looking at anything.
I still had a couple of errands to do, so I continued on, but DAMN!!! this is getting really, REALLY annoying.
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:yikes:
The good thing(s) is a near miss is WAAAAAY better than a hit in this kind of situation!
:beers: Glad you had the skills to avoid these! :thumb:
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:yikes:
The good thing(s) is a near miss is WAAAAAY better than a hit in this kind of situation!
:beers: Glad you had the skills to avoid these! :thumb:
I've been trying to conserve lives. I dont figure I have many of the 9 left at this point. :-)
Then, about sundown, was out on the bike and a deer ran across in front of me not two blocks from my house. It was an easy miss though. I had a huge four feet of space to play with this time. :-) Almost laughably easy. hehe
Yeah, motorcycles are not tolerant of hits, and I try to avoid taking one at all costs.
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I have lived all over the east coast, including the traffic hell that is our nation's capital, but the worst drivers I have ever seen are in the Tampa Bay area. :annoy:
The good thing is you made it out unscathed (and had the skills to keep it upright in sand!) Every time something like that happens to me it gets added to the mental inventory of stupid things people in cars will do to try to kill me. I figure the bigger that inventory, the more chance I have of anticipating the next bonehead move.
Then again, maybe that's how I rationalize riding after a big scare!
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yea, Blue, I know what what you mean by Annoying! I'm REALLY getting tired of the folks who see you (you know that do because they do the double take at the bike!) and try to take your space on the road anyway! Or, just as bad the idiots who think that if they ride you close enough the 100 or so cars in front of you in slow traffic will speed up! I had to literally stop on a ramp and turn around and look at the folks in the car behind me before they backed off! They kept getting closer and closer, despite the fact that there was a rather large SUV in front of me that wasn't moving either.
However, I have also noticed that there are a great number of cagers who will give you lots of room, and will even move over so you can pass. Not long ago I have had the opportunity to sit on the Interstate for extended periods of time. The last time a cager actually told me where the wreck was, and suggested I get in front of them so I could get off at the next exit! The time before that some others aided me in getting my bike to where I could run the breakdown lane in an attempt to escape what appeared to be coming rain! (they backed up and pulled forward so I could turn my bike in that direction).
So, there are some good folks out there, its just the ones with their heads in the clouds I'd like to get off the road.
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I have lived all over the east coast, including the traffic hell that is our nation's capital, but the worst drivers I have ever seen are in the Tampa Bay area. :annoy:
The good thing is you made it out unscathed (and had the skills to keep it upright in sand!) Every time something like that happens to me it gets added to the mental inventory of stupid things people in cars will do to try to kill me. I figure the bigger that inventory, the more chance I have of anticipating the next bonehead move.
Then again, maybe that's how I rationalize riding after a big scare!
Sand is much easier to negotiate if you keep the speed up. A lot of riders probably think OH OH, SAND! and brake to slow down, bad choice. :-) Its similar to grass, no big deal either if you stay off the brakes. +1 on the Tampa area drivers, they really do suck.
Yeah, I scrutinize these confrontations and try to learn from them. Ya gotta be constantly updating the data base. My conclusion is it took me about 1/2 second to appraise the developing situation, make a choice and start to do something about it. Considering I beat the odds (by my estimate), by about 3/1000 of a second, that 1/2 second was much too slow. I need to work on my situational awareness and response times.
Earl
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In my area, its about a 50/50 mix of thinking, considerate drivers and aggressive morons. eheh
Earl
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Sort of like the woman who turned left in front of me yesterday, and gave me a solid, "mm-hmm! I *am* running this light and I know it and there's nothing you can do about it!" She was about the seventh car turning a green arrow...the last three of which all turned after their light had turned red and we had the green light.
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Sort of like the woman who turned left in front of me yesterday, and gave me a solid, "mm-hmm! I *am* running this light and I know it and there's nothing you can do about it!" She was about the seventh car turning a green arrow...the last three of which all turned after their light had turned red and we had the green light.
Yeah, it makes me want to launch a Sidewinder at them, and if I could get away with it, I probably would.
Earl
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Earl,
Glad you are OK.
I have lived in several high-traffic metro areas, including Los Angeles and Chicago and I agree that the Tampa area is one of the worst.
That said, Sarasota is the worst I have ever seen. I wear a high-visibility vest and have a headlight modulator and they seem to help but, in spite of that, I just had the crap scared out of me again today on US 41.
But that won't stop me from riding. Tomorrow I plan to take my regular Sunday morning ride out past Myaka Park on SR 70 and out into the country east of the I 75. I just hate the 6 mile ride out Clark Road though. It's just like running a gauntlet and, even though the snowbirds have gone hme, it seems to be getting worse.
Maybe the high gas prices will help.
Good luck and stay safe.
Dave
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Earl,
Glad you are OK.
I have lived in several high-traffic metro areas, including Los Angeles and Chicago and I agree that the Tampa area is one of the worst.
That said, Sarasota is the worst I have ever seen. I wear a high-visibility vest and have a headlight modulator and they seem to help but, in spite of that, I just had the crap scared out of me again today on US 41.
But that won't stop me from riding. Tomorrow I plan to take my regular Sunday morning ride out past Myaka Park on SR 70 and out into the country east of the I 75. I just hate the 6 mile ride out Clark Road though. It's just like running a gauntlet and, even though the snowbirds have gone hme, it seems to be getting worse.
Maybe the high gas prices will help.
Good luck and stay safe.
Dave
I've ridden US 41 through Sarasota and on a bike, its one of those avoid if possible roads.
A fun ride, it is not. Yeah, the traffic around here is such that I almost look forward to $6+ per gallon gas as a means to keep some of the crazies home or at least take them out of their jacked, monster mudder, F250's and put them on a scooter. :-) Good luck to you too. Sarasota is like Tampa, the biggest difference is the spelling. LOL
Earl
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I was recently in Orlando for a week and my kids (all adults) thought the Orlando area drivers were the worst they'd ever seen, so if Tampa and Sarasota are worse than that, you have my pity.
(We realized that some of the poor drivers could be attributed to tourists, but when the plates were from FL and the car was more than a year old, that pretty muched ruled out rentals... and the bad ones didn't have white hair either.)
But I have to say the worst drivers I've ever seen were in Italy.... with cabbies in Japan running a close 2nd.
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Paul,
I am considering a new job in Tacoma, WA.
If I do relocate to the NW I probably would live on the Kitsap and drive/ride to work in Tacoma.
What is traffic like in that part of the world?
Dave
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Damn Blue, Sounds like their gunnin' for ya :yikes:
Glad you made it out alright. I'm so used to the rual roads that I ride on(and still you get the occasionals that pull in front or cut you off.) I havn't had any close calls in awhile, and thats the way I like it. I'm thinking I'm safer when doing track days. Dan
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Paul,
I am considering a new job in Tacoma, WA.
If I do relocate to the NW I probably would live on the Kitsap and drive/ride to work in Tacoma.
What is traffic like in that part of the world?
Dave
I don't get down to the Tacoma/Kitsap area much since I'm a couple of hours north of there (at the speed limit) and I try to avoid the I-5 corridor as much as possible - especailly through the Seatle-Tacoma metroplex. When I visit the Olympic Pennisula, I usually opt for a ferry ride from up here in the north end (like the Edmonds/Kingston or Keystone/Port Townsend runs). If there's a long trip or a destination that involves travelling Idiot-Five, I'll use it, so I can't speak with a lot of experience about the Tacoma area for a daily commute. I hear that it has improved somewhat now that there's a new (toll) bridge over the Tacoma Narrows. With the older bridge, it was a frequent topic on radio traffic reports, but I don't hear about it nearly as often now, so I'm assuming it's improved.
You might want to look at the traffic cams for the Tacoma area from time to time and see for yourself:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/tacoma/
You do know about the weather around here, right? Our weather is drastically different from FL! It rains a LOT here. The standing joke is the rainy season is Oct 1 - Sept 30, but more realistically it's mid Oct to July 5th. Not a lot of torrential downpours, but long periods of fairly constant light rain. Winters aren't as mild as FL, but considering our latitude, they are mild. In the Puget Sound and Pacific Coastal regions rain is the common form of precipitation and snow is infrequent. The mountains and eastern half of the state get the lion's share of the snow, with Mt. Baker & Mt. Rainier frequently trading with each other for ownership of the world record for annual snowfall. Summers are mild in the PS & PC zones, too, with temps in the 90's considered a heat wave. The eastern half of the state gets higher summer temps, frequently in the 100's, making a dip in a cool mountain stream feel wonderful.
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Damn Blue, Sounds like their gunnin' for ya :yikes:
Glad you made it out alright. I'm so used to the rual roads that I ride on(and still you get the occasionals that pull in front or cut you off.) I havn't had any close calls in awhile, and thats the way I like it. I'm thinking I'm safer when doing track days. Dan
I havent had a close call since August 7th, 2006. So it isnt too bad. This last one should not have slipped through my "radar". That will not happen again in this type of situation. Here is a description of my Aug 06 confrontation. There was nothing I could have done to avoid this one. Well, short of not using the bike that day. LOL
I was out for a ride yesterday morning on the Bandit12S on one of my favorite
twisty, two lane, blacktop back roads. The road winds through foothills with a lot of blind up hill and down hill sharp curves. I'm approaching one section where the road crests a hill with a left curve centered on the top of the hill. The first half of the curve is uphill, 2nd half down hill. As the road leaves the curve going down hill, it is about 300 feet to the 2nd curve which is the same, but turning right. Between the two curves is a ravine at the transition from down hill to up hill. As one reaches the ravine, there is a dip deep enough that a car in the dip is invisible for a second to oncoming traffic. As I complete and exit the first left turn and start down hill towards the ravine, coming into view on the next hill curve are three vehicles, bumper to bumper. 1st is a white Taurus, followed by a black F250 dualie and then a gold Toyota. A second later, I pass into the dip and loose sight of the oncoming traffic. On emerging from the dip and reacquiring my targets, I'm instantly confronted with the F250 being alongside the white Taurus in mid pass even though the whole section is double yellow lines. The tree line is dense and there is no shoulder. The truck is approaching at about 75 mph and I'm traveling about 55mph. The confrontation begins with about 100 feet of space between us and a closure rate of aprox 130 mph. Stopping for either of us is impossible. Going offroad would be like trying to weave through dock pilings as the woods are thick and nearly to the road edge. Its a simple decision as there is only one option and half a second to set it up. I flick the bike left onto the centerline. Luck is with me, its a good flick and the bike centers on the line like a monorail as I slip between the side by side Taurus and F250 with a couple of inches to spare on both my mirrors. A flash of color and motion later, and I'm clear.
Some may think, too scary, and stop riding because its too dangerous.
I look at it as the opposite. If I had been in my truck, it would not have been possible to avoid a head on. Once again, being on a motorcycle has been a blessing.
Earl
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Not all my attention getting experiences have been close calls. This Happened about five years ago. Maybe some will enjoy the read. Its about a hurricane ride.
The weather was storm fronts and thunderheads in all directions and had been since my early morning departure. I had headed south from near the Georgia line, going towards Miami, and had reached a point about 100 miles north of home around 4 pm. A black storm front and gusting winds had descended from the north and followed me most of the day. By 4 pm, there was also a lightening storm front a few miles to my east and headed my way, and there were rainclouds to the west. I could clearly see the columns of rain pouring out of the westerly clouds. An approaching hurricane was moving towards me from from the south and that was the worst weather of all. The sprinkling rain and relatively clear patch of earth and sky I was riding in was soon to disappear as the fronts were converging on my position from four directions. I stopped alongside the road when with less than a mile in any direction, I could see a white wall of water on a background of gray, turning to black, as day became night. The hiss of lightening audibly turned the rain to steam. It was time to resort to my rain suit. I barely had the suit fastened down, helmet and gloves back on and ready when it reached me. I figured the best thing to do was just stay there, brace myself and the bike up and wait for however long it took to pass by and return to a reasonable level. The rain became harder and harder and was blowing horizontally. Lightening was so frequent and close as to be as if I were inside a flashbulb. I needed my dark face shield down if for no other reason than to not be "whiteout" blinded by the lightening. I estimated the winds a steady 40 mph with gusts probably in the 60 range.
It quickly became apparent, I would not be able stay where I was and be able to hold the bike up in these conditions for more than about 15 minutes. So while I was still fresh, I elected to choose option 1 of 1. ................go somewhere else.
The Teddy Bear started eagerly, as if to say, "its about time one of us did something useful. I was beginning to wonder about you." The road was empty of traffic and the bear was sure footed and content to sing quietly, never missing a note.
As we started down the road, low speed control was haphazard with the high crosswinds, low visibility and necessary low acceleration. As speed increased, the water flowed off the face shield and visibility returned.
Stability increased with speed also and the wind became easier to manage.
A half mile ahead, a huge lightening bolt reached from infinity and touched the road, its blue white tunnel completely spanning both lanes. With the continuous lightening, the landscape lost all color, and took on the appearance of a black and white photograph negative.
The road became white and the water looked like mercury with horizontal rain appearing as elongated mercury bullets. Trees appeared and disappeared with each lightening flash as did the road. On the white asphalt, the mercury mirrors were the ruts and holes in the road that were filled with deep water and reflected the lightening. The shiny dark gray patches were the places were oil was saturated into the asphalt and the light gray white areas were the surfaces with thin water and no holes or ruts. The Teddy Bear glided down the roadway, picking the safe spots to cross, staying out of the deep water and off the oily patches. We drifted side to side, more like a cross between flying a plane and sailing a Hobie Cat than moving as a motorcycle. Visually, at 70 mph (the speed needed to handle the conditions) it was like threading a time tunnel or a worm hole at warp speed in a world of sliver and white, where everything was perceived as a streak. There wasnt any rolling motion noticeable. The bike flowed as I let it run with a light grip, allowing it to compensate for the wind on its own. At one point, the wind from behind was pushing me along at 60 mph with the throttle closed. I spent an hour intently threading the needle that was the road, focusing ahead and following a river of silver shadows cast in a white world of blowing mercury with lightening for a headlight.
If I had it to do again, I would.
Earl
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I had a b!tch cut me off this morning a half mile from work. It's a four lane road and she was in the left side. Apparently she wanted in my lane and the fact I was there didn't matter much. Wasn't really in danger of getting hit, but the fact that she was so indifferent to the fact I was there had my blood boiling. To top it off as I'm honking my horn and shaking my fist at her a cop drives by and doesn't even blink an eye. She pulled into the company across the street from my work. Was damned tempted to go over and give her a piece of my mind but knew it wouldn't end well with how mad I was.
Off the soapbox now...just needed to vent :rant2: :banghead:
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Wow. I had some fun with the weather last Friday, but it wasn't that bad. A guy on a Sportster like bike (I think it was a sportster, not sure as I'm not a Harley knowledgeable kind of guy) helped me out and led the way around a major wreck to keep both of us out of as much rain as possible.
It seems the "scary moments" come in spurts. I hear of folks going a long time with no incidents, and then next thing you know they're getting them back to back, like Blue did. It may be that we go so long without one, that we get complacent, I don't know. I'm just glad I haven't had any in a while.
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Wow. I had some fun with the weather last Friday, but it wasn't that bad. A guy on a Sportster like bike (I think it was a sportster, not sure as I'm not a Harley knowledgeable kind of guy) helped me out and led the way around a major wreck to keep both of us out of as much rain as possible.
It seems the "scary moments" come in spurts. I hear of folks going a long time with no incidents, and then next thing you know they're getting them back to back, like Blue did. It may be that we go so long without one, that we get complacent, I don't know. I'm just glad I haven't had any in a while.
Perhaps I'm slightly demented, LOL but at the time, I did'nt feel the storm was a bad ride, and although it required intense concentration, it was enjoyable. I don't search out bad weather for grins, but I was suprised at how severe the weather can be and still be within the capabilities of a motorcycle. The bike handles winds at least as well and probably better than my car.