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Old Apr 13, 2009 | 04:57 AM
  #17 (permalink)  
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dkutin
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Holy shit bro! The click was probably your peg flipping up when it clipped his bumper or whatever your foot clipped. Talk about a wake up call though! I had a couple close calls, well, not that close, but I try to learn from each one. Great job not panicking and locking up both tires. You certainly would have been really late for class had you slid under the car instead of kept it on two.

This is one of the most common types of scenarios I have run across paying attention to accident reports, rider down threads, close call threads, etc. Lead car screens the bike and then a car either pulls out or turns left to follow the turning car, right in front of the bike!

Strategies for avoiding this type of scenario:

1) Try to move to the left and/or right side of the lane behind the car that is turning to make yourself visible to any cars that may think it is clear after the car that is screening you turns (defeat the screen).

2) Increase following distance to ensure you have enough time to swerve or stop if some idiot doesn't see you anyway and pulls out.

I'm always trying to improve defensive riding techniques to minimize these types of scenarios, but sometimes there is still just nothing you can do. Try to learn from each close call so you can avoid the same type of scenario in the future.
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