I wonder if that why the bike has mirrors almost like its something we're supposed to be doing a lot

 

Meh, same ****, different day. We all encounter it whenever we pull out of the driveway. That's just all part of riding. Deal with it and move on.

So, you weren't checking your mirrors the whole time you were sitting there? It might be time for you to take a basic riders course.

 

Last week I ducked out of work to go for a ride and had the crapola scared out of me. It is getting to be a more frequent feeling these days. I've dodged a bullet or two in my time but this one was the height of stupidity on the part of a soccer mom in an SUV.


Driving on a two lane, just doing the speed limit and I see coming towards me a line of half a dozen school buses mixed with a few cars in between several of the buses. I slowed down just in case one of the buses puts on the red overhead lights signaling that were coming to a stop, or one of the cagers pulled out to pass. I check my mirrors frequently and especially if I'm slowing down or doing any change of speed or direction that might surprise someone. The next vehicle behind me was back far enough it shouldn't have been a problem.


Coming towards me, I noticed an ambulance, lights flashing, and sirens blaring, off in the distance. The buses and cagers moved to the right as I moved right as the ambulance comes up the middle. I'm stopped on the side of the road and can't get any farther to the right. Up comes an SUV that isn't slowing down and I've got nowhere to go other than to accelerate and then she was coming so fast I didn't think that would work, so I tried to position myself so that the ambulance, the SUV and I wouldn't be three vehicles across plus the line of traffic on the other side at the same instant.


The ambulance driver was really laying on that super loud horn they have in addition to the siren and as this dumb broad flied past me. I could see the phone in her hand pressed against her ear. She pulled over immediately to catch her breath, still with the phone in her hand, and maybe to say a prayer of thanks that she didn't take me out or hit the ambulance head on.


I rode up beside her and she rolled down her window. She was visibly shaken and I think she said "I'm so sorry" I don't know for sure because I was more focused on yelling at her to "GET OFF THE ****ING PHONE"

 

I agree with you on old people being a major problem as well. I cant believe some of the corpses i see driving. And im not trying to be harsh but my god some of them barley have even any body mass left and you know they cant see worth a sh$t!!! When i was about 6 or 7 years old my mom got rear ended in a parking lot because an old guys oxygen tank tubes got stuck around his leg and foot and he floored the car right into us with me in the back seat!!! Nobody got hurt but the car was done. **** like that happens all the time. And you know dam well they don't see motorcycles half the time! As far as kids go I wont even let my teenage daughter get her drivers license until she pulls her head out of her ***. if she drives now she would probably kill herself or someone else. And im not going too let that happen. I just wish everyone felt the same way and made sure there kids were actually mature enough and actually ready to drive instead of being bullied by there kids to let them do whatever they want. Parents need to start being parents already. That's most of the problem. But in the end like i said before the biggest problem is peoples social lives being there priority with texting,talking, facebook and social apps while driving instead of actually watching the road.

 

Back in the 70's on the 405 in stop and go traffic, I was hit from behind by a pickup, after crawling out from under the radiator and some help from another driver to remove the 650 Trophy, the Pickup sped away.

No Cell Phones in the 70's, just distracted drivers and, well, you get the idea.

Glad you and the young lady are ok.

 

I don't need to take the basic rider class again. Like I said in my post, I was in a car. It was a high volume road, and I would have caused an accident if I tried to abruptly move into the right lane when I heard the screeching tires.


For those who haven't experienced it, driving in the DC area is just different.


I am vigilant in using the mirror in both my car and on my bike.

 

Texting idiots coming head on and weaving in my lane, texting idiots traveling the same direction as me merging into my lane. The texting distraction problem is becoming epidemic.

Texting distractions is now responsible for causing more accidents than DWI's and yet the political loons still have their heads in the sand.

 

The only correct answer is "Shoot the guy in the dump truck."

 

And then... but there was a... outta nowhere...

Dude, you avatar is waaay too distracting!

 

Last week a local 18 year old said something original after rear ending a stopped motorcycle, "I couldn't find the brake pedal".