Commuting "get offs" & why?

Since my wife and I both use our bikes to commute to and from work 4-5 days a week, I'd like to ask others who do the same about any accidents you've had and why? I know that it may have been the "standard" asshat doing something stupid...or perhaps your could have done something to prevent the accident in hind-site? I'd like this to be an "instructional" thread that might help everyone who commutes.....rides a lot, to gather tips from those of you/us who've been there/done that. Rather than just a "cage bashing" thread. Thanks!

There is a highway entrance ramp that I used to take every day on the way to work. Traffic freely flowed up the ramp each day from one direction. Vehicles rarely came from the other direction. One day, a van came up the ramp from the other direction. I had a yield sign, so I stopped to let the van pass. I got popped from behind, bike totaled. Fortunately, all I had was a bruise on my leg. Never even fell off. Next time, I'll drop a gear and jump out in front.

Good response Mark. Thanks

All my past get-offs were all my fault, stemming from riding angry and grabbing too much brake/throttle at the wrong time (not thinking clearly)...not paying attention to what was going on behind me. (ran over from behind by a tractor trailer on my 92 GSX1100G and walked away)
I also fell "victim" when someone else waved a car across in front of us through an intersection and I hit the front tire of the waved through car because they couldn't see me and I flipped onto the old ladies hood. (although I saw what could happen and planned an out, I lost my out due to other traffic)

...and with all of the "almost got killed"'s....I could write a book on common sense crap that I never even thought about before the events happend. (when I was learning the ropes)

Things I've learned that help prevent stuff from happening....
1. after storms, beware of debri in the roads from tree limbs to stones/dirt washed out from peoples driveways. (you'll ALWAYS find this shit mid-turn as you come around the corner, leaned way over):eek1
2. never outride your ability to brake or your line of vision.(see #1)
3. fresh asphalt after it rains can be like ice. (as can any roadway as it starts to rain or has just rained enough to make things wet but NOT washed road contaminatiojn off the surface)
4. if commuting through cities, watch for car doors to fly open, slick surfaces at lights/stop signs, cages blocking vision where peds can dart into the roadway, etc.
5....soooo many other things, I could fill a book with exacts.

Oh yeah! ..maintain your freaking bike! Bad brakes/tires/loose chains etc. that limit your vehicles performance and/or can brake and cause an accident.

Deer. As unpredictable as they are, they do have patterns of movement that you learn if your on familiar roads. I'd say they're MORE predictable than people.

F.W.I.W. I've found the lightest tint available polarized lenses to be the best "tool" for helping me spot road hazards,(prescription lenses) as they reduce glare, enhance prismatic effects where oil/antifreeze is on the roads and when tar snakes are hot to the point of being slippery, they also take on an oil like sheen.

As a side note, my glasses also seem to help me spot the slightest of movements off the sides of the road, which makes Deer easier to see before they dart into the road. (and we have lots of dense scrub-brush along our Pa. roads.

O.P. If anything I wrote isn't what you were looking for...PM me and I'll delete the post;.

I had two commuting.

One I came around a bend in a two lane highway in the dark at probably 65mph and there was a car literally parked in the road with no lights. I missed the car but went in the ditch and ate a culvert pipe. I probably shouldn't have been out riding my headlight so that one was on me.

The other my front tire blew out in a bend at probably 45 mph and instantly peeled off the rim. I face planted instantly and slid under a rural transit bus. Not a damned thing I could have done about that one. It was just plain old bad luck that a faulty Cheng Shin tube let go in a curve.

Neither crash hurt me. First one I finished riding to work and wasn't even late. I was a little dirty from going over the bars though. The second one I limped the mile back home on the the rim and drove in. That one shook me up enough I was glad to ditch my bike and drive.

I had a short commute that day, had caught a ride in a cage for a 150 mile round trip with 2 others. Got dropped at the office, picked up the bike and headed the 5 miles home. Less than a mile from the office I found myself under a pickup. Not really sure what I did. I remember seeing the truck, i remember planning to stop but apparenly I didn't.

Totalled the bike, damaged the truck pretty well and no 'serious' injury, just bruises. HOWEVER it was December 2010 and if I skip taking Advil for even one day I start limping. Almost 2 years laater and still problems with my ankle. 11/30 totalled bike, 12/5 new bike and back on the road. I got lucky there.

My head just wasn't in the ride yet and I assume I got distracted. Can't really say for sure though why since I have no memory.

In my case a guy pulled out, from a store, going the same direction, in front of me. I swerved in to the oncoming lane and went around him(Gassing in the process). I was going in to a hard left hander, flat to off camber. (I had been riding on the street a couple of years at this point, no training). I think it was a combination of not understanding countersteering, to much speed, being angry, but I went wide near the finish of the curve and dropped my rear wheel off the tarmac. The bike slid out and then caught something before I could get away from it. It high sided and tossed me in to the air. I hit the ground on my back and went right in between a fire hydrant and a sign post. The bike was totaled, multiple pieces, split the tank in two. I was wearing boots, leather jacket, jeans, heavy boots and gloves. My knee took a good hit from the initial low side, but not a scratch otherwise. So, no more jeans for me, I now have moto pants with armor(textile).
The real thing I learned was I need to set my temper aside, and focus on the task at hand. The next thing I learned was that sometimes you should brake rather than gas it(Really dumb in this case because I knew the turn). I later learned more about countersteer, But I don't think that was the issue here, I was dragging parts when I left the road(Maybe I picked up the rear wheel?)
I think about that fire hydrant nearly every time I ride. If I had hit it I would be dead, I was going close to sixty when I cam off the bike. I had slowed to maybe the mid fourties when I passed the hydrant.
I hitched a ride to work and got a truck/trailer to get my bike, when I got back to the accident site, there were half a dozen patrol cars, and a full fire response unit at the site. The police/firemen were looking in the trees, for me, just to give an idea of how bad the site looked. I got real lucky. While I wish an accident on no one, surviving a bad one is a really good way to get you thinking about your riding practices.
A little rambling, but it was my third most serious accident ever(Number one, hitting a car head on while on a bicycle, crossed the center line, my fault, I was twelve)

Mine have been surface hazards - wet pavement, oil slick, trolly track, crosswalk line. Came close to biting it once on one of those godawful steel plates which was also wet.

If you ride at 80% on the street, take it back to 50% when there's an extra hazard.

Agree with Antonac, wet weather has bitten me most, you get so used to the road you go the same speed on that corner because you have done it hundreds of times before. Then its wet and you dont make the corner.

These were small falls, but could have been serious if I was run over.

Watch out for people turning left on four lane (two each way) city streets with no left turn lane or center turn lane.

For some reason, nobody ever seems to be expecting this and everyone behind that person will slam on their brakes and if you get caught up in that line it's a great way to get rear ended. IN heavy traffic, that left turner usually needs to come to a complete stop too. Not many streets are built like this but there is one in particular here in ABQ that gave me so many close calls (in the cage too) that I just don't ride on it anymore...which brings another piece of advice: Pick your route carefully. KNow what levels of traffic and risk you are willing to accept and if your threshholds are lower, pick a quieter route if one is available.

Don't ride behind anything large -- trucks, busses, delivery vans, etc. People will not see you behind it and you are severely limiting your field of vision.

Watch out for the "grease traps" in the middle of the lane at stop lights -- idling cars drip a ton of shit on the road here. Try not to put your tires on it if you can avoid it.

Don't ride behind lawn care service trailers. Those assholes never secure their shit. Don't want to get hit by a flying rake or shovel.

Agreed about maintain your bike properly! There are some machines that park in the moto parking at my work that truly amaze me -- chain lube all over the rear tire, leaking fork seals, bald tires, missing/broken mirrors, etc.

Stay the hell away from any vehicle with broken or missing side view mirrors. If they don't care enough to fix the mirror, they obviously never used it in the first place.

If you are in one lane approaching a red light with no or only a few cars stopped, and in the other lane there is a much longer line of cars stopped/stopping, FULLY expect one or more of the cars that are still moving to jump into your lane. Don't be there when it happens.

The list can go on....

Rear ended at traffic lights, twice (8 or so years apart). Leaving space and glancing in mirrors helps, in thick traffic, only so many places you can go.

I've had 5 that were my fault, and one that wasn't. Two were not looking for road debris, (gravel) one was riding angry, riding fast, and not paying attention, One was just riding too fast, and one was possibly too fast as a result of an alcoholic beverage.

One that wasn't my fault was when I stopped at a red light. When the intersection was clear, I took off like normal and the front washed out. I didn't see anything there that would have caused it.

I've also had two or three incidents where I rode off pavement due to speed, but I did keep my head on straight and managed to get back on the road without trouble.

Watch your six
Green light means clear the intersection then go
Im telling you, High Viz helps. Get some or at least a vest
Scan every intersection when approaching, from all sides. Cover your brake.
Ride like your invisable.

Develop a routine before getting on the bike!
1. Crank the bike from off the saddle.
2. Listen as you walk around the bike.
3. If you've got a scrape or two, touch each one and think of how they happened. It only takes a minute or two, and helps get your head into the ride BEFORE you mix it up with the cagers.
4. Bridges, ride in either far left or far right lane whichever has the widest shoulder because that is your ONLY escape lane if something happens.
5. Screw cool, and mount at least two mirrors. You can miss or go around many obstacles, but look through the post at all of the "got rearended" incidents. Mirrors are the ONLY way see those coming.

Lastly, ATGATT (all the gear all the time)

I have been a full time, year round rider for most of the past 26 years.

I have had only 1 accident while commuting, I had just cleared an intersection when a car pulled out of a gas station and turned right hitting me from behind. Had I not been tailgating it probably wouldn't have happened.
I used to suffer from the "always being cut off" and "cage drivers suck" syndrome. I finally realized that 99.9% of the problems I was having were because I was riding like a self centered ass.

Chilling out, paying attention, thinking ahead, and going with the flow rather than fighting it makes all the difference.

While returning from SFSU classes during rush hour, a guy in a Honda car changed lanes w/o a signal, or even looking in his side mirror (per his statement :huh), and hooked the left side of my bike with his right front tire and wheel well. I did a somersault over the handle bars, and put a nice ding in the forehead area of my (Freddy Merkel replica) Arai. It was a +/- 10mph incident, but still no fun. The bike got mildly bruised, and the most damage was done by the CalTrans tow truck! Moral: check it ALL out all the time!

This, this, a thousand times this. We really can't blame every 4 wheel jackass on the road for every accident. We're responsible for ourselves.

To assist us all, may I recommend Eric Trow's Stayin' safe program? I commuted in the Boston area for 10 years, small congested roads, crazy drivers, never an accident, but after a couple of days in the class, my riding got MUCH better, more "on purpose"

http://stayinsafe.com

Very good advice.
I've tried to say that a few times on here. You must be better at it than I am because all I get for my effort is "STFU" and "you're a danger to yourself" (which I find amusingly ironic).

Never had a fall commuting, but I think the great danger is familiarity with the route and routine causing you to let your guard down, mind wandering, and then something will bite you. Recently I rounded a corner I have been around a thousand times and the road was just covered with wet, muddy sand and slippery horse manure, in a place I had never seen such a thing before. Both wheels slipped a bit, but I was able to wobble upright and find better traction close to the edge of the road (no shoulder at all), and kept going. Luckily, I had the sun in my eyes and that area is very shadowy, so I had dialed my speed back a bit from normal, and that helped. Don't get complacent just because you know the road. The minute you start napping someone will back across the road from a hidden driveway you never noticed, or some truck will spill slippery garbage all over the road, or there will be a sinkhole in the street (no joke, it happened just around the corner from where I live). You get the idea.

I've only had one get-off commuting, which ironically was only about a month ago. In order to avoid a stoplight that doesn't like changing, I skirt around the intersection by taking a corner linking the two roads. It's located in an urban environment with houses to the outside of the corner and a cosp of trees and bushes to the inside of the corner. No shoulders or sidewalks, and the corner is blind.

One night while heading to work I plop right over an opossum that could eat my cat for breakfast while in the middle of the corner. Everything seemed fine for a moment before the front went into a tank slapper and I got tossed from the bike. I figure a bit of him got caught in the front wheel or I finished applying the brakes while the front tire was still bumping over the guy. The whole accident was at a low speed since I normally take the corner slow, what with it being an urban area, blind corner, and 11:15 at night. Of course the bike landed in such a way as to rash everything on the left side from front fairing to exhaust, including snapping off the mirror and footpeg since they jutted out beyond the fairing. I had a dash of roadrash where my jacket rode up, but was otherwise fine.

So, basically, the usual "hit X debris/small animal" type story. I don't have too many issues with traffic working the graveyard shift as the roads are pretty deserted by the time I go to work, and the usual 8-5'ers are at work by the time I leave. Most roads are lit by street lights so even my Ducati's AAA flashlight strength low beam is fine.

One bit of advice to play off of Wuwei's note on complacency: I have four or five different ways to get to or from work, more if I get creative. I vary my routes daily coming and going in order to help avoid some of the potential Driving While Droned, or toss in a few slow speed parking lot exercises at the strip mall next to my house as a mental warm up. It also helps spice up the daily commute in what is otherwise an 8 mile ride in a straightlined grid system.