near impact from a ovloV

I was on 85 South, exited at De Anza. At the top there are 3 lanes, two
turning left and one turning right. I was by myself, at night, raining,
stopped in the center lane, ready to turn left (north) and then take the
next right. Feeling good about another safe commute home in the rain,
at night.

A south bound ovloV in the right lane of De Anza decided that my offramp
was actually their onramp (desipte the warning sign), and started a
quick right, into the lane to my left. If they had proceeded the wrong
way down the ramp, at least I would have been left alone. However there
was an oncoming cage in that lane, so the ovloV made a swerve back to
the right, coming right for me.

I was really stuck. Here's a cage coming at me from 45 degrees to my
left. I'm stopped, feet on the ground, in neutral, hands folded,
waiting for the light. I wasn't ready to take any evasive action, even
if there was a safe direction to go. Fortunately the ovloV stopped a
few feet short of me.

What should a stopped rider do if they realize a side impact is imminent?

Ken
K-RS

 

Keep the fucking bike in gear and be ready for anything.

 

Couldn't you just have written

'Keep the bike in gear and be ready for anything.'?

That way readers might tend to take what you write more seriously.

As it is, you sound immature, arrogant and uneducated.

 

I could have.

I really don't care how people take me.

Why, just because I said ****? You sound like a prude to me.

 

It *might* have been taken to be a serious answer if it was, well,
useful. Muddycat has had some insightful things to say in the past, but
this wasn't one of them. Since he was responding to my post, I get to
judge. Let's give him another chance. OTOH, silence might be his best
choice in this situation. Personally, I read everything he posts.

Even if the bike is in gear, exactly where could I have gone from a stop
at the limit line? The ovloV was coming from my left front quarter. I
can't go forward even if there were no cross traffic, and I can't go
backward as I have no reverse plus there's a car behind me, assuming
that would even help. Unless being in gear allows me to instantaneously
translate my position 10 feet to the right, being in gear helps me
exactly HOW in this situation, and HOW in general, when facing a side or
quartering impact at a stop sign/light?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Ken

PS: I have often used that adjective to describe my bike.

 

Have you ever known me to remain quiet? Right, then.

I don't know what *exactly* you could have gone Ken but I'll speculate
later on. But IMO sitting there like a deer in the headlights was not
the thing to do. I never sit at a light in neutral unless I have my
safety barrier and then I keep my hands on the bars ready to move. Like
I've split to the front between two cages. On multiple lane roads, I'll
split between cages before I take front seat in a lane by myself. I know
MSF says not to do it at all but I feel comfortable doing it my way.

So, what would I have done? Well, I think from what you wrote I would
have gone off to the right and hugged the side of the road. Or, gone
right a few feet to get out of the way and then back left to be parallel
to the moron's path. Yet, not far enough to be in danger from someone
else. I think a situation like this calls for 'do something even if it's
wrong'. Whether I could have actually completed either maneuver is
another story, but I would have not sat there.

Heh

PS So is the ovloV thing like the car that can't be named?

 

Yes, a cage is a cage as far as I'm concerned. They all don't see us so
why treat them differently?

In all fairness, I think it was the honker that did that.

 

I don't see where I did any such thing. I certainly never charged
Muddycat with being "ignant", whatever that is. Perhaps you should read
the thread again, carefully. Consult the archives if necessary.

Mike has never given me a reason to be unhappy with him. Yet. ;-)

Ken

 

I guess that's the thing that bugs me. It happened so fast; I'm sitting
there, here comes the ovloV, he's going to miss me, NO! he's going to
HIT me! no, he's stopped; whew. It happened about as fast as you can
read that last sentence. Unless I was in gear there's no way *I* could
have recognized the danger, figured out what to do, and then implemented
it before it was all over. When I'm in motion with all controls covered
and a plan for where I'm going to go if/when a, b, c, or d happens is
one thing. When I'm stopped, it's another.

It's what I see when I look in the rear view mirrors and something is
tailgating me.

 

I guess I see things differently. If something looks odd, I always
think, "They are going to kill me" and I do what I need to so they
don't. It only failed me one time when the moron in the ford cut me off
and slammed on his brakes. Witnesses said I did a nice stoppie into the
back of him. So yes, there are times when it all goes wrong and you are
just SOL. I think you are wiser now and won't let *that* situation fool
you again.

Oh, I guess the cagers see iarA as I fly past then.

 

I think we can call this a "learning experience". Ken, in all respect I
think that there was probably not much that you could do except maybe jump
just before the bumper pulverized your left knee. God was smiling on you
this time.
Muddycat is absolutely right in that we can never be complacent sitting in
traffic. That can be fatal. Be prepared to move instantly and ALWAYS have an
escape route.
Keep the rubber side down.
Paul

 

Change underpants Pray if religous Take out revolver shoot the Vulva driva

 

Ken, your situation was one of those very rare ones where there was really
nothing you could have done, and i'm glad to hear that you didn't get
whacked. I doubt any of the heroes in here would have done anything you
didn't, except wet their pants. Simply no time to do much else. To be sure
though, leaving your bike in gear every time you stop will cost you an
expensive throwout bearing repair before too long, and launching yourself
blindly into intersection traffic could easily have cost you your life. We
just have to accept that some situations are unavoidable, and part of the
risk we assume as riders. Hope you don't have to deal with that one again,
Howard

 

I think I said that somewhere - if I didn't, it was what I was thinking.
8< 8< reaction times

Agreed, but you at least, IMO, need to do something.

 

In gear with a hand and/or foot on the brake, so if you
were to somehow accidentally engage the clutch you hopefully
wouldn't launch yourself into traffic.

Disagree. Apart from a gratuitous swipe at Volvos, an entertaining
account and he mentions a piece of driver stupidity I wouldn't
have anticipated.

 

is imminent?

Be sitting in gear, both hands on the bars ...with the
clutch pulled in and watching for morons.



Phil Scott