Almost became one with my NCX

[robnpat]

Can anyone guess what these photos show? If you guessed skidmarks from a speeding Camaro about to slam into a motorcycle rider who was getting ready to turn into his driveway, you would be correct!

I always turn on my turn-signal at the same point on the highway & started to slow/gear down. Seconds later, heard some loud screeching & looked in my mirrors to see alot of smoke coming from that car. I couldn't turn left into my driveway due to opposing traffic, so I had to gun my throttle and go straight ahead...meanwhile, Speedy had to go into the ditch to avoid me. Needless to say, I 'waved' at him as I was turning into another driveway up the road. I was so shaken up when I pulled into my driveway, it was a miracle I didn't drop my bike in the gravel. Ugh!! My wife was almost a widow (or my permanent caretaker).


Skidmarks started about 400ft from end of our driveway (on the left)


Start of Camaro tires going off the side of the road to avoid me. Our mailbox is on the left


Camaro tire marks exiting ditch. Beginning of our driveway is on the left about where the front end of that red car is.

In hindsight, I should have followed him after I turned off into the other driveway, and call the Sheriff dept on him via my Bluetooth helmet. Hopefully there won't be a next time for me to do this.

 

[Ed Up]

WHEW, that's too close. Glad all turned out good.

 

[Beemerphile]

Glad for your outcome. Good thinking too. The smarter you are, the luckier you get.

 

[Grey1one]

Good job scanning even though you were almost at home.

 

[dduelin]

See, plan, execute, good job.

 

[robnpat]

My wife is adamant that I sell the bike (she never wanted me to get it anyway). She is so worried about stuff like this. I am taking a (small) break & just drive my Rogue to work, but I'll be back on it very, very soon....I also hid my keys from her so they don't accidentally 'disappear'

 

[itlives]

She has a right to worry. You almost became a statistic through no fault of yours.

Glad you were on the game!

 

[robnpat]

She has a right to worry. You almost became a statistic through no fault of yours.

Glad you were on the game!

If I didn't hear him locking up his brakes, I'm sure I would have been. It was TOO close for comfort.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I'm glad you made out ok. Riding in a world with distracted drivers is a hazardous hobby no doubt. Thanks for posting this because it reminds us to keep checking our mirrors and ride like we are invisible.

 

[L.B.S.]

Having been hit a few times, and for sure would have been killed one time if the driver hadn't veered at the last second, only clipping me instead of a full on piledriver, dude, I totally feel for your heart out of your chest episode!

Is there a way you can approach your house from the opposite direction without incredible hassle? I'm terrified turning left with cars approaching from behind at such speeds. That's the only thing I can think of to maybe help- changing your routine to avoid that left turn if possible.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Luck, sure helps when it is on your side.

 

[robnpat]

Is there a way you can approach your house from the opposite direction without incredible hassle? I'm terrified turning left with cars approaching from behind at such speeds. That's the only thing I can think of to maybe help- changing your routine to avoid that left turn if possible.

I wish, but I would have to basically travel and turn around in someone else's driveway (like I did last night). I've never had an issue before (either bike or car), but it is something I will be more careful about. Most of the time, if the opposite lane is clear, I will travel in that lane for about the last 50 ft or so, that way traffic can continue and I am out of the way. Not so last night due to traffic. I really do wish I 'chased' him, got his license plates, called the cops, and had them bring him back to that scene for a possible ticket. He got off lucky for his mistake (and I did too), but may not be lucky next time. Hope this is a lesson for him.

 

[SergeantChuck]

Glad to hear your Ok. Good job on having the presences of mind to manage your way out of what could have been a really bad situation. When I was in the army if you had a near death experience on a jump (parachute type) they would get you back on the next thing flying to help you overcome any tension about the situation. Like the old term "get back on the horse". Do what you feel is right for you and your family but the sooner the better.

 

[robnpat]

Oh, I plan on it, Sgt Chuck! I'm just gonna take a small break, mostly for my wife. I'm off on Monday, so if Tuesday is decent weather-wise, I'll be taking the NC to work (it always starts my day off with a )

 

[Agent]

400 feet??? I know the antilock brakes come into play here, but a Honda Odyssey takes less than 130 feet to stop from 60mph. Joker must have been moving. Golly gee I hope the ditch didn't tear up anything on his car. There has been a rash of stupid taking over lately. I usually can't count on one hand the number of people who run stop signs in front of me or stop and then pull out in front of me each day. Good job keeping an eye on your mirrors.

 

[robnpat]

Agent, not sure his speed, but he wasn't on my tail...and he locked up his brakes (thus the smoke) but I don't know much about ABS and how they work but yeah, scared the heck out of me. If I didn't hear his tires screeching, I wouldn't have looked when I did and probably would have been all over. He exited the ditch not too far from me (I could have literally touch his front bumper) as my NCX was gaining speed; he was still traveling fast OUT of the ditch. In the brief seconds I saw his car travel in the ditch (I was watching it to see what he would do and if my 'plan' was working to get out of his way), I didn't see any damage on the exterior...maybe there might have been underneath, though?

I got a good look at the Camaro (color, looks, etc) so if it is a 'local', I might be able to identify it next time. I've never seen it around before, but I usually get home earlier than that and if he was a state worker, that would have put him going past that point at the same time every day. I'm going to keep a watch out the next few days at about that time this happened to see if he 'shows' up. Not much I can do about it right now, but if he sees me in my driveway watching traffic go by, maybe it will make him think that someone has eyes on him

 

[Hyperborea]

Glad that it all worked out. Your near incident is one of my concerns. You may want to think about more/brighter taillights and turn signals. I run the AdMore light bar on the NC and have the Skeene lights on my wife's CBR250 (we both run the SKeene lights up front). Both give bright braking lights that flash along with a bright turn signal. I also make it a practice to keep checking the mirrors until I know that the traffic behind has stopped/slowed and may repump the brakes to blink the lights if I've been stopped long enough that the auto-blinking stopped.

 

[Ruggybuggy]

I have to make a similar left into work on a busy road. If there is someone behind me I abort my turn and keep going. I make a next right then come back the opposite way to make a right into work. It just not worth taking the chance sitting on the highway and hoping someone will stop.

 

[walawn]

I would cut through the ditch from now on if I were you. Isn't that why we have the NC anyway lol.

 

[MichaelJohn]

400 feet is a very long distance to skid unless it's wet which doesn't look to be the case. It had to have been an older Camaro without ABS and he must have been going 90+ mph to skid that far. I shudder to think of a two-wheeler getting hit by that, even if he was slowing down. What is the speed limit on that road?

Congratulations on avoiding a bad ending!