[Aced It]

No really. You don't understand. I am REALLY happy to be here.

I ran some errands on the scoot (the VLX) this Saturday. Coming home southbound on Congress Avenue I was in the left lane of the three lane stretch traveling about 50mph. I glanced in my left mirror and looked forward again only to see an older Honda Civic beater had made a u-turn in front of me from the northbound side. Mind you, this and the following all happened in a matter of 2-3 seconds.

I nailed the brakes, locking up the rear for a short chirp, looked for the opening between her trunk and the curb, slightly jerked the bike to the left and decelerated. I know she saw me because as I was looking forward from the mirror she gunned the accelerator in that millisecond when she turned. As I was coasting I gave her a quick look back over my right, with my arm out in a "WTF were you thinking?!!" gesture ... no, no finger. I could see her through her windshield mouthing "I'm sorry, very sorry!" and using her hands to visualize the apology.

I shook it off and proceeded to the stop light. She kept about 5 car lengths between her and the car in front of her, obviously fearing getting next to me. I literally was thanking my maker for watching over me and that potentially deadly moment.

It is our job as motorcyclists to look out for ourselves and never fall victim to the belief that other drivers will see you. I follow the rules of the road with my headlight on high-beam during the day. It seems to me she was not paying attention and saw me last second while she started to turn. I keep reviewing that moment in my mind, actually losing sleep Saturday night because of the burning images. I was about a foot from highsiding her rear quarter.

In my self-review, I keep thinking too if there was something I could have done differently. My eyes drifted to my rear view mirror yes, but only for a second which I do every 5-10 seconds, both left and right. But most good drivers/riders do that to keep tabs on their surroundings. Myself, I should have kept that car in my sights until passing. That is MY fault for entrusting "good judgement" to someone other than myself. I am VERY thankful she chose to accelerate instead of brake.

Again, I am VERY happy to be here.

 

["Captain D"]

Thank God!!!
You done did

Glad you`re still with us Aced It!

South Florida traffic!!!
Yup Keep all of them in perspective...
Happy with you,
Dennis

 

[KCochran]

Glad that it turned out o.k.

 

[markdavidson]

Looks like a couple of had an adventurous weekend

Glad you could stay in the land of the living

 

[Mark-B]

:shock: ..I'm glad you are here too!

When I get close calls I do the same thing - fret over them for a couple of weeks - they haunt me until I get it straight in my mind what I didn't do, what I shouldn't do and what I did to put myself in danger.

Sometimes it's a 3% thing.. Animals, sand, mechanical failure.. No control over the situation.. Most times though you can learn from a situation and be safer for it the next time you hit the streets.

Your last paragraph seems about right.. But we all do that occasionally, shift too much attention and deprioritize threats incorrectly - especially over longer stretches - I myself get into a habit of certain actions, like you, I'll check my mirrors out of habit when my priorities might need to be elsewhere.... Nobody's perfect..

Glad you made it through that okay.. Glad you learned something from it but hoping that this time is your last time..

Best wishes

 

[smilie]

Glad you made it through your ordeal unscathed. Don't beat yourself up over it. You obviously did the right thing or you wouldn't be here to convey a happy ending. Both for you and the scooter.

 

[PACKY]

Thank you for reminding us that Life is Good.

 

[blue flames]

glad you made it!

 

[CrazyDave]

And I am happy you are still here!

 

[tbfoto]

I've only had one close call (so far) and afterward I did the same as you and wondered to myself what could I have done to avoid that. It is our responsibility to protect ourselves from everyone else no matter if they are wrong or not.

Glad you made it through safely.

 

[jkustomz28]

glad your hear to tell the tail

 

[596]

Good job avoiding that crash.

I've taught myself, from being a policeman for 22 years, that when driving you should be able to close your eyes (not literally) at any second and then know from memory exactly what cars are behind you, what lane they are in, how fast compared to you are they moving, and also what cars are approaching you from the opposite direction. Driving anything, from a bicycle to a motorcycle to an SUV is NOT a simple task.

 

[skullcap]

Good job avoiding that crash.

I've taught myself, from being a policeman for 22 years, that when driving you should be able to close your eyes (not literally) at any second and then know from memory exactly what cars are behind you, what lane they are in, how fast compared to you are they moving, and also what cars are approaching you from the opposite direction. Driving anything, from a bicycle to a motorcycle to an SUV is NOT a simple task.

I used to be able to do that. Now I seem to just keep looking around and try to guess what people are going to do...

I've thought about posting some of my close calls...

 

[Bonzo]

Sounds like your riding skills saved your ass.Well done!

 

[bldrums]

Way to handle it , glad you are ok.

 

[Bobolto]

Glad to hear you dodged the bullet Aced It!

 

[Aced It]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. With posts like this, my hope is that others will learn from my experience (via words anyway). Just don't ever let your guard down and NEVER second guess someone else's intention with their vehicle.

 

["Captain D"]

I find that even in the mountains on a lonesome highway, (comes to mind) we need to ride defensively and never "relax" into the "I`m safe" thinking"...

We gotta always "expect the unexpected"

For example => Cruising along on a two lane winding road, in my own lane "relaxed", I come up on the next curve, only to find a walmart truck coming at me, taking up half of my lane...
UN expected!!!!

 

[Hawk]

I admire your attitude about the incident...during and after.

Wake-up calls are always valuable especially when we don't wake up in the hospital.

 

[Theja1]

I admire your attitude about the incident...during and after.

I agree with this. I had a truck do a blind (to me) U-turn while I was pulling out of my sub-division yesterday. Luckily I was going around 20 mph and saw him in time. My reaction was less, er, friendly than yours....