If you are gonna crash.........

[Flyinfool]

Since my co worker just got creamed by a cage that ran a sop sign, I have been thinking about the scenario a lot.

Enough that even though the fall colors were just stating to get near peak and the weather was perfect for a ride, I did not go out.

If a bad situation presents itself you have a better chance if you have at least thought about it some before it happens.

 

So the question is;

If you are going down the road and and you see a car pulling out in front of you, and there is just no way to avoid getting hit, no room behind the car to swerve to the right and oncoming traffic or something else blocking a swerve to the left, what is the best option?

 

Hit the brakes hard which will slow you down and cause you to hit the side of the offending car and get launched into the handle bars, or get on the gas hard to try to get your body past the point of impact even though the car will still hit the back end of the bike and likely knock you down at a higher rate of speed?

Or some other option.

I know the best option is to not put yourself in that situation but sometimes $hit happens.

 

I do realize that every encounter is different, and the snap decision will have to be made at that moment in time.

[RandyR]

hit the brakes for all its worth, unless you see a way to get around the car thats safer than hitting him.

 

If you can get behind him and lay the bike down and ride the bike like a body board, thats best. In a side hit, I'm not sure how to get the weight of the bike between you and the car, instead of the other way around. I'm not sure trying to jump at the last second is any better than getting one more second of braking.

 

Maybe, hit at a slight angle such that you can control which way the bike will come around, and kick your leg up off that side and let go of that handlebar.

 

If you don't hit him, 75% odds he'll just drive away though unless there are a lot of witnesses around.

[CaptainJoe]

Strangly enough I'v though about this also. If I can't avoid car I'm gonna do my durndist to jump onto my seat and hopefully launch myself over car donig a somersault and do the two hand slap we wer taught in Akido.

Things happen quickly so who knows???

This is the main reason I was thinking about buying the Honda Goldwing with air bag...

[MikeWa]

That is a very good question. If you gun the bike and he hits your rear fender the courts would probably penalize you for being a reckless motorcycle rider. Speed kills so anything you could do to reduce speed would probably help. Lock up the brakes that way your relatives could use the skid marks in their law suite.

Mike

[royalstarjac]

Sprout wings and fly away!

[Chinto]

If the only options are what your saying then maybe the Honda Goldwing Airbag system may be the answer. Check the YouTube test crash video link below. Honda says you may very well survive the impact compared to a bike without an airbag.

 

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdEPp38xMGE]YouTube - Honda Goldwing, crash test ADAC. La prima moto con l'airbag [sUB ITA][/ame]

[Yammer Dan]

I could have stayed at home on my last three. Only way I could have missed them.

The one with the Blue Beast if I had known he was there I might have been able to get out of his way but he had no lights and i didn't know he was there until he pulled into the road and was within ten feet of me.

[XV1100SE]

There is something Yamaha can replace the cassette player with - air bag.

[mrich12000]

Wow glad your bud is ok. Nice way to crash good bikes: I cringed:missingtooth: when I saw the test crash!!

[MasterGuns]

If I know I can't avoid an impact, the first thing I am going to do is take a quick look to my rear and if nobody is close behind me, I'm laying it down. It aint speed that hurts it's the sudden stop. And the last thing I would think about trying to perform is somekind of acrobatic maneuver standing on the seat and trying to leap over the car just before the bike impacts it. I'll take my chances sliding on the pavement. IMO, there is no good answer but one must be prepared for this eventuality and wear all your gear and then some.

[Mike G in SC]

I had the situation happen 4 years ago on my Roadstar.

 

4 lane 45 zone, shopping area. I was in inside lane. Line of traffic to my right was stopped, turning into a shopping center, clear in my lane. But I was skeptical as I was passing them, so kept my eyes open. Never trust a line of stopped cars.

 

Some jerk in a big SUV signaled a waiting car it pull out, not taking my lane into account.

So at 45 I was staring at a small car pulling right in my path. He saw me and panicked and stopped right in my lane.

 

I locked up both brakes and at last second cut left and laid it down on it's left side.

More of a drop then a slide. My rear tire slid almost under his car but it stopped without contact.

 

As my tire smoke rolled over us I was able to stand up with no injury.

My left foot peg (on my highway bar) got banged but that was about it.

Like already said, if I had hit him, it would have been with the bottom of my bike, not head on. I like to think I got the best of that situation. I got enough notice to do something. That's not always the case.

 

Mike G

Edited October 5, 2010 by Mike G in SC

[eazyduzzit]

I actually had a car pull out and try to hit me in the side. I had my nephew (who is afraid of everything) on the back. I was able to accelerate and swerve a little to avoid being hit. I forgot for a second that my nephew was on the bike with me.

I think it scared me more than it did him.

[CaptainJoe]

The other scenario I invision, is while your stopped at a sign or red light, a car comes barreling at you from any direction and you can't move forward. The only split second option is head for the high ground, aka the seat. I never pull up behind a car in the middle of the lane. It is always to one side or the other, normally drivers side.

[midnightventure]

A motorcycle slows down much faster on the rubber than laying on its side. You should never intentionally lay one down. When it actually happens you don't have much time to do anything. If you had much time there would be something to do to avoid the accident and you probably would avoid it. It is something I have thought about. There have been riders that have been killed around here that didn't even have time to hit the brakes. I believe that I would at least try to raise up and maybe I would fly over the offendin vehicle becaust it is the sudden deceleration that kills.

[Michael_Bishop]

I had that happen back in the 80's. I cut the wheel to left and layed it down. Right before it got all the way down I push off and slide like I was sliding into secound base.

[straycatt]

A motorcycle slows down much faster on the rubber than laying on its side. You should never intentionally lay one down.

 

This.....

[Oldslow]

Funny this topic came up. I just recently had a discussion with an old guy that got hit or better put he hit a guy who pulled into his lane.

He maintains that by increasing throttle at the moment of contact saved hi skin. The rational being that the bike does not dive and you go over the top. In his case he bounced a glancing blow off the windshield.

I didn't know what to respond as I really don't know. He did say as a qualifier that the motor cops teach this sort of maneuver? Any one ever hear of that?

[Marcarl]

This is a good discussion,,,,,,why? because we are thinking about it. There is never a perfect answer, never, but as we create scenarios and what we would do, some info is imparted to our brain, and then and only then can we use that info to decide what to do the next time something unexpected happens. So there is no right answer, no wrong answer, because each situation will be different,,,, and each rider is different, has a different machine, different thoughts, different capabilities, and sees things differently.

I'm a firm believer that things will happen, but you won't go before your time, and what happens to you is all for the good of yourself and those you come in contact with,,,,somehow,,,,,, now don't ask me to get into that,,,,, that's another story.

[skydoc_17]

I have powered out of trouble more times than I like to think about now that I am getting older! I will say that the only time I ever "Made Contact" with a car that had pulled out in front of me, I jammed the rear brake onmy first 86'VR, the rear of the bike came around, and my VR stayed up but contacted the car broadside. (I would like to mention this was a crash at less than 40 MPH) The fairing exploded, and the rear crash bars crumpled into the rear side bags, but there was a "pocket" that my right leg was in. My right shoulder whacked the car pretty hard but my head never contacted anything. I was wearing a helmet (which I always do) and my right front hi way peg punched thru the driver's side door of the car. I walked away from that accident a lucky guy. The bike was close to totaled because of the plastic damage but the force it absorbed saved my hide in my opinion. After the bike was repaired, I rode it for another 100,000 miles. I wish I could say that I had planned this maneuverer but when I jammed the rear brake, the left front caliper grabbed as well (linked brakes) and the bike spun wildly, front end to the left, rear end to the right. For this one set of conditions this braking action worked, If I would have been coming up hard on the rear end of an SUV, I would have most likely ended up in a ditch on the other side of the road. I have since de-linked the brakes on my 87'VR.

I guess it wasn't my time to go that day.

Earl

[uncledj]

Had that happen in the '80s. I was doin' about 50, saw the guy at the stop sign, waiting to pull out, which always puts me on alert. I made eye contact with him, so let down my guard, and he pulled right into the middle of the intersection and stopped. At the instant he pulled out, it was just one of those situations where I had nowhere to go, and realizing I was about to T-bone this car, instinct took over and I put my right leg up on the seat, intending to slide the bike into the car. It wasn't something I thought about, I think that the many years of riding dirt bikes, mainly hill-climbing made me pretty used to hitting the ground on a bike.

In any case he did stop, giving me barely enough room to get around. I swear, I did a horseshoe maneuver around his front bumper, with my turn signal just flicking his bumper. I remember it well, because it was the only time I've ever been shaken up on a bike. I stopped at a nearby friends house and had to take a break to calm down a bit.

I guess that the lesson here is NEVER trust a cager, even after making eye contact.

In an emergency situation, I don't know that you'd be able to apply any plans for an accident response anyhow. I think it happens so fast that you'd have to rely on instinct and reflexes.

About all we can do is try to maintain a state of heightened awareness.

Be safe out there.

 

[Yammer Dan]

Every Accident is different and you will not react in same way alll the time. ( I ought to be expert on this.) In 1976 I totaled a new Ford pick-up with a 650 Yamaha. I was going up the road at about 55-60 mph when he turned across my lane right if front of me and no time to go anywhere. I planted that bike between the cab and bed hard enougfh to bend frame on truck and bust cab loose from frame. I can remember getting my right foot on the seat as it happened. I went over the truck and slid down the road for a good bit but being young and full of it I jumped to my feet and it took several at the scene to pull me off him. ( Probally get charged for that now) I never had time to think about doing this I just reacted or I would have hit the cab of that truck head first. I got a quite a few good licks in before they pulled me off him and cop that showed up didn't say a word about in spite of his complaining.

[Flyinfool]

Lots of good info here and first hand experiences to go with them.

 

Keep it coming.

 

I do believe that if a scenario is something that you have at least gone over in your mind it will become part of the instinctive and/or reflex action should you actually be presented with a similar scenario.

[FutureVentures]

This.....

 

I have to completely AGREE. In MSF training they talked about this. You should keep the bike upright whenever possible. Hard metal and plastic are going to slide a lot further then rubber.

 

Also, if you're sliding down on the ground, you're heading toward the hardest parts of the car, the frame and the bumper. At least a higher impact will put you into the breakable window, or over the car.

 

Additionally if you're still upright, you have the opportunity for a last second maneuver, once you're down you're done controlling the situation.

 

I know some folks have walked away just fine after sliding but personally, I think it's wrong, wrong, wrong to promote the idea of intentional downing/sliding of your bike.

 

Ka-thump, off my soapbox now.

[Condor]

My thoughts on this is he wasn't defensively looking down the road far enough checking for cars that might pull out in front of him, and he was going too fast. I've had drivers pull out in front of me, but by the time they do I'm already slowed and have a hand on the brake. You never know what some of these yea-hoos will do behind the wheel, and if you think they see you... you're in deep trouble...

[MasterGuns]

Everyone is assuming that when laying down a bike one stays with it. The one time I layed it down, I let it go it's own way and me mine. My body stopped on the pavement before the car that turned left in front of me and my bike impacted him. I walked away with some road rash but the bike was pretty much totalled.