Video of bike hitting left turner..Looks avoidable to me

[lazamus69]

looks to me like he coulda avoided the collision with some braking or even a slight push on the left side of the handlebars...maybe he froze

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2371604.ece

 

[cv_rider]

Ouch. Couldn't see the traffic lights (or if there even was one). Not sure if the car did something illegal. It does seem like the bike just came on in a straight line and took no evasive action.

He was going 2x the speed limit. One of the most compelling reasons not to speed on surface streets is that drivers can't easily judge your speed. You estimate the speed of an oncoming vehicle by seeing how quickly it grows in size as it approaches. Motorcycles are tiny a far distance away, and don't grow much in size when they approach. Unlike a moving van, it's much easier for a left turner to judge its speed. So they can't detect your speed and simultaneously don't expect the rider to be going 2x the speed limit. Had the rider been going the speed limit, that car's left turn probably would have been perfectly safe.

So ride the speed limit on surface streets.

 

[Fred]

Looks like the rider's at fault. He could have avoided that easily. My guess is that he got himself a case of target fixation and rode straight into the car.

 

[MRGM]

got himself a case of target fixation

Exactly what I was thinking. At first he was headed to the right of the car, on the brakes. He should have realized that he slowed down enough and ride around the car to the left.

Stupid hurts, he shouldn't have been going 75 in a 30 anyway.

 

[wolfc70]

Very avoidable accident. If the biker had slowed down 10MPH, he would have missed the car. Reckless speed on surface streets is never a smart idea. "Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity".

 

[Mattberkshire]

The guy was asking for it. You just don't ride like that in built up areas. Too fast, no observation, no sense. I hope he gets better and learns from his mistakes

 

[SovietRobot]

According to the story he was going way too fast, trying to do a wheelie to show off.
Considering how much ground you cover at that speed, he would've had to swerve the correct way as soon as you see him enter the frame.

 

[granda080]

I'm not even sure that video is real... it was sort of strange that none of the other traffic seemed to respond to that. It probably was real, but still that is why people need to ride smart. Those are the types of riders that make cage drivers not care about riders. Slow down and ride responsibly. All that aside, if it was real I'm glad the guy was ok in the end.

 

[YamahaMAXdRPMs]

Exactly what I was thinking. At first he was headed to the right of the car, on the brakes. He should have realized that he slowed down enough and ride around the car to the left.

Stupid hurts, he shouldn't have been going 75 in a 30 anyway.

i thought the speed was double? 60 would be double...

 

[xj750_Pete]

I think the rider might have been distracted... either that or he was going REALLY REALLY fast and tried to stop, but because of his speed, he had no chance of slowing down with the amount of distance he had. Wonder what bike he was riding...

 

[lonesoldier84]

Target fixation!!

Also two more bad mistakes:

He was approaching an intersection where his view of left turners was at least partially blocked. He did (1)NOT slow down and he did not (2)ASSUME the other drivers would behave in any way other than ideally.

If I am driving over the speed limit in urban areas you best believe I slow right the frak down when coming up to intersections full of cars. Even if there is a clean line of sight and a car waiting to turn left I still slow down, maybe not as much as if there are partially or fully blocked views....but I do slow down nonetheless.

My core philosophy of how to behave when riding:

Assume every single person will do the WORST possible thing at the WORST possible time.


That's why sometimes I don't pass people if I have no room to maneuvre or time to escape if they change lanes.

This guy was just way too confident and ignored the dangers.....

Well....the dangers didnt ignore him.....

Better luck next time bro.

 

[MNDZA]

Target fixation at its finest. Stupid. Slow down!

 

[jazzpaintball]

Riding in higher traffic areas are easy if you just keep this one thing in mind:

EVERY ONE IS OUT TO KILL YOU WHILE YOU RIDE YOUR BIKE

 

[necrotimus]

If he had done everything the same and just stayed in his lane it wouldn't have been a problem.

 

[FizzySix]

If you watch waaay down the street at the top of the video clip and click "pause" when you first see the motorcyclist's headlights, and then look at the position of the car, the cage is already initiating the turn. Usually the "left turn in front of bike" accidents end with the cager saying "I didn't see him" and we talk about stupid cagers and riding like you're invisible.

But in this case, the motorcyclist may not have actually been there to be seen when the driver would have been looking to see if it was safe to turn.

But, traffic cams make it hard to tell...even so, the cager would have assumed the bike was traveling at the same speed as the other cars, and would have been only halfway between the top of the frame and the car by the time he cleared the intersection.

Either way, the motorcyclist fixated so hard he traveled right out of his lane and homed in on that car like a guided missile.

His speed decision clearly exceeded his skill set. Glad to hear he lived to make better decisions.

 

[The Toecutter]

Looks like the rider's at fault. He could have avoided that easily. My guess is that he got himself a case of target fixation and rode straight into the car.

Exactly what I was thinking!:thumbup:

 

[MarinaFazer]

According to the story he was going way too fast, trying to do a wheelie to show off.
Considering how much ground you cover at that speed, he would've had to swerve the correct way as soon as you see him enter the frame.

where did you get wheelie from? It's not evident in the film nor in the text on the webpage?