As a new rider, I can tell you that threads like this are invaluable as far as I'm concerned.

I'd rather learn from someone else's mistakes than make my own and end up hurt!

 

Yes a good thread, always helpful to have a refresher and learn from others experiences. It's impossible to imagine every possible hazard scenario out there and what to do in your split second to avoid it. Thanks.

 

Biggest thing I could say to help is what I follow each time I get on my bike...if they are in a car and on the road, then they are guilty...it just hasn't happened yet. They will swerve into me, pull out in front of me, not see me in some kind of blindspot, pull out into the intersection and whatever other possible scenario that you could think of. I couldn't tell you how many times anticipating something ended up getting me home safely at the end of the day. Good luck with it and don't let it sway you...I still couldn't go without riding even with the issues that we have to deal with...nothing like it.

 

8 years ago i came over a hill on a back road and there was a german shepard standing in the middle of the road. it knocked me out, also knocked out 2 teeth (got new ones), had on a carhartt coat so that stopped a lot of the road rash but what i had was still bad.

Now I go slower in blind spots and always expect the unexpected

 

When I was 24, an old lady, (probably 55) stopped on a green right turn arrow because she wanted to make sure no one was coming. I went to her left, hit loose gravel and I went down. This was in 1968. Being young, I was following too close, going too fast, being too cocky and impatient.

 

Let's see... I could read threads about where to put my gas cap or fingerless gloves, or I could be schooled in situations that cost people skin and pain. Hmmm. This seems much more useful.
If I had ever had a crash, I would contribute my lessons learned. My only mishap in 30+ years (knock on wood and I pray I haven't jinxed anything) was on my first bike when I learned to keep it neutral when backing out of a parking space with the bike running. My fingers slipped off the clutch and the bike left me sitting on my azz. Bad part was, it went through the First Sergeant's brand new fence, and he was pretty PO'd.

I am looking forward to reading more of your experience. Thanks.

 

i have learned that if a car comes up quickly to a stop sign its a pretty good chance its going to leave quickly and in alot of cases they just look very quickly to the left and to the right and they have much more of a chance not seeing you.--------ive never heard anyone say that its just something i have come to be aware of as that is what happened when i got taken out....and it makes sense to me that its true.

 

Always ride like I am invisible Nobody sees me

 

Mr. Oxymoron, Thank you for your input!

 

Besides the obvious foolish errors I made in my younger years, I saw this one happen right in front of my house:

On a downhill curve heading west, an experienced rider if following a truck with a horse trailer. The truck slows way down to turn right (horses don't like sharp turns), the biker moves up on it in the left third of the lane and then passes the corner of the trailer as soon as there's room in the lane. The car waiting at that stop sign turns out to the left right in front of him and he is killed at a relatively slow speed (30-45?). I think of this nightmare at nearly every intersection. Slowing vehicles are a reason to increase your distance, not decrease it. This allows you to "see and be seen" better and gives you more reaction time. I also constantly adjust my lane position to best see and be seen and give me the best emergency escape route. Like other have said, no matter what you do or wear, just assume nobody sees you-ever. At red lights, I pick an escape route and then focus on the rear view mirrors and tap my BAL tailight a few times until the cage behind me comes to a complete stop. All this may be just common sense to most, but if helps just one newbie focus better on preserving their life, it was worth a few minutes or our time (IMHO).