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TrialsRider.
Potential “traps” in street riding
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December 18, 2009 at 5:59 am #3621
Gary856
ParticipantOne time I was following a slow moving truck on a twisty two lane country road. After maybe 1/2 mile the truck pulled over toward the right shoulder, almost completely off the road. I thought, “finally! thank you!” Just when I was about to pass on its LEFT, he cut sharply to the left, crossed my path, into his driveway on the left side of the road. No turn signal, of course.
A variation of this trap is a vehicle would start to make what looks like a left turn, and then cut right into a driveway on the right side of the road. Longer vehicles, such as trucks and vans, with a large turning radius tend to do this. When these drivers swing wide then cut back, without signaling, they can lure an impatient rider into the trap.
December 18, 2009 at 3:59 pm #23770rebelrider
ParticipantYears ago my dad smushed his mustang into the back of some old ranchers beat-up pickup truck doing the exact same thing. Apparently he was not the first person to rear-end the rancher, who couldn’t figure out why that always happened.
December 19, 2009 at 4:15 pm #23781Ixecapade
Participantmy brother and I were driving home and almost straight T-boned someone who randomly braked (back country rode in the desert- so straight for miles and deer are NOT our biggest concern) a little bit and we went to pass and he turned left- I think we were going like 55 or 60 it was nerve wracking.
The two issues I’ve had are seams on long asphalt patches that run parallel to how you ride- which create kind of edge trap and the friggin concrete drainage that runs between the road and the driveways and things- its bigger than I thought and needed to be hit more perpendicular than at a smaller angle. Apparently matching asphalt with curb/drive edges is NOT the pavers first priority. lol
December 19, 2009 at 7:01 pm #23784XRayHound
ParticipantNCDMV likes to justify their budget at the end of the warm months by sending out crews to lay down half lane wide patches haphazardly. My group and I hate these crews and their works with a passion since the patches subsequently dictate our lines through the roads they’re on.
January 10, 2010 at 9:59 am #23961SafetyFirst
ParticipantDon’t forget about the obvious ones.
1) grease trap at stop lights / signs
2) man-hole covers (little braking traction followed by pavement with a massive amount of traction compared)
3) Asphalt tar that’s carried past the new section of roads/highways. Last summer here there was a highway off-ramp, downhill, steep 90 at the end, and I felt a definite slide in the middle of the curve on a hot day from tar passed along from the new highway pavement from car tires. The turn at the bottom was full of it.September 7, 2010 at 6:19 am #28503Gary856
Participant1. A few days ago on my way home, I made a hard right at the intersection onto my home stretch. As I came around the corner, I noticed a car parked next to the curb on the right, very closed to the intersection, was about to pull into my path. To her, a second ago I wasn’t there, and a second later I came around the corner and sped past her. To me, there was very little reaction time when I went around the corner fast like that. If I got there a second or two later, that car would have pulled out and in my path as I came around the corner.
2. I was following a SUV which slowed to turn right into a driveway, and I was going to continue and go straight. Before the SUV turned right, I saw there was another car ready to come out of that driveway. Since the SUV was between me and that car waiting in the driveway, I thought that the car driver might not have seen me. Sure enough, as the SUV turned right into the driveway, that car came out of the driveway thinking it’s all clear, directly in front of me, to turn left.
3. I was behind a big rig dirt hauler at a freeway off ramp. The light turned green, and the big rig made a slow and wide right turn, and took the second lane from the right. I turned right to the far right lane, thought about accelerating pass that big rig from the right, but something didn’t feel right. Why wasn’t he moving into the far right lane? I decided to hang back, move left, and pass him on the left instead. Just then, I saw another big rig, which I didn’t see earlier and was ahead of the one I was behind, starting to turn right into a lot. He was taking 2 lanes to turn right. Shortly after, the big rig I was following also turned right into the same lot. Had I tried to pass it on the right, that big rig could have nailed me with his wide right turn.
September 8, 2010 at 2:15 am #28505TrialsRider
ParticipantHow about car full of drunks attempt to run you into an oncoming streetcar and when they fail, several blocks later the same bunch chuck a nearly full bottle of beer at you, which smashes on impact with your engine casing. In another incident I got shot in the leg by a pellet gun riding in downtown Toronto, kid shot me right from his front porch. I would love to have meet up with any of these guys on my home turf instead of while riding the street. About a year ago I was traveling eastbound on 401 highway and passed 6 Holstein’s traveling westbound, at night. …lol, even for around here this is unusual.
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