Checking Your Mirrors Doesn't ALWAYS Work

[parallel]

While riding home from a visit with my Mother-in_Law Sunday evening I got rear ended. I stopped behind a line of cars at a stop light. the light turned green but the lead car was turning so we were waiting. I checked my mirror, nothing, a few seconds later I checked again. A black Toyota was bearing down on me, I was in the process of getting out of Dodge when dude hit me. I was lucky that I ended up on the hood of the car that rear ended me, then on the trunk of the car that I got pushed into, and ultimately on top of what was left of my bike. Those hot pipes got my attention right quick and I scrambled to get off of them and some damned fool driving by in the next lane damned near got me. Went to the ER and I'll live, but I'm going to one sore some beech for a while.

 

[AustinBR]

Damn! Happy you're okay.

 

[Spleen]

Glad you're all right.
My rule of thumb when riding is to automatically assume that I am invisible to everyone else.
Cannot tell you how many times this has saved my hide.
Of course, in your situation it wouldn't have made a difference.
But usually it works.

Recuperate well my friend.

 

[UnseenUSPCompact]

I know quite a few people that have had bad accidents on bikes and 90% of the time its not their fault. Other drivers are brutal. Hope you recover well.

 

[TecheTitan]

Hope you heal up quickly, too bad for your bike, that's a bummer. People just do not pay attention while driving, they are always too busy texting or chasing a damn Pokemon or some crap. Be safe out there! I drive very defensively, even while in a cage, and super cautious while on my bike, but we can never be too careful.

 

[Spleen]

The phenomenon of drivers not seeing motorcyclists is called inattentional blindness.
It's not because they aren't aware of their environment, it's just that they don't see what they don't expect.
They expect to see other cars and trucks; those are the norm.
They do not expect to see motorcyclists, bicyclists or nuns on unicycles.
This term also applies to other situations where people do not see or acknowledge unexpected things or events.
Not done on purpose but can be quite dangerous none the less.

Here's a link to those who are nerdy about such things:
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Inattentional_blindness

 

[sliguns]

yikes! glad you're okay bro

 

[Firearmfanatic]

Wow man! Glad it wasnt worse! Hope you heal up fine fast. Too bad about the bike.

 

[topgunz1]

That poor Scrambler... glad you are ok!

 

[John_]

Glad to read you're pretty much ok.
After operating motorcycles for 30 years, I sold my Harley in January 2007. I do miss it many days but after Katrina, I found people driving really aggressively and speeding like mad. And three of my riding buddies got hit by careless cage drivers, two of them took over a year to recover physically. Today so many drive distracted, by choice. I see drivers regularly smart phone in hand while driving. There is NO WAY I would operate a motorcycle in southern Louisiana today, no way. Not even on the weekends for pure pleasure riding.
It is estimated on any given day 1 out of seven drivers in south LA are not insured whatsoever. Another sobering stat. Why we (those who maintain proper vehicle liability insurance) pay so much in this region. Our rates are like top ten highest in the nation.

 

[Trailboss]

Many drivers don't see other cars, trucks, buses or even trains at crossing gates with lights flashing and horns blaring. I ride assuming that 90% of other drivers don't see me, and the other 10% are actually trying to kill me.

 

[general mills]

I've always thought motorbikes should be able to lane split at intersections for just that reason, so you would be up front, first to go, and have a cushion behind you.

Sucks about that scrambler, I have an 05 Thruxton. Great bike.

 

[Cajun Camper]

Hope you recover quickly. I would see if cops checked his cell to see if he was using it/texting when he hit you. That's why I quit riding 30 years ago. Sold my Harley to a friend & he sold it about a year later. Too many close calls for him. Best job I had was working at the Harley shop, just didn't pay enough. Don't let insurance push you to settle to quickly. You may be in for a long healing process. Good Luck.

 

[John_]

Many drivers don't see other cars, trucks, buses or even trains at crossing gates with lights flashing and horns blaring. I ride assuming that 90% of other drivers don't see me, and the other 10% are actually trying to kill me.

That's a proper outlook.
In the last two weeks, 2 bicyclists where hit from behind in New Orleans, and the motor vehicle drivers just drove away. One was a young woman in the CBD at 0830, in the designated bicycle lane! An Alton Sterling look a like drifted into the bike lane, hit her and just drove off! They have caught him after an investigation.
How do you hit a woman on a bike and just freakin drive off like nothing happened?
Low life scum, a veritable cancer in our society today!

Video of woman in CBD http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/09/bicyclist_hit_and_run_magazine.html

 

[MOTOR51]

Hope you recover quickly. I would see if cops checked his cell to see if he was using it/texting when he hit you. That's why I quit riding 30 years ago. Sold my Harley to a friend & he sold it about a year later. Too many close calls for him. Best job I had was working at the Harley shop, just didn't pay enough. Don't let insurance push you to settle to quickly. You may be in for a long healing process. Good Luck.

Whoa now, you would need a search warrant for that phone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MOTOR51]

I've always thought motorbikes should be able to lane split at intersections for just that reason, so you would be up front, first to go, and have a cushion behind you.

Sucks about that scrambler, I have an 05 Thruxton. Great bike.

Splitting lanes would probably cause an increase in crashes around here, especially on major highways with lots of businesses like Airline Hwy in BR.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fng]

While riding home from a visit with my Mother-in_Law Sunday evening I got rear ended. I stopped behind a line of cars at a stop light. the light turned green but the lead car was turning so we were waiting. I checked my mirror, nothing, a few seconds later I checked again. A black Toyota was bearing down on me, I was in the process of getting out of Dodge when dude hit me. I was lucky that I ended up on the hood of the car that rear ended me, then on the trunk of the car that I got pushed into, and ultimately on top of what was left of my bike. Those hot pipes got my attention right quick and I scrambled to get off of them and some damned fool driving by in the next lane damned near got me. Went to the ER and I'll live, but I'm going to one sore some beech for a while.

that sucks man glad your ok. I got rear ended in May, I was stopped at a red light when a woman texting on her phone plowed into me at about 45 MPH, they had to replace the whole bed of my truck, tailgate, exhaust, etc.

 

[shrxfn]

lane splitting has shown to save lives even with inattentive drivers. This is one thing California has done right. It is legal to lane split there. When I was staying there for work I rode my motorcycle everyday to work 90 mile round trip. I could bypass all of the freeway congestion by riding in the commuter lane and filtering between cars during gridlock. You have to split sanely but there are still people that figure splitting between cars at 70+MPH is fine, one day this will catch up with them but I hope they never have to learn that lesson because there may be no coming back from it.

But I digress when coming up on an intersection it is nice to be able to filter to the front of the line so that you do not have to worry about getting ass-packed like the OP. Even when there was only one person in front of me I would split and be in the lane next to them for safety sake. If I could not filter to the front I would keep my bike in gear and would not stop looking behind me until at least one car was fully stopped behind me and even then it was hard to feel safe.

OP heal up man that really sucks that people do not pay attention to their surroundings and just like with drunk drivers they never seem to be the ones paying the piper for their stupidity. Hopefully insurance covers everything and you can be back on the road soon with a new bike.

 

[parallel]

The phenomenon of drivers not seeing motorcyclists is called inattentional blindness.
It's not because they aren't aware of their environment, it's just that they don't see what they don't expect.
They expect to see other cars and trucks; those are the norm.
They do not expect to see motorcyclists, bicyclists or nuns on unicycles.
This term also applies to other situations where people do not see or acknowledge unexpected things or events.
Not done on purpose but can be quite dangerous none the less.

Here's a link to those who are nerdy about such things:
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Inattentional_blindness

Except in this case there were THREE cars ahead of me. My bike was shoved into the silver car ahead of me and I ended up on it's trunk briefly before being deposited back on top of my then prone bike.

 

[kz45]

Lane splitting WILL NEVER work in La, people HATE that a motorcycle can go when they cant! members of this board have said they would open there car door on a bike doing that!