Take a tip from an ‘old school’ rider, when you’re on two wheels your mind set should be, “I am invisible, NO one sees me.”
In 30+ years of riding, it’s kept me from having to be scraped off of the pavement, more than a few times. 
I’m glad you’re OK, but I think you’re *entirely *to blame for you having that collision.
Yes JBDivmtr I keep that in mind at all times. Thanks for the reminder though. Good to do when riding a bicycle, too. These next couple of days are going to be great for riding. Looking forward to my ride to work.
I had a bad one on the track once and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t stand up. Nothing hurt but my leg just didn’t work right. Then I saw the piece of bone sticking out the side. Guess that sort of explained it.
That and as a biker I always want to assess myself before people “help”. I had a bad one on the road once and nothing hurt - in fact nothing felt much of anything. Before I would let anyone near me I wanted a boot off and to see my toes wiggle. Just in case.
(emphasis mine)
‘Second’ that, too!
Had a guy in a S-10 p/u turn left in front of me, hit it directly behind the cab going 40-45 mph.
Went straight over the handlebars, across the bed of the truck. In passing over the far side of the bed, caught the top edge of the sidewall with my left wrist.
Bounced/rolled a couple times, before coming to a stop on knees and elbows. Virtually no pain felt, other than the wind being knocked out of me.
Not even the wrist that caught the side of the p/u bed, even though it projected from my forearm at a 90 degree angle. :eek:
Four 2" stainless steel pins, one 1-1/4" x 6" SS plate and 11 SS screws later, still ridin’!
Did y’all know that there are 14 bones in the human wrist?
Neither did I, till they all got knocked out of place. 
Bent the frame on that S-10! I’m still ridin’ the SAME, 94 HD Road King (New handlebars and 2 new forks, later.)
Due to the short wheelbase, high center of gravity, and no ability to tolerate a skidding front wheel, a motorcycle is going to require about twice the stopping distance of a car. In urban areas car drivers typically tailgate. If you ride anywhere near as close as most people drive, then there is no way you can avoid eventually rear-ending someone.
Also, when you are close behind another vehicle, YOU are harder to see, both in the vehicle you are following’s mirrors and for oncoming traffic.
In traffic, position your bike so you can see at least the next car ahead. Staying safe takes precedence over staying in your lane or even on the road, of course that means you need to be keeping track of the other lanes as potential escape routes. Yes, motorcyclists with many accident free miles really are keeping track of all that stuff all the time.
Look into an MSF course or two.
Tailgating is dumb. On a bike it is even dumber.
Many years ago, I called in dead as a prank. Plant security handled those calls. I gave the guy a phony name, and a detailed description of my motorcycle crash and my injuries. Finally, he asked how long I’d be out. I said, “Well, I was killed, so…” Then I hung up.
Funny, I had almost the opposite experience… was also rear-ended in a chain-reaction accident (three cars; I was in front, stopped and waiting for someone to turn left). Damage to my back bumper was negligible, but I stuck around anyway. The cop was a real dick and didn’t attempt to hide his irritation about having to fill out one more form.
Has anyone actually TRIED to leave a decent amount of space between themselves and the car in front? If you have then you know the jackass behind passes and fills the gap. It’s a constant guessing game as to what distance is enough without inviting dumbassery. NOBODY leaves adequate distance and at some point you WILL bump somebody who stops short suddenly. When it happens remember the sanctimonious attitude you HAD.
Okay it hasn’t happened to me yet but damn close. I could see it happening with a moments inattention so give the guy a break. If anyone knows they should leave more distance it’s the guy with bruises.
My husband and kids were in a terrible accident when someone had a seizure, crossed the middle and slammed head into them. One very lucky thing was that the car behind was at a safe distance and stopped without rear ending them too. Thank goodness for good drivers.
(emphasis mine)
Well said, scratch llll! I couldn’t agree more.
I don’t understand this. What is it about being a biker that makes you more able to assess injuries than someone else?
A head injury could leave you feeling fine, but for an observer you’re behaving irrationally or erratically (happened to a friend of mine; she tripped in a field while playing chase with a dog!)
What am I missing?
When you’re lying in a heap on the road (as opposed to being simply slumped in a bucket seat in a car), bystanders tend to want to move you around, rearrange you to flat on your back, move you out of traffic lanes, etc. This can be a Very Bad Thing if you happen to have any kind of spinal injury; permanent paralysis may result. If you encounter a rider lying in a heap on the road, you shouldn’t move him/her unless you need to administer CPR, or unless there’s some other immediate danger (fire, traffic that for some reason can’t be redirected, etc.). Just wait for the EMT’s to show up.
That makes sense, but it’s true for pedestrians, bicycle riders or people ejected from vehicles in a collision. I guess kopek’s wording made me think there was something particular about being a motorcycle rider that made it obvious that he/she would rather self-assess their injuries. I probably just read it wrong and got confused!
Thanks!
So now they are in front of you…and the problem here is??? I can control my own driving and be part of the solution, or I can allow my self to be manipulated into joining the problem drivers. And in fact they are mostly not a problem at all for me. They move into the gap, get frustrated with the next car and move on. If your lane was moving faster, they try to dive through a gap in the slower moving lane, fail, and you end up passing their stressed out, apoplectic ass a block later. Mostly their driving style doesn’t increase their average speed, and in the rare circumstances that it does, why do I care?
If it is a two lane road, I either follow at a safe distance or pass. Nothing stupider than the moron tailgating the only other car for 5 miles, but I see this all the time outside large cities. City folk get accustomed to tailgating and won’t/can’t/don’t think to drive any other way, and have zero two-lane passing skills. I’m looking at my sister here.
Even in urban traffic, I routinely follow at 2-3 second spacing, while traffic around me is following at under 1 second spacing, and often under 1/2 second. Really, I can leave 3-4X more space than the tailgaters, and often end up passing even the tailgaters/ gap fillers at some later point. Leaving lots of space allows me to plan well ahead and plenty of time to move over when I see a problem developing in my lane. I can then change lanes before I am forced to slow down too much to do so safely, I can then wave as I pass by the gap filler who didn’t have time nor room to move over before the lane came to a full stop.
Even when I travel to places with mostly aggressive drivers. (were i live they mostly tailgate due to obliviousness, not aggression.) it is simply not a problem. French drivers seem fairly aggressive, and it was a non issue there.
When in a cage, you can find a large truck, and hang back at a safe distance…3-4 seconds in this case. Aggresive drivers who jump into that gap won’t stay there because they can’t see ahead from the distance they are used to following. I don’t do this on a motorcycle because large trucks sometimes shed tire treads, kick up debris, and other drivers can’t see me as well. On a bike, I’ll do this only in very light traffic where I can hang back at least 6, and I prefer 10-15 seconds.
You can often use traffic to advantage to prevent gap fillers. If you are on a motorcycle in traffic, you can ride in the fastest moving lane. People can move over from the slower lane, but mostly don’t, and the the jerk behind you can’t pass due to the slower traffic. Hang just ahead of the car in the next lane where he can see you and won’t change lanes into you if he doesn’t. Let the gap in front of you increase until there is room to move ahead and do this with the next car, lather, rinse, repeat. Not only does this allow you to maintain a safe following distance, it minimizes the time you spend in the blind spots of the drivers in the next lane. Accelerate quickly so the car behind you can’t use the gaps in the next lane to pass into your space cushion.
If you were not in the fastest moving lane, then it matter not at all if someone uses the faster lane to pass and fills the gap ahead of you. You can increase the gap again, or just move into the faster lane if that is too slow for you.
In very light traffic, on a bike, it works best to move a few MPH above the average speed of traffic if you can do so without speeding too much. Otherwise find a car or truck moving at a steady speed (cruise control) and hang back 10-15 seconds behind them. Aggressive drivers will rarely stay behind a car moving at a constant speed, and if they do they tailgate, so you can treat the pair as one vehicle at that distance. And you have enough gap that you can maintain safe distance even with a couple extra cars thrown into it…especially since they will probably both be tailgating the lead car. If the car ahead is too slow, or can’t maintain a steady speed, just pass them.
Now even with all this, there are times I am closer than is advisable…but those are transients, usually caused by either my own, or another car’s lane change or speed change. Much better to be too close 5% of the time than 95%.
If you think you can’t make time without constant tailgating, then you probably are not paying attention traffic far enough ahead.
And I couldn’t disagree more. Only time I ever rear-ended anyone it was nobody’s fault but my own inattention, and if ever I’m following someone too close for comfort you can bet I’ve looked for an escape route in advance. You’re too damn vulnerable on a two-wheeler without looking for more trouble.
–Mal, biker since 1979
What, exactly, do you disagree with? 
I think you might have misunderstood or misread my post.
The following part of scratchlll’s post, is what I was agreeing with. :rolleyes:
scratchllll
You really don’t know what the problem with idiots in FRONT of you is? OK. When they slam into the vehicle in front of them you will have to avoid it for one. For another when you leave extra room for that possibility then the other idiot behind passes and then the next and you are a rock in a stream of idiots. It’s a balancing act over which you have dubious control. Sanctimonious much?
I drive 10 hours a day every day for 30 years. But you don’t have to trust me. You will find out.
Biker since 1969.
Just curious…
Do you even ride a motorcycle on the street/highway, regularly? :dubious: