Carpool lane insurgents almost killed me.

[vonlyf]

There I am on Valentines day cruising from the 92 onto the 880N and merging into the carpool lane at about 50 mph... it WAS clear but WHOAH... some ass ALONE in a silver bullet car is now bearing down on me trying to beat me in the carpool lane.

He had come from the "legal" lane and was making time around the clog in front.

TOO LATE for me, cause instead of blending nicely into the CP lane I am now forced to swerve sharply back into 2nd. lane from median WHICH HAS STOPPED and WHAM...right into the back of a purple honda.

The bike (Silverwing scooter) went ass up to about 45° and tried to eject me over the bars and car I hit but my hips and groin hit the steering mass and, well, stopped me cold.

In either that action or hitting the ground from 6' in the air I broke my pelvic bone in 5 places, my pubic bone (stop gigglinig it AIN't funny) my coccyx and some other shit, including soft tissue damage that, 8 weeks on is totally a pain to deal with.

CHP Said I was going too fast for conditions, I countered that merging into the CP lane at 25 miles an hour was suicide and he simply stood up and pointed at me and said... "What's this then?"

... sigh...

it really took the steam out of me, I had major balls on bay area freeways, the insurance adjuster who declared the bike totalled told me he'd never seen a scooter with that many miles on it (enough to deduct $2500 from the insurance settlement) and I told him of driving for 3 years daily from here to SJ and back.

Anyway, I think I've had it with Bay Area freeways, there are simply too many really dangerous idiots out there and I do really love my life after all!

I have ridden for over 40 years and this is the worst crack up I've had. Only one other (before helmet laws) was more scary when my head wound up under the wheel of a Samuai!

Watch Yer Six... that is where danger lies!

[masameet]

Are you able to sit on a bike still or is it too painful?

[vonlyf]

Have not tried sittin on a Bike again, spreading my legs enough to get on is painful. It will be probably june or so before I even think about it. Thanks...

[RhythmRider]

Here's the way I read the situation: Someone is coming up fast on your six, and you're going 25 mph faster than the traffic next to you. The speed difference is too great to change lanes. The driver behind you probably sees you, but you can't be sure. That leaves you with a few options. The first is try to change lanes before you get run over, and pray that your brakes can stop you. That's the one I think that you did, and I guess the brakes couldn't stop you in time.

The 2nd option would be to hope that he sees you and slow down to make a safe lane change. Tapping your brake light would help warn him that you're stopping, and straddling the botts dots would encourage him to share the lane past you instead of running you over.

The 3rd option that I can think of would be to go faster until you hit some traffic and then change lanes. I'm not sure how fast the guy was going or how fast your scooter can go, though. The GSX-R would've eaten that douche for breakfast, but I don't know about your scooter.

Either way you're in danger, but I would've definitely reacted differently than you did. Sounds like the situation really caught you off your guard.

[vonlyf]

OK a couple of things about your options...

1. I was going with traffic... 50 mph, blending left
2. The silver car was NOT in the carpool lane but 1 second later, I saw him pull into it from traffic behind which was moving probably 65.
3. When he saw me heading into the CP lane, which is just where I saw him, he was doing +/- 70... but his front end CAME UP as he rammed the throttle down. He obviously wanted to beat me, and had a 20 MPH
advantage on me and was accelerating still.
4. I was watching my ass, not my front. That was probably my worst error. The 50 mph traffic kept up ALL EXCEPT FOR the 2nd lane over, where I wound up, which had stopped. If I had been watching the front better and concerned less with merging into the carpool lane, I could have either slowed in time or changed lanes RIGHT to #3 and then moved back over when it was safe.
5. My FSC-600, while a scooter, has virtually beaten every car stupid enough to put me on or make me proove it. I just plain did not have room to gun it.

When I looked back forward, the stopped car was about 40 feet in front of me... and again I'm doing 50 or so. Just no room. BANG.

[vonlyf]

...and just so you all know, you relive this crap OVER and OVER and OVER in your head, like you can some how correct the fuck up and be OK again.

It's like shell shock or Delayed Stress Syndrome. I still see that fucking bumper coming at me like a fast ball at candlestick!

[edmo]

Damn that sucks terribly. Heal up and good luck.

[PorradaVFR]

ow...sucks but be glad you're to tell the tale. Cop sounds really sympathetic.

[Z3n]

Sorry to hear about your accident...here's my question:

Whenever i'm in situations like that, my immediate response is to attempt to split lanes. From what you're saying, the car was...in front of you and swerved out in front of you? Couldn't you have just stayed in your lane? Or was he coming up behind you at +20mph? In which case, wouldn't it be the best idea to get on the gas and try and get out of his way? I have no idea what kind of pickup your scooter is going to have.

Hope you heal up quickly!

[vonlyf]

Let's chalk it all up to this... 40 years of riding, at times daily for months or years on end... I've dodged trucks, sports cars, guys eating with chopsticks, and I really think, eventually, there is a bumper with ALL our names on it. I just had a brain fart at the worst possible moment, couldn't get out no matter what I did and had to eat it. Believe me, if ever there was a rider who felt himself "above" getting whacked it was me... but bravado eventually gets it—like the proverbial gunfighter— by somebody you never even saw. I appreciate all of your comments, but my days of riding Bay Area freeways are over. Just over.

[slydrite]

no way to split lanes, instead of making your lane change?

anyway that you over reacted to the dude by going all the way into the other lane and into the back of the car in the #2 lane?

to me, a good offense is always the best defense and I don't feel comfortable riding something without the abilty to accelerate quickly while already at freeway speed...

btw, I know it's easy to second guess, I'm just throwing that out there as an alternate perspective.....

[vonlyf]

POSSIBLY I could have split and made it... but splitting
from 50 miles an hour between stopped traffic while dodging a car literally going fast enough to sway me when he went past... well, I just couldn't adjust that quickly. If he had hit me at all, even a swipe, he was going fast enough (and still flooring it) to spin me right off the bike. I again reply, brain fart and just too much obsession with the CP lane.

[Dopesick]

I hope all is well for you, but NEXT time think of this.

IF YOU rear end someone it's YOUR fault. You'd have come out a hell of a lot better had the dude hit you at what would have been a 15 mph impact, not 25+ (your speed difference at time of impact to honda).

[rritterson]

I've been on that section of freeway before, but I can't picture it in my head. Does it have a shoulder lane on the inside, to the left of lane #1?

It might have been possible to escape into that space and let the car behind you pass by, then make it back on to the road.

It sounds like you had the misfortune of multiple things happening at once to put you in a bad place.

[vonlyf]

Exactly Ryan, like the odds just ran out. As for letting myself be hit at 50 mph in the carpool lane and then eaten up by following cars? Gee thanks Dopesick, but no.

[Mad Gnome]

Sorry to hear that. Gotta watch out for Osama Bin Carpoolin- he is out to get you. Tough way to end your two wheeled commuting. Give a :twofinger next time you are stuck in your cage, in traffic, in the heat and someone comes lane splitting by- or at least make room.

You could always get a new bike once you are back in one piece - just for weekends - of course...


heal well and beware of HMOs!:teeth

[vonlyf]

Already lusting after a new bike. Geeze what masochism eh? Still can't walk right and I am planning my next big ride!!! thanks Mad... yes, HMO"s suck.

[vonlyf]

... but the Bay Area freeways can just eat it without me!! lol See you on the backroads!

[Flimsy Slowham]

Right on, Vonlyf! Reading every post in this thread, I was very pleased to see your last entry to discover you're not giving up the sport entirely.

I commute from Bonny Doon (north of Santa Cruz, in the mountains) to Salinas via Hwy 1, through Prunedale (Prunetucky), 101 South to John Street exit in Salinas...49 miles each way, and I deal with every kind of asshole on my way: students and commuters who cut every fuckin turn on the Smith Grade/Empire Grade portion of my ride, clueless tourists and yet-to-wake-up commuters on hwy 1 southbound, lettuce trucks and school buses full of migrant workers spewing clouds of black smoke out their asses through Prunedale or Castroville, Hispanic chicks riding my ass while driving their 1984 Honda Accords WAY faster than the balloon tires they have should warrant (sorry, but it's true), and Salinas gang-bangers in their fuckin' dumped Dinali's and Excursions, taking whatever lane they feel like, whenever they feel like.

I know we all have our own versions of this shit, but the goal in commuting on the bike was to save time, save gas, and have fun. Well, I either need to give it up or do a huge bong-hit before heading out in the morning, because my blood pressure has jumped significantly over the last couple years of doing this ride.

I don't want to relegate myself to weekends-only, as riding every day keeps my skills sharp. Maybe if I win the lottery I can give up the street and keep it on the track. Until then, I'll keep my eyes open, my speed down and my fingers crossed...

[vonlyf]

Hey Atomic...

How high is the pile of dead kitties now?

vonlyf

[Flimsy Slowham]

They're about to be added to the official "endangered species" list! Ah well, I'm a dog guy anyway...:laughing

[RhythmRider]

Originally posted by Dopesick
I hope all is well for you, but NEXT time think of this.

IF YOU rear end someone it's YOUR fault. You'd have come out a hell of a lot better had the dude hit you at what would have been a 15 mph impact, not 25+ (your speed difference at time of impact to honda).
Dude... given the situation, the last thing I would be thinking about is whose fault it would be. The final calculation would naturally be a decision based on the probability of injury and how bad it would be. You can assess blame after you make it out alive.

[smm]

I had a similar experience (near miss fortunately) where 101 merges into 280S in the city. It is a three way merge and the righthand lanes are usually stop and go as people are trying to get on or off the freeway. And there are some potholes... Anyway, I usually try and work left as rapidly as possible.

On this particular occasion, the car behind me crossed the solid white and gassed it just as I merged left so I had a tailgater behind me and stop and go coming up rapidly. I hurried the merge to the next lane left and just as I crossed the dots my last look in the rearview showed the grill of a minivan closing fast. It was "merging," really just sort of driving diagonally across traffic about 20 mph faster. Crossed about 10 feet in front of me and dove for the Alemany exit.

My take-away from the experience was always to drive in the lane that you're in and never to hurry lange changes. The tailgater was a managable problem (leave extra room in front) and trying to resolve it by a quick lane change in an area where the left lane traffic might be going 30mph faster than the right assumed more risk than it avoided.

Hope you heal up and get back out there.

[vonlyf]

Good Advice SMM... thanks.

[plambert]

yeah, these situations always scare me on the freeway, where there is a messy merge, or traffic starting to slow down, anywhere where there is large speed differentials between lanes and people are lane-changing all over the place ...

I never know whether to be more scared of what's behind me (car you see coming up too fast) or in front of me (cars braking and diving between lanes, etc.)

I guess the solution is probably to just be a little more patient, and know when to stay put, instead of constantly looking for ways to beat the traffic (at least this is what I am trying to tell myself lately ...)

[Flimsy Slowham]

"I guess the solution is probably to just be a little more patient, and know when to stay put, instead of constantly looking for ways to beat the traffic "

Well, constantly looking for ESCAPE routes from said traffic is a great idea, as is being patient. Think in terms of how to stay alive, and you'll inevitably beat traffic. Staying put could be a disaster.

Always be scanning traffic (well up ahead especially), always be adjusting your motorbike's placement in said traffic to provide the safest and most visible space you can be in, and stay calm. I find that if I position myself between the 'pockets' of traffic by making constant (but often minor) adjustments to my speed, I can cusion myself from all the cages.

If we're talking about major conjestion (which I know is what this thread is talking about), being a consistent, thoughful, visible, predictable rider will go along way with cagers. Being a darty, jack-rabbit, irratic rider will just piss them off, not to mention will give them less time to see you. My cardinal rule--if I can see the cage driver in their side-mirror, they can see me (if they're looking). At least once a day during my commute I make eye contact via cager's side-mirrors with a driver that was looking to swoop my lane--they see me approaching, if I can sense they're waiting for me to pass before taking my lane I'll accelerate through (if it doesn't put me too close to the next car in front of me), otherwise I'll throttle back a bit to give them the lane. In a matter of seconds, traffic will shift again, and I'll have a path around and through that segment of conjestion, usually leaving that car that just took my lane behind me. It's all about patience...

[Ironbutt]

yeoch.. dammit.. that sucks.. No bumping uglies anytime soon huh?


Heal soon..

[vonlyf]

Leaving room in front and on all sides IS solid advice. I have done that for years, except in situations where my evil side takes over and I get agressive. Lane Splitting is what scooters are made for, having no leg exposure to fear getting whacked... and in those situations It's really easy to get surprised, overlooked and killed. I knew this but did it for 10+ years. Now I think I have even lost my nerve for that. I keep seeing that stinking bumper heading at me at a blur.... shudder.

I may actually move from the Bay Area to someplace safer and FUNNER to ride in. I can't quit lusting after the road and the bugs in my teeth. (!)

[vonlyf]

Ironbutt...and as to the bumping uglies, that was a band from LA that my friend was part of. Did you ever see em? They were pretty cool, kind of Knitters like.

[NeeNee]

Ok...so I didn't plan on going on the freeways anytime soon .....on my bike anyway....I think it could be a hell of a lot longer now!! Backroads are a wonderful thing!!!
I am SO glad to read that you're just giving up the not-so-freeways and not riding all together......

Heal well!!!

[Aluisious]

I'm with you on the Bay Area freeways and commuting thing. I tried commuting on a bike before someone pulled out in front of me in the carpool lane and slammed on their brakes despite no car being in front of them (before they cut me off I had hundreds of feet to the next car).

I think I locked my rear wheel while braking, because I ended up sliding to a stop behind this clown at about a 20 degree angle. I had to turn right just to start going straight again when he drove off. I have no idea why someone would pull into the carpool lane and suddenly brake for no reason, except that maybe he really, really hates motorcyclists.

There's just something about commuter lanes and heavy traffic that brings out the maniac in some people.

[Climber]

Originally posted by vonlyf
Leaving room in front and on all sides IS solid advice. I have done that for years, except in situations where my evil side takes over and I get agressive. Lane Splitting is what scooters are made for, having no leg exposure to fear getting whacked... and in those situations It's really easy to get surprised, overlooked and killed. I knew this but did it for 10+ years. Now I think I have even lost my nerve for that. I keep seeing that stinking bumper heading at me at a blur.... shudder.

I may actually move from the Bay Area to someplace safer and FUNNER to ride in. I can't quit lusting after the road and the bugs in my teeth. (!)
I would argue that scooters are not suitable for lane sharing, at least from my perspective. My most valuable asset while lane sharing is my brakes and my maneuverability. The scooter IMHO is lacking (in comparison to a modern sportbike) in both aspects.

You shouldn't beat yourself up over this (easier said than done), you did what you did based upon everything that you had done and learned up to that point. All that you can do at this point is to think it all through and figure out how you could give yourself the best odds for a better outcome if you ever encounter this setup again (and this may or may not include habits that may give you sooner detection of someone doing something like the aggressive driver) then move on. You can't change the past but you can effect the future.

[vonlyf]

Hi my scooter was an FSC-600 from honda. I can't see anything ( having ridden sport bikes for years ) that a modern sport bike would have done for me EXCEPT possibly having magnum sized brakes. In fact, the scooter, being very ass heavy, probably kept itself from going all the way over onto the car (and me) so maybe I WAS better of on a scoot. Anyway, if you pay $15K for a super BMW or other creme bike you might indeed get far better brakes. My scooter was $7400 and the wheels did lock up. ~ sigh ~

[Climber]

Sorry, I wish I could find conclusive data to back up what I believe but couldn't, I simply cannot believe that a scooter (even a capable one like yours) could even come close to matching the stopping distance of a recent model sportbike.

This isn't aimed at you, but I always cringe when I see scooters riding 3 feet off the bumpers of cars at highway speeds :wow or splitting at speeds that would be unsafe on an 07 gsxr!

[vonlyf]

All I can say is ride an FSC 600 or a Bergman or the new Yamaha Scooter and you'll see what I mean. They are not your grandma's friggin vespa anymore.

My brake rotors were at least 10" and did an amazing job, but as I said, DID lock up, which I have seen countless sportbikes do as well, after riding all the miles I did.

Anyway, no offense taken but us scooter people get damned tired of being talked down to. Who wouldn't!

Yes, sportbikes have "better" brakes... and that's not all! My scoot weighed in at 475 lbs and had a trunk, glove compartments, big windshield, a full camera outfit in the trunk and as well my work bag with all kinds of crap.... in short weighing about twice what your average sport bike does. That is certainly a factor in stopping distance is it not?

I did not ride a sportbike 49,000 miles in the last 3 years because I needed a functional work vehicle, and I rode Oakland <> Los Gatos every friggin day, so I think I know a bit about lane splitting, SON. (!)

*grins*

Listen to your elders here... EVEN A SPORTBIKE WILL KILL YOU if you are not 110% ON IT. I was NOT that day and that, ultimatly is my fault, not the bikes. (That's why riding "buzzed" is totally stupid, tho I have done that too, riding 50+ Miles at night drunk and then falling over in my garage.)

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts, always appreciated. Ride like everyone on the road is your assasin, cause they are!