Great posts guys, thanks. A lot of comments on the space in front, we had plenty of space between us and the car in front for just about any emergency. While I agree we needed more space, people were jumping in from the right lane because we had so much space.

The reason my buddy over reacted was from the debree coming at us, not the car in front of us. In fact, I think my buddy probably caused the wreck. If he had done what the car in front of us had done and just drive through the debree best as possible, the driver behind us would likely not hit us.

But, I'm not so sure about the same situation on a bike. I guess we could have gone 20 mph slower and stayed in the right lane, but I'm one of those riders who likes to go faster than traffic so I don't have to worry about behind me. I am also one who slows down to get more space between me and the guy in front, but as I said, that didn't work in this case because cars in the right lane jumped into our space to get around the trucks.

I kinda think the better idea (if I were on a bike) would be to just pull off the highway and let the whole thing go by. That isn't my nature, but I can't see a better option on a bike. I like the idea of lane splitting, but this is one case where that was a bad idea because cars were swerving all over thier lanes trying to dodge the pallet. I think the blessing, if there is one, is the two cars ahead of us broke up the pallet enough to not damage the corvette when we ran over it. I only say that because we can't find any damage.

One final thought: My buddy is a pretty good motorcycle rider, he average 25000 miles a year. But I have found myself frustrated with him because he tends to let the cruise control his speed and ignore everyone else around him. I hate blocking faster traffic because they tend to get too close and he has more once force me to block traffic as he passed traffic. I have got into the habit of letting him pass the slower traffic before I change lanes to do the same pass myself. I'm not sure I would have been with him in that situation. I might have been the one calling his wife. Who knows, but I will certainly be thinking about it more.

Again thanks guys, I am very interested in your perspectives.

Beary

 

I drove form MN to Waco TX this past weekend for a family wedding. Good idea from a weather standpoint to take the Vette.

But, that stretch of I35 from OK City to Dallas was the craziest stretch of road I have ever driven. Friday morning we lift OK City, at any time there were twenty or more cars across both lanes driving at 90+ mph with everybody three feet of the other guys bumper. No body signals a lane change, and speaking of lane changes I have never seen so many. Seriously I had to check more than once to see that my Impala didn't have a NASCAR number on my hood. I understand there was a Sooner game down at Texas Saturday. But boy you Sooners drive like freaking crazy. Guess what, driving the same road back north on Sunday it was no different. Sooners going back home I guess.

Glad you are okay.

 

Yes, we Oklahomans (not snooners, I graduated OSU) learned a long long time ago to not travel I35 on the TX/OU weekend. In fact we waited until late sunday to come home so we would miss most of the OU traffic. They lost, so they were not in a good mood. Oklahoma rebuilt most of I35 from Texas to Oklahoma City in the last 25 years and for the life of me I don't know why they didn't add more lanes when the did it.

Beary

 

My vote is what many have said: you can't control the traffic behind you so you need more room in front. If someone is tailgating you can't brake hard- so the only way out is to leave room. My opinion is three things put everyone in danger -the first is ALWAYS #1 -Too close, too fast, too distracted. Too close is always number one because of one simple fact - you can't hit anything until you're too close to it.

 

No offense to you at all --but these are your own words, then you said "we had plenty of space between us and the car in front for just about any emergency". Both can't be true. Glad you weren't hurt or there on your bikes. Ride safe

 

Well since we couldn't get any more space in front, we should have stayed in the right lane or just got off the highway. I can see that.

Beary

 

Yes yes yes. I can't tell you how many times I have stayed in the slow right lane and just let folks play their dangerous silly little games in the "fast" passing lane.

That WAS the answer. That or just pull over and outwait the morons.

I have done BOTH.

Sorry you were subjected to this craziness. But I hope to see you out there safe and sound on the road. That will be ME sitting off the shoulder looking at the crazies go by. Come join me for a chat...

 

"What if" scenarios NEVER work...

If any single thing had changed, so would everything else on the trip beyond that point. You may have never even been near that convoy, or you could have been in front of it watching it in your rear view mirror. I doubt anything would have come close to being just as it was, as you chose to proceed on your trip...

 

I think that technically you guys were right, having enough space in front of you to stop. That means you can stop as soon as you see a standing object, before the object.
Were you back enough to safely spot the pallet and stop before it?

Then, in real life, on a bike, you also don't want to be rear ended. Therefore as well as space to stop before any standing object you need to add extra room so that you can stop before the object not in panic mode but a bit more gently with one eye on the mirror to check that the guy behind you has seen your stop light on and is breaking too.

You guys stopped in panic and the moron behind you didn't have enough safety distance from you.

If other cars pull out in front of you because you leave too much space, than back out further or move back on right lane and be patient. Only safe way if you can't clear the traffic altogether.

 

"What If" scenarios DO work---but only 90% of the time. Leaving TONS of space in front to deal with falling boulders, pallets, car crashes and popsicles thrown out the window---this works 90% of the time.

Every once in a while you die from being hit by an asteroid.

I can live with those odds. I will practice leaving tons of room, thank you very much... If the jerks fill in the space I just drop back even more OR pass everybody and go out front.

It works 90% of the time, thank goodness. MUCH more relaxing than not having a plan beforehand...

Have TONS of room in FRONT of your bike. The rest can be dealt with just fine if you have lots of time to decide what to do next...