It’s a Saturday morning and for the first time in a few weeks I’ve managed to line up a sunny day and some free time, so I prep the Fireblade, throw on the leathers and head for the hills. On the way I roll into the servo to top up the tank and … it’s busy. So I tag on to the end of a queue behind a Hyundai.
She’s joking right? Nup! Back comes the car and I’m thinking “she’ll stop”. Wrong again.
After sitting for about 2 minutes the reversing lights come on on the Hyundai. She’s joking right? Nup! Back comes the car and I’m thinking “she’ll stop”. Wrong again. I scramble and roll the bike back screaming at her and she finally stops – 6cm from my front wheel.
Then the most amazing thing happens – the woman abuses me! She’s screaming at me – “Where did you come from? Why were you there!” – and then drives forward to a bowser in the next lane.
I moved the bike up, killed the engine and took off my gloves. Furious, I walked over to the woman who by now was getting out of her car. Now I’m guessing the sight of an angry motorcyclist approaching dressed in full leathers and still with a helmet on his head is probably a bit intimidating for 55+ year old woman. She apologised like crazy, said she didn’t see me, I told her she didn’t even look and then I walked away. A fairly typical outcome really, and another example that we, as motorcyclists, can never assume that the person in the car has seen us.
Now let’s flip the coin, because I live in the land of responsibility. I happen to believe that you are in some way responsible for whatever happens to you out there. And sometimes that’s a bitter pill to swallow but these words were running through my head by now, so I had to think about my part in this.
Well obviously I was still paying attention to what was going on around me because I noticed the car coming back at me and could move out of the way. If I had dropped my attention she would definitely have hit me. So what could I have done differently to avoid this situation? After all – she’s the one who backed up without looking!
Well, maybe I was in her blind spot. I wasn’t positioned in the centre of her car so I was most likely out of her main mirror. And there’s one clue that I should have picked up on but didn’t. If you scan the mirrors of the car in front of you and you can’t see the car driver’s eyes in at least one of those mirrors then you can pretty much bet that they can’t see you! And this applies to the open road, car parks and obviously service stations as well.
Did the woman look in her mirrors? Maybe not. Did she thoroughly check that everything was clear behind her before she moved the car? Definitely not! But did I give her the best chance I could to see me? I would have to say no. So lessons all round and we both have to take some responsibility for what happened.
Fortunately the whole incident ended without any injuries or damage, just a few heated words.
But I have to wonder ….. what if it had been a child behind her car?
Similar Posts:
Loading ...
It’s pretty easy for drivers to be complacent, almost on auto-pilot when it comes to checking blind spots and picking up ‘unusual’ objects in their rear-view. Not that motorcyclists are unusual, but some drivers brains don’t seem to process a bike as quickly as a car. At the end of the day you just can’t trust anyone else on the road to behave predictably… Great example here Davo, and very important that we can appreciate the situation from both sides of the coin.
Comment by streetdaddy — Jun 2 @ 12:16 pmMaybe there’s a lot to be said for wearing bright colours. In my travels to checkout gear - thanks to the advice in “When things go horribly wrong” (Steve Mc) - I’ve seen all kinds of nice red, blue and pink jackets and things. Come on guys, I dare you
Comment by Kellie — Jun 2 @ 1:12 pmMmmm… interesting thought Kellie. I can imagine the Harley guys wearing pink leather jackets.
Comment by Steve McDowall — Jun 2 @ 5:39 pmI’d pay to see that - guys on Harleys in pink leather.
Comment by Davo — Jun 2 @ 10:56 pmAll good comments. Now what if you wear bright clothing, have your headlights on and are not sitting in the blind spot and they still reverse??? The fact is that people make mistakes. When I ride I set off with that clear expectation - People make mistakes. With that clear recognition, I am never surprised because that is what happens. I make mistakes. I do not intend to but I am only human. People change lanes without looking, they speed, they go too fast for the conditions - every hour of every day. You can certainly improve your odds by doing a whole range of things but the initial fact remains - people make mistakes, intentionally or not.
Comment by Curley — Jun 3 @ 11:08 amWhilst I can see the “big picture” approach of the article,any person when reversing a vehicle (or motorcycle) must take all due care when reversing and the onus is on them legally to do so.
If reversing at the time of an incident involving injury and/or damage the law is crystal clear: the person reversing is 100% responsible from a legal point of view.
Positioning oneself in a better spot to be more easily seen is a wise move but at the end of the day the Hyundai owner would’ve been found 100% liable for any damages and/or injury.
Comment by VTR250 — Jun 9 @ 10:53 amI would think twice about who is at fault legally, if you can avoid the crash and do not you can be legally held accountable.
Comment by bkr50 — Jun 12 @ 5:42 pmYep, and I’d rather avoid being hit in the first place than have to argue over who was legally in the wrong from a hospital bed.
Comment by Steve McDowall — Jun 14 @ 12:32 pmI agree with Steve much better to not have the crash. It,s a pity though that 9 out of 10 crashes riders have could be avoided by the rider.
Comment by bkr50 — Jun 14 @ 4:52 pmWould seem that the emphasis I placed on the situation from a legal point of view has been taken too far.
Prevention is better than a cure - YES.
As the OP commented at the end,what if it was a small child behind the vehicle?
End of the day, personal responsibility does fall on us all,more what I was referring to is that it is not always a 50/50 split on who has the greater responsibility.
And in terms of avoiding a situation and then being held legally responsible….
That doesn’t apply if all “reasonable measures” had been taken and a crash occurs.
Comment by VTR250 — Jun 14 @ 11:53 pmWhat I like most about this post is that you took some responsibility for the incident. Too often riders seem to instantly blame the car driver when they too perhaps could have been doing better. Doing something more to make themselves more visible or being more aware of what might happen.
Comment by malcolmchalmers — Jan 13 @ 8:45 am