- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by JtownJJA.
Watch for Old Men on Lawn Mowers!
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August 13, 2010 at 1:33 am #4168JtownJJAParticipant
I had a bit of a spill this morning on the way to work. I was cruising along around 55 mph and noticed that an old guy on a lawn mower was up ahead of me going the same direction I was. I slowed down a bit, but knew that I was probably going to have to pass him. The road was straight, so I had plenty of viewing area ahead to see that no traffic was coming the opposite way.
As I was getting ready to pass the guy, he started slowing down. He was also looking back, right at me, so he had to know I was coming up behind him. All of the sudden, he starts turning left into his driveway. Meanwhile I’m already on the left side of the road about to pass him. The further he turned, the further I got to the left to get around him. (Yes, looking back, that was dumb. I should have just got back over to the right and passed him in the right lane, but my mind was stuck on passing this guy.)
Eventually, I realized I’m NOT going to get past him, so I start the panic stop to keep from hitting him. I feel my back wheel slide a little bit, two times, but the stop is pretty well controlled. However, when I finally come to a stop, I’m off the road (the left side of the road) and the guy is in his driveway. Ok, a sigh of relief, I did NOT hit him! As I relax a bit, my bike slides down over the edge of a wet grassy hill. Ok, now I feel embarrassed. I’m on the left side of the road with my bike laying on it’s right side in the grass. I look up and the guy is just looking at me, so I tell him I’m ok. I look around behind me, and a lady is sitting in her min-van behind me, so I tell her that I’m ok.
The guy proceeds on up his driveway without saying anything, and the lady continues on her way. OK, now to get this bike back on the road. I had turned off the ignition right after it went down. So I got it picked up on it’s wheels and tried to back up the hill, but that wasn’t going to happen. The bike was too heavy. Soooo, I just walk the bike on down into the guy’s yard. It took a while to get it started again, but eventually, the motor was singing again. In low gear, I got through the grass onto the guy’s paved driveway, then back out onto the road.
The whole ordeal probably cost me about 10 minutes. However, I learned a lot from it. Could this had been prevented? Absolutely! Was I mad at the guy. YES!!!! But for the most part, I know it was my fault. I should have slowed down and cancelled the idea of passing this guy on his left. I had an inkling he was getting ready to turn left, but I didn’t listen to my intuition. Guess I didn’t “SEEK” very well.
Anyway, just wanted to warn everyone to watch out for those old men on lawn mowers. They can be dangerous!
August 13, 2010 at 1:29 pm #28046CBBaronParticipantGlad you came out unscathed.
It seems like too many people are oblivious to anything besides what they are doing. A slow moving vehicle should be aware that a fast approaching motorcycle is going to pass them on the left. And did anyone ever hear of indicating a turn. I know the auto drivers around hear can’t be bothered, even when turning left at a busy 4 way stop. However as you admitted, the fault of the accident was mostly yours and its good you recongized that. Learning to anticipate actions of unpredictable drivers and respond to unexpected obstacles does take considerable skill and practice.
And watch out for those lawn mowers
Craig
August 13, 2010 at 2:06 pm #28047eonParticipantGlad you came out okay. Sometimes we all need a little reminder that we are only a mistake away from some serious injuries. In this case I feel your pain. I think once you have committed to the pass I think it’s hard to change your mind and you keep trying to make it happen until you realize it’s not going to work.
Thanks for sharing. Hopefully it will keep us all a little bit safer.
August 13, 2010 at 7:37 pm #28060JackTradeParticipantOne of things I love about this forum is how everone takes learning from mistakes very seriously…after an accident or close call, people here always try to diagnose it and figure out what happened, and then post it.
I’m esp. happy that this attitude has taken hold in me…I reflexively analyze my mistakes and close calls, not stopping until I figure out what went wrong.
It’s a great practice, and I thank everyone here for instilling it in me.
August 13, 2010 at 10:45 pm #28062eonParticipantI had a little wake up call on Sunday there. Coming back from a weekend trip to Montana I’ve got 350 miles of rural interstate to contend with. About 50 miles in a SUV moves into my lane and I have to brake sharply to avoid getting run off the road. Horn blaring, lights flashing, made no difference. When it moved back into the inside lane a short while later I pull up alongside and glare at the driver who is completely oblivious, chatting away to their passenger. At no point did they ever know I was there.
What shook me up a little was I had no recollection of anything before the incident. First I remember is it pulling into my lane. Reflexes took over and there was never any danger of me being hit but I was being dangerously complacent. For the next 300 miles I was reading each license plate, which State is it from?, scanning the occupants, what’s the driver doing, how old are they, are they checking their mirrors, etc etc. Kept me awake and alert in an otherwise boring journey. It also meant I spotted very early on the two other drivers who would cut me up on that journey. Amazing the difference it makes when you know it is coming
August 13, 2010 at 11:09 pm #28064TrialsRiderParticipantAfraid I would print off the articles that indicate it is illegal to drive a riding lawn mower on the public roadways, along with illustrations on how to hand turn signal and drop them in his mail slot.
I had a corner spill many years ago when my full knobby tires lost grip on a series of wet manhole covers. A lady came out of her house, not to see if I was OK but to curse at me for chewing up her lawn, didn’t even care that I was bleeding so I got out of there fast. Never expect the average citizen to give a hoot about you or your safety when you’re riding a motorcycle.
Glad you’re unscathed, remember, what you survive makes you stronger.
August 14, 2010 at 2:54 am #28066JtownJJAParticipantThanks everyone. Yes, that thought went through my mind as well TR, that I think the whole thing would have been avoided if the guy simply would have raised his left hand and pointed at his driveway, signally to me that he was indeed going to make a left turn at that particular driveway. The way it happened, I wasn’t sure until it was too late. And yes, I got the feeling from him that he didn’t really care what had happened with me. At least he didn’t get upset about me going through his yard.
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