Every morning at 4:30 while I’m doing my pre-ride safety check, I try to think of the ways other drivers may try to end my riding days. I do this to help me focus on what I’ll need to consider to ensure collision avoidance. I also try to think about some of the mistakes I’ve made so I don’t repeat them. This way I’m most prepared to enjoy my accident-free commute.
This got me thinking about the motorcycle accidents I’ve heard or read about in the news and wondering how I could learn from those accidents. So I tried to think of accidents I’ve personally seen or have come upon to see if I could analyze them to figure what happened. There’s one accident that stumps me.
I was on my way home on US 60 east near Mesa AZ. Traffic was heavy and began slowing. I saw a bike about 5 cars ahead of me in the middle lane. All of a sudden the guy on the bike went down and fortunately no cars hit him. It was surreal because it looked like slow motion as he tumbled down, came to a stop, then stood up right there in the middle of the highway. The weather was pristine with no water on the road. So this was as wierd as it was baffling to figure out what happened. Did he doze off? Was there a mechanical failure? Anyway, he seemed unscathed from the fall.
What do you think?
What was the worst motorcycle accident you’ve seen? Were you able to analyze it to figure out what happened? Maybe we can all learn from accidents we’ve seen?
