Screeching tires at a red light.

JRE

Going to hell on scholarship
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Sep 11, 2014
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Cincinnati OH
It really makes your ass pucker when you are sitting on a bike and hear screeching behind you. When I stop for a light or sign, I always check my mirror to make sure the vehicle behind me is going to honor said light/sign. It's saved me a few times (probably...both times the offending car veered off as it skidded so I might've made it unscathed without action on my part).
 

ace50

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VA
Good reminder.

This is my first bike with ABS and I needed them yesterday.
On highway behind a pickup going 70-75, he slams on the brakes (accident up ahead) and I got on the brakes harder than any bike I've ever had.
Pretty sure ABS saved me from going down. Just don't know why the car behind me didn't flatten me. Guess he had ABS too! :eek:
 

squarebore

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ace50 said:
Good reminder.

This is my first bike with ABS and I needed them yesterday.
On highway behind a pickup going 70-75, he slams on the brakes (accident up ahead) and I got on the brakes harder than any bike I've ever had.
Pretty sure ABS saved me from going down. Just don't know why the car behind me didn't flatten me. Guess he had ABS too! :eek:
Amazing how fast this bikes stops when you really emergency or panic brake. A couple of weeks ago I braked as hard as I could to avoid some emus from about 130kmh and was near thrown over the front. I didn't measure the distance but it was short. Left me very impressed with the bike but not so pleased with the emus.
 

Checkswrecks

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FredBGG said:
I had a close call. A lady (well lady might not be the right word to use) turned left with a red arrow and cut me off.
Missed her by inches.

Here is the image from my dash camera.



It's a very wide angle lens so it makes the car look further away than it is.

I too heard tires screeching behind me... I veered to my left and as soon as I was clear I opened up the throttle
to get the hell out of there. "Lady" had coffee and cell phone in her hands.

I spent a night in a hospital from that very set-up about 35 years ago; long before we had to deal with cell phones. Guy in a Toyota station wagon coming the other way made a sudden left turn across my lane and I hit him just behind the rear wheel. It was a dirt bike so I sat up higher and with the impact went right over his roof.
 

Maxified

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Too many inattentive bozos out there. I've been hit twice while stopped at traffic lights & it was within two weeks of each other. Once on my Honda ST & once in my cage. Both times the other driver was using a cell phone. Fortunately I was not injured in either case although my cage (Honda CRV) was totaled by the teenager rear-ending me at 65 MPH. Crumple zones & air bags do work.
 

AVGeek

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Maxified said:
Too many inattentive bozos out there. I've been hit twice while stopped at traffic lights & it was within two weeks of each other. Once on my Honda ST & once in my cage. Both times the other driver was using a cell phone. Fortunately I was not injured in either case although my cage (Honda CRV) was totaled by the teenager rear-ending me at 65 MPH. Crumple zones & air bags do work.
My wife and I are dealing with the insurance headaches from a similar collision. She was t-boned at an intersection, and was the first of four cars hit. Her car was totaled, and there is no longer any "customer service" from insurance companies, but that's a rant for another day.
 

klunsford

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It goes back to what I have been preaching for years. Always leave yourself an out no matter where you are riding. When stopped at a light, I "lean" to one side of the lane or the other just in case someone is not paying attention and I am constantly glancing in my side mirrors to see what is going on behind me. Some one ask me about that a while back. I told them what is behind you can kill you just as quick as what you can hit ahead of you. ::009:: Sorry, I could go on and on about this subject.
 

Checkswrecks

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RoboCop said:
It goes back to what I have been preaching for years. Always leave yourself an out no matter where you are riding. When stopped at a light, I "lean" to one side of the lane or the other just in case someone is not paying attention and I am constantly glancing in my side mirrors to see what is going on behind me. Some one ask me about that a while back. I told them what is behind you can kill you just as quick as what you can hit ahead of you. ::009:: Sorry, I could go on and on about this subject.

Totally agree and I try to stop so I'm not directly behind somebody, unless I'm sure the vehicle behind me is going to make a good stop. I came to a typical stop behind the driver's mirror of a car once and a contractor's white van rear ended the car incredibly hard.
 

Madhatter

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waiting to turn into my subdivision ( in my z71) I had to wait on a long line of on coming cars, just couldn't make the turn... but I watch my mirror, it is my habit .... a f350 tops the hill behind me traveling say 65 to 70 mph... it doesn't slow down,it fills my mirror... I gas on it, it slams on brake and veers right onto construction area... damn close... its skid marks start where my truck had set waiting to turn.. had I not gassed it no telling the out come, but it would not have been good... and I was in my truck... can never take a break on safety awareness ... when on bike I am left or right of center almost always, and about two car lengths back of car I am behind....not going to be the baloney in that sand which(witch) I cannot spell when im this tired.... I may get knocked down but im not going to be squished between two cars...that's the plan any how...
 

WJBertrand

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FredBGG said:
Yesterday I got a good reminder of just how important it is to not stop behind other cars in the center of the lane.

I was in a car when we stopped at a red light. Been red for a good 5 to 10 seconds (not orange just turned to red).

After a beat or two we hear tires screeching and the car behind us almost hits us as the driver hits the brakes and swerves to the lane to our right.

What is worse is that the dick head still had his phone in his left hand and continued to fiddle with it.

I told him to get off his damn phone and he acted like it was no big deal and poked at the phone a few more times.

Right then a Police Cruiser came to a stop on the cross road to the right. My driver flashed his lights and I leant out the window,
pointed at the car and made a "thumb and little finger" phone signal. Cop blipped his blue lights and gave us a thumbs up and
then signaled to the other car to pull over.

The dick on the cell phone was so intent on playing with his "smart phone for an idiot" that he did not see the cruiser.

Anyway my point is that too many people just don't give a shit and think it's OK to play with their phones when driving.

Every time we stop on the road we are sitting ducks unless we lane split, get out of lane and where possible be ready to take off.
As ABS equipped cars continue to replace all the non-ABS ones, you won't even get the screeching tires warning anymore. The first thing you'll hear is the impact!
 

Checkswrecks

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Most communities with volunteers in the fire/EMS permit ride-alongs. If you really want to appreciate how much these people give of themselves, and (here's the relevant part) see for yourself how SO many people drive and how they just never even think about the safety of themselves and anybody else, then do at least one.


I think a night with an ambulance crew and a night in a police car ought to be a pre-requisite to high school graduation and getting a driver's license.
 

viroid

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VA
Checkswrecks said:
If you really want to appreciate how much these people give of themselves
Usually it's just our time, time away from our families. But for some, it's with their lives. (Thanks)

Checkswrecks said:
I think a night with an ambulance crew and a night in a police car ought to be a pre-requisite to high school graduation and getting a driver's license.
I absolutely agree.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 

thestudiokid

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I see a lot of riders sitting a red lights who put their bike in neutral, take their hands off the bars, and start staring off into space. This always amazes me.
 

ace50

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thestudiokid said:
I see a lot of riders sitting a red lights who put their bike in neutral, take their hands off the bars, and start staring off into space. This always amazes me.
Glad I could amaze you. I do that about 20% of the time when I end up at a loooooong light and traffic has stop all around me. ::001::

Guess I shall die a horrible death soon! O:)

I wish this bike a a slipper clutch like the new Versys 1000 so you'd have a very light clutch lever.
 

thestudiokid

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ace50 said:
Glad I could amaze you. I do that about 20% of the time when I end up at a loooooong light and traffic has stop all around me. ::001::

Guess I shall die a horrible death soon! O:)

I wish this bike a a slipper clutch like the new Versys 1000 so you'd have a very light clutch lever.
Let's hope not... and I was referring more to the idiots who are at the front of the line at a light with traffic coming up behind them. I've seen more than a few of these guys tossed due to inattentive cagers.
 

shrekonwheels

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Montana
Damned near thirty years ago we were rear ended in a car by another car. She was doing the 35 mph speed limit and had not bothered to slow down as the light turned green, trouble is we were still waiting for the traffic in front of us to move. Sis would end up with a broken neck. The woman would get off as she was stressed from her divorce.
Always leave an out, this is where if you pay attention n a bike you possibly may have a chance as you can shoot up between the cars in front of you.
 
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