On-coming car in your lane, what do you do? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

On-coming car in your lane, what do you do?

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Has anyone here been in such a situation? How do you react?
Do you go right and try your luck at motocross? Do you go left, hug the yellow and pray they don’t swerve back into their lane?
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One reason I advocate learning how your bike handles on gravel. _ Go left but yeah see if you can get some indication of the other vehicle's intention as the white line might be safest - depends on situation - very hard to call.
My sense is left off the road as far and as quick as possible unless it's a rock wall.

If the oncoming wrong lane driver moves into the gravel be very careful as they could lose control - white knuckle time to split the two vehicles try to catch their eye and indicate with your helmet where the driver should go. ( if that makes sense -) You need to be looking at the driver.
 
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swerve right and hope for the best. but brian p is right- try not to put yourself in those positions in the first place. expect the unexpected!

...or i'd jump onto their hood with the right timing, punch a hole through the windshield ( i have my gloves on, so it's believable) and yank the driver out of the window face-first. nah.. i'd probably just get run over.... or would i...?
 
Tripletrouble said:
I had that happen to me one time. The idiot coming over the hill was doing at least 160 over the crest of a hill on a 2 lane section of hwy 48 overtaking a long line of cars. I geared down and decided to see what he would do. as we closed he took to the ditch and went past me in a shower of dirt and somehow made it back on the road behind me. It was all over in seconds but if I had panicked and swerved to the right immediately I wouldn't be here now. If I had been just a little closer to the crest it might have had a different outcome too.
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Excellent point... years ago I almost witnessed a multi-vehicle collision. I was the last of a 5-car crew coming back from vacation.

The vehicle in front of Vehicle 1 stopped... hard.
Vehicle 1 swerved right (using the right shoulder to avoid rear-ending the vehicle in front of him).
With the right shoulder occupied, vehicle 2 swerved into oncoming (northbound) traffic. (I'll come back to this)
Vehicle 3 stopped in time
Vehicle 4 rear ended vehicle 3
Vehicle 5 (that's me) witnessed the entire thing and slowly (calmly) came to a complete stop.

HERE is where it gets interesting. When vehicle 2 swerved into oncoming (northbound) traffic, there was an oncoming car in that lane. In an attempt to avoid a head-on collision, BOTH vehicles swerved towards the northbound shoulder. With BOTH vehicles now on the shoulder, Vehicle 2 swerved into the ditch.

So yes, if the oncoming vehicle sees you and takes evasive action, you never know where they're going to go.
 
CruiserGoneSport said:
Say what? Engine braking? I was with you until then. Gear down yes but, only to stay in the power band in case you need to accelerate out of the way. Screw engine braking, most of your stopping power is in the front brake, drag the rear wheel by engine braking and you've lost some maneuverability. Your only defense on a bike (other than wearing proper gear and remaining alert) is maneuverability.
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This is true, however if youre really going to fast, the front wheel will either slip out from under you, or worst case scenario, you do an endo and fly into the car. Granted you panic and really slam the front brake... Id prefer my rear wheel to slip out from under me because i can at least control the direction of movement while braking, im still new to riding however i find using the front brake while maneuvirng feels slightly awkward and scary, because it only takes a little gravel, oil, etc. to get that front wheel over your head... i guess it all comes down to what you feel most comfortable in doing. Im sure we can ALLL agree on, staying calm, keeping your cool, and not panicking during emergency situations is the best method of approaching any maneuver.
 
This is true, however if youre really going to fast, the front wheel will either slip out from under you, or worst case scenario, you do an endo and fly into the car.
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No - your front brake is your big anchor on pavement and use it - it will scrub through nearly anything with the amount of traction with the weight shifted forward.

Front brakes can be tricky in slow speed and on gravel/dirt but on pavement they are 100% your go to anchors.....use em hard and learn to use them hard. Get out on the parking lot and make them howl.
 
Armen444 said:
if it fails youll be sliding on the road rather than rear ending a cager... id still prefer that than getting launched into someones rear windshield...
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The initial question was about an oncoming car in your lane.
If you riding behind someone, its your total responsibility to keep safe distance, regardless what stupid maneuvers he/she is doing. When an oncoming car appears in your lane, the question turns totally different.
 
invictus43 said:
Step 1: **** pants.
Step 2: Goto Step 1.
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let me edit this statment :

step 1: say "oh sh it"
step 2: say "no way you mother f ucker"
step 3: *sh it pants*
step 4: repeat any steps above as necessary
 
Thatf4iguy said:
it is frightening to think there are situations that you just cannot anticipate, like cresting a hill and finding an on-coming car in your lane.

Has anyone here been in such a situation? How do you react?
Do you go right and try your luck at motocross? Do you go left, hug the yellow and pray they don’t swerve back into their lane?
Click to expand...

This happened to me just last week. I pulled out of my work parking lot onto a street with a solid yellow line. It's an industrial area with a lot of transport trucks and this particular section has a curve. I saw a truck far enough away (but approaching) and made my turn. What I didn't see (impossible because of the turn) was an impatient BMW driver overtaking the truck and heading right for me. I swerved off to the right as much as possible and slowed down as he passed while giving him a look of disbelief. The road is wide enough there to allow for trucks and therefore I had no problem getting off to the side.

I hope that ****** got a flat tire later in the day or something.
 
situations like this will also occur on streets where cars are parked and oncoming traffic may go wide onto your lane. I have also seen this with idiot drivers going around TTC buses.
 
MacDoc said:
No - your front brake is your big anchor on pavement and use it - it will scrub through nearly anything with the amount of traction with the weight shifted forward.

Front brakes can be tricky in slow speed and on gravel/dirt but on pavement they are 100% your go to anchors.....use em hard and learn to use them hard. Get out on the parking lot and make them howl.
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+1, much like guitar; practice until it's habit.
 
MacDoc said:
No - your front brake is your big anchor on pavement and use it - it will scrub through nearly anything with the amount of traction with the weight shifted forward.

Front brakes can be tricky in slow speed and on gravel/dirt but on pavement they are 100% your go to anchors.....use em hard and learn to use them hard. Get out on the parking lot and make them howl.
Click to expand...

This is so true and new riders like Armen444 had better learn this or they will remain a danger to themselves and others. In an emergency you had better react properly. Hard on the brakes, concentrating on maximum stopping power, modulating the brakes as necessary and then perhaps gear down ready to react to what is happening.
 
Yup - I had a really hard time in Australia shifting from huge ABS anchors on the Burgman which are a just a treat to use to wimpy brakes on the KLR that with constant rain, off road use and then a new knobby on the front made me

a) relearn the rear brake big time
b) gradually figure out what I could do with the knobby and the front brake on both pavement ( iffy) and dirt ( amazing )

Now I'm back to the big anchors her in Canada once the snow goes. Fresh Metzlers too .....much fun.
 
For most two lane highways where I'd anticipate this happening, I look at the shoulder of the road and see what kind of transistion has to be made. Can be a drop from asphalt to gravel, pot holes, gravel etc. You'd be surprise what your bike can handle and stay upright. A little too much brake from either front or back brakes in gravel can bring you down quick. So first look for an openning to go as your eyes tend to steer you where you want to go. Busy staring at the on coming vehicle will likely have you hit it. Let off the throttle and coast until it's safe to apply the brakes. Even then, take it easy.
 
I've developed a bit of a habit to start heading to the right track just before cresting a hill. I don't do it every time but often enough. Just picked it up alone the way, mostly I worry about the car either drifting toward the centre of the road or a wide vehicle like a farm tractor. If its a car passing on a hill I don't think you have much of a chance but at least I'm somewhat heading to the far side already.
 
These are all very good points. The one thing missing is after surviving, one must turn around and hunt the bastard down and ensure he never pulls that again.
 
you know its scary how often this happens, i didnt even realize it until people started posting like crazy about their personal experiences with this and this thread started about a day ago only!

makes me wanna get a go-pro film my rides and when **** like this happens, go to the police station with a copy of the video. the person commiting the offense should no longer be able to drive!
 
The only time it ever happened to me, I was in a car and a drunk took out the traffic signal at Birchmount and Eglinton making the right from Birchmount southbound. I ended up switching to the left eastbound lane while braking hard, as he was out of control and sliding right across in front of me. We made a u-turn to follow, and the police had him boxed in at Warden. He had his baby daughter in the car with him. The whole front of the car was caved in. Scared the bejeebers out of me.
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