Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: Braking Distance for Motorcycle, stop, distance

Question
Pat,

Unfortunately, I was recently in a motorcycle accident with my girlfriend as a passenger.  Our motorcycle was a 2005 HD Electra Glide without ABS.

The police report indicates our HD could have stopped in a much shorter distance (90 ft)than our skid marks did before collision (164 ft).  Brakes and tires were less than 6 months old and the road wasn't wet.

We went down before a collision with the illegal turning large truck that blocked both of our lanes, but the police report indicates I am at fault because I could have stopped sooner.  If I used front and rear brakes and my skid marks were as long as they were, how could I have stopped sooner.  Swerving to avoid was not an option because of curb right, truck blocking both lanes and oncoming traffic in oncoming lanes.

With what data can I demonstrate that I utilized what I could and didn't have time to fully stop?  Pending charges against me make this a higher priority than my own recovery.  In 45 years of life, I've never been charged with a crime or caused a vehicle accident  

My girlfriend's recovery is the very most important thing to me.

Thank You

Answer
Hi Dan,

I am sorry to hear about your crash. I'm also a bit incensed that the law would decide you were at fault, when someone else violated your right of way and caused a crash situation.

I'm not skilled in reconstruction, so I can't tell you whether or not you really could have stopped in 90 feet. It depends on the speed you were traveling. There are informal braking standards out there (magazine comparisons) that show braking distance for specific bikes at certain speeds, but those do not include the lag time between identifying the hazard and applying the brakes, which is at least 1-2 seconds--at 60 mph, that's 44-88 feet!

Further, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation identifies three components of total stopping distance: perception distance, reaction distance, and braking distance. I estimate that an alert rider would use up 1/3 to 1/2 of their braking distance simply in perception and reaction time. On the basic rider course skill evaluation for braking, which doesn't include perception and reaction distance, the standard for 20 mph is 20 feet. But distance increases exponentially with speed:

My ballpark guess based on what I know about MSF curriculum is that at 40 mph, a bike should be able to stop in about 80 feet. At 60, a bike should be able to stop in about 160 feet. Expert braking technique would make these distances lower, maybe 60 feet and 120 feet, respectively. But they still don't include perception time and distance.

Unfortunately, locking the brakes is not expert technique. A bike will stop a lot faster with it's wheels rolling than locked and skidding. A skid mark, especially on the front, is a sign of someone who hasn't been trained to use their brakes properly. The front brake, squeezed firmly and progressively, harder and harder until the bike comes to a stop, will generate 70-80% of the stopping power on your HD. It sounds like you grabbed the front brake, stomped the rear brake, and locked both of them up. If you decide to ride again, I recommend taking an MSF basic or experienced rider course and get some training in maximum braking, swerving, countersteering, counterweighting, and cornering.

However, none of this stuff matters now. What matters now is that you're being blamed for someone else's mistake. What kind of lunkhead ignores a right of way violation and charges someone else with a failure to stop? I could see both of you being charged, but not just you. That's BS. Unless that cop that wrote the citation is an expert motorcycle reconstructionist, and has research and data that says specifically that your bike could have stopped in 90 feet, he's got no ground to stand on. A lawyer should be able to put that guy on the stand and make a monkey out of him. Or her.

Pat