Take a look at this video. Besides the obvious, can you identify a major contributing factor?
I’ll give you a hint, it won’t be there when the police arrive to investigate and it is one every motorcyclist must learn to identify as a hazard!
I’ll let this go for a couple of days and share my comment on it.
Update 9/22/09
There are two distinct hazards the motorcyclist must learn to identify in this scenario.
- Car stopped along the roadway
- Car angled to enter into traffic
A car stopped along the road creates a hazard in several ways:
- View obstruction for the motorcyclist
- View obstruction for traffic on the opposite side
- Vehicles approaching leaving their lane to overatake (often over compensating, swinging wide into the opposing lane)
Cars that are in a position to enter a roadway with their front not perpendicular with the road edge, in other words angled in favor of the direction they wish to turn, create an ‘A’ pillar and sometimes a ‘B’ pillar blindspot.
This usually means within a split second of obscurement, the driver will decide to pull out; creating an unanticipated event, which we have discussed in previous posts can mean up to 1.6 seconds of reaction time.
In the video, notice the driver entering traffic saw the bicyclist approaching from the left and noticed the two vehicles approaching from the right but completely lost the motorcycle.
You can also see vehicles approaching the stopped vehicle on the road were swinging around the vehicle.
When you see this situation unfolding in your riding, you must make adjustments. The car will be at fault for failure to yield but what comfort does that offer you while you are laid up in the hospital.
What are some actions the cyclist could have taken:
- Decrease speed
- Downshift to an appropriate responsive gear
- Long horn blast
- Avoid selecting a path directly inline from a vehicles ‘A’ pillar blindspot
Be careful out there!
2 responses so far ↓
Bradley // 09/16/2009 at 2:10 am
My observation is of the car (at the top of the screen, flashers on) pulled over on the side of the road looks like it may be a letter carrier.
Any car pulled over on the side of the road is a hazard, not only creating a visual block for other drivers but should be approached with caution and given a wide berth. You never know if they are going to open their door, pull out, make a U-turn, if children/pedestrians are present, if the car is leaking fliuds into the road or any number of things. This time it was blocking the view of a car pulling out into traffic.
Alex // 09/16/2009 at 12:17 pm
Lighting. Strong, low early morning or late afternoon light in the eyes of the motorcyclist could have caused the cyclist to not see the potential hazard of a car pulling out.