Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

One main reason I found out, riders looking into Tachometer or speedometer in their new bikes while riding so as to do the run-in properly. This is one huge mistake as by doing this you almost travel blind for some distance depending upon the speed you travel. During this anything that comes in btw you'll fail to notice resulting in crash!! It's due to the fact that, human eye can't lock into many target at once..
Never look down into tacho or speedo while riding. For Run-in its not necessary that you stick to limit. Never accelerate or decelerate hard. Thats the point

Ride safe
Sid

Sent from my MT11i

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

Being a new rider id like to add my experiences

In a lane - ( not small - couple of buses could pass by ) was riding at 40 ish when suddenly the scooty in front of me decided to stop . It was an aunty wearing no helmet .

2 ) Riding close by my building . Two way traffic - lanes ... an old lady was talking to some person - early monning ( 6 am ish ) standing at the divider ! .. I saw her and presumed she saw me and was still conversing with the person - I honked once . not a long beep - but a small one - ( horn on my fazer is good enuf to alert people ) . She all of a sudden starts walking back towards the corner on my side .. looking in the opposite direct of the traffic ...
I beep . she doesnt look back ... i slow down .. steer from her side - while going i hear her old friends saying "Dekh ke chalao . kitne paas se gaya woh "
Since then I make sure i honk atleast thrice ... -.-

3 ) And yes a dog ... he was one smart dog i guess . He started crossing as he saw me ... Stopped when i slowed down.. and started walking again ..
I told my mom about this ( She's been riding her scooty for a long time ) She tells me .. never turn or steer from the head part of the animal .. always go from behind him - idk if this is true .. or it was the other way around .. Could anyone shed some light on this ?

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as a new rider when i went with my other biking friends .. a couple of them always broke the signal .. Being left alone behind always puts pressure on you ... Peer pressure maybe

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

yes your mom is true .. generally animals do not walk in reverse gear.

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

facepalm : lol that thought didn't cross my mind :|

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

Traffic rules are for us. This incident happened when one of my collogues went to Japan for a training program. They were to travel 15 kms daily crossing a railway track that was not used for more than 15 years. He was surprised when the driver stopped in front of the unmanned railway track. Got down and had a look both ends of the railway track for oncoming train and then proceeded. He did this exercise just because there is a board with the following sign " stop look and then proceed". We may call it stupid or foolish but he has been riding this route for more than 50 years and it is his daily practice and he never miss this routine even a single day. This is the kind of self discipline that we lack including me. So it is high time that we start following the rules not just to satisfy any cop but for our protection and others too.

Cheers

Mathews

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

A cow will either stand or move forward. So for a cow/bull always ride from behind them. In case of a dog, you just can't say! Even if you go from behind the dog, he can turn 180 degrees and run in your direction (I was touring in Rajasthan with a friend who was riding in front of me and had an accident in this manner). Your take away from this, when you see a dog, slow down a LOT and horn like mad, if you're not confident of his intentions.

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

i would like to share my exp as well as a newbie . The most dangerous thing on a Small one lane road is the Stationary Vehicles . Yes you heard me right . You never know when a Moron decides to Open his car door without looking back if someone is coming towards him . Happened Twice to me and by the grace of god nothing happened both the times .

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

I would like to share my experience here.

I met with a minor accident on Outer Ring Road, near Yellhanka(Banaglore).
The aftermath of accident was :

1. I did not sleep that night and went for a ride early in the morning at 4:00 AM.
2. The bike was new (Pulsar200NS) so not well tuned with my driving style.
3. The road near diversion was slightly above the level of the road I was riding on, I could not anticipate it.
4.Since I had slowed down significantly, me and my friend just had minor injuries.
5. Though my speed was only 40-45 KMPH, I had a strong impact on Helmet and that saved me that day.

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

I don't know if this is a double post - I have posted this link on the Pune Chapter thread.

I was digging up some videos to show to my son; he is 14 and in a year or two, would be eligible to ride non-geared two wheelers as per the law and I wanted to start his riding education by showing him such clips and then analysing what went wrong and what could have been done to prevent the accidents.

The clip is quite large (almost 350 MB) and within a few minutes of watching it, I realised that it contained almost every single type of bike accident possible in daily life in terms of type of bike, type of roads, situations, time of day, traffic, pedestrians, speed. Thankfully, there is no blood and gore.

Some of the accidents have happened so fast that a layman rider will be shocked to see how much can happen with one or two seconds.

I feel it will be worth it to download the clip and see it and educate ourselves. You may have to see some incidents repeatedly and/or slow them down as they are at very high speeds/narrow fields of view.

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

One of the accident which happened right infront of me... A man was trying to cross the Highway from left to right, but he made it suddenly without looking behind and a Car(Santro) which was coming behind him @ 130kms/hr approx hit him..

He died on the spot..

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

i will tell of two instances.. one where i was at fault and could have died and the other in which fault was of the car driver.

firstly where i was at fault.. it happened at Delhi-Ajmer highway. i had to cross to the other side, but due to my ignorance i was driving at the far left and suddenly applied brakes and took a slight right turn without looking backwards for any vehicle. As it is a express way, most cars are at very high speeds, a Scorpio was coming and he saved me by quickly steering away and avoiding me. That incident still gives me chills what if he was also not paying attention and i could have gone flying took my lesson that day what not to do, especially on highways. this happened 3 years back
secondly where i crashed right into an innovas back.. we all know how dangerous the diversion of a down road and a flyover could be. in traffic, mostly we do speeds which are somehow comparable to the vehicles driving ahead of us. that fool had to go down side and was driving towards the flyover. in seconds he came to a halt for about 85-90 to zero. No bike is capable of slowing down like that without a fall. BANG !! their i was crashing into the back. luckily i had let go of the bike just before the impact and got away with just a few bruises. and my helmet, saved me as i fell head first..

what i am trying to say is we can't control everything.. firstly we have to look at ourselves, make as little mistakes as possible.. and secondly think that evch and every other vehicle on the road is trying to kill you and are driven by fools..
take care and ride safe..

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

Nadz: Since the thread is about counter measures, I must say that from the description provided, the accident was probably avoidable( Not pointing out or anything, just an observation).
If one is tailgating a car at 90kmph, then that person is asking for trouble. One should have a slightly staggered stance and always have an exit in mind when the car in front suddenly slows down. Many people tend to target fixate in this situation and forget to search for that exit. They always end up banging the car from behind. As far as I know, even legally the person who bangs from behind is at fault. Not target fixating is a skill which takes some learning but is a life saver.
Being at an exit/flyover - alarm bells should automatically go off that even the guy in the far right could suddenly decide to veer towards the exit if he so pleases. So one has to be extra alert in this situation.
Your conclusion that "each and every other vehicle on the road is trying to kill you" is spot on. Apni suraksha apne haath

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

ya i know that.. that could have avoided.. happened about a year back.. getting better at avoiding such instances day by day.. and knowing my rides and my limits..

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

I have a question, not just a question but a question mixed with observation. I was coming from Teok town on a bicycle at evening, around 7PM, at the outskirt of Teok Town there is a blind curve at the highway. As we are all aware, NH37 is pretty narrow for a trucking route and the unpaved sides of the highway is very narrow, one and a half foot wide at max in that portion. It was dark and as bicycles don't have a headlamp, I was forced to use my judgements and other vehicle's light to guide me on the road. Just when I was in the middle of the curve, a super bus tried to overtake another super bus occupying both lanes. There was no room for any two wheeler to move, I could have moved t the unpaved road but after the rain, the unpaved road was very muddy and slippery and a deep ravine lies next to the narrow unpaved part. I was scared, and had t make a choice between getting hit by a super bus or to break my bones by moving to the unpaved part of the road, the choice was obvious. I moved, but the super still hit me, somehow I managed not to fall but the handle of my bicycle which was already rusted near the grip was broken. had to ride back home by sticking a pieces of dry branch in the handle. I'm still using this jugaad as I don't have the money to fix it right now.

I'd like to know your opinions on my decision and would be grateful if you tell me what should I have done during that incident to avoid that accident.

Re: Motorcycle Accidents - Cause, Factors & Identification of Countermeasures

^^ yes, i think you did the right thing, however, preparedness is often better than taking evasive measures.

in your case, paste reflective tapes all around your bicycle, so that you are more visible to oncoming vehicles from a greater distance so that they can drive cautiously. another thing you can do is fix a bicycle light, something like LED lights for bicycle available on ebay, so that you can see the road ahead in a better way and you become more visible to oncoming traffic.