Left Turn Encounter

[SarahP]

It was a glorious day for a ride, and I logged 230 miles today. My destination was the much-vaunted community of Cuckoo, Virginia. LMAO. My life is now complete.

A couple hours in, I had stopped for gas (nothing good ever comes from pulling into a gas station). I chatted with the requisite 4 or 5 guys telling me about the Triumphs they had when they were young. I love that, actually.

Right after leaving the gas station, I had a woman pull a left turn in front of me at an intersection.

The YouTube video is here.

A few comments about the video and the whole scenario:

(1) There is no audio on the clip because you would ruin your eardrums. See note #2. LOL

(2) The camera is wicked shaky (and the audio horrendous) because it's my cheap cheap backup mounted with double-sided tape on my windshield.

(3) Even a crappy camera can be invaluable for seeing what really happened.

(4) The camera makes my speed look pretty fast, but in reality, I was slow enough to have stopped easily had *she* decided to stop. Still, I would have liked to have had a bit more space between us. What if she had looked at me, startled herself, and cut the wheel TOWARD me? You never know what can happen, and distance/no speed is your friend. So I'd like to have had another several feet of clearance between us.

(5) Pretty sure she never even saw me. When I go frame-by-frame on the clip, her head doesn't waver from straight ahead. I was ATGATTed out with high-viz jacket, white helmet, etc.

(6) I was so astonished at her turning in front of me that my normally X-rated potty mouth was silenced, as was my 120 db horn. Another driver waiting to make a turn, however, took care of all of that for me.

Giddy-up....

 

[triumph david]

Nancy ,glad you are safe! Those AH's are always out there , i have experienced them all of my life and some times you don't have to be on a bike. I remember when i was in the 8th grade running my paper route and had my first encounter with a lady in a long Chevy Impala it scared the sh[[;/ out if me, it must have made a impression on me because i remember it like it was yesterday, it may have saved me in the long run because to this day i always have a keen eye out for that deadly left hand turn.

 

[Baldeagle]

SOrry mate I didn't see you!!
Incredible,probably with the light traffic was thinking of what to have for lunch or booking a hair appointment,certainly wasn't concentrating.

 

[Rocky]

Phew, glad you escaped that one!!!!!!
Encounters like that certainly are a valuable lesson in awareness and how vulnerable we are against those idiots and those who are only focused on themselves.

We have a lot of "stealth" riders around here (mostly on Harley's) who dress all in black and often on a black bike.
They zip through traffic and I just shake my head in dismay at what might happen.
Oh yes.....I forgot.....loud pipes save lives

 

[SarahP]

Nancy ,glad you are safe! Those AH's are always out there , i have experienced them all of my life and some times you don't have to be on a bike. I remember when i was in the 8th grade running my paper route and had my first encounter with a lady in a long Chevy Impala it scared the sh[[;/ out if me, it must have made a impression on me because i remember it like it was yesterday, it may have saved me in the long run because to this day i always have a keen eye out for that deadly left hand turn.

*************************************************************************************************
Wow, only in the 8th grade and already they're aiming for you...that would make a lasting impression on anyone, but especially a kid. Did she acknowledge her screw-up at all, or just keep on driving?

 

[Mad On Triumphs]

Glad you're OK Nancy. Car drivers shouldn't be able to get a car licence, until they've done 2 years on a motorcycle ( unless that person is disabled of course ) Too busy on the phone, or changing the CD over, reading the newspaper ( Seen that one for myself over here ) putting the make up on, doing their hair.
There's one sure fire way to tell if a car driver's an idiot. The cars moving .

 

[SarahP]

There's one sure fire way to tell if a car driver's an idiot. The cars moving .

BWAHAHAHA! LMAO, MOT. Thanks for the support. I realize that all you highly experienced riders have seen this stuff repeatedly. But this was my first time where it was so egregious. I've read ALL the comments that people have written about how they just won't see you, and yesterday I experienced that for the first time.

I like your idea about people having to be a bike rider first!

 

[hemibee]

I live by the rule: If a car driver has his/her left blinker on, they are telling you that are going to try to kill you! If they do not have their left blinker on, they are trying to hide the fact that they are going to turn left to kill you!

And for our members that don't drive on the right side of the road, use the right blinker in place of the left.

 

[harper6t]

Welcome to the invisible club, yesterday on a ride I had a woman pull into my lane without warning as the traffic in her lane slowed as I was passing, probably only a few inches in that one and you are right, no time to think to hit the horn or even yell abuse. No acknowledgement that she nearly hit me, just continued on her merry way. I still bear the scars from a driver turning right across my path where I was in a 100kph zone, impact was severe ( I think I posted the pics of my sad Velo on TT site) now I am very careful approaching any car indicating it is planning on turning across my lane. Stay safe and keep in mind that they are all out to get you.

 

[triumph david]

That crazy woman in that chevy didn't see me, or acted like she didn't, and just kept on going.

 

[Mad On Triumphs]

The thing is as bikers / motorcyclists, we have one massive advantage over car drivers, we all know that sooner or later one of these numpty's is going to do something stupid. So we're, as best we can be, ready for them.

 

[hemibee]

Here's a RIGHT turn encounter from last weekend. Not as bad as yours but. . .

 

[Mad On Triumphs]

You've got to wonder what do they actually see out of their windscreen.
Glad that nothing came of it.

 

[Rocky]

Glad nothing came of that too!!
Obviously too busy doing something else except paying attention to their driving.
This inattention while driving is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions.

 

[James P.]

Whew! Close calls all around! I live in a city of less than 60,000...of course, we have a military base as well, so a lot of bikes too. My daily commute is only a seven mile round trip, but at least twice a week I have to dodge idiot drivers. A couple of months ago on my way home I also had to dodge 4 mule deer too. Fortunately I was only doing 40mph, but locked up both front and rear tires to avoid. Didn't go down so no damage. Close calls all around for sure!

 

[triumph david]

Those mule deer about as bad as a car, we don't have them here but i had a friend that got killed hitting a whitetail.

 

[James P.]

Yes they are. Sorry to hear about your friend. Had a friend get pretty banged up from a dog jumping at him doing about 45 mph. He laid it down to avoid and ended up with four broken ribs among other things not too long ago.

 

[hemibee]

Whew! Close calls all around! I live in a city of less than 60,000...of course, we have a military base as well, so a lot of bikes too. My daily commute is only a seven mile round trip, but at least twice a week I have to dodge idiot drivers. A couple of months ago on my way home I also had to dodge 4 mule deer too. Fortunately I was only doing 40mph, but locked up both front and rear tires to avoid. Didn't go down so no damage. Close calls all around for sure!

No mule deer around here, only whitetail, feral hogs and 6,000,000 people.

 

[James P.]

Tires...Did I say tires? Wheels man wheels heh, heh. Feral hogs are no joke either. May as well be a car.

 

[ChuckB]

Glad to hear it was only a near miss. I figure she was slightly incensed that you waited 3 seconds after the green to go. It seemed very deliberate on her part.