My xj is dead and I'm crippled. SMIDSY ALERT. pics page 2

dydey90 · World Chat Champion Joined: 01 Oct 2013 Karma :

I did similar when I was 17. But I was driving a 1.2 corsa and patched it up for £500.

Showing off with four mates in the car, took a corner too fast thinking I'd get a little slide and look cool as fuck. Slid right into the kerb and folded the drivers side front wheel under the car.
Did not look cool.
Did start driving slower.

Glad I didn't have a bike at that age or I'd have gone over that kerb, been catapulted through the fence behind it and come out as sausages on the other side.
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

TheSmiler · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Karma :

To the people on about I could of escaped this I bet you would say I could of stopped my neighbour from reversing her 4x4 over Loz's and Sickpups ER5 that I was loaned. Bike parked one side of a driveway, 4x4 parked the other side. Coming out of her house she can see where the bike is.

Yes a lot of accidents can be avoided this wasn't one. I'm not going into the details as this case is ongoing. I'm not going to jeopardise anything; this is most probably me being over the top but still is it worth it Question

Few mentionable details, he didn't indicate, he didn't show any sign of changing direction due to straight lining the junction and he was over 60 years old.

Personally I did the best thing that I could think of and try get around the car due to it being so close and there were no other exits. This was the only way I could do it and tried to get around the car I reacted the best as I could at the time. Full on brakes could of meant locking them and hitting the car side on as this would have been on the corner. From having travelled on the road for 3 years; going along in car, motorbike,push bike and walking. I know that there was no way to go left or right. Left meant a curb and concrete in the grass, right meant a ditch and trees. There were witnesses from further up the road that stopped that were travelling towards me.

Of course I could have avoided it by not going out that day, not moving to Bristol or not being born. But sometimes things happen and it is life and death and you have the choice of fight or flight.

This is the maths from a really good friend

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

One might argue that if you're travelling past a junction and you don't have enough reaction time, you're travelling too fast.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

M.C · Super Spammer Joined: 29 Sep 2015 Karma :

Nobby the Bastard · Harley Gaydar Joined: 16 Aug 2013 Karma :

TheSmiler · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Karma :

To marjay if you did that you wouldn't ever pass a junction at more than 5mph. You have to ride to the best of your ability and assess your current situation in an instance.

The999Kid · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Karma :

Ok - I'll cough to it - I'm the mathematician that proved he can't react fast enough...

Here's so more for you - even if smiler HALVES his speed

He still can't react fast enough...

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

There's a difference to 'at fault' and 'avoidable'.

Would most of us, myself included have ended up the same - quite likely.

would some people have avoided it - bet they would.

I don't know if he did, but one thing that anecdotally does help is having extra lights on the bike so it doesn't get lost in a sea of headlights and is noticeable as 'something different'.

The vast, majority of accidents are also avoidable by the not-"at fault" rider still, I'd say.

It's not so much about reacting to a situation, but having worked out a plan to a potential situation before hand and mitigating as best as is possible.

SophR so good · Trackday Trickster Joined: 08 Aug 2016 Karma :

Why have you decided the car was doing 30-40mph? If they were turning they'd have been almost at a standstill.

Personally my commute has a couple of sideroads around blind corners on a 50mph road. I slow down until I can make sure there's nobody pulling out or turning in because of there is I can't react in time. And there often is. For the sake of the 3 secs I lose per side road on a bend, it's worth it.
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Nobby the Bastard · Harley Gaydar Joined: 16 Aug 2013 Karma :

TheSmiler · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Karma :

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

Did you observe there was oncoming traffic?
What about traffic on the left?
What else did you observe about this section of road prior to the impact?
What did you do to react to these observations?

M.C · Super Spammer Joined: 29 Sep 2015 Karma :

Azoth · Brolly Dolly Joined: 07 Jul 2016 Karma :

Reactions don't save you from getting into trouble on a bike. More often, they put you in trouble.

Things that save you:

1) Forward planning - if there's a junction and you can see traffic there, slow down and/or make yourself more visible with positioning, and if you can't see if there's traffic pulling across it, expect there to be something there.
2) Eye contact with drivers at junctions that may potentially cross your path.
3) Looking at where vehicles' front wheels are pointed and whether they're in motion.
4) Expecting the driver to do the worst thing in any given situation - e.g. to make a rash/intoxicated/stupid/incompetent/blind/malicious maneuvre.
5) Having a contingency plan - a path ready to swerve into or being ready to emergency brake.

I suppose that recommending further training or Bikesafe is ludicrously preposterous and unfriendly.
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Safety in numbers

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

sickpup · Old Timer Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Karma :

Hahadumball · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 Oct 2015 Karma :

thing is smiley... it could have been avoided...
its a junction.. we dont ride past junctions like were about to meet our lass Jenifer down the park to get stinky fingers and a blowjob...

a few weeks back.. at like.. 3:30am i was riding through my town on the way home shattered... on a long straight piece of road... wide as fuck can get a bus and 2 cars down it, i was doing not far off 70 Police

came to the junction on the left when some guy came up to it and straight out.. my first thought was.. fuck.. game over for me, luckily he saw me and slammed the brakes on instead of trying to get out the way so i managed to get right into the opposite lane and almost smash into a curb.

the guy pulled up i turned round and he was shaken up so bad, his partner in the car was in tears....
we shook hands and he apologized hugely as he said he was tired and had just finished work, i said it was my fault too i was speeding...

that day could have killed me so easily, 70 into the side of a big ford focus isnt gonna end well.

i never go past that junction or any others at speed anymore without paying massive attention unless i have full view of anything coming up to the junction.

you need to assess your riding and see if it is really for you, there has been multiple motorcyclist deaths where i live in the past 7 days, quite a large number for a small area, dont be a fucking statistic!
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Fin: no matter how much I look at It I can't understand what was going through my head, all I remember is going about 80 and redlining it to stop it seizing.
360 Deg... Five 1/4 turns. :- Teflon-Mike 18 Jan 2015

owl · World Chat Champion Joined: 21 Oct 2016 Karma :

https://s17.postimg.org/6z3lxn3tr/IMG_5094.png

Chevron to me means reduce speed, sometimes road signs give us more information than we realise, it's not just telling you which way the road is going, it's a warning sign...

Also like has been said already, if you knew the road, you should have slowed down on the approach anyway, knowing that cars could turn right across you.

It's also easy for us to sit here and say we would have done things differently, but we all have moments of complacency, but part of being a better rider is fighting it.

Anyway, hope you get better soon.
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Observation is the greatest source of wisdom.

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Looking at the aerial view of that junction and the type of car involved. I'd surmise that the driver looked and was looking all the way on the approach to the junction. He probably didn't see because the approaching bike was dynamically obscured by the cars oh so safe A-pillar all the way in.

I had a rental VW golf van last year which had a similar setup and nearly took out two bikes on the curved roads approaching roundabouts until I learned you need to actively look round the A pillar. The little quarterlight thing is useless.

https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/apillar.png
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

TBH I kind of wonder if in such situations using your horn would be appropriate.

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

chickenstrip · Super Spammer Joined: 06 Dec 2013 Karma :

50mph at a junction, coming up to a bend tight enough to warrant a chevron sign, is too fast. My guess is that you thought you'd got past the houses, fields on either side thereafter, country lane, time to open it up. But you should have waited, and actually slowed until past the junction before doing so. So I think you do need to accept some portion of the blame. That's how it looks to me from what information we have here. We get used to whingeing about how speed limits are too low on certain roads. But also, there are times when they might be too high. We have to able to judge when and where those times are. That's just a part of everyday road use.
It looks like, the car having come around that chevron-marked bend would have had less time to spot you than if it were a straight road, and you him. This doesn't absolve him of blame, but it's a lesson to be learned, and all the more reason for less speed on approach to that bit of road, and something you should have been aware of if the road is familiar to you.
There are times when I might have made the same mistake, probably still do now and again. Hopefully, after the emotion of the event had settled, I would have seen that my speed was what I could, and should, have changed to avoid this accident.

I could actually see how this might even get something like 50/50 from an insurance settlement point of view, although being in this situation, I think I would argue that the car driver should have taken more care before committing to his turn due to the road layout.
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