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When you least expect it...

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Kornholio

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...that's when it happens. Also, the old adage that most accidents happen within a couple miles from home certainly rings true here. I was only half a mile away.

Anyway, just because you're in a left turn lane, approaching the last car in the line to turn, never assume that that you're free and clear from someone deciding at the last second that they want to move from a stopped position into the left turn lane when you're right next to them. To clarify, I was moving, he was not...until he yanked it to the left and hit the gas. Says he didn't see me...I say it's because he never looked (clear window glass and the guys head never turned once to check his blind spot). Regardless, he admitted fault to both me and the police officer that showed up (after I demanded one...apparently SDPD doesn't dispatch an officer if there's no ambulance called :wtf ) so this shouldn't take to long for the insurance companies to finish up.

Ursula, however, is probably finished. She slid 15 feet on her right cylinder which decided to give way and leak the oil contents of my engine all over the road. Believe it or not, my helmet never touched the ground...no I can't explain that. I've got a small rash from where my jacket's elbow armor popped over too far when I hit the ground and a small tear in my t-shirt that was sticking out under my jacket a bit but that's it. I was just running to the store to get some pasta sauce. Le sigh... :(

IMG_0908_zps72945188.jpg


He hit me on the right turn signal/mirror...

IMG_0909_zps7e9208e6.jpg


:cry

IMG_0910_zps6c42f2cb.jpg
 
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A couple standard questions:

Where were you in your lane?
How fast were you going?
 
I was to the left of the left turn lane. Speed was roughly 10 MPH and scrubbing since I was already on the brakes.
 
I was just past his rear bumper when he started to swing out to the left.
 
Did you even have time to increase pressure on the brake or was it over so fast that you had no chance to do that?

Where did the bike end up in relation to the car?
 
GAJ said:
Did you even have time to increase pressure on the brake or was it over so fast that you had no chance to do that?

Where did the bike end up in relation to the car?
Click to expand...

I squeezed the shit out of the front brake but there was no chance to stop in time. I was almost next to his door when he started his maneuver.

My bike ended up exactly where you see it in the pictures, only on its side at first. His truck was protruded out into the lane at first, but once he verified I was okay, he moved it over to the curb in front of my bike.
 
Sometimes (a lot of times) i hug the lane closest to the cars. Thus, i will ride to the right side of a left turn lane, to "help" the cars see me in their mirrors. Not giving any advice, just saying what works for me. ;)
 
jc2ducati said:
Sometimes (a lot of times) i hug the lane closest to the cars. Thus, i will ride to the right side of a left turn lane, to "help" the cars see me in their mirrors. Not giving any advice, just saying what works for me. ;)
Click to expand...

You are banking on a) the mirrors are adjusted in a manner to allow them to see you, and more importantly b)the driver looking in their mirror. If they do not, and change lanes anyway, you are screwed. Having more space and time to react would be a better choice.

A very common mantra for motorcyclists is to "ride like you are invisible".
 
Exactly. The problem with this guy is that he didn't even look over his shoulder to check his blind spot. He just went.
 
Kornholio said:
I squeezed the shit out of the front brake but there was no chance to stop in time. I was almost next to his door when he started his maneuver.

My bike ended up exactly where you see it in the pictures, only on its side at first. His truck was protruded out into the lane at first, but once he verified I was okay, he moved it over to the curb in front of my bike.
Click to expand...

So he punted you across the oncoming lanes to the opposite curb or am I completely missing something?
 
BillSmith said:
Which prompted my first two, and now gone, queries.
Click to expand...

I apologize. Reading it quickly I saw the first (off topic) question and missed the left/right question.
 
GAJ said:
So he punted you across the oncoming lanes to the opposite curb or am I completely missing something?
Click to expand...

The bike was punted all the way to the opposite curb. I only slid to the middle of the lanes on the opposite side of the road.
 
Ok I made this little drawing to better illustrate what happened...

3-14-20135-13-48PM_zpsf89c699f.jpg


The black box represents the last car in the left turn lane, the red square is the other party's truck, the green boxes are my bike, the red circle is the impact, the blue arrow the direction I went after the impact and the yellow arrows are where my bike traveled. There were stopped cars in both the #1 and #2 lanes up to and beyond the location of the other party's truck.

I entered the two-way turn lane, at the point of the first green square, to approach the left turn lane. At that time, I was already on the brakes to slow down as I was passing stopped traffic and getting close to the last car in the left turn line. I was only in the lane a few seconds before coming up to the other party's truck at which point, without looking over his shoulder or signaling, he entered the two-way turn lane and collided with my motorcycle. The bike was immediately knocked to the left and I to the left as well but a bit more north of the trajectory of the bike.
 
Enchanter said:
You are banking on a) the mirrors are adjusted in a manner to allow them to see you, and more importantly b)the driver looking in their mirror. If they do not, and change lanes anyway, you are screwed. Having more space and time to react would be a better choice.

A very common mantra for motorcyclists is to "ride like you are invisible".
Click to expand...

However more space in this case didn't help though. Sometimes u are screwed no matt e r what u do. I wouldn't blast by cars with just inches to spare but I Also wouldn't give cars max room either. I choose to own the entire lane. Plenty of times I've looked people in the eyes right before they were about to change lanesin front of me. If I were out of their view and out of sihht, they would have changed lanes, hit me, and say they never saw me.
 
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You and I can both cite multiple times that people looked right at us and still pulled into our path, so using the looked into their eyes theory for riding safely, is just foolish.

It comes down to the risk-to-reward. Eliminating the (time &) space to react is not the wisest choice.

I do agree that there are times that protecting the lane is smart, but this isn't one of them.
 
Enchanter said:
You and I can both cite multiple times that people looked right at us and still pulled into our path, so using the looked into their eyes theory for riding safely, is just foolish.

It comes down to the risk-to-reward. Eliminating the (time &) space to react is not the wisest choice.

I do agree that there are times that protecting the lane is smart, but this isn't one of them.
Click to expand...

I'm confused, Tim. Are you saying I did or did not ride defensively in this case?

Outta Control said:
Damn it Jason. Time to pull off the CL ad. :p
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Hush :x

Outta Control said:
Glad you are okay.
Click to expand...

Thanks, buddy. My next bike will absolutely be used. No ifs ands or buts.
 
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