Motorcycle Left-Turner Accidents - Don't Be a Statistic

I've been harping on safe riding for years. I even wrote 10 Ways To Be Safe on a Motorcycle. Apparently, even with my audience at About.com, I didn't reach enough riders. Another rider just lost his life only two miles from my house. He struck a left turning driver.

Please read my article and pass it on to your friends, even those who don't ride. We need to save a few lives and it all starts with you.

Reading a newspaper account of an accident like this always leaves the reader with questions about just what were the conditions under which the accident occurred. We've all heard reports that the driver didn't see the bike at all. Well, there are conditions where the sun is in your eyes and blocks out the rider. Or, some part of the structure of the car blocks your vision. I know this happens. I have to move forward, back, and side-to-side sometimes to be sure I can see the complete roadway when I'm waiting to turn in my car. And the small profile of a motorcycle coming at you is hard to see even under good conditions. Of course, these days, the possibility of the driver having a cell phone in their ear doesn't help at all.

I don't want to leave the motorcycle rider out here. We, as riders, don't always look out for ourselves. We know that we need to consider ourselves invisible to other drivers (and motorcyclists). That means always riding with space around us and constantly practicing defensive riding. Anticipate what a driver will do and allow space in case they do what you expect.

In the case of trying to prepare for a left-turner in front of you, always make sure you don't ride close to the car in front of you. A left-turner will see the car in front of you but you may be blocked from their view. The left-turner sees the car in front of you pass and makes a sudden left turn and you smash into them.

I heard of another accident where a car waiting to make a left turn did nothing wrong except they had their wheels turned left anticipating the turn when a vehicle behind them crashed into them and forced their car into the oncoming lane killing a motorcyclist. Folks, I thought everyone knew that you never turn your wheels at rest while waiting to turn. Always keep them straight ahead. If you're hit, you won't go into the oncoming lane.

I guess one could go on and on about left-turners and how to prevent motorcycle fatalities. However, I know these accidents will keep happening. But we all can prevent a few from happening. Reading my 10 Ways To Be Safe on a Motorcycle will help to put a few ideas in your head that may save your life. And really, all I'm trying to do is save you and keep you riding and riding and riding until the day you choose to stop riding. Hopefully, that day will never come.

If you have any comments on how to be safe on a motorcycle, leave them below.

MIKE KANE, CLIFF-DIVER

Mike Kane has a very nice Indian special, built up from various years and models, and decorated with a lot of great period lights and accessories. He attended our Yosemite AMCA ride, and I took a lot of pix of his bike as it is unique and visually compelling.

Mike had an epic spill on Wards Ferry Road, a totally avoidable one as well, but it has a happy ending (or at least not a tragic one!). Mike stopped to assist another rider on the narrow and cliff-clad road - there is certainly no shoulder or guardrail, just a rock wall on one side, and a 150' drop on the other into the canyon below. All riders on our rally were given a detailed 'heads up' on what to expect on the road, which is only 20 miles long, but due to the possibility of going over the side, needs to be ridden with respect.

After helping the other rider, Mike rode off, forgetting to tuck away his side-stand, which is a very stiff item - stiff enough to pogo a 500lb motorcycle towards the edge of a cliff when trying to get around a left turn! Mike did his best to haul the bike to a stop and keep away from the edge of the world, but his front wheel hit the soft dirt verge, and even though he was essentially stopped at this point, the front wheel began to slide down the cliff face. Mike tried his manly best to keep the wheel up, but the rear wheel began to crumble the road edge as well, and soon he was sliding vertically down the dirt cliff face, struggling to keep the bike upright so that it wouldn't crash end-over-end down to the rocks below. It must have looked like he was riding a dirt elevator down the hill!

Somehow the bike caught on a less-steep spot on the hillside, and stopped about 40' vertically down the hill. Mike climbed back up to the road, dirty but unharmed.

It took about an hour for the tow truck to arrive, and after much negotiating, Mike and the driver came up with a plan - 'I can't tell you to get on your bike as I tow it up the hill, but I won't stop you if you do', was the compromise. A cable was lowered from his truck on the road, we removed as many of the fragile items from the bike as we could (horns, lights, one half of his gas tank, speedo, etc), before wrapping a large nylon strap around the forks and steering head. It took some heaving, but we managed to get the bike pointed up the cliff face, and Mike got on it and managed to keep it upright all the way, with lots of yanking from yours truly who was also taking pictures, and keeping out of the likely path of the bike should the strap break! Climbing up and down that cliff six times, hauling tools, bike parts, straps, etc up and down, in leathers on a hot day, was fairly exhausting.











The last pictures really give an idea of how steep was that hill. If Mike had gone over the edge ten feet before or after where he did, it was a sheer rock face for the first 40' down - it doesn't bear imagining. He must have a guardian angel with a sense of humor!