Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: laying down a motorcycle to avoid collision, accident avoidance, crescent wrench


Question
ninja
ninja  
QUESTION: Vehicle(v1)turning left in centre turn lane - Motorcycle (m2)  behind truck (v2).  Motorcycle skids 10 feet then slides 20 feet into vehicle (v1) turning left and impacts v1 behind the front passenger wheel at the passenger door.  v1 did not see m2 due to v2.  v1 was traveling at 13 mph through the turn.  prior speeds were marked on v1 at 22, 18, 15, and 13 mph at 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 seconds prior to impact.  m2 was 118 mg/dl v1 was .12 bac.  basically equally intoxicated.  1 a.m., low lighting, light traffic 3 lanes north, 3 lanes south, center turn lane. m2 was in the inside lane going north.  v1 was in the center turn lane going south.  m2 black 08 Ninja EX250j.  It had a lowering device - looks like a crescent wrench.  Notwithstanding the intoxication factor - could this accident have been prevented?  What is the "3 second rule"  as in following distance....   What about the laying down of the m2 after a 10 foot skid instead of veering left to avoid the impact.   I don't know motorcycle safety or accident avoidance procedures.  Thank you.

ANSWER: Far better men than I have written VOLUMES on this subject. I'll try to be concise.

Yes, this could have been avoided. An average rider with modest skills should be able to stop a bike traveling 20 mph in 23 feet or less without skidding or falling down.

The secret is in understanding two concepts: traction management and modulating the brakes.

Traction management is the knowledge that a motorcycle has limited traction available. Well duh. But the fact is a motorcycle, in an emergency, only has enough traction available to swerve OR brake. It cannot do both fully. The rider has to decide: swerve or brake? Because leaving that decision up to the last minute is a recipe for disaster, the best bet is to plan to brake for every emergency. Braking slows the rate of your approach, and buys time and space for the hazard to clear or for the rider to formulate an escape plan. Coming to a stop or crawl, even when a hazard is persistent and will not clear out, virtually eliminates its potential to do serious damage at all. So: when in doubt, brake in a straight line.

Modulating the brakes: simple to say, but it requires a bit of training and practice. When faced with an emergency, an untrained rider instinctively GRABS the front brake and/or STOMPS on the rear brake. This rarely ends well. The best technique is to firmly and progressively SQUEEZE the front brake, like squeezing the juice from an orange, while pressing the rear brake with gradually DECREASING pressure (using your TOE, not your FOOT).

I understand this is a lot to swallow. The best bet is to take a motorcycle training class (BRC, BRT, ERC, or IRT in the United States) to get some instruction and practice in the technique. You can also study the concepts online (at excellent sites such as msgroup.org) or get it from a book (such as Proficient Motorcycling, the MSF Guide to Motorcycling Excellence, or my own book Maximum Control) and practice on your own. In those books you'll also learn LOTS about following distance and the three-second rule.

Cheers, and safe travels. I'm glad you're still with us and interested in learning the RIGHT way.

Pat



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The speed limit on this roadway is 40 mph.  How many feet would it have taken for m1 to swerve left to avoid the oncoming v1 turning left in front of m1?  As opposed to the braking procedures you mentioned above.  Some say there is no 3 second rule.  Can you expand on that?

Answer
It is difficult if not impossible to say how many feet it would have taken to swerve. It relies on the attentiveness of the rider, the skill of the rider, the amount of lateral movement required to clear the hazard, the degree to which the rider applies pressure to countersteer, and the choice of escape route and new path of travel. I'd hazard a guess of at least 60 feet (two seconds' distance at 40 mph).

"Three second rule" is very simple. You don't follow another vehicle any closer than at three seconds' distance. It used to be two, lately the recommendation is three under good conditions, four or more seconds under poor conditions. In the old days it used to be counted in car lengths (measured distance) but the space needed changes with changes in speed.

For example, a vehicle traveling 60 mph covers 88 feet per second, or 264 feet in three seconds. But at 30 mph a vehicle travels 44 feet per second. Do you need 264 feet of following distance at 30 mph? No, you need half that, 132 feet.

Hope that helps.

Pat