DataDan
Mama says he's bona fide
Know what's great about riding a motorcycle in traffic? No waiting. Because it's small, maneuverable, and fast, nothing stays in your way very long. A quick yank on the bars, gas it, and go. Whatever was in front of you pissing you off is now just a dot in your mirrors.
What's not so great is when that impulsive reaction to leave an annoyance behind goes wrong. And it can go very, very wrong.
What's not so great is when that impulsive reaction to leave an annoyance behind goes wrong. And it can go very, very wrong.
- Rounding a right-hand bend, a rider sees a tractor-trailer pulling out to make a left turn from a dirt road on the left 600 feet ahead. He doesn't want to get struck behind a damn truck so he tries to beat it to the clear roadway by passing on the right before it completes the turn. But he's too late and there's not enough room. He hits the right rear corner of the tractor.
- In a rural area, a rider turning from a side road onto a state highway tries to make his turn ahead of a log truck so he'll get to the nearby bridge before the truck. But in the dim predawn light he misjudges the truck's speed and is hit even though the driver tried to veer off the road to avoid the crash.
- Stuck behind traffic in the freeway's slow lane as he nears his exit, a rider swerves into the onramp lane that becomes his offramp lane a quarter-mile ahead and gasses it hard. But a van merges into the offramp lane just ahead of him, and the motorcycle rearends the van.
- Following his buddy through an intersection, a motorcyclist gasses it in an attempt to get through before the light turns red. But at the same time, an oncoming pickup driver is trying to make a left turn, also before the light turns red, and he doesn't see the second motorcycle. The motorcycle's speed in the resulting impact is enough to amputate the pickup's right front wheel and send it flying 60 feet.
- As an apparently confused driver slows to turn at an intersection, the motorcyclist following her expects her to turn right and begins to pass on the left. But the driver was actually turning left and the motorcycle hit the car in mid-turn.