Driving like a scared Grandma
 

Saw a bad MVA today..guy on a Honda Hawk...probably no more than a mile ahead of me. i was on my way to work, and came up on it. Dude came around a turn too fast (i'm assuming) and ended up high-siding, then sliding under a tractor (i think his bike followed him in) that was driving down the road. I am a police officer, so i got out to help, and it was JACKED up. His leg was snapped at a 90 degree angle about 6 inches above the ankle, and had compound fractures to his left arm. Also some really bad road rash on his knees. Its been kinda messing with me tonight, and im getting sympathy pains in my ankle..HA. Just kinda made me open my eyes again, and for a while at least, ill be riding around like a grandma. Please be safe! i don't like seeing that shit....

Ouch. It's always like that the first day or two after seeing an accident. That was most likely rider error, so that's gotta help put your mind at ease.

just remember, sometimes riding like a grandma can be just as if not more dangerous than riding moderately aggressive. cause then cages can catch you.

Condor;

My guess is that you would have stopped to help LEO or not.

I hate hearing about people getting mangled, let alone seeing it.

Here in So.Ca. the radio traffic reports are full of "motorcycle down".

I like to tell myself they are new riders, or guys who were hot dogging, or guys drunk or high.

I agree with swordfish though. I believe the safest way to ride is reasonably speedy and aggressive, which I find makes it easier to to pay strict attention to what I'm doing and what is going on around me and keeps needed reaction time to a minimum.

I've been very lucky. I've been riding for over thirty years without ever getting hurt on the street, but I also believe that if I rode like a scared grandma, I'd have gotten wacked a long time ago.

I've heard countless scenarios about being aggressive and I have (believe me) done the countless (replay) scenarios with my wreck in Feb. If I was faster - I would have caught the guy's front fender on the corner. Hardest spot in the truck. DOA. Instead I took the soft spot on the driver's door. Broken wrist and all the other soft tissue shit. BUT Two other guys (senior riders in full gear with SUV across their ROW) had the same wreck as me on the same day as me - went to the morgue. Taste your flavor.

nuhawk;

Glad you came out of your wreck as good as you did and I'll take your word re; if you'd been going faster.

Understand I'm talking mostly about a mindset and riding style, riding REASONABLY aggressive and proactive, not advocating constant or over the top speeding, being a hot dog jerk in heavy traffic or anything like that.

Oh yeah, I like to maintain some reasonably aggressive riding. THere are times, however, that if the power is there, we want to use it. I had a close call the other day, then i saw this poor bastard all screaming and mangled up and it just puts the reality of riding a bike into full view. like i said, this guy was only about a mile in front of me on a little bit of a sweeping turn. i have taken that same turn a bit too fast in the past, because its a fun turn, and its in the middle of nowhere practically, so you can get on it. he just had the misfortune of crashing and burning. i won't necessarily ride like a grandma, but i have definetly been scanning farther ahead, and have been way more mindful of my speed. it just seems that lately i have been hearing about more bike wrecks. perhaps its just new riders on them. lots of deer running out in front of folks here too....thats actually my greatest fear. not much you can do on that one.
be safe and good riding.

Watching Discovery Health channel can give you that little extra bit of caution, too. Of course, nothing like being there. Thanks for the word of caution, Condor.

I often reflect on the invincibility of guardrails when riding in the mountains... it slows me down that 1 tick that just might save me from an unexpected patch of misplaced gravel.

Even roads you know can't be trusted here. What might have been clear in the morning is marbles in the afternoon. There is so much construction going on here and massive amounts of materials (sand, gravel, dirt) being moved the roads are coated with shit. When it rains, especially just a little, the whole surface turns to snot.

I have never ridden on Snot before..is that a man made surface, or what??LLLOL././/very colorful Nu...

... and you Texans have certainly had your rain this year! Oh, and your first hurricane in a couple years.

I'm LEO also and try to avoid going to M/C wrecks. I'm always afraid that if I see too many bad ones, it'll get into my head when I'm riding and mess me up. Maybe superstition, but it works for me. Usually there's a traffic guy that gets all the wrecks anyway, so it works out ok.
As far as aggressive riding, I'll say that I feel safer riding at 7/10ths or 8/10ths than I do at 4 or 5. Had the misfortune of riding to Daytona a few years back with some guys from work on cruisers. They were doing 50 in a 55 on arrow straight backroads with not a car in sight. I found myself daydreaming, thinking about other shit, and realized I barely remembered the last few miles. For me it's just easier to keep my "head in the game" if I go just fast enough to require my full attention.

damn FOP is everywhere.

+1.

Dog Killer
 

I hit a large golden retriever with a RD350 back in 78. If I had been properly trained I would have dropped 2 gears and pinned the throttle, but I hit the brakes and went endo. I was doing about 65, just down from 85 when it happened. I could see both of my knee caps and the dog was dead. Never got to ride that RD again. 6 weeks in the hospital.
Wear the gear, learn to ride right. Your chances are better then.