Nearly sideswiped this morning - captured on video

[GatorGreg]

Nearly sideswiped this morning - the rest of the video is nauseatingly boring but I almost get hit between 3:45 and 4:00 mark - it definitely woke me up on my way to work The lesson to be learned is to be highly vigilant when riding in the outer lane of a double turn lane.

[honkerman]

Yep. They don't look. Had a near miss in my wife's SUV on monday. Same kind of situation, but her Toyota is a fair sight larger than a PCX, and they still didn't look before merging.

[homie]

Nearly sideswiped this morning

HaHa you are like me, you know they're going to do it and you laugh it off and wave. Nice to see there was no one to add to the survivors list today. Good video and excellent sound quality... keep em coming!

[waspmike]

Nothing exceptional she did signal, for avoidance you could have simply moved over to the other lane as on two wheels you are more maneuverable. I used to have a RH riding glove with a hole in, where it contacted the horn button!

Two things come to mind.

Being correct and having a camera are no good when you are 6 feet under
Don't come to Asia as that happens about once every 1/2 kilometer.

[gn2]

Yep. They don't look..

Even if they do look they won't see you if you are in a blindspot.

[kramnala58]

Defensive driving would teach that that is a vulnerable scene. Assume you are invisible, particularly to those entering or crossing your traffic flow.

The key word is 'anticipate'. Even if the other driver hadn't signaled, more often than not a person entering traffic like that is going to drift to the other lane if they think it is empty. With that assumption, you may have been able to anticipate speeding up to get ahead, slowing down to fall behind, or shifting lanes, as you were forced to do. Not all accidents can be anticipated, but it is surprising how many can (and therefore prevented). Don't wait for the other driver to force you to take action, anticipate it and take the action in advance. Be in control of your situation as much as possible.

[GatorGreg]

Defensive driving would teach that that is a vulnerable scene. Assume you are invisible, particularly to those entering or crossing your traffic flow.

The key word is 'anticipate'. Even if the other driver hadn't signaled, more often than not a person entering traffic like that is going to drift to the other lane if they think it is empty. With that assumption, you may have been able to anticipate speeding up to get ahead, slowing down to fall behind, or shifting lanes, as you were forced to do. Not all accidents can be anticipated, but it is surprising how many can (and therefore prevented). Don't wait for the other driver to force you to take action, anticipate it and take the action in advance. Be in control of your situation as much as possible.

Agreed. This particular turn (which I've taken probably thousands of times) is extremely dangerous with lots of accidents. I noticed after watching the video again that just before the near sideswipe I instinctively looked over my left shoulder to make sure no one was going to swerve into me from the left-rear while I laid back from the Nissan to my left-front so that if she did swerve during the turn I'd be behind her. It was only after I thought the turn was safely completed that I started to accelerate past her while she simultaneously signaled and changed lanes into me. Fortunately I was able to quickly glance to my right to make sure I had room to safely get over there a little.

[GatorGreg]

Nothing exceptional she did signal, for avoidance you could have simply moved over to the other lane as on two wheels you are more maneuverable. I used to have a RH riding glove with a hole in, where it contacted the horn button!

Two things come to mind.

Being correct and having a camera are no good when you are 6 feet under
Don't come to Asia as that happens about once every 1/2 kilometer.

I agree - you guys in Asia are probably laughing your asses off at what I consider a near miss in the USA

[GatorGreg]

Nearly sideswiped this morning

HaHa you are like me, you know they're going to do it and you laugh it off and wave. Nice to see there was no one to add to the survivors list today. Good video and excellent sound quality... keep em coming!

Thanks homie - the sound is definitely hard to master - I think I finally got it just right

Now I just need to learn how to edit and get my gopro to stop turning off automatically.

[iceman]

A work colleauge was knocked off his motorbike yesterday by a car driver who pulled out - he's alright with a painfull arm where he landed. It was foggy but I do not know who was to blame - maybe the car driver or maybe he did something silly as it was very foggy.
I ride caustiously and get annoyed with myself when I take chanches as I know that it is not good to take too many chances too often.

[kramnala58]

I agree - you guys in Asia are probably laughing your asses off at what I consider a near miss in the USA

It is different here in BKK. Basically, if you are an inch ahead of the other vehicle you are generally given the right of way .... I did say "generally", not always. And that doesn't seem to matter if it is a car or a bike. Speed in pretty hard in downtown BKK with traffic congestion, but it can get dodgy further from the downtown core when it opens up a bit as you never know where someone might pop out.

I am looking forward to the time when I can do some open road driving back in the US and Canada.

[Mel46]

Around here they can see you and it still won't make a difference. The prevailing attitude seems to be that the bigger car wins, no matter what the law says. That is why I am seeing more and more of those really big SUVs driven by bimbo blondes with one kid. The woman can't drive and it is obvious, so the husband buys her a bigger vehicle. That way, when she texts while driving everyone will get out of her way or else. What ever happened to look before you leap, or in this case before you move into someone else's lane?

[sendler2112]

Whenever you pass on the right, you are putting yourself in danger. Always try to stagger you position when in traffic and if the normal flow of traffic is moving faster on the right, stay staggered behind the bumper of the car to your left until you are sure you can move safely past in one clean move and then stagger your position again. If you can't see their face in their mirror. They can't see you.