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A Momentary Lapse of Awareness

  • Edgewalker54
    • 611 posts
    July 30, 2011 3:02 PM PDT
    Two years ago I was in my cage and heading to town to run a few errands. I live 30 miles from the closest town and I was in a bit of a hurry. I pulled up to the stop sign and that's where it happened. "A momentary lapse of awareness".

    The stop sign is located in such a way that you have to pull ALMOST into traffic to see to the left. So, I looked to the right and as I rolled forward, I looked left. Actually, I looked far-left, saw nothing and started to pull out.

    That's when I realized there was a chopper coming. No headlight, flat black, almost to my car and doing 60. I had looked PAST him when I looked left. BEYOND him. I immediately turned right out of his path and (fortunately) there was no oncoming traffic so he had moved into the oncoming lane to avoid the assh**e that had almost caused this wreck.... ME! I felt that I richly deserved the 'tweety' that he flipped me as he roared by.

    I have to admit that I was shaken by my 'lapse' and I pulled off the road to have a smoke and calm my heart rate back to something normal. As I sat there replaying the scene in my mind, I came to a few conclusions. I had almost caused the (possible) death of another human by my inattention and haste. To the rider, I had now entered into the "Hall of Shame" in his mind, the list of rotten bast**ds that had almost pulled out in front of him. If he would have hit me in the drivers door, I could have lost my life.

    All because of "A momentary lapse of awareness". I post this here not to be vilified or smak-talked. Rather to remind everyone that drives or rides, BE AWARE! ALL THE TIME! I was within seconds of being a statistic... all because of "A momentary lapse of awareness". Learn from my experience. Do what I do now. When I pull up and stop, I look left, right, left again as I start to pull out and I am focusing on the entire road to the left. Near and far.
    Be Alert, be Aware... We need more Lerts and Wares!

  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    July 31, 2011 2:24 AM PDT
    Thanks for posting that, it is a good reminder to ALWAYS be aware. One thing I do to help me remember that is to when I drive my truck, I try to drive the same way that I ride... always look each direction on extra time, and always know where everyone around you is, and anticipate what they COULD do.
  • RexTheRoadDog
    • Moderator
    • 19037 posts
    July 31, 2011 3:45 AM PDT
    I will agree with your assesment of your lapse but,,,,,,,,,

    The chopper rider also has some fault in this situation. An acquaintance of mine is a former PA State Police Motorcycle instructor. If anyone knows about riding it is he. We had discussions regarding cycle related incidents and we both, and many others, agreed that 99.999 percent of collisions (I don't call them accidents for that denotes lack of control over outcome) can be avoided by a very aware rider. In your narrative you said --"No headlight, flat black, almost to my car and doing 60". Everything this rider did was, although not illegal, WRONG! The most blatant of which was crossing intersections doing 60 or so.

    Personally every intersection I cross is scanned for possible encounters. When there is one there I assume automatically it will do the most dangerous thing for me and prepare for it to happen. Hand and foot are near the brake and escape route chosen.

    We cannot in reality change what other drivers are going to do but we can do a lot to prepare for them.

    And yes, when in the cage we NEED to be as aware as we are on the bike.
  • Edgewalker54
    • 611 posts
    July 31, 2011 4:36 AM PDT
    Thanx for the reply Road Dog & Lucky, He certainly could have done a few things different. Headlite could have been on, the diamond road sign sez 40 thru the intersection (suggested speed) & the actual speed limit there is 50. It was a pissy, grey day, low lighting conditions.... I guess the reason I posted was to remind EVERYONE to remember to look several times and don't be in a hurry. Someone's life depends on it.... and yeah, posting it here is like singing to the choir but what the hell, gotta start some where, RIGHT?

    RexTheRoadDog     wrote...
    I will agree with your assesment of your lapse but,,,,,,,,,

    The chopper rider also has some fault in this situation. An acquaintance of mine is a former PA State Police Motorcycle instructor. If anyone knows about riding it is he. We had discussions regarding cycle related incidents and we both, and many others, agreed that 99.999 percent of collisions (I don't call them accidents for that denotes lack of control over outcome) can be avoided by a very aware rider. In your narrative you said --"No headlight, flat black, almost to my car and doing 60". Everything this rider did was, although not illegal, WRONG! The most blatant of which was crossing intersections doing 60 or so.

    Personally every intersection I cross is scanned for possible encounters. When there is one there I assume automatically it will do the most dangerous thing for me and prepare for it to happen. Hand and foot are near the brake and escape route chosen.

    We cannot in reality change what other drivers are going to do but we can do a lot to prepare for them.

    And yes, when in the cage we NEED to be as aware as we are on the bike.

  • webby
    July 31, 2011 4:48 AM PDT
    I try to drive my car or truck the way i ride also. I look both ways twice after stopping but have even myself pulled out in a hurry and had a few pucker factor cases . I will curse myself and hope not to do that again.
  • GaDruid
    • 17 posts
    August 1, 2011 12:08 PM PDT
    Thanks for the reminder. We all do indeed need to stay aware all of the time not just when we are in the wind on our sled's, but when we are driving a cage as well. Thanks again for the reminder.