Punched my left turn ticket

[duck]

You're lucky the driver stopped and admitted fault. Good on him. If you never made contact with his vehicle (sounds like you didn't) he could've just driven away and you'd be own your own.

[stretchmoney]

Whether or not the driver at fault saw you is of no consequence, they pulled in front of you against your right-of-way.
If you get less than what you want from his insurance company, take your bike to a BMW dealer and let them price it up, they will write up a bill for 3 grand most likely. Then you can say "Hey, how about half of that? How's my first demand sound now, you cheap asshats?"
And in the future, when crossing intersections, stay far behind the car in front of you, or far enough left that you can see the car that may be about to turn into you to beat the car behind you: the only other thing they are seeing.
I do this thing whenever people start "leading" to far out in the intersection-I swerve towards them so I am facing them, flash lights, tap the horn, sometimes wave if it really looks like they are not seeing me, or if they just seem like the kind of dicks that pull that move in the hopes that oncoming traffic stops to let them through. Which is every intersection all day everyday around Boston.

[stretchmoney]

And yeah it did sound like a good person, so just get mad at his insurance company, not him.

[jtatknox]

Originally Posted by Brokein2

Glad you are OK....

New desktop background...

[jtatknox]

Originally Posted by tattoogunman

I'm getting back into motorcycling and pick up my bike this weekend. I've always worn protective gear, but since my last bike, there has been a lot of the high viz stuff hitting the market. That's what I'm getting for all my gear this time around. It never ceases to amaze me at the people that still wear black from head to toe. I see guys commuting to work with me in the morning (5 to 530 am). Once they pass me and get a few car lengths away, they just vanish. That single red light on the back isn't worth a whole lot.

My .025 cent

Not that I can say it actually WORKS given present circumstances, but the 3M retroreflective striping tape (silver 2" and black 1/4") is tits when it comes to visibility. I can't believe how bright the stuff is in headlights, which is why I couldn't believe he failed to see me.

"Were you pulling out of that gas station?" Good guess! Want to play again?!

[shaddix]

When riding at night I will flip my headlight on bright whenever there is a car waiting to turn that will cross my path. I like to do it maybe 3-5 seconds before I get into the zone where it would be really bad if they did decide to pull out, and I like to do a little swerve to point the headlight at the threat and then flip it to high beam so hopefully they can't help but notice me.

During the day I run my highbeams all the time.

[NC BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by bunghole

Some people just don't pay any fucking attention (as we all know).

As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I'm guessing the asshole still wouldn't have seen you.

Great line.

I also participate in a tractor forum and believe it or not cars making left turns into tractors is a big problem. You would think a large tractor with flashing lights and headlights on would be pretty obvious even to the most oblivious, but at least the car usually gets the most damage.

[DiamondDan]

Originally Posted by jtatknox

[snip] spoke to him today and he indicated that his insurance company State Farm thinks it wasn't his fault because I was able to keep my bike from T-boning him! I filed a claim with State Farm today, hoping they pay up. I'm only looking for $300-$500 so I can buy some new ebay parts and rattle can the rest! I could take it to Bob's BMW and get a hefty dealer estimate.

I guess their position would be that the bike will stop quicker on its wheels than sliding, so if you slid and didn't hit him, then you could have stopped under control and not hit him. I'm not saying I agree, but that will probably be what they argue. As the others said, get professional representation - state farm has been to this dance before, and you haven't.

[ROAD DAMAGE]

Originally Posted by shaddix

When riding at night I will flip my headlight on bright whenever there is a car waiting to turn that will cross my path. I like to do it maybe 3-5 seconds before I get into the zone where it would be really bad if they did decide to pull out, and I like to do a little swerve to point the headlight at the threat and then flip it to high beam so hopefully they can't help but notice me.

During the day I run my highbeams all the time.

Good info. here from shaddix.

I flip my low beam to high beam and back quite a bit in traffic. I believe it really helps folks wake up and focus on me ............ I also have been careful not to be too busy with the light .......... I believe that some folks may take it as a signal that means "who knows what" to them.

"But officer, I thought he WANTED me to pull out in front of him! He was flashing his light at me."

This is where lane positioning and not following too closely comes in very handy too. In a situation like yours I'll swerve side to side a little to give oncoming traffic a chance to see me better. You know, sorta' peek-a-boo out from behind the drivers side of the vehicle in front of me. Seems to help.

Hope insurance works it all out, and glad you weren't hurt.

Happy Holidays, Rob

[sparkymcgee]

Originally Posted by Brokein2

Glad you are OK....

LOL! Pretty much what I envisioned. I'm going to ask the DMV to include this picture in their vision testing..."Do you see anything unusual in this picture sir??

[hardwaregrrl]

That just sucks...I'm glad you're alright. Tell your sob story here when you're ready to buy parts. I bet one of us can help you out very cheap.

[Bill Harris]

Originally Posted by Brokein2

[IMG]http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6818/rhino1x.jpg[/SNIP]

Glad you are OK....

LOL! Destined to be a classic, sir.

I'm thinking this for left-turners:



But seriously, following a vehicle because you can get in their "radar shadow" and virtually disappear to a SMIDSYite. And expecially at night. Weave, give a little more distance, go with your high beams on (without flashing).

--Bill

[sideup]

I know this has been covered elsewhere in face plant. I too have had some close calls where I thought I made eye contact with the cager and then they proceeded to pull out in front of me or merge right into my space. Having a high vis. jacket and orange moto I was totally amazed they did not see me.
I learned about Motion Induced Blindness from the face plant forum and did the test on the wikipedia site and was surprised how the dots became invisible. It was a wake up to actually think that I could for a short period of time become invisible to a driver. I don't know how to deal with this possibility except to be a very defensive driver and expect no one sees me. Try out the test and see if you experience MIB. I do but my wife says she doesn't. She credits her stigmatism. I don't know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_induced_blindness

[PT Rider]

Do you have anything on paper where the driver admits fault? Take the driver to small claims court for the full cost of the damage. Let him deal with his insurance company.

Modulating headlights must not modulate after dark by law.

All you can do is to be ready to take evasive action and dress for the slide, not for the ride. Drivers see us but do not NOTICE us. There is a big difference. Eye contact is not always brain contact.

Half or more of the drivers will think that flashing high beams are you giving them permission to proceed. Maybe keep the high beams on during a warning period, but don't flash them.

The DOT C2 red & white retroreflective tape you see on truck trailers is the most reflective over a wide angle. SOLAS retroreflective tape has brighter reflectance, but on a narrow angle.

Practice emergency braking. Buy your next bike with ABS brakes.

[Tinker1980]

Originally Posted by jtatknox

What if this happens in a car? Say the other driver crosses into your lane and you either swerve off the road or get hit head on. Is that also a one car accident?!

Yup. The insurance company will say their driver did not contact you, so it's all your fault. Sadly enough, if you're in a car, you're better off nailing the person that caused the accident. At least from a liability/getting your car fixed/injuries paid for standpoint. I'd like to see no-fault insurance in my state.

On SMIDSY: I once was SMIDSY'd. Not on a motorcycle. A Hyster H360HD2, which is a forklift with a 36,000 pound capacity. Airhead in an industrial park got lost. I was going from one building to another, the other had the fuel pump. A woman rolls up to a stop sign, looks one way, and pulls out in front of a forklift the size of a small house that is lit up like an xmas tree front and back, flashing strobes, several 75 watt lights, 36"+ tall tires, curb weight around 44,000 pounds, and oh yeah because it's a Hyster it's BRIGHT YELLOW. Slammed the forks down and nailed the brakes, but bringing it from 15 MPH to 0 wasn't going to happen. Put a fork in front of the back tire and hit the side of the SUV at about walking speed, and drug it another 10 feet. There was a very real fear of the little Ford Explorer going under the left side drive tires. Somehow nobody was hurt. First words out of her mouth when I get to the side of her truck: "I'm so sorry! I completely didn't see you!"

Which would be about as hard to miss as the green rhino driven by the pink penis guy.