Almost died today

[MonotoneSatellite]

Today is beautiful day. Sunny, high about 80° (that is 26° for those in Canada) and after a week of rain and cool temps, a welcomed change. A perfect day to ride. Though I have only been riding for about a year, I now prefer it to all other means of transportation. If driving my Red Line = 10, riding my Buell = 11. I love it that much. It doesn't have much to do with the bike, after all it is only Buell Blast. It isn't big in the way of performance. With me on the saddle, it has the power to weight ratio of a Geo Metro. A three cylinder Geo Metro. But it suites me well as I learn. You have to crawl before you walk, or so the saying goes.My ride from work is a nice 8 mile stretch of city and country road and I was nearly home. I had turned off of the busy four lane street that leads me into town and onto a residential street. The houses along this street are all post WWII construction and are built practically on top of one another. Most have only single car garages so there are always cars parked on the street. About 60 feet ahead of me was a gold Ford Explorer. The girl driving it had just crossed an intersection. The cross traffic has a stop sign, the Ford and I do not. As the Ford approached, a green Toyota Camry lurched to a stop at the right hand stop sign, waiting to make a right hand turn. Between the Ford and I was a car parked along the curb, about 30 feet from the intersection where the green Camry waited. I knew the woman driving the Camry didn't see me. She only had a brief moment before I was hidden by the parked car and she wasn't looking. As soon as the Ford passed her, she began to pull out right in front of me. I did four things at once: began to drift left into the oncoming lane, hit the brakes, downshifted and began honking my weak (removed) horn. At this point I was about 15 feet away and almost in the other lane, but not quite. If she continued on her course, I would have clipped her front bumper and there was nothing I could do. If I dumped the bike, I was still going to hit her. But at least I would be on the ground, not flying over the handle bars. It was my only option. As she was about half way through her turn, she glanced in my direction looking for the source of the pitiful honking. At the last possible moment, just as I was locking up my rear wheel, she saw me. Hitting the brakes and turning in towards the curb, she pulled her car out of my path by less than two feet. I let up on the brakes and straightened up, avoiding a spill.All in all I came out only shaken. No damage done except to my nerves. As I passed, she gave a sheepish wave as if to say "Sorry". I was (and still am) a bit angry, but in hindsight there was little else she could have done but waited and looked a moment longer. But who hasn't made that mistake? Who hasn't been in a hurry and rolled through a stop sign, run through a light that turns red with you still in the intersection or failed to check before changing lanes. It was a simple mistake that anyone (myself included) could have made. So when you are out tonight, please take that extra second and be sure the road is clear.

[Kari]

Damn...glad you're okay and nothing happened. Though she certainly should have gone more than give a sheepish wave...she should have at least stopped to be sure you were okay or to apologize verbally.

[ArcsVibe]

Glad you and everyone else is ok!

[AzFusionGT]

My Father has a HD Softail Standard which he absolutely loves. He deals with idiot drivers all the time. I agree: please take an extra second to look as my Father or the poster's name who I've already forgotten (sorry ) could be coming on his motorcycle.

[POLO]

The important is you are ok.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Yep, that is the one thing I hate about riding, nobody pays any attention to motorcyclists, whether intentionally or unintentionally, it really pisses me off. I had a situation where a car pulled out right in front of me on RT. 30. I was going about 35 and I locked up the rear wheel and (for the life of me, I don't know how I did it, I was only riding for a month or 2) got the rear end to kick just enough that when I let go of the rear brake, I was facing in just the correct angle to go around the car that pulled out in front of me. It is a shaking experience.

[MonotoneSatellite]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »Yep, that is the one thing I hate about riding, nobody pays any attention to motorcyclists, whether intentionally or unintentionally, it really pisses me of. I had a situation where a car pulled out right in front of me on RT. 30. I was going about 35 and I locked up the rear wheel and (for the life of me, I don't know how I did it, I was only riding for a month or 2) got the rear end to kick just enough that when I let go of the rear brake, I was facing in just the correct angle to go around the car that pulled out in front of me. It is a shaking experience.I was lucky that I was less than a half mile from home when it happened. My knees were shaking, my heart was racing and I really didn't want to be on the bike any more yesterday. But I still rode in today!

[Mr. Poopypants]

Yeah it's tough to shift gears and work the throttle smoothly when your arms and legs are shaking.When I almost wrecked, I was about 10 mins from home, I pulled over and had a cigarette to calm down.

[Pablo1669]

this is exactly the reason I won't buy a motorcycle. I can trust myself, but it's the people who don't pay attention that scare me.Glad to hear you didn't even have to dump your bike, and that you aren't hurt.