My #1 Rule for Avoiding a Crash

[DoubleEagle]

More than 6 months have passed since my horrendous back road crash.

I wasn't able to do much of anything for 12 weeks , finally I called the Thoracic Surgeon who operated on me and he couldn't give me a Pathological reason why I couldn't ride for the rest of 2008.

Since that call I have put 2900 miles on my 1098R and some miles on the BMW K1200S and the S4Rs that I crashed on.

The 1 thing that I have learned that has saved me several times since, is that you (I ) can never let my mind wander for even a second from what is in front of me.

That includes my peripheral vision , but never let anything distract your focus from how you perceive the road you are about to be riding on and through.

Be sure you know what lays directly ahead and as far ahead as you can see. Picture in your mind riding through the road ahead of you but never let yourself be distracted from the road ahead.  Dolph

[somegirl]

Glad to hear you are doing better and able to keep riding.

The 1 thing that I have learned that has saved me several times since, is that you (I ) can never let my mind wander for even a second from what is in front of me.

That includes my peripheral vision , but never let anything distract your focus from how you perceive the road you are about to be riding on and through.

Be sure you know what lays directly ahead and as far ahead as you can see. Picture in your mind riding through the road ahead of you but never let yourself be distracted from the road ahead.  Dolph

Great advice.

[sfarchie]

Yes, glad to hear you're doing better. Back injuries are serious. What you said about about distraction is so true. Today, when I was riding down Harrison Street between 4th and 5th in SF, a cage came flying out of an alley, goes all the way across Harrison, and plows into the building on the other side. Three guys got out of the car laughing their arses off. What was a bigger distraction were the number of cagers who continued to look at their rear view mirrors while proceeding to drive forward. I kept watch on the eyes of every driver to make sure they weren't going to run into me while rubber necking. The dudes who hit the building were alright, but everyone else around could have made things worse.

[DY]

your advice is good.  Every so often, i'll catch myself zoning off and snap out of it while crossing an intersection.  What freaks me out is, there could have been someone pulling out in front of me and my lack of situational awareness at that moment would have led to a nasty collision.

[duc996]

Great advice! im glad you're ok.

[NekkedChic]

Great news, Ortho's cannot give you any reasons NOT to ride-thats also a relief and confidence builder to get back out there again. 

It IS hard tho, to always "know what is ahead"--if we rode within those limits at ALL times, we would never enjoy the sweetness of taking a corner at perfect line, nice lean and speed. Case-in-point happened just Thanksgiving Day for us, TWICE!!
Knowing better than to do an actual ride on that crazy-cagers day, we did decide to take a QUICK 20-min run on BACK country roads. About 3 miles from house and on last and BEST curve before intersection, Tim in front OF COURSE, on Triple, I got to watch in HORROR as he came out of beautiful corner and a cager cut RIGHT IN FRONT and across his lane and then STOPPED DEAD in his/our lane!!!  Obviously, Tim had to hit front brake HARD, and rear of course and I also got to see him pull out of normally unforgiving fish-tail and kept bike under control UNREAL!!  That was not it for this short ride however, believe it or not.

On way back, I CLEARLY saw a van pulling out of a store on the left, which I was getting ready to turn left into-HAD my blinker on (stock/visible), HAD my bright white jacket and helmet on and I saw him STOP FULLY at stop sign...so I let off brakes, gave some throttle and lean to make turn in....BUT I DID NOT SEE HIS FACE!!!  BIG MISTAKE, I normally try to get SOME kinda of eye contact or something more solid like that so I am more sure they see me...   JUST as I started the throttle and turn, fugger pulls out IN FRONT OF ME by literally only 3 feet!  Had to stand bike upright and hit brakes HARD to keep from running into HIM!   JACKASS!  Glad I had modular and could flip lid to, well, REALLY FLIP MY LID on him LOL   That was TWO close calls in 20 mins! 

Before this turns into greater novel and I lose majority here, that was NOT the end of the insanity for the day, the last included 6 cars pulled to side of road while PAINT HORSE ran loose back and forth across the street on other side of a blind hill just 1/2 mile from home.  GEESH eh?   

Lastly, as you mention Ortho's giving you no reasons NOT to ride....I am opposite here.  Orthos and Neuro's have given me LISTS of reasons they prefer I NOT ride: bikes, my horses of 40+ years or even a LAWN MOWER for that matter-but after years of depression and weight gain, I decided to LIVE MY LIFE TO FULLEST and enjoy all I AM ABLE while I am able, for as long as I am able. 

The BEST we can do is BELIEVE we ARE invisible to ALL and that EVERY cager is deaf, blind and STUPID!! 

Hope everyone enjoys every moment on their bikes out there and STAY SAFE!! 

[JetTest]

This is why I really have to scratch my head when I see the thread in Accessories and Mods about installing an iPod remote on a Monster. WTF? Isn't the sound of the Termi's on a Monster music enough? Seems like that is just asking for trouble.

[Chchadder]

+11ty billion on there being enough distractions out there already, and enough things to keep your eyes on without the extra distraction of an ipod to be fiddled with or blocking what little traffic noise is actually louder than my ExBox.

[tcspeedfreak]

you know listening to these horror storys involving cagers just really makes me happy that i live out in rural middle of nowhere where for the most part all you have to dodge is those 4 legged critters

[JL]

great advice, I will keep this in my mind always 

[TomT]

One of the things I like most about riding is the distraction it offers - I find it impossible to think about my 401k or ex-wife while haulin' ass on a curvy road, which is about all we have around here. By the same token I don't ride when I'm pissed off or seriously troubled by something - seems like asking for trouble. TT

[vampire]

good to hear yo'ur doing better (^_^) ```
sound advice here,, a rider should always ride within his limits and what may lay ahead of him,, u should always be prepared to avoid/expect the unexpected!

safe riding everybody ``

[duc996]

I always make sure i'm focus when im riding,to the point that i sometimes missed my directions to where i'm going.Too focused maybe? hehe..

[Duki09]

My advice for avoiding a crash is to assume there is some idiot on the road who is about to make a stupid move.  Everyday, when I am on the road, my assumption is right.

I will give  many drivers the right-of-way even if they don't have the right just so they have their way so no confusion or accident will happen. 

Other than that, I will also try to put distance between myself and other vehicles.