Punched my left turn ticket

[jtatknox]

Inexperienced rider, 1,500 miles total on an '84 BMW R65. I was riding in the city after dark, approaching a 4-way intersection traveling at 25 mph in 2nd gear. I observed a car coming the opposite direction waiting to turn left across my path of travel. I covered the brake, but he pulled out directly in front of me. I tried to initiate an emergency stop, but realized I would t-bone the oncoming vehicle if I didn't increase brake pressure. This caused the front wheel to lock up and I low sided on the right side, coming to rest in the intersection. I deadlifted the bike (never done that before!) and met the driver off to the side. He admitted fault and we exchanged contact and insurance information. "I didn't see you."

What I was wearing:

Whte Shoei RF-1100 with added 3M reflective striping
Schott cafe racer jacket
Forcefield sub4 back protector
Forcefield knee guards
Belstaff Trialmaster overpants
Red Wing Gentleman Traveler boots

Injuries sustained:

Stiff neck
Bruised right hip

Damage to motorcycle:
Ground down right valve cover
Scratched front and rear turn signals
Scratched headlight
Scratched brake reservoir and lever
Scratched right bar end mirror
Scratched front fender
Scratched exhaust
Scratched right shoulder of leather jacket
Helmet did not impact pavement

I contacted my insurance company and reported the accident, then contacted his insurance to file a claim against his liability insurance.

I never thought I'd hear the words, "I didn't even see you.", but I did even though I was wearing very bright retroreflective striping. Now I am thinking: brighter headlights? Modulator?

[sparkymcgee]

Some people just don't pay any fucking attention (as we all know).

As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I'm guessing the asshole still wouldn't have seen you.

[Unca Fud]

Originally Posted by bunghole

As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I'm guessing the asshole still wouldn't have seen you.

Quite a descriptor!

Glad to hear you came out pretty much OK but sorry to hear of the mess it made of yr R65.

[Hack]

Originally Posted by bunghole

Some people just don't pay any fucking attention (as we all know).

As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I'm guessing the asshole still wouldn't have seen you.

Sorry to hear about your crash Knox. Glad it wasn't worse.

bunghole thanks for the new sig line

[Brokein2]

Originally Posted by bunghole

Some people just don't pay any fucking attention (as we all know).

As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I'm guessing the asshole still wouldn't have seen you.

Glad you are OK....

[jtatknox]

Originally Posted by Brokein2

Glad you are OK....

New desktop background...

[sparkymcgee]

Originally Posted by Brokein2

Glad you are OK....

LOL! Pretty much what I envisioned. I'm going to ask the DMV to include this picture in their vision testing..."Do you see anything unusual in this picture sir??

[Bill Harris]

Originally Posted by Brokein2

[IMG]http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6818/rhino1x.jpg[/SNIP]

Glad you are OK....

LOL! Destined to be a classic, sir.

I'm thinking this for left-turners:



But seriously, following a vehicle because you can get in their "radar shadow" and virtually disappear to a SMIDSYite. And expecially at night. Weave, give a little more distance, go with your high beams on (without flashing).

--Bill

[GSlite]

Originally Posted by bunghole

As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I'm guessing the asshole still wouldn't have seen you.

Best. Sig line. Ever.

OP, glad to hear you weren’t hurt too badly.

[duck]

You're lucky the driver stopped and admitted fault. Good on him. If you never made contact with his vehicle (sounds like you didn't) he could've just driven away and you'd be own your own.

[stretchmoney]

And yeah it did sound like a good person, so just get mad at his insurance company, not him.

[shaddix]

When riding at night I will flip my headlight on bright whenever there is a car waiting to turn that will cross my path. I like to do it maybe 3-5 seconds before I get into the zone where it would be really bad if they did decide to pull out, and I like to do a little swerve to point the headlight at the threat and then flip it to high beam so hopefully they can't help but notice me.

During the day I run my highbeams all the time.

[ROAD DAMAGE]

Originally Posted by shaddix

When riding at night I will flip my headlight on bright whenever there is a car waiting to turn that will cross my path. I like to do it maybe 3-5 seconds before I get into the zone where it would be really bad if they did decide to pull out, and I like to do a little swerve to point the headlight at the threat and then flip it to high beam so hopefully they can't help but notice me.

During the day I run my highbeams all the time.

Good info. here from shaddix.

I flip my low beam to high beam and back quite a bit in traffic. I believe it really helps folks wake up and focus on me ............ I also have been careful not to be too busy with the light .......... I believe that some folks may take it as a signal that means "who knows what" to them.

"But officer, I thought he WANTED me to pull out in front of him! He was flashing his light at me."

This is where lane positioning and not following too closely comes in very handy too. In a situation like yours I'll swerve side to side a little to give oncoming traffic a chance to see me better. You know, sorta' peek-a-boo out from behind the drivers side of the vehicle in front of me. Seems to help.

Hope insurance works it all out, and glad you weren't hurt.

Happy Holidays, Rob

[hardwaregrrl]

That just sucks...I'm glad you're alright. Tell your sob story here when you're ready to buy parts. I bet one of us can help you out very cheap.

[sideup]

I know this has been covered elsewhere in face plant. I too have had some close calls where I thought I made eye contact with the cager and then they proceeded to pull out in front of me or merge right into my space. Having a high vis. jacket and orange moto I was totally amazed they did not see me.
I learned about Motion Induced Blindness from the face plant forum and did the test on the wikipedia site and was surprised how the dots became invisible. It was a wake up to actually think that I could for a short period of time become invisible to a driver. I don't know how to deal with this possibility except to be a very defensive driver and expect no one sees me. Try out the test and see if you experience MIB. I do but my wife says she doesn't. She credits her stigmatism. I don't know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_induced_blindness