almost hit with left turn car..new rider | GTAMotorcycle.com

almost hit with left turn car..new rider

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Tyray

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New rider here with 2011 ninja 250. Encountered my first almost accident with lady turning left while I was going straight.
I was riding on small streets going home. Saw a lady signal left turn that was fully stopped while I was heading straight so i assumed she wasn't going to turn. we were at pretty good distance, then of course seeing her stopped and assuming she saw me then I kept going at 35km-40km/hr which was the speed limit. THEN all of sudden she decides to make that left turn......... i hard braked rear+front then felt my rear skidding left and right a little. I was able to stop right in front of the car just less than an inch from hitting the passenger door. before I could think about anything she already drove off but i still gave that middle finger to her :angry1:. any input from experience riders? could bigger rear tire prevent the skidding or help stop faster?
 
larger tires wouldn't have helped at all. its all about your technique. you probably stomped on the rear too much which caused you to lose traction
 
Most of your braking will come from the front tire, practice will make your braking distance shorter.
 
Slow down. Some people think that if YOU see THEM and they DONT LOOK AT YOU, then they can make the turn and you'll wait.

No sense in getting a door prize.
 
The front does the stopping ... not the rear. Managing rear wheel lockup is done by using less rear brake.

If you didn't hit the car and didn't fall down in the process ... you did well.

These situations are best handled by preventing them from happening. Going slow was a good thing to do. The other thing is to attract attention to yourself. Deliberately wiggle the bike left to right a little bit as you approach the car. The motion of your headlight across the driver's field of view attracts more attention. If it results in the car driver thinking "OMG this bike rider is crazy and is about to crash" ... so much the better.
 
Catch drivers eye and shake your head side to side making it a clear NO!.
It almost sounds like something gave her the idea it was okay to go.
Don't be shy on both horn and high beams combined but do NOT flash the high beams - just put them up at the same time you hit the horn until the risk is past.

Good on you for avoiding ....do use the rear brake but it's the front that hauls you down on pavement.
Practice is good.
 
[video=youtube;eqQBubilSXU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU[/video]





Besides doing the SMIDSY (above in vid), as Brian P mentioned, I find wearing a reflective vest at night works wonders. I know it's not for everyone, but haven't had any left turning incidents since wearing one (and I did have incidents before wearing my vest). Plus, I've noticed that cars give me a lot of space.
 
good advice, i cant recall how hard I was pressing on front brakes. I just didnt want to slam on the front brake n have my rears fly up.
 
Welcome to our world.
 
Tyray said:
good advice, i cant recall how hard I was pressing on front brakes. I just didnt want to slam on the front brake n have my rears fly up.
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find a parking lot and practicing your braking. dont grab the brake, but squeeze it, progressively harder
 
Tyray said:
New rider here with 2011 ninja 250. Encountered my first almost accident with lady turning left while I was going straight.
I was riding on small streets going home. Saw a lady signal left turn that was fully stopped while I was heading straight so i assumed she wasn't going to turn. we were at pretty good distance, then of course seeing her stopped and assuming she saw me then I kept going at 35km-40km/hr which was the speed limit. THEN all of sudden she decides to make that left turn......... i hard braked rear+front then felt my rear skidding left and right a little. I was able to stop right in front of the car just less than an inch from hitting the passenger door. before I could think about anything she already drove off but i still gave that middle finger to her :angry1:. any input from experience riders? could bigger rear tire prevent the skidding or help stop faster?
Click to expand...

To put your question about the rear tire into perspective, I never use my rear brake... ever.
 
Glad you didn't get hit. I always slow down in that situation, I just assume they're going to turn. They might get agitated that they have to wait a bit longer but slower speeds are always more managable. Depending on the situation I might flash my highbeams at a distance so that they know I'm approaching, that way they decide quickly to turn or not. Indicisive drivers are the worst possible thing.

You handled the situation very well. If that happened to me I would have lost my temper big time, I would have followed em to exchange some words.
 
To put your question about the rear tire into perspective, I never use my rear brake... ever.
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Extremely bad habit - some bikes are linked and with good reason.
The minute you get off dry pavement your lack of practice with the rear brake will get you in trouble right quick and I'd not be advising others to repeat your error.

•••

Indicisive drivers are the worst possible thing.
Click to expand...
you betcha
 
MacDoc said:
Extremely bad habit - some bikes are linked and with good reason.
The minute you get off dry pavement your lack of practice with the rear brake will get you in trouble right quick and I'd not be advising others to repeat your error.

•••


you betcha
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I'm not saying it's the best thing to do, but you can most definitely get away with it in almost all emergency braking situations, never mind day to day stopping.

As for wet conditions, I use heavy engine braking along with increased distance between myself and the car in front of me, never had an issue.
Being good at knowing when your front tire is about to lock and recovering quickly from a lock also helps.
 
Zaneris said:
I'm not saying it's the best thing to do, but you can most definitely get away with it in almost all emergency braking situations, never mind day to day stopping.

As for wet conditions, I use heavy engine braking along with increased distance between myself and the car in front of me, never had an issue.
Being good at knowing when your front tire is about to lock and recovering quickly from a lock also helps.
Click to expand...

Engine braking doesn't show the car behind that you're slowing. If there is someone behind you you should tap the brakes a little anyway to illuminate the brake light. You'll need to do this for the M test anyway.
 
Great that you managed to get stopped in time!

I use both of my brakes most of the time though rear more for slow speed and front more for stopping above 10 or 15 km/h. I also have ABS so I don't worry at all about squeezing the hell out of them if need be.

I have not yet encountered a sudden left-turner (been cut off plenty of times though!), but since I started riding I have always been super paranoid. The one thing the safety course really drilled home: this is one of the most likely ways you are going to get into an accident.

When faced with a left turner, my technique has always been to to a quick shift in my lane position; far enough away from the vehicle to stop if need be. I also cover the brakes and clutch. This applies even to cars that are approaching the intersection toward me that might not even yet be signalling a left turn. A little lateral movement helps oncoming drivers enormously in judging your distance and approach speed. I do it now without thinking, though I am constantly actively scanning as far in advance of every intersection.

Always remember that it is not JUST distracted drivers that are the danger. EVERYONE is a danger. Due to size and shape, it can be very difficult to properly judge the speed and distance of a bike that is moving in a direct path toward a vehicle. Until it is too late...
 
Tyray said:
good advice, i cant recall how hard I was pressing on front brakes. I just didnt want to slam on the front brake n have my rears fly up.
Click to expand...

once most of the weight is already shifted to the front (after the first 3/4-1 seconds) is it possible to bring the rear up and over? would be very hard to do right?
 
I met a guy today who had an accident cos of a left turning idiot who even saw the rider, happened at warden and st clair.
 
It's your brain vs hers at that point. You being on a bike have to be the smart one and control yourself and her car. You do this by slowing down to a crawl. When you do this you're giving impatient left turner more time to make the decision to bolt. Giving them more time to think about booting accross the intersection means they won't do it as they have time to consider the repercussions. And at a crawl, you can take many defensive postures should the impatient left turner tempt fate. Slow for all intersections and you will control them.
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