Wow, I'm thinking justifiable homicide. :angry7: Quote from rider Ok boys and gals. I am the actual rider in the video and will once and for all dissolve all speculations and such that to my amazement have come up so far. We both started slowing down when the light turned orange. The red SUV ended up in the middle of the intersection. Cars seen on the right started turning left, one car actually made it in front of the stalled/frozen driver. The car then proceeded to back up - IN THE LEFT LANE - i was aware about its presence all the time. And yes I was in the 1st with the clutch in as can be seen on video (anyone see the Neutral light?). As some have pointed out, only have I noticed it changing directions a couple of seconds before impact. Yes, a rider with tens of years of experience MAY HAVE been able to sprint to the right (risking clipping the car and being at fault for running a red light into potentially left turning traffic, as the light for the oncoming lane was changing to a left turn go), but given the circumstances... the horn wouldnt have done squat. Again, were talking seconds. Disbelief that the car was going to back into me was up there. I was in the dominant position for my lane (left half of the lane, where cars in the left lane have the best chance of seeing you in their mirror), watching the driver... but again... how often do you guys assume that a car will decide to reverse into your lane from a different one and floor it? The video ends where it does because there is absolutely nothing exciting happening afterwards. The two occupants get out, we exchange remarks, and then i take the helmet off and turn off the camera. No swearing or yelling. The adrenaline pumping through my system was so high, I was kinda happy to not be under the car. The car was resting on the bike, they had to lift it to get the bike from underneath. Yes please, all those that couldve avoided this - I salute you and your superhuman reactions. Im just human and did the best I could when I realized what was going to happen to get my sorry ass out of the way. The aftermath... if I can figure out how to post pictures here I will. The driver got a ticket as it is illegal to back out of an intersection (or something thereof) and yes, because they are on a learners permit (can only drive supervised), they may have very high insurance premiums. And as far as the bike - it will be looked at by an insurance adjuster on Monday where I will find out what happens next.
Damn, glad the rider was able to bail and save himself. I'm also amazed he was apparently able to handle the post aftermath calmly. I'd of been anything but.
Man this vid is popping up everywhere it was a 15 year old girl learning to drive with her dad yelling at her "BACK UP BACK UP" The rider dumped the clutch and stalled that's why he dumped the bike instead of simply moving a few feet and being out of the way. Props for not getting run over with it, but a good thing to practice there, from a stop full lock jog one direction or another.
I consider myself a seasoned rider being that my bike has been my only ride for the past 7 years. To be honest, I'm not sure if I would have been able to avoid that situation as well as the OP. The reason why, at this point, I'm usually focusing on the vehicles behind me, watching my six. I would never expect a vehicle to reverse halfway from the middle of the intersection. However, I know if I saw the vehicle in reverse, my natural reaction is to use my horn. It's an aftermarket horn much louder than the stock, so it may have prevented the collision, but maybe not.
Regardless of any comments who might say you had the opportunity to accelerate out of the way or something, I'm glad you had the fortitude to jump off and step aside. I would have probably been still clutching to the bars in the attempt to save it. Glad you are okay.
Uhhhh the rider isn't here dude You'd have seen the car in the intersection stopped and would have been paying attention to it. Give yourself a little more credit! Difficult to get out of the way? probably, but not THAT difficult. The rider was just dumbstruck that the car was actually doing it and reacted far too slow/dumped the clutch. Either way it's something to now go and practice! I'm going to.
It's easy to be an arm-chair cowboy. He jumped off the bike and got himself out of harms way, that's the important part. What you, I, or someone's uncle might do is extremely moot; hopefully none of us will get the chance to find out. The idiot teaching the driver and telling him/her to reverse should have his license suspended. Maybe my cynicism is growing with age, but that was about what I'd expect from someone that reverses from middle of an intersection too...hit the gas instead of the brake after running into something.
That's interesting, especially since boys under the age of 25 have higher insurance premiums... :stir:
Things are dumbed down so much for people these days that there is no common sense. Case and point, I live on the coast. Crescent city has been hit with tsunamis before. All the time lately, we have been having these town wide tsunami drills. These are in the middle of the week, and you cant even drive into a tsunami area during the drill. Are you kidding me? Its a tsunami. GO UPHILL!! If you cant figure out which way to go when there is a tsunami coming, I really dont think some drills are going to help you. You are an idiot. Go swimming. Sorry for the rant. Good reaction by the rider. Hes safe, hopefully she is off the road.