Re-thinking the MC after a close call

[bo9roadking]

You have to do what makes you comfortable. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone or you might end up shut in your house and not go anywhere if things get too extreme.

My wife was scared to ride with me on my motorcycle and now on my spyder. She was afraid that we would get hit and die. It was a valid concern, but one day, she was hit by a car while walking across a parking garage. She was pinned under the front tire, but thank God, she survived. She will now ride with me, but we wear our safety gear (helmets, neon yellow riding jackets, etc). She managed to overcome her fear of riding when she realized that she almost died while walking.

When you put things into perspective, when your time is up, it is up. It doesn't matter if you are enjoying your spyder, out for a walk, watching tv, or sleeping. Enjoy life while you're able too, don't postpone it or put it off.

[Bob Denman]

Coupled with that, I constantly look at EVERYONE around me, if they arent paying attention to anything but their phone I either DocDuru and blow by them to get safe or I slow down and let them attempt to kill other people in front of them.

Hey; Doc has become a verb!

[NancysToy]

We will support and love you no matter what!

I still support jamming cell phones. I think they are the #1 killer of people on roads. Just ask Firefly! He wants people to check phone logs at checkpoints.

Nah, we just have to outlaw the manufacture and sales of power steering and automatic transmissions. When they need both hands and both feet to drive, they won't be able to use the phone, tune the radio, eat a sandwich, read the newspaper.....

[Illinois Boy]

Plain and simple...


Some people should not ride ever. No shame in that.

[Daisyjoe]

Near accidents. They happen to everyone regardless of the transportation mode. Think back of how many times you came close to being wiped out driving your car. A bike is going to be no exception. I had my bike approximately 3 months when I was nearly wiped out by a cager who was texting. I could see her coming up behind me and she was not slowing down. Suddenly it was the sound of brakes and smoke in the air. I had the same thoughts in my mind then that you have now. You need to step back and look at the whole picture. I would hate for you to sell your bike and a few months later have regrets, but if you will always have a fear of riding, then you should not ride. They are built to be enjoyed. May you have peace of mind in whatever decision you make.

[Bob Denman]

Nah, we just have to outlaw the manufacture and sales of power steering and automatic transmissions. When they need both hands and both feet to drive, they won't be able to use the phone, tune the radio, eat a sandwich, read the newspaper.....

That's actually not a bad idea until you unleash a whole bunch of idots onto the street who never driven a stick before...

Tito might be right; the manufacturers could probably put something in the electronics package of the cage that disrupts cellphone service.

[ARtraveler]

All this stuff about cellphones has me looking at other vehicles pretty good now. It just bothers me that pretty much every vehicle I look at, the driver has a cellphone going. They are either talking or texting. This is a real dangerous epidemic that is going on around us. It is getting very scarry indeed.

[Jeriatric]

If she got that close she would have hit you had you been in a cage. It obviously wasn't your time. Life on two or three wheels (motorized or not) is not for the faint of heart. In the end no one but you can decide what your comfort level is, but we can say with near certainty that something similar will happen again. Reality sucks!

[StanProff]

Its scarry...This was the third time in a month I had some kid in my lane.

I always have a bottle of water handy to fling at the offender. I hate that my riding interfears with their texting!

[Bob Denman]

A.) I have such a device
B.) Could easily be installed in a car so that it is in effect when the car is in motion

Perhaps I have a future in mods

So this is what you've been doing instead of watching T.V.???

Bring it to market; make millions and save lives!

[Sarge707]

I had a VERY close call the last Tuesday. Has me thinking about selling my spyder. Scared the ***** out of me. A teen was texting or doing some other distracting activity while driving, and drifted into my lane(55mph zone). I was hugging the guardrail and on the brakes and horn and when I thought I was a gonner, she looked up and jerked the wheel. I dont know how she missed me. It was that close. To dam close. This has been the 3rd time I had someone come into my lane since school let out, but this was the closest incident. Havn't been on the spyder since. Very close to sellin her.

I Follow People passing me until their by me and Never go in a Passing lane with a Concrete (Jersey) divider to my left because there,s NO way out.
You have to Always have an escape route and know Everything Behind you as Well as in front..AND beside you.
I wouldn,t even consider a Motorcycle in todays environment BUT the Spyder is a calculated risk I take because I enjoy the Freedom.
Think it over and give it "Some Time."

[Firefly]

We will support and love you no matter what!

I still support jamming cell phones. I think they are the #1 killer of people on roads. Just ask Firefly! He wants people to check phone logs at checkpoints.

I didn't say that bro.... I said if they can have DUI checkpoints because it's dangerous... then why don't they do texting ones because texting is MORE dangerous and causes more accidents. I don't agree with either kind of checkpoint.

But I'm ALL for banning texting while driving and only allowing hands-free talking.

Your jamming idea is.. well.. to put it delicately..... the worst idea I've heard in a long time.

Not only is it illegal, it would pose a serious danger. If someone is talking on their phone and they suddenly lose the call (pretty rare today).. they're gonna instantly look at the phone to see what's going on. Much safer to have them driving and talking than being shocked and looking at the phone.

Not to mention you could jam someone that is in the middle of an emergency phone call. Maybe they have a sick person in the car and are on the phone with 911. Maybe the driver isn't even on the phone-- but a passenger is-- maybe they're reporting a drunk driver---- the list goes on and on of how dangerous your idea would be.

[Bob Denman]

Not to mention you could jam someone that is in the middle of an emergency phone call. Maybe they have a sick person in the car and are on the phone with 911. Maybe the driver isn't even on the phone-- but a passenger is-- maybe they're reporting a drunk driver---- the list goes on and on of how dangerous your idea would be.

Thank goodness that all is back to normal! We're back to disagreeing and the World is safe!
If the signal is jammed from the get-go; nobody can lose a call that hasn't been made yet... Put Bluetooth technology in all cars so that hands-free calling is available. Give some teeth to the law about no cellphone usage unless it's hands-free. Kick the passenger out the door... Oh wait; that's not a good idea...

[Firefly]

Thank goodness that all is back to normal! We're back to disagreeing and the World is safe!
If the signal is jammed from the get-go; nobody can lose a call that hasn't been made yet... Put Bluetooth technology in all cars so that hands-free calling is available. Give some teeth to the law about no cellphone usage unless it's hands-free. Kick the passenger out the door... Oh wait; that's not a good idea...

Bob.. he's talking about mounting a jammer on his Spyder in order to jam OTHER CARS from using their cell phones... so a moving jammer. horrible idea.

[Bob Denman]

I thought that he had the tech available to jam it from within the car... My bad!

[mooneych]

I had a VERY close call the last Tuesday. Has me thinking about selling my spyder. Scared the ***** out of me. A teen was texting or doing some other distracting activity while driving, and drifted into my lane(55mph zone). I was hugging the guardrail and on the brakes and horn and when I thought I was a gonner, she looked up and jerked the wheel. I dont know how she missed me. It was that close. To dam close. This has been the 3rd time I had someone come into my lane since school let out, but this was the closest incident. Havn't been on the spyder since. Very close to sellin her.

If you're getting scared of the bike, perhaps you should sell it.

[wyliec]

I always have a bottle of water handy to fling at the offender. I hate that my riding interfears with their texting!

That would be one way to initiate road rage and then nobody wins.

[Bob Denman]

"But Officer," "She looked so thirsty. I was just handing her a bottle of water, and I SWEAR: it just slipped out of my hand...HONEST!"

[Firefly]

My jammer is a hand held device, and oddly enough I used to use it in theaters, now a days lots of theaters have their own installed, so I dont have to be "the bad guy".

I still get confused overall because I just think it shouldnt work while you drive. Driving and being on the phone is dangerous, talking, texting, handfree or hands full. Perhaps there is a happy medium where you could put software on phones / in cars that didnt allow them to use the handset / text / gps unless they are stopped, and calls could be incoming and outgoing through hands free devices. But regardless, test prove over and over that its bad, its worse than being drunk, its worse than not wearing a helmet, and yet no real serious campaign is happening to curb or stop it.

After being on call and tethered to a cell phone 24/7 for 8 years in IT, I could care less if I have a cell, and dont mind that I live somewhere they dont work. But kids are bad drivers to start with, couple it with friends, then with all of them posting to facebook and it ends in people being in wrecks, and worse killed. Like Mowin said, then its something you live with for the rest of you life.

Problem with the thought of restriction of use while moving is what about passengers? What about while on a train? What about an emergency... like you're following a drunk and talking to 911 (which I've actually done) ?

Jamming is just wrong. What about the recent shootings in the theater.. certainly you wouldn't want to jam someone from making a cell call during such an event.

[exwinger]

Motorcycles are inherently dangerous to a great degree , no matter if two wheels or three . You have nothing surrounding you for protection .90% of the time though it has nothing to do with the motorcycle , it's another idiot doing something stupid causing the accident and you end up on the brown end of the stick.

Have a couple that rides a wing in our group that had an accident caused by a ladder coming off a truck and they had nowhere to go. Totalled the bike and both had some serious but not life threatening injuries. DEriver of the truck didn't stop , hit his brakes then sped off. If they hadn't been riding with another couple that was able to call for help it could have been a lot worse because they were on a very light trafficked road in the country.

I've had a few close calls myself , both on two wheels , on my trike and my spyder. All caused by someone else but being aware of my surroundings saved my bacon. Like posted some posted earlier , ride like every vehicle out there is out to get you and try to anticipate potential problems. If it looks like somene just might pull out.....give them the benefit of the doubt.

I really enjoy my cycle riding and would really hate to give it up. Can't let the potential of the unforeseen stop you from riding , if it does then you aren't enjoying the sport and probably should give it up. Riding afraid all the time will take all the enjoyment out of it and that's why we ride.....to enjoy. Can't tell you which way to go , only you can make that decision.Don't let someone else talk you into doing what you aren't comfortable doing. If you walk away from riding , more power to you .

One thing to remember ....when your card is drawn , it's drawn, no matter what you're doing or riding. Could be a bike , car or sitting on the couch.

I wouldn't rush into jumping back on but the longer you wait would lead me to believe you want to give it up.Whatever decision you make...it's YOUR decision to make and no one else.

[MouthPiece]

Originally Posted by StanProff
I always have a bottle of water handy to fling at the offender. I hate that my riding interfears with their texting!

That would be one way to initiate road rage and then nobody wins.

Not to mention that you could be charged with throwing a deadly missle into an occupied vehicle (in Flarda) which is a second degree felony punishable up to fifteen years state prison.

Chris

[mowin]

WOW... This thread grenerated more intrest then I thought it would. Thank you for all your responses.

I am not afraid of the bike, or afraid of riding the bike..Its the other jerks out there. I do enjoy riding very much, and I relise I could die in a cager or walking accrost the street.
It all comes down to how much risk one is willing to take. Will I ride again?? Yes, I rode today and had no issues. I was as aware of the other vehicles around me as I was last week when I had the close call. Still has me thinking of selling.

Someone metioned if it was that close, it most likely would have been a head on if I was in a cager. Maybe, maybe not.

As far as black not being a safe color, I relise that also. I do have a set of silver skins i could put on, or have painted.

Can I give up riding?? Sure. Do i want to? No. Will I? To be determined.....

[donec]

WOW... This thread grenerated more intrest then I thought it would. Thank you for all your responses.

I am not afraid of the bike, or afraid of riding the bike..Its the other jerks out there. I do enjoy riding very much, and I relise I could die in a cager or walking accrost the street.
It all comes down to how much risk one is willing to take. Will I ride again?? Yes, I rode today and had no issues. I was as aware of the other vehicles around me as I was last week when I had the close call. Still has me thinking of selling.

Someone metioned if it was that close, it most likely would have been a head on if I was in a cager. Maybe, maybe not.

As far as black not being a safe color, I relise that also. I do have a set of silver skins i could put on, or have painted.

Can I give up riding?? Sure. Do i want to? No. Will I? To be determined.....

I think you have the right attitude. So the only thing I have to say is I'm glad you didn't get hit, close calls make you feel alive.

[NancysToy]

Glad to hear you got back on. That will make your final decision more rational, and not a knee jerk. You have a lot to think about. Whichever way it goes, I wish you well!

[CanAmChris]

I am also glad to hear you are back in the saddle. Like all here, I have had my share of but when it is all said and done you should, of course, do what your gut tells you. One thing that has helped me though, I tend to revisit the road where my close calls happened and concentrate on the bike and my situational awareness as I ride through. It usually only takes a couple times and the incident stops popping into my head. Even if it does later on, the memory is calmer and I can smile because I know it was my skill that saved me... just as it was your skill that saved you.

I am a firm believer in not letting anyone else take my fun away. That gives them power they don’t deserve. (Maybe that’s why I’m still single)

Take a longer than normal ride to some place you have never been. Then do a gut check and make the call that is right for you.