Re: Lane Splitting in the Rain and the Lessons Learned

["Cees De Groot" <cdegroot@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 4/20/06, Tom Brown <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'm gonna put on my riding instructor hat right now...please forgive this.  I just can't help it.  Character flaw.
>
Never mind. I had a very thorough motorcycle training (mandatory here
the last couple of years), so I'm constantly trying to refrain from
making too many comments on here riding style (ok, at least she
survived the 33-or-so years she's been riding :-)).

> Rather than "I'll never ride a non ABS main bike again."  Isn't
> there something else you might have learned from this
> experience?
>
You are right, of course. She rode faster than I would've done, with
or without ABS. I have managed so far to adjust my riding style too
much toowards "with ABS", but you're absolutely right pointing this
out.

Which still doesn't make me back off from my conclusion that ABS can
be a life safer in unexpected conditions.

> The driver may be wrong, but if you're dead or in the hospital,
> who wins this argument?
>
Just what my driving instructor always told us - "He was right" is 
very useless as a text on your tombstone.

To her - our - defense: it being legal means that the vast majority of
drivers actually expects bikes to pass by in traffic jams. It helps to
stick to the rules (like: not faster than ~30mph, not more than ~10mph
speed difference with the car), and I think she learnt a lesson here
:).

> Because of the visibility problem, he can't
> see you 3 car lengths back with wet mirrors and windows in
> the rain, [...]
>
Well - she *was* riding with both her turn signals flashing, and I
ditto 10 yards behind her, slightly offset to add to the light circus
(usually I leave the flashy thingies off, but if someone in front of
you starts, you have to follow otherwise you *will* be overlooked).
And when he moved, we were very much not in his dead angle - he just
didn't look at all, or just a very quick glance. Nothing surprising,
really, I've had more than enough occasions where cagers pulled
towards me because their mobile phones were more interesting than the
traffic around them. This was probably a similar case. Nothing
surprising, people manage to overlook police bikes with high beam
flashing and all the assorted  strobes and noises....

But, as you say this is not a matter of who's to blame, it's a matter
of riding style. I learny to always blame the biker in accidents, no
matter who was legally at fault. That analysis upsets people
(understandably especially if serious harm or worse was done), but so
far I think I only have heard one or two stories where I had to
concede that they were totally unavoidable ...

We're quickly getting away from the original topic. I too would really
like to learn what the cause of the lock-up could've been. Especially
since I've embarked on this project bike :)

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