That was a bit close...

[The Disapproving Brit]

just had a near 'oh shit' moment. Turning into the cul-de-sac next to my street, I'd dropped into first and slowed to about 10mph, since there's cars parked all the way down the road, many of them taxis which are prone to randomly opening their doors, as well as waste ground to one side which occasionally spits small children into the road.

Getting close to the end of the road, and the entrance to the alleyway leading to my back yard, and a student decides to come tearing out of the halls which also back onto the road. Since I'm crawling anyway, I pretty much stop on a penny. She, on the other hand, looks panicked, slams the anchors on, and comes to a stop a few inches from my front wheel. She then gives me a very meek 'oops' look, and reverses back from whence she came to get out of my way. I was in two minds whether to get off and ask what she was playing it, but to be honest I was a bit shaken up myself, so I just gave her 'the look' as I went past.

Just a small reminder in case it were needed - no matter how carefully *you* ride, there's always potential for some idiot to ruin your day, and there's not always anything you can do about it.
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Current Bikes: 1983 Honda VF400FD / 2003 Honda VT750 Shadow
Bike Test Passed 18/03/09, Car Test Passed 14/05/13

[nutter]

I'm not saying this about your incident for one moment timbstroke, but please remember the rider can often be at fault.

I was filtering down dawley in telford friday night, doing about 30mph, and passed a one way side road junction i understood to be going in only (turn off the road). As I came upto the last car before the junction a green honda pulls out in front of me. On goes the front brake (rear locks way to easy) and I do a nice little endo. I've put it down to experiance but i was shaken up and I have slowed down. 3 inches between her offside bumper and my front wheel. At the time I thought it was her fault, but on reflection, if i was a better biker, I wouldn't have been going so fast in that situation anyway

Lesson is that no matter what you think you are doing, you can never be 100% certain of whats around the corner, and always be prepared for the worst case scenario. Oh yeah, and I have my test in 2 weeks, and I can't afford any lessons. Wish me luck, cos I bloody need it

And well done on passing your theroy timbstorke
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Current bike is kawasaki ZR7 - Previous is CBR 125 (40,000 long long miles). Mod 2 passed 11/08/11 - Hope to become an instructor

[The Disapproving Brit]

Very true nutter. I read somewhere that, regardless of what the insurance/police say, something like 97% of accidents have at least a degree of fault on all parties involved - not necessarily negligence or doing anything specific that was 'wrong', but something which could have been done differently by each party to prevent them from being involved in the accident.

In my case, I'm pretty sure it was being prepared for the dangers which prevented an accident. Have a paint drawing to illustrate why I was going so slowly:

https://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1190/mapqs5.th.jpghttps://img134.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

The parked cars meant I had nowhere to go. The dead end/narrow alleyway means that most people will be turning into the junction that the car was emerging from. Combine that with the clear view to the left for emerging drivers, and the fact that it's a very low-traffic road, and you have a recipe for drivers assuming it's safe to pull straight out without looking. Fortunately, the collection of hazards there means I'm quite happy to potter down it at a crawl, which is why I was able to stop so quickly. Plus, it meant I practiced my e-brake twice today

What could I have done to avoid it? Well, I could have entered the alleyway using the entrance just out of shot at the top of the picture, but we could all say that 'not being on that road at that time' would have prevented an incident, so I don't think that qualifies. Going a little faster may have meant that I was past the entrance by the time she pulled out, but then it could also mean that I was half a metre further down the road and right in her path.

Overall, I'm pretty happy that I reacted as well as can be expected when suddenly faced with a ton of metal, and any encounter that you don't even need to stop and exchange details for is a success in my book. One thing I may do is approach the halls of residence and request that they fit a traffic mirror to the corner of the building. That would definitely be a help in this kind of situation.

Good luck on the test! I was idly looking at the average wait for tests last night, and discovered that my local center had an opening tomorrow morning at 9am. I had to force myself not to just go for it, since I want to at least get an assessment lesson in first.
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Current Bikes: 1983 Honda VF400FD / 2003 Honda VT750 Shadow
Bike Test Passed 18/03/09, Car Test Passed 14/05/13

[rac3r]

I hate those 'oh shit' moments. I had one yesterday which was completely my fault. I ended up in the lane to turn right instead of straight so while the traffic was stopped i saw the left lane clear so i went for it without indicating or a life saver, just using my mirrors and before i knew it there was a car beside me blaring his horn!

That definitely taught me my lesson, i'm usually very careful but as it was my second proper ride in an unknown area i was quite nervous but i think that kind of brought me to my senses. You live you learn.
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Jacob]

Looking at the graphic and listening to your description I don't really see what else you could have done. Sometimes it ends up being luck and a quickness to hit the brakes that avoids an accident.

It just spells out that everyone should expect the unexpected.

Everyone keep safe out there, especially in this weather and slippy road surfaces

[Kal]

You predicted the danger, rode appropriately and avoided becoming a hood ornament.

No matter what you do there will always be a degree of hazard from other drivers on the road, even the best has lapses of concentration.

Assign this to the valuable experience pile and do not allow it to unduly trouble you.
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Kal...
I Like To Hoon It Hoon It I Like To Hoon It Hoon It I Like To Hoon It Hoon It Ya Like To (HOON IT!).
1984 GB250 Clubman,1983 CB250N Superdream, 1999 GPZ500S