Very close call

[m3psm]

In 21 years of riding over many, many miles, I had my first high(ish) speed motorway near miss today.

Was coming down the M11 near the bottom where it goes to two lanes, following some tasty Aprilia. We were in the inside lane to go South when a Transit decides he wants to be where the Aprilia is. As he starts to pull into our lane he realises there’s a bike beside his cab so after only moving across by about a foot he goes back into his lane. By this time I’m fairly close to the Aprilia because he braked hard and I’m now already almost beside the van myself having eaten up my 3-4 bike length safety cushion. Nothing abnormal there because I get cars/vans veering at me or cutting me up every day because they’ve not seen me (and sometimes because they have) and I always leave an escape route.

The Aprilia then gets past the van and the van immediately throws it into my lane where I am and stands on his brakes This wasn’t a lane change it was a full lock turn. I jammed on the brakes and for precious seconds I was no more that two inches from his bumper (sometimes less) at 50mph. I momentarily locked up the new front (BT021) 4 times holding the front brakes on the absolute limit and the back let out a few squeals too, but I did manage to miss him. All this time there’s a car a few feet behind me taking his own avoiding action from the van eating up the space and braking

As I went past in total shock, the van driver just gave a sheepish apologetic wave. It took me a few moments to process how close I’d come to a really nasty one. Had I processed it quicker the driver would still be at the side of the road with and Arai buried in his face

As I said before, I really am used to all sorts of car/van driving stunts but this is by far the scariest yet because had I come off I’d have immediately got run over by the car behind.

By luck I’d serviced the bike a couple of weeks ago with a new front tyre, new front discs and new sintered H-H front pads, otherwise there’s no way I’d have missed him.

So, be careful out there kids and make sure you a) expect the unexpected and b) check your brakes and tyres are up to scratch

[Chilli]

Christ, sounded like fun! Glad you came out of it "ok". I know you should always expect the unexpected...but sometimes you do say to yourself "he'll stay there", or "he'd never do that" only to be proved wrong time and again.

Gotta treat them all as idiots eh?

Cheers.

[m3psm]

Chilli said:

...but sometimes you do say to yourself "he'll stay there", or "he'd never do that" only to be proved wrong time and again.

Yep, otherwise you'd have to sit in the traffic with the cars. Every car you filter past or undertake is a calculated gamble, but as this guy had already seen the first bike I thought he'd have checked before coming over again. Even if he came over in a normal lane change I'd have easilly stayed clear, but because he swerved over and hit the brakes, I ran out of road way too quickly.

We live and learn

Edited by m3psm on Wednesday 18th July 08:53

[Andy OH]

M3 glad it was all rubber side down.....the stretch of the M11 you are describing I do everyday (it is the bit where it goes from 3 lanes to 2 ) and it is a lottery everyday, you do have to be very careful as the cars, vans & any other 4 wheel vehicle are swapping lanes constantly.....be safe boys & girls

[F.M]

Car drivers tend to check the mirror before changing lanes....not look sideways to check for bikes etc..I`ve had a few peope in the middle lane decide to start overtaking the car in front,with me beside them on the outside lane...I almost expect it now....keep`em peeled...there is more stuff like that out there...

[m3psm]

Andy OH said:

.....the stretch of the M11 you are describing I do everyday (it is the bit where it goes from 3 lanes to 2 ) and it is a lottery everyday, you do have to be very careful as the cars, vans & any other 4 wheel vehicle are swapping lanes constantly.....

It further down that that , just before the two lanes split off in different directions. The stupid think is, his lane was moving at the same speed, so if he'd have waited he could have taken the proper 2nd exit in a few hundred yards

It's more the severity of the move than the fact that he changed lanes that caught me out. I live and learn and see ever more stupid things every day though.

As you've all said though, we all have to expect anything and cater for other people's stupidity just to stay alive.

[y2blade]

i bet that got your attention


what a tosser

[slim_boy_fat]

A new pair of leather jeans required then i guess!!

[m3psm]

y2blade said:

i bet that got your attention


what a tosser

Yep. It certainly woke me up

[m3psm]

slim_boy_fat said:

A new pair of leather jeans required then i guess!!

lol, I actually remained remarkably calm. Probably because it was early and the seriousness didn't sink in straight away

[Chilli]

That's the key though isn't it? Stand to be corrected here, but quick reactions and not blind panic will always look after you. resisting the urge to grab all the brakes you can and locking your arms would have saved me from BOTH my "offs". (and perhaps a shed load more talent)

[m3psm]

Chilli said:

That's the key though isn't it? Stand to be corrected here, but quick reactions and not blind panic will always look after you. resisting the urge to grab all the brakes you can and locking your arms would have saved me from BOTH my "offs". (and perhaps a shed load more talent)

It's probably a combination of lots of previous "offs" myself and racing that kept me calm.

It's mad to think that the brain can deal with modulating the front and rear brakes on the limit with both tyres chirping whilst steering to escape route, watching the ever approaching car behind in the mirror and ensure the one inch gap between the front tyre and the bumper of a hard braking transit doesn't decrease, all at the same time, but it can.

I read somewhere once that when adrenelin kicks in, all of the senses work at twice (or more) the normal speed so it seems that everything slows down allowing you to think. Not sure how true that is, but things do tend to slow down when it gets a tad lary.

[Wedg1e]

At risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, you failed to leave room to stop REGARDLESS of what he may or may not have done. You should have been thinking 'WHAT IF he does x, y, or z?' It's what keeps bikers alive, you should know that.
The fact that he'd already been seen making a poor move should have jacked-up your alert level from 'van driver' to 'total wuckfit'.

Y'see the reverse often applies: I had some red and white sports bike follow me (in my van) near Harewood House in Yorks this afternnon. He was obviously trying to make a move, and I was doing my best to put the van in the shrubbery so he could see. When he eventually did go for it, it was across double-whites, with a staggered junction and a crest/dip in road that he'd have struggled to see into from his head-down-arse-up position. And people wonder why accidents happen

Someone pass me a stepladder, I need to get off this horse...

[m3psm]

Wedg1e said:

At risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, you failed to leave room to stop REGARDLESS of what he may or may not have done. You should have been thinking 'WHAT IF he does x, y, or z?' It's what keeps bikers alive, you should know that.
The fact that he'd already been seen making a poor move should have jacked-up your alert level from 'van driver' to 'total wuckfit'....

You are right and I should have assumed the very worse earlier. I was already braking but not too hard because of the traffic behind who are usually half alseep at that time of day.
The problem is, as I'm sure you know, if I leave enough room for for every potential idiot, I may as well take the car, because every move has an element of risk.
This guy did give warning that he was a numpty though and I didn't react hard enough, but the flip side is that there was so little time between the warning incident and when he aimed for me that I would have had to have pulled an equally stupid and harsh move to change my position which could have opened up an altogether different situation, like the car behind rear ending me because I'd have had to slam on the anchors before there was an incident.