Why I Wear a Camera

[SilveradoTX]

This past weekend (1/11-1/13) I made a trip from DFW to San Antonio and back. I'll spare you the story of the four hours on the return trip that were spent below freezing. That being said, the trip down to San Antonio on Friday was absolutely gorgeous. Minus the headwind, I couldn't have asked for a better day to ride.

This is how my trip started out, though.

I was merging from the frontage road to 190, once on 190 I needed to move one lane over to set up for 75 south. No big deal. There was little traffic, checked lanes a couple times and moved over into the lane I needed. About the time I'm in the middle of the lane I notice the front tire of the car next to me drift over (seen that plenty of times) but they kept coming, so I start to shift right and revved my engine to no response. Now on the line, I laid on the horn as the lady passed me. I was on the horn from the time I shifted till she completely passed me. I looked at her in the car and she never once looked around. Hands on the wheel, eyes forward, stiff.
I don't blame her because she was female... I've had an equal amount of completely ignorant, unobservant and oblivious male drivers do the same.

This is the reason why I ride defensively, allow room, am always watching, thinking about scenarios and wear my gear with a GoPro on my helmet. I've caught a few drivers cutting me off or pulling out in front of me, but nothing too terribly bad. I've looked square in the eyes of several drivers without them ever noticing me.

I could continue and probably turn this into a rant, but I know probably every single one of us has had this or something similar happen way more than once. I just wanted to share this one since it was documented.

 

[snrusnak]

Nice Caddy

 

[Zeroflat24]

People are ******* idiots man. Would be nice if you could carry a back pack full of hammers and just start throwing when people act like idiots.

 

[snrusnak]

lol that'd be a heavy back pack!

How about pennies...

 

[HMTRAN]

Yup, it's always a good idea to have a helmet camera of some sorts. I'm currently still being billed and sued by the other party after my accident. Luckily I had my helmet camera rolling at the time of the accident and I'm just waiting for my insurance and attorney to sort this all out in court with the other party. If I didn't have my helmet camera rolling, I'd be completely screwed right now because it really seems that I hit the other guy. But with the video, you clearly notice that he came out of nowhere and sideswiped the **** out of me. My brother had an accident last year and is still going through the lawsuit. He was t-boned by a commercial truck, and since it's a commercial company they do not want to claim fault and they are suing trying to sue him still. He didn't have a helmet camera so it's proving to be a very difficult case for him.

Nice move on the defensive riding though bro. Stay frosty and keep the rubber side down

 

[Semperfi]

How about pennies...

Actually I've given this serious thought and I've come up with the ultimate solution: nuts. Peanuts, almonds, cashews, whatever. Just have a little bag of them at the ready and chuck handfuls of them at cagers. You won't damage their car, but they will think you did.

"You wanna cut me off? Well eat my nuts *********!"

 

[snrusnak]

Actually I've given this serious thought and I've come up with the ultimate solution: nuts. Peanuts, almonds, cashews, whatever. Just have a little bag of them at the ready and chuck handfuls of them at cagers. You won't damage their car, but they will think you did.

"You wanna cut me off? Well eat my nuts *********!"

LOL that's a good idea, however I wouldn't make it to the end of my street before I ate all the nuts

 

[Loki]

I wouldve given her car the good ole boot check!

 

[DrogeN Omen]

i've been thinking of zip tying a spray can of CRC or WD40 to the side of my bike and if someone did that to me i would race in front of them and spray swhit so it stuck to their windscreen...

that would slow them down... they would need to pull over and clean that sh*t...

 

[greasyxb9s]

I've heard of guys carrying few ball bearings in their pockets..... use your imagination lmao

 

[BuellyBagger]

ive considered bending fuel doors foward or knocking mirrors off...

 

[P3_techman]

I just got a GoPro at least 60% for this reason. Hopefully I never have to use the footage to defend myself though.

 

[Zeroflat24]

LOL that's a good idea, however I wouldn't make it to the end of my street before I ate all the nuts

hahaha

 

[rah7777777]

Glad your all right!!
People are stupid!!

 

[squidbuellie]

I hope you don't take this to personal, i don't know you and your probably a good guy but.....your a rub that should not ride a motorcycle if your going to continue to ride like you want to get hit.

I'm in the middle of the lane I notice the front tire of the car next to me drift over (seen that plenty of times) but they kept coming, so I start to shift right and revved my engine to no response. Now on the line, I laid on the horn as the lady passed me. I was on the horn from the time I shifted till she completely passed me. I looked at her in the car and she never once looked around. Hands on the wheel, eyes forward, stiff.

Why the hell would not just speed up? Instead of hoping that your seen. You are in turn, trying to cause a accident....
What if the lady did notice you 2/3 of the way in your lane and panicked and jerked the wheel, loss control, side swiped a car and spun back at you while you are revving and honking your horn acting a fool?

Don't be so warped up in yourself....just speed up and give them the bird.
you should know the difference between right and wrong, and alive and dead.

And just so I'm clear, yes she was wrong but......
we have all merged into another lane and cut off someone one time or another by accident.

 

[SilveradoTX]

I hope you don't take this to personal, i don't know you and your probably a good guy but.....your a rub that should not ride a motorcycle if your going to continue to ride like you want to get hit.

No hard feelings. But I definitely don't ride like I want to get hit. I don't know anyone that rides like they want to get hit.

Don't be so warped up in yourself....just speed up and give them the bird.
you should know the difference between right and wrong, and alive and dead.

I've never flipped anyone off, but I have definitely sped up to get out of the way of my share of merging vehicles. There have been plenty situations where I don't have room to speed up and the only option is to slow down and let the driver go. You have to make a judgement call at a certain point (knowing your surroundings, traffic conditions, road conditions, your bike and your skill level, etc.) to either speed up and get out of the way or slow down and get out of the way. The light goes yellow... speed up or slow down?
I've had to honk the horn on my car to make my presence known when people try to merge into my lane, and a Volvo 240 doesn't have the power to just speed up out of the way.

And for the record, I have had a car spin out next to me at 70mph while riding my motorcycle.

 

[thewanmanrules]

The big thing that we all can learn from this... As a motorcyclist we all must share the road with what we sometimes call iditos, ********, etc...We must always ride defensively... Trust me, when a bike wants to challenge a car, 99% of time the bike will loose... When in doubt, remove yourself from the situation... That is what that thing in your right hand is for...
The idea of riding with your camera is excellent. Video and pictures will always come in handy..

BTW, lets all take a day and really think about safety...

Sorry for the rant...