My first really, really close call on the Spyder

[vito1943]

I've been riding my Spyder for four years, and have never had a really close call for a serious accident until today. I think the two wheels in front design gives us such an improved view to oncoming cars and trucks that I have yet to have one turn left right in front of me. Today was a bit different, and I think the incident occurred because the pickup driver was not paying attention. I was coming down a pretty and heavily tree lined country road, and fortunately only doing about 45 on this 55 mph road. Suddenly on my right a pickup came out of side road without even slowing down until he apparently saw me and slammed on his brakes. This country road has virtually no traffic, and while I have ridden on it several times this was the first time I encountered another vehicle regardless of direction. He came to a stop a bit more than halfway across the road. I was able to swerve left, then right, and keep my front wheels from either hitting the truck or ending up in the ditch alongside the road. I think I was within a very few inches on both the right and left. No harm done and I know I will be watching that spot any time I am on that road in the future, and today served as a good reminder that even on the Spyder a serious accident can happen at any time.

 

[BajaRon]

I was rolling code in a fire truck and another vehicle hit me in the driver's door. There are never any guarantees. We all need to ride with that knowledge.

 

[Jackhartjr]

I was driving a very nice Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme convertible, and a driver with no license turned left directly in front of me, totaled the car. Happened that quickly!
Fortunately, his sister who owned the car, had insurance!

 

[Raven]

People are dumb! Every time I go out in the Grocery Getter or the Ryker I see someone do something stupid.
Close to sixty years of riding motorcycles has made me a better car driver.
Ride or drive like everyone wants to kill you.

 

[Bfromla]

People are dumb! Every time I go out in the Grocery Getter or the Ryker I see someone do something stupid.
Close to sixty years of riding motorcycles has made me a better car driver.
Ride or drive like everyone wants to kill you.

Ask any train engineer, HORN; Traffic ARMS BLOCKING the PATH; but Stupid still gonna STUPID - & that's before all the new distractions & influences!

 

[pegasus1300]

If you want a new appreciation for stupid, watch Fridays with Frank on YouTube.

 

[Lew L]

At your suggestion, I watched some Fridays with Frank videos. Sometimes us humans are really stupid.

 

[2dogs]

Stupid comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, sexes and ages. There is no one dead or alive who hasn't done something stupid. The big difference is that most of us learn from our stupid mistakes (close calls), which should prepare us to avoid those who never learn effectively.

 

[baxter]

As has been quoted time again, “Common sense is not that common” People now a days just do not pay attention to what they are doing. I have become more aware of the “other” driver than ever. Takes something away from enjoying the ride, but that is the way today is.

 

[strykerAKAmack]

Ride like everyone's out to kill you, cause they are, intentionally or not.

 

[2dogs]

The most common statement by a driver who has collided with a motorcycle is, "I never saw it, or I didn't see it." And for the most part, that's true. Likely 99% of the people who drive have never owned or driven a motorcycle, and therefore are barely conscious that motorcycles even exist. When I change lanes or pass through an intersection, I never take it for granted that drivers around me even know I'm there. The most tiring part of riding a 2 or 3 wheeler is the constant awareness one must have of their nearest and quickest exit to avoid a collision. How many of you fellow riders who are aware and look for safe exits, ever notice that you don't possess that awareness when you are behind the wheel of your 4 wheeler? LOL Yeah, me too.

 

[DickB]

https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/811507.pdf

"Having either illuminated lower auxiliary lamps (LA) or modulated high beam headlamp (MHB) on the motorcycle significantly reduced the probability of obtaining a short safety margin as compared to the baseline condition with an illuminated low beam headlamp (LB)."

 

[CloverHillCrawler]

Well I had something somewhat new happen to me yesterday which goes the opposite of not being seen and that is with target fixation from a cage and they start coming at you from the opposite side of the road.

Guy was going straight down the road before I approached him as we got closer he started drifting then was pointed right at me from on the wrong side of the road, guy was so busy looking at me he had no realization that he was now on my side of the road until I hit my horn and knocked him out of his trance.

Then in another case, I was waiting at a red light to turn to left. Cage comes approaching the intersection from behind me in the next lane and I notice he is not slowing down (keeping my head on swivel after being rear ended 2 years ago.) He then drives right past me without even putting on his brakes blowing right through the red light, as he is going by me I saw him looking at me with his head turned not even paying attention to the intersection. Luckily there were no vehicles coming from the other direction.

 

[baxter]

Speaking of red lights, I see more and more drivers going through lights that just turned red and what they are doing is assuming the three second delay between turning red before going green for the other direction. They must think that they can count good and in sink with traffic control box.

 

[Metalman]

I am a relatively new Spyder rider, having owned one for just over a month. I've ridden motorcycles for 62 years and when I begin riding the Spyder, I was very concerned (and still am) about vehicles pulling in front of me from side streets and driveways, and so forth. With the motorcycle, I had more of an opportunity to avoid a crash because of the fact that the bike is nimble and narrow. So now, when I see a vehicle approaching a stop sign or pulling to the end of a driveway, I realize that other than reducing my speed and looking for an escape route, there isn't a whole lot that I can do if they pull out in front of me. As the OP mentioned, the frontal area of the Spyder is much greater than the motorcycle, so I'm hoping that it will work to my advantage. I mounted a white LED strobe light on the front of one of my most recent motorcycles, with a switch on the handlebar. I would occasionally use that strobe light whenever I thought somebody might be about to pull in front of me. I don't know if it helped, but it's been a long time since I've had anyone cut me off. Most of my bikes Ive had have been pretty large and I wear high visibility clothing, so I'm hoping I can avoid any collisions or even close calls.

 

[Raven]

I have seen more nears misses with head on crashes the last few years.
People trying to pass with oncoming traffic. They just think the other guy will stop, just stupid.
Now if we could only get Bambi to pay attention and use those "Deer Crossing" sign's LOL

 

[jjc54]

I was leading a group on a day when the sun was brutal but was from time to time getting covered by clouds. When the sun was fully out the lights on the bike behind me were barely visible but the bike behind him glowed a yellow very bright glow to the point I was thinking that not even a blind man would not pull out in front of him. When the sun was under a cloud both bike's lights were easily seen. The bike behind me had replacement LEDs and the other said they were halogens (both H-D). I have replaced my headlights with LEDs and love the visibility at night. I started running my fog lights after that as I know the fog lights are not bright white but have a yellow aspect to them.