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moto crash video quiz


elkroeger

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Here's one on youtube. First clip of the compilation. Motorbike gets rear ended. Can you see what the motorcyclist did wrong that probably contributed? Aside from the one thing I'm thinking of, do you see anything else they could have done better?

 

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~ Brake light covered due to poor packing.

~ No warning to traffic approaching from rear of traffic stopping

(flashers, hand signal).

~ No check of mirrors to see if someone was approaching him from

behind/take evasive action

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one thing that stands out is he was centered in the lane, which didn't give the driver behind him an indicator that traffic was stopped. And obviously, his brake light was covered.

 

FWIW, In those same situations, I try to weave slightly in my lane to get the driver's attention. I can't assume that my brake light is bright enough, or even working. Weaving has shown to get people's attention.

 

RPG

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Joe Frickin' Friday
~ Brake light covered due to poor packing.

~ No warning to traffic approaching from rear of traffic stopping

(flashers, hand signal).

~ No check of mirrors to see if someone was approaching him from

behind/take evasive action

 

Covering the brake light was the big one (probably unintentional; his gear might have just flopped down from the top of the heap after he started riding).

 

Either of the other items on that list might have helped. I'll also add hi-viz gear to the list, anything to make him more conspicuous. Looked like kind of a gray day, maybe after sunset, judging by all the oncoming headlights. Brighter colors might have made him stand out better.

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Agree with all of what has been said and will add that bein centered directly behind his riding buddy instead of staggered to one side hid his buddy's stop light which was clearly on after the guy got punted to the side. Probably lucky his buddy did not get collected!

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Any of the above would have been a good idea, but I have to wonder if it would have made a difference here - I suspect the driver of the dashcam vehicle may have been distracted - as I was - by the oncoming convoy...

 

 

Edit to add: That's a dumb thing I just said - one thing mentioned above would have easily avoided the incident: the rider having been paying attention to his rear zone, and ready to move into the open right front zone when it became apparent the truck (?) was not stopping.

 

Edited by szurszewski
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Joe Frickin' Friday
Any of the above would have been a good idea, but I have to wonder if it would have made a difference here - I suspect the driver of the dashcam vehicle may have been distracted - as I was - by the oncoming convoy...

 

A lot of the things we do are not about making guarantees; they are simply about swaying the odds in our favor. The convoy with its dazzling headlights is indeed mesmerizing, so your job is a rider is to try to draw attention back to yourself. Bright colors, bright/unobscured brake lights (ideally with flashing hyperlights or similar), better lane positioning, and so on. Some people are so distracted that nothing you do will bring their eyes back to you - but for other drivers, your efforts to make your position/movement/acceleration can make the difference between a crash and a nice ride.

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You guys are all over it. The big one on my list was the bag covering the tail light. Next on my list was, at least from the camera angle, he was centered in the lane so you can't see his mate on the other bike. Maybe the driver could see things the camera couldn't, but I think it would have helped to have both bikes visible from the rear, and thus, both brake lights.

 

Yes, the oncoming traffic was a distraction, and probably contributed.

 

I have a Kisan flashing brake light. I think this situation is exactly what the flashing brake light is supposed to do. Attract the driver's attention back to you, and your brake light. Swerving in the lane as you're braking (as suggested above) might have the same effect. Similarly, if faced with a panic stop, I usually veer off to the shoulder while braking, partially so I do not hit the guy ahead of me, and partially so I don't end up in the middle of a sandwich. I dunno, maybe I'm not doing something right when I do that, but it seems obvious to me for collision avoidance.

 

Another thing unrelated to this video, is that nearly every time I've crashed (car only), or had some kind of near miss, I've thought to myself "None of this would have happened if I had simply not been travelling so fast."

 

Along with that, increasing your following distance (in this particular situation) also gives the driver behind you more time to react or recover from some distraction.

 

Glad to see a lot of interest in this topic. You guys be safe out there.

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The guy was covering the brake. I've read several articles that state you are supposed to do that.

 

:lurk:

 

"Cover the brake..." Ha ha ha!

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Joe Frickin' Friday
Along with that, increasing your following distance (in this particular situation) also gives the driver behind you more time to react or recover from some distraction.

 

I'm now kicking myself for leaving this one off of my list. In a place like Deals Gap the courteous thing is to pull over and let tailgaters by if you're the hold-up. But if you're just part of a line of traffic on the highway, your best bet is indeed to give yourself a big cushion of space in front of you: that way when you get on the brakes, you can decel relatively gently so the nitwit behind you isn't caught by surprise when the gap in front of him starts closing.

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Good point - there is a difference between keeping a safe following distance ahead, and simply slowing down traffic behind.

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