I have no problem with folks discussing crashes (even when "blame" is sometimes assigned without knowing all of the facts), since some good information usually gets dispensed as a side benefit. Hopefully this will fall into that category.
That classic "left turn in front of the motorcyclist" collision is the most popular "biker killer" (upwards of 70%) for two reasons:
1) Most people don't get on the brakes hard enough to significantly reduce the resultant impact speeds (if contact is absolutely unavoidable). Sounds simple, but consider: The last "emergency situation" you lived through -- could you have braked harder and still maintained control? If you're honest, the answer is "yes". It might have just been an "urgent attention needed" scenario, not an "emergency" one.
2) Most people will panic and instinctively turn the handlebars to the left (very efficiently countersteering the bike "hard right", and directly into the left turning car).
This can even happen to very highly skilled riders too (I'm certainly not including myself in that group, just stating a personal belief).
Hard braking and steering techniques should be practiced as often as possible -- maybe even every time we ride; so it's as instinctive and effective as possible when it's required. Most people, even otherwise excellent riders or drivers, will tend to panic, or at least be indecisive in ALL crisis situations. This is one that generally doesn't present sufficient time to make any real decision at all.
So I try to take the human (me) mostly out of the equation whenever I can.
Personally, what I do is try to use a "situational awareness" technique by consciously taking particular note of all traffic positioning as I approach every intersection, and usually try to be in the right lane (or to the right of the left lane) whenever possible by the time I get there. This should help provide roughly the maximum amount of space (and time) between you and a left turner in most cases. This also gives oncoming traffic a chance to see your bike (and its headlight) change position, maybe drawing attention to you as you approach.
Still, if you're in "the best position" and the worst still happens, it might then be possible to go around the car (to the left) as long as you KNOW you have no "company" in the lane immediately to your left -- and no traffic immediately behind the "left turner" either; however, just as importantly, you now have a new option: you can even TURN RIGHT if contact is obviously unavoidable (at least putting yourself roughly in the same direction of travel and minimizing the resultant speeds between you and the "enemy").
Either of these manuevers might also help a LOT if the idiot finally "sees" you and actually STOPS right in the middle of the intersection (as they've done to me in the past on more than one occasion). You may still end up with severe injuries if you lowside, but shouldn't end up doing a flying Super Hero or "straight in face plant" (with resultant brain or spinal cord damage).
Having said all that (as your eyes glaze over...), some two vehicle collisions are probably still unavoidable (but mostly become so due to inattention on at least one party's part). I'm also no highly trained expert, I'm just stating what has seemed to work for me so far; and hopefully will continue to. I could also have my head up my butt, and have thisll wrong" too. So use or ignore it as you see fit.
But please feel free to offer any new ideas and suggestions to all of the people you ride and hang out with, as I personally learn valuable new tips every year (and have been riding well over 30 years). It's truly a shame that only tragedies like this one force "moto-school" to come into session among riders and friends.
That classic "left turn in front of the motorcyclist" collision is the most popular "biker killer" (upwards of 70%) for two reasons:
1) Most people don't get on the brakes hard enough to significantly reduce the resultant impact speeds (if contact is absolutely unavoidable). Sounds simple, but consider: The last "emergency situation" you lived through -- could you have braked harder and still maintained control? If you're honest, the answer is "yes". It might have just been an "urgent attention needed" scenario, not an "emergency" one.
2) Most people will panic and instinctively turn the handlebars to the left (very efficiently countersteering the bike "hard right", and directly into the left turning car).
This can even happen to very highly skilled riders too (I'm certainly not including myself in that group, just stating a personal belief).
Hard braking and steering techniques should be practiced as often as possible -- maybe even every time we ride; so it's as instinctive and effective as possible when it's required. Most people, even otherwise excellent riders or drivers, will tend to panic, or at least be indecisive in ALL crisis situations. This is one that generally doesn't present sufficient time to make any real decision at all.
So I try to take the human (me) mostly out of the equation whenever I can.
Personally, what I do is try to use a "situational awareness" technique by consciously taking particular note of all traffic positioning as I approach every intersection, and usually try to be in the right lane (or to the right of the left lane) whenever possible by the time I get there. This should help provide roughly the maximum amount of space (and time) between you and a left turner in most cases. This also gives oncoming traffic a chance to see your bike (and its headlight) change position, maybe drawing attention to you as you approach.
Still, if you're in "the best position" and the worst still happens, it might then be possible to go around the car (to the left) as long as you KNOW you have no "company" in the lane immediately to your left -- and no traffic immediately behind the "left turner" either; however, just as importantly, you now have a new option: you can even TURN RIGHT if contact is obviously unavoidable (at least putting yourself roughly in the same direction of travel and minimizing the resultant speeds between you and the "enemy").
Either of these manuevers might also help a LOT if the idiot finally "sees" you and actually STOPS right in the middle of the intersection (as they've done to me in the past on more than one occasion). You may still end up with severe injuries if you lowside, but shouldn't end up doing a flying Super Hero or "straight in face plant" (with resultant brain or spinal cord damage).
Having said all that (as your eyes glaze over...), some two vehicle collisions are probably still unavoidable (but mostly become so due to inattention on at least one party's part). I'm also no highly trained expert, I'm just stating what has seemed to work for me so far; and hopefully will continue to. I could also have my head up my butt, and have thisll wrong" too. So use or ignore it as you see fit.
But please feel free to offer any new ideas and suggestions to all of the people you ride and hang out with, as I personally learn valuable new tips every year (and have been riding well over 30 years). It's truly a shame that only tragedies like this one force "moto-school" to come into session among riders and friends.
