Stupenously close call

[sedanman]

Riding home tonite it almost happened. I was on a relatively straight section of road and saw a truck parked on the shoulder in front of a business. I looked past the truck on the right and saw a Subaru BRZ staring to poke his nose into the lane. I backed off the throttle, covered the brakes and the horn and went a little wide around the truck to give the most visibility posssible. The Subaru went for it. In that split second you have to decide if he's going to stop or keep going. I initially thought he was going to keep going so l adjusted my line to go behind him, then he stopped! I readjusted my line to go around front and my right knee puck just barely touched his front bumper. I might drive the cage for a few days while l work this out in my head. If l was on my touring bike, l doubt the bags would have cleared.

[Rosco61]

Cool Move. Glad your Ok.

[JohnnyV]

Same thing happened to me years ago. Old man pulled out of a side street to take a left in front of me. Got on the brakes and adjusted my line to dip behind him. Had he kept going and finished his turn all would have been well. Instead, he saw me and smashed his brakes. The result:

[Swizz]

I had the same thing happen to me last fall. Same exact scenario. Ended up in someones front yard fishtailing on leaves. I have no idea how I didn't dump the bike. Driver didn't even stop after watching me almost ride into a house. That was on a Saturday. I didn't ride Sunday and I remember it was a perfect day too. Took a few days to shake it.

[Garandman]

For extra credit, you assume he is pulling out without seeing you, the car behind you gets impatient and tries to pass, or isn't paying attention and nearly slams into you from behind.

[Paul_E_D]

With this sketchy scenario unfolding and identified, slowing more in anticipation is the easy solution. I know you can't slow for everything, but this one is a no brainer. You need to slow enough so that you can stop if your path is blocked.

[sedanman]

Totally agree Paul. I am resolved that this will be a learning experience.

[sedanman]

And l shared it so l wouldn't be the only pupil.

[aldend123]

Totally agree Paul. I am resolved that this will be a learning experience.

I might go with the straight-line hard stop instead of trying to do any turning. Glad it worked out for you though. It's nice to hear these to keep thinking about what to watch for. Forget the horn - as someone else said, it might cause them to stop in your line instead of vacating it. And it's just extra mental effort.

[cdovego]

I've learned the same lesson, good on you for sharing. You may very well save a life.

[sedanman]

I've read that target avoidance is statistically a better option than straight up braking. But there are so many variables. It might have been better to stop in this case.

[golden chicken]

I've read that target avoidance is statistically a better option than straight up braking. But there are so many variables. It might have been better to stop in this case.

What you want to do is have options. Slowing down gives you the option to stop or the option to avoid. Continuing without much slowing takes away the option to stop and eventually takes away the option to avoid.

[Slyder]

What you want to do is have options. Slowing down gives you the option to stop or the option to avoid. Continuing without much slowing takes away the option to stop and eventually takes away the option to avoid.

This

I was in a similar situation last summer. Bike low on fuel, head for the store a few miles down the road, it starts sputtering so I abandon the idea and turn it around, not long later a car comes out of the driveway from the right, into my lane, driver looking right, same direction I'm traveling. I hammer the hell out of the brakes, bike's sliding all over and slowed it down enough so that I could go left around her if nothing was coming, or right and ditch the bike and myself, at a low speed, into their yard. Luckily she stopped and I ducked left a bit and around. If worse came to "oh shit" it wasn't going to hurt much. Had I not slowed and she not stopped, all the other options most likely would have hurt like hell.

She screwed up and damn near got the "you're #1" finger of disapproval hung over the hood of the car as I passed, but I saw her say "I'm sorry" and with the look on her face, she meant it, she knew she f'd up good. Went back to the parents house and stole some gas to get the bike to the store, passing back through I saw my black marks and...it was really friggin close.

Shakes ya up, but it's like dumping the dirty bike. Get back on it and do it again